Keeping the Pressure on CUNY for a Fair Contract
Contract Demands Voiced at Brooklyn Hearing
Dozens of CUNY faculty and staff turned out to leaflet and testify about the PSC’s contract demands at a CUNY Board of Trustees hearing held at Brooklyn Borough Hall last night (Feb. 17). PSC members and officers read powerful selections from the emails sent by members to the CUNY Board of Trustees during the union’s Virtual Mass Contract Action earlier this month. Follow @PSC_CUNY to see tweets about this and other contract actions. Here are two:
At CUNY Trustees hearing, PSC Pres. Bowen quotes union member: “We deserve fair pay & fully retroactive increases!” pic.twitter.com/d7Ab7airAU
— PSC_CUNY (@PSC_CUNY) February 17, 2015
Bonnie Nelson, CCNY adjunct: “I deserve a raise…& esp. deserve job security. After 19 years, my salary is $17,000.” pic.twitter.com/5U3sGEr8N8
— PSC_CUNY (@PSC_CUNY) February 17, 2015
Making the Case for CUNY at the Caucus Weekend
PSC First Vice President Steve London spoke in Albany as part of the panel on Higher Education at the Caucus Weekend, an annual conference hosted this past weekend by the NYS Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. He was joined by counterparts from the SUNY faculty and staff union, as well as student activists.
CUNY is always a critical agenda item at the Caucus Weekend. In his presentation, London outlined the union’s budget platform for CUNY and urged lawmakers to fully fund CUNY’s mandatory cost increases so revenue from tuition hikes can be used, as promised, for enhancements to education at CUNY. A lunch hosted by CUNY Chancellor Milliken featured CUNY’s successes and attracted many elected officials, including Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who all spoke. In his remarks, Heastie noted that he received his MBA from Baruch College and he made it clear that higher education is an important part of his agenda.
Sign up to lobby in support of the PSC’s State budget platform at lobby days in Albany scheduled for Wed. and Thurs., Feb 25-26 and Mon. and Tues., Mar. 2-3.
CUNY Adjuncts Week of Action—Feb. 23-27
CUNY adjuncts and other “part-time” faculty are working with their PSC chapters throughout the University to organize local campus actions in support of a National Adjunct Action/Awareness Week (#NAAW) next Mon., Feb. 23 –Fri., Feb. 27. During the week of action, PSC chapters will be hosting town hall meetings, dropping a banner, leafleting, distributing buttons, and even handing out roses (“We Want Bread, and Roses Too”). The goals are to make the university community more aware of the PSC’s contract demands on behalf of part-time workers, to increase adjunct membership in the union, and to educate adjuncts and continuing education teachers about their rights and benefits. Contact Sam Lewis ([email protected] ) to join in the campaign.
Moral Monday Vigil for Public Education—Mon., Feb. 23
Teachers, parents, professors and education workers from across the city will gather for a vigil outside Gov. Cuomo’s NYC office (633 3rd Ave. between 41st and 42nd) on Mon., Feb. 23 at 12:00 noon. This latest Moral Monday demonstration is to demand a State budget that represents fairness, equity and justice for our public schools. Join clergy of all faiths and community activists as they call on lawmakers to fully fund our schools, halt the expansion of charter schools and not divert any money to private institutions. Download a flier.
Race and Admissions at CUNY: A Faculty Viewpoint from Baruch
In January The Atlantic published an article on race and admissions at CUNY’s “top-tier” senior colleges. The CUNY administration disputed the student’s story at the opening of the piece and some other details, and The Atlantic made significant changes in response; it rejected the demand by CUNY administrators that the article be withdrawn altogether.
Glenn Petersen, Chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Baruch College, argues that the core of the article was accurate, and that the problems it raises are central to CUNY’s mission. Petersen’s op-ed, which will appear in the March issue of Clarion, is now online. Tom Robbins, Investigative Journalist in Residence at the CUNY School of Journalism, writes in a letter to the editor that errors can be made even by good journalists, and that the public policy questions at issue must not be swept under the rug.
