Union Week, Mon., Dec. 5 – Fri., Dec. 9
Union Week, Monday, December 5 – Friday, December 9, will be an all-out, CUNY-wide push to demand State and City budgets that align with the #NewDeal4CUNY and fund our Contract for #APeoplesCUNY with real raises. The CUNY budget request will be under review by the CUNY Trustees that week, the Governor will be developing her next Executive Budget and CUNY may still be at risk for mid-year City budget cuts. It will take all of us to win the budget and the contract we deserve. Be sure to sign up to take action.
Phone Bank for Union Week,
Thurs, Dec 1, 5:30 PM
Union members who want to help mobilize their colleagues for Union Week can sign up here to join a phone bank with the PSC’s one-on-one outreach committee. The committee will meet on Zoom at 5:30 PM Thursday, December 1 to review the call script and lists before making the calls from 5:30-7:30 PM.
Wear #Red4HigherEd All Day, Monday, 12/5
Wear #Red4HigherEd Monday, December 5 to kick off Union Week and share your photos online. Let us know you’ll be wearing red!
I WILL WEAR RED!
Testify With PSC, 4:30 PM, Monday, 12/5
Testify before the CUNY Trustees at their public hearing Mon., Dec. 5, 4:30PM. Tell them in three minutes or less why the Board must support the PSC’s call for increased CUNY funding, the #NewDeal4CUNY and a contract for #APeoplesCUNY with real raises. The location has not yet been announced, but let us know that you can save the day and time.
I Will Testify!
Bronx Press Conference, 1 PM, Thurs., Dec 8
Click here to tell us you’ll join us Thursday, December 8 at 1:00 PM for a joint press conference with United University Professions, our sister union representing workers at SUNY. As the Governor develops her next Executive Budget, we will gather at Hostos Community College (500 Grand Concourse, The Bronx) to call for increased state investment in New York’s two great public university systems. CUNY and SUNY each need an increase of $350 million in the next NYS budget.
I’LL BE THERE IN THE BRONX
Check Your Pension Contributions During Union Week
During Union Week, make a point of confirming that your pension contributions are correct, and urge your colleagues to do the same. Don’t trust that CUNY management will take care of it. Check your pension contributions yourself—and do it during Union Week, Dec 5-9, to be part of sending a collective message: Pensions at CUNY are a result of years of union struggle, and we demand accurate records.
The PSC’s Contract Enforcement Department receives too many calls from active members who discover that their pension payments were not properly made by CUNY, or their contributions were not properly deducted. PSC members have been required to pay exorbitant amounts of money to keep their pensions intact because of CUNY’s poor record keeping.
Start by looking at your pay stubs for TRS or TIAA deductions. Then review your annual TRS or TIAA statement. If you work at multiple colleges, confirm the statement for each campus where you work shows the proper deductions. If you have prior year statements (you can get them from TRS and TIAA), confirm that the proper deductions were taken at any previous colleges where you have worked. You’ll have to pay any deficits that were not paid, so the sooner you identify a deficit, the better.
If you find pension deductions on your paystubs and annual statement, contact the college HR department, and make sure the records match. If you do not find deductions on your paystubs or annual notices or if the information HR has is incorrect, contact the PSC Contract Enforcement Department for assistance.
Annual Fall Health Benefits Transfer Period
The Fall 2022 Annual Health Benefits Program Transfer Period for all NYC Employees and Retirees (including CUNY) is November 1, 2022 through November 30, 2022. Health plan changes requested during the Transfer Period will be effective January 1, 2023.
Active employees: Click here for details.
Retirees: Click here for details.
PSC Statements of Solidarity with Striking Academic Workers
The New School
The PSC stands in solidarity with the almost 1700 striking adjunct faculty at the New School and their union, A.C.T.-U.A.W. Local 7902. Adjunct faculty are 87% of the New School’s instructional staff. The university cannot operate without them and should meet their demands to end the strike. Adjuncts at the New School deserve higher pay and pay for the work they do outside of class, better health insurance, real job security, and other gains. When the administration fails to meet the basic needs of its faculty, the students and faculty suffer. Facing rising inflation after four years without a raise, our colleagues at the New School are organized and ready to fight. The PSC is proud to stand with them and urges all CUNY adjuncts to sign the No Scab pledge.
University of California
The PSC stands with striking UAW Academic Workers at the University of California. Public higher education systems from coast to coast are the engine that promotes social mobility, and the union members are the leaders of that struggle. The 48,000 UAW members on the front lines of teaching and research deserve to earn enough to afford to live in the state of California, increased child-care benefits and expanded parental leave, and a contract that enables them to deliver quality education to UC students. University leadership must come to the table, bargain in good faith, and accede to their demands. And union members everywhere should support the UAW Academic Workers at the University of California by signing the solidarity petition and contributing to their strike fund.
PSC Member Discounts
for Working Theater Performances of
La Race
The PSC Retirees Chapter has arranged for discounted matinee performances of La Race, a play by Bleu Beckford-Burrell, at the McGinn/Cazale Theater (2162 Broadway, at 76th St.) on three Saturdays, December 3rd, 10th, and 17th, all at 2:00 PM. Seats are only $22. Click here to learn more.
The winner of more than a dozen awards, Beckford-Burrell, is a first generation Jamaican American. La Race tells the story of Maxine, a single black woman living in Far Rockaway, her personal and professional setbacks, and her campaign for City Council. It is the first play in Beckford-Burrell’s The End of the Line Anthology, which examines the intersections of people and place in the Brooklyn community where she grew up.
Published: November 23, 2022 | Last Modified: January 19, 2023
