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Statement On the Veto of the Maintenance of Effort Bill

The Maintenance of Effort bill has been vetoed, despite having passed both houses of the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill won widespread support because it would have ensured that the state’s public universities, CUNY and SUNY, receive funding to cover mandatory costs such as rent and electricity increases, negotiated salary agreements, and the difference between the highest TAP award and the actual cost of tuition.

Without such funding in place, CUNY has been forced to cannibalize its own inadequate budget and increase the amount students pay in tuition and fees in order to cover costs that should be publicly funded. CUNY colleges have cut back on academic courses and computer support, reduced library hours, shortchanged student services and increased their reliance on adjunct faculty, who are paid a near-poverty wage.

A progressive state should provide the funding necessary to maintain high-quality college education at its public universities. The PSC is grateful to the legislators who championed the bill, and we will work with the Legislature and the Governor during the budget process to make 2019 the year in which CUNY is fully funded.

PSC questions impact of Amazon deal on CUNY

The PSC has sent this letter to the CUNY administration about their unqualified support for the Amazon deal. Before developing a position on the agreement for Amazon to receive massive public subsidies in return for locating in New York City, the PSC leadership believes we need answers to our questions about the cost of the agreement, its impact on our neighborhoods, its implications for CUNY and more.

PSC Calls for Full Funding of CUNY, Enactment of Maintenance of Effort Legislation

Albany—President Barbara Bowen urged the State to increase funding for CUNY in testimony delivered Wednesday, December 5 to the Assembly Higher Education Committee. She also called on the governor to sign legislation soon to be before him that would enhance the State’s Maintenance of Effort (MOE) for CUNY and SUNY.

“The City University of New York is reaching a breaking point—in large part because the normal costs of doing business are not covered in the State’s annual budget allocation to the University. The current funding model for CUNY, even with the present MOE in place, is unsustainable. It forces the University either to cut existing academic programs to make up for the budget shortfall or to rely on huge numbers of low-wage workers as instructors or to escalate the pace of tuition and fee increases (thereby also enlarging the unfunded TAP gap) simply to stay afloat. In the absence of a full MOE, CUNY is being forced to cannibalize its own inadequate budget to cover costs that should be automatically funded by New York State,” she testified. Read the full testimony here.

Union Leaders Blockade Doors Outside CUNY Trustees Meeting

Demanding A Fair Contract, Funding for Quality Education

Elected leaders of the faculty and professional staff union at the City University of New York (CUNY) were arrested today while demanding a contract that will help ensure a quality education for the half-million CUNY students across the city. Seventeen protesters, including the union president, vice president and secretary, local campus leaders and members of the executive council, blocked the doors to Baruch College near the Flatiron District of Manhattan during a meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees. Hundreds more CUNY faculty and staff chanted “CUNY Trustees, do you job! Demand the funding CUNY needs!” during the blockade.

CUNY’s 30,000 faculty and staff have been without a contract for more than a year. Their union, the Professional Staff Congress, is demanding that the University Board of Trustees use its power and press the State and City to provide the funding needed to pay competitive salaries to faculty and staff and raise the near-poverty wage currently paid to 12,000 adjunct faculty.

2019 PSC Elections

Deadline for filing Declaration Of Candidacy form: January 11

Seventeen PSC chapters are scheduled to hold elections in the spring of 2019. They will elect chapter officers, delegates and alternates to the PSC Delegate Assembly, along with representatives to the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund Advisory Council. Candidate Declaration forms are available at the PSC office and here on the PSC website. (Click here to download a form to declare a slate.). To vote in the Spring 2019 PSC elections, you must have signed a PSC membership card and returned it to the PSC office before December 3, 2018. Only members can vote in union elections or contract ratification votes. The deadline for filing the Candidate Declaration form is January 11, 2019. Click here for the list of chapters that will hold elections, the election rules and other deadlines.

Citywide Day of Action to Demand that New York “Fund CUNY ASAP”

Students, community groups and unions launched a Citywide Day of Action on Wednesday, November 14 to demand that Albany and City Hall fully fund the City University of New York (CUNY) and expand programs shown to double graduation rates and save CUNY $6,500 per graduate. These programs—Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) and Accelerate Complete Engage (ACE)—offer smaller classes and better advisement, as well as free tuition, MetroCards and books.

Add your name to the Fund CUNY ASAP petition.

The Day of Action was part of the Fund CUNY ASAP campaign organized by the CUNY Rising Alliance, a coalition of 33 organizations that fights for free and quality education at CUNY.

Timed to coincide with the CUNY Board of Trustees’ formulation of the University’s budget request to the State and City for the next fiscal year, the day featured petitioning blitzes on ten campuses in all five boroughs organized by NYPIRG, PSC chapters, CUNY Rising, and the CUNY University Student Senate.

The petition addressed to Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio demands that New York fully fund CUNY and make ASAP and ACE available to all CUNY students. Per-student State support for CUNY senior colleges declined by 18% between 2008 and 2018. And the State’s refusal to fund collective bargaining costs has forced colleges to cut their already reduced budgets for academic programs and student support. City and State funding for the CUNY community colleges has been increasing, but not nearly enough to support CUNY-wide ASAP-level investments in student success.

PSC Statement on the Tree of Life Mass Murder

Dear Colleagues,

Last night the PSC Executive Council adopted this statement on the horrible mass murder in the Tree of Life synagogue last weekend. We woke up to learn that there has been more anti-Semitic desecration, right here in New York. Vile and threatening graffiti was found inside a synagogue in Brooklyn. Now it becomes even more urgent for us, as union members and New Yorkers, to take care of each other and repudiate all forms of anti-Semitism and racism.

Please read and share the statement below, and join colleagues in peaceful actions to demonstrate that we will not tolerate racism or anti-Semitism in New York City, or anywhere. Labor and universities have an important role to play in this crisis.

Let’s rise to the current moment and all it demands of us.

In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen

Getting to Tenure: A Road Map for Queens College Faculty

• Tired of living in dread and ignorance about the tenure process?

• Have you been told what is required for tenure?

• Do you know who votes on your tenure?

• What role do teaching and service play in your tenure decision?

• Do you know what to do if you receive a letter of non-reappointment or if you have not had an annual evaluation?

Come to a forum hosted by the Queens College chapter of your union, the Professional Staff Congress, and have these and other questions answered by people who know

Welcome

Enrollment for Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Ends Oct 31

CUNY’s Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank is a pool of voluntarily donated sick leave and annual leave available for potential use as sick leave by all full-time employees at CUNY (instructional and classified) who are also donors to the bank. The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank, which arose out of a PSC contract campaign, exemplifies worker solidarity and mutual support. It gives CUNY workers a way to offer aid to colleagues dealing with a catastrophic illness and provides a place to turn for help if they face a similar need. The open enrollment period for the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank will be held from October 1 to October 31. Workers must donate leave in a program year to be eligible to receive leave in that year (up to 90 days). Click here for program requirements and to learn how to donate and receive leave from the bank.

Workplace Health and Safety Drop-In/Call-In Clinic

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