The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) started negotiating collective bargaining agreements for CUNY staff in 2000, but the most recent fight for higher adjunct professor salaries has been an uphill battle since 2017. The PSC is a local labor union that represents 30,000 CUNY staff members. The union fights for the protection and livelihood of its members, standing up to CUNY when it fails to cater to its staff’s professional needs. Through grievance arbitration, a process that allows for the final settlement of a dispute between an employer and its unionized employees, involvement in political matters, and the advocacy of special benefits provided to its members, the PSC participates in all…
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PSC Members push for Timely Pay
After years of contract negotiations, members of the Professional Staff Congress, the union that represents CUNY faculty members, are now pushing for timely pay. Though the new contract was ratified in Aug. 2016 by a 94 percent vote, according to their website, members of the PSC learned that the pay increase included in the new contract will not begin until January 2017. PSC members have voiced their thoughts on the matter citing issues with mortgage bills, home repair, providing for their children and families and the postponement of retirement because of the delayed payment. David Gerwin, Associate Professor of Secondary Education and the chair of the PSC chapter at Queens…
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Strike authorization vote to begin
While CUNY students prepare for their finals, professors and staff have an assignment of their own—a vote to authorize use of a strike. The Professional Staff Congress, the union representing more than 25,000 professors and staff at CUNY, notified their members that a vote for a strike authorization will begin from May 2 to 11. The union’s vote is a response to the lack of a contract for employees since 2010. In a message to members, PSC President Barbara Bowen noted the vote does not mean the union will go on strike. But, she explained it would show CUNY it is prepared to get a contract. “Think about what just…
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State budget keeps funding for CUNY
CUNY will face no significant cuts in the new state budget agreed before the April 1 deadline. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced CUNY would receive over $1.6 billion in the $147.2 billion budget deal agreed by state lawmakers. This is in contrast to comments made earlier in the year by the Democratic governor on CUNY. He intended to cut state funding to CUNY by $485 million and make New York City’s government pay for it. This figure is equal to one-third of revenue for all senior colleges. Late last month the Cuomo administration, under pressure from CUNY and activist groups, sought to not pursue the cut. James Skoufis, a Democrat representing…
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Arrests made at rally to defend CUNY
Forty-one people were arrested March 24 in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York City office during a protest over proposed cuts to CUNY. Those arrested included students, faculty, staff and Councilmembers Inez Barron and I. Daneek Miller. They participated in a die-in, a tactic used by protesters in which they lie down on the ground and act dead. New York Police Department officers warned the protesters to not block the sidewalk before arresting them. The protest, organized by the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing more than 25,000 professors and staff, happened just before the April 1 deadline for a new budget from lawmakers in Albany. Governor Cuomo, in…
