Save the date for a mass online meeting for all members of the PSC: Thursday, October 29, 6:30-8:30 PM. PSC members have come together in the streets and online throughout the pandemic, and we have won some important battles to keep members safe. Now we need everyone. The biggest challenges of the pandemic for us at CUNY may be yet to come. This fall and winter we could face deeper budget cuts that become permanent, more stonewalling on restoring adjunct jobs, demands to return to on-site work in workplaces that may not be safe, increasing class size, and more. The CUNY administration has failed to stand up for the funding CUNY needs, and the incremental cuts are meant to demobilize us. We can fight back! Join PSC members from across the University as we hear about what the crisis has meant for us as workers and strategize about how we can develop the power we need. RSVP to participate in the meeting and take the next step in the campaign to Save Lives, Save Jobs, Save CUNY. The meeting will address the political, economic and racial context of our struggle: the real CUNY budget situation and holding CUNY to their obligation to provide budget transparency; the fight to rehire adjuncts and reduce class sizes; and the urgent need to protect the lives and health of CUNY workers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hunter College Rally to Reverse All Cuts and Layoffs
PSC members will hold a Rally to Reverse All Cuts and Layoffs on Zoom and in front of Hunter College tomorrow, Thursday, October 15 from 12-2 PM to demand budget transparency and an end to the State’s divestment in CUNY. Hunter College and CUNY were starved of resources before the Coronavirus Recession. Now, CUNY workers who are still fighting to protect their health and safety during a pandemic are facing more cuts and uncertainty as the State withholds funding allocated to CUNY in the enacted budget.
Join the rally to amplify the PSC’s demands for increased funding, budget transparency and a safe return to in-person work. RSVP here for the Zoom. Email Sam Lewis if you plan to attend in person.
Comptroller Stringer Proposes Free Community College, Increased Funding for ASAP, More Full-time Faculty
Comptroller Scott Stringer has announced a plan to make CUNY central to the City’s workforce development strategy. In it, Stringer proposes investing $235 million to make CUNY community colleges tuition-free and the ASAP program available to all full-time community college students. He calls for the creation of a new corps of advisors for students returning from the workforce and a “universal guaranteed paid internship program” for CUNY students. The plan also calls for investment in more full-time CUNY faculty and criticizes the low-pay and working conditions that undermine adjunct faculty’s teaching and mentorship. The union is still examining other aspects of the plan.
“For months, the PSC has said investing in CUNY would be crucial to New York’s recovery from the impact of COVID-19,” said Barbara Bowen, Professional Staff Congress President. “We applaud Comptroller Stringer for his compelling vision of CUNY’s centrality to the future of the City. Providing free tuition and funding a massive expansion of the ASAP program at the community colleges is one of the best investments the City could make to strengthen its workforce. And the Comptroller is right to point out that CUNY must start investing in its own workforce, which is increasingly made up of part-time employees. Hiring more full-time faculty and making more full-time positions available to CUNY’s dedicated adjuncts would keep CUNY in a position to provide the quality education on which the Comptroller’s plan depends.”
PSC Needs You to Help Get Out the Vote
Phone banks with PSC members have generated thousands of calls to help get out the vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in swing states. We are phone banking twice a week from now until Election Day. Click here to volunteer and join us on Zoom for a quick training and discussion before each phone bank. We’re also mobilizing union volunteers to help get out the vote for State Senator Andrew Goundares, a stalwart supporter of PSC members and CUNY students who is facing a tough re-election in a Brooklyn district that is currently favoring Donald Trump. Sign up here to help get out the vote, and while you’re at it pledge here to vote on the Working Families Party ballot line.
Bullying Prevention Awareness Events
October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. A group of PSC members working to stop bullying has been organizing a series of events to raise awareness and change the culture that allows bullying to take place within CUNY. The next two weeks of programming includes online workshops on stress management and dealing with micro-aggressions, story sharing opportunities and more. There is also a confidential survey and story collection portal available on the schedule page.
