News & Events

On Monday, May 18, PSC President Barbara Bowen sent an open letter to CUNY Board of Trustees Chairperson William Thompson and Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez calling on them to rescind all non-reappointments of faculty and staff made for budgetary reasons this spring. The letter urged them to call an immediate halt to all existing college or University plans for mass non-reappointments of personnel. It was shared with legislative and community leaders because keeping CUNY whole and keeping vulnerable employees on payroll during a pandemic are issues of vital public interest.

AS CUNY PREPARES TO LAY OFF THOUSANDS OF ADJUNCTS, LEGISLATORS AND UNION DEMAND JOBS AND CALL FOR NEW TAXES ON WEALTHY TO PROTECT PUBLIC EDUCATION

Adjuncts teach 56% of courses at CUNY, cuts put education for hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers at risk

In recent days, CUNY colleges have announced planned layoffs of hundreds of CUNY adjuncts, in anticipation of State budget cuts caused by the COVID-19 Recession. Adjuncts and their union were joined today by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and several New York State legislators to oppose cuts to CUNY and demand new taxes on the rich. Adjuncts teach 56% of courses at CUNY. Mass layoffs put the education of hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers at risk.

The PSC is teaming up with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the union representing 42,000 nurses in New York, to create the Homework Hotline-an initiative to provide academic support to the children of nurses while their parents are risking their lives to keep other New Yorkers safe. I am writing to invite you to participate by volunteering an hour or two a week to be available to help the children of nurses with their classes or homework.

Many of us have been looking for ways to support frontline workers, especially healthcare workers, in this terrible epidemic. One thing we can do is volunteer some time for their children, who have had to cope with distance learning and parents working long and grueling shifts in hospitals. I feel grateful for the opportunity to have something to offer, even if it's small, to those who are offering so much.

If you can volunteer an hour or two a week, sign up here and specify the time you are available and the subject in which you are qualified to offer academic help. The subject areas have been kept broad because we anticipate that most of the students requesting help will be in elementary or secondary school. For now we have limited the subject areas to: Math, English, Science, Social Science, Spanish and, possibly, other languages. We may add more if there is a need for more or if greater specialization is needed.

The PSC stands in solidarity with the workers represented by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the NYS Corrections Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), whose raises scheduled for this month will be delayed by New York State for at least 90 days. Thousands of CSEA and NYSCOPBA members are on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, risking their health and the health of their families to keep the state’s essential services operating. Hundreds have tested positive for the virus, and many face dangerous working conditions daily. It is outrageous that union workers would be denied their modest collectively bargained raises at this enormously difficult time.

A week ago, New York State enacted a budget that refused to add a single new tax on the rich; now it attempts to close budget gaps by punishing the working class. New York must stop balancing the budget on the backs of working people and start increasing taxes on billionaires and the ultra-rich, as it did during the 2008 recession and other crises. Progressive revenue proposals with broad public support that were left out of the enacted budget must be reconsidered as the true economic and budgetary impact of the pandemic becomes known. While restoring the State budget will also require federal funding, New York must not fail to enact fair taxes on those who can afford to pay and who have benefited from the work of State employees.

The next collectively bargained raise for CUNY faculty and professional staff represented by the PSC is scheduled for November 15, 2020. The PSC has not been notified of any effect on negotiated raises for CUNY workers. We will keep you informed as new information becomes available.