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PSC News
and Updates |
GO TO:
| Bargaining Agenda | Agreement on PSC-CUNY Awards | Early Retirement Incentive | Contract Education Training |
Budget News |
Key Federal Legislation Passes in August
|
CUNY Execs Get Raises |
Unemployed Legislation for Adjuncts
| HEO Comp Time |
Support Labor Rights Campaign |
Development Grants |
DA Resolutions
& Minutes |
Agency Fee |
Court Ruling on Agency Fee |
New Community College
| Regents' "Reforms' Rejected | Race & Employment at CUNY
|
UFS Faculty Satisfaction Survey |
Pension Equity |
Sick Leave |
RF Rallies |
Substitute Agreement | Agreement on Adjunct
Winter Session Teaching Load | One Nation March
| Bernard Sohmer (1929-2010) |
Clarion Wins More Awards |
Dream Act |
PSC Theater Evening | Elections |
Adjunct Pay Dates |
2011 Chapter Elections | |
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weekly calendar.
Elections
Committee,
Thursday,
January 27, 5
pm, PSC Union
Hall, 61
Broadway, 16th
floor.
Cancelled due to
snow.
Community
College Chapter
Chairs,
Thursday,
January 27, 5
pm, PSC Office, 61
Broadway, 15th
floor.
Cancelled due to
snow.
Delegate
Assembly,
Thursday,
January 27, 6:30
pm, PSC Union
Hall, 61
Broadway, 16th
floor.
Cancelled due to snow.
Chapter
Meetings:
None scheduled
Go to
calendar for details and more information on upcoming events.
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PSC Delegates
Adopt
Bargaining
Agenda
[1/19/11 UPDATE;The PSC
and CUNY will
hold their first
bargaining
session to
discuss the new
contract on
Wednesday,
January 26. The
old contract
expired on
October 20, 2010
but under State
law all its
protections
remain in
place.]
In a packed
meeting attended
by more than 200
people, the PSC
Delegate
Assembly voted
on Nov. 4 to
adopt a
bargaining
agenda for
negotiations on
a new contract.
Delegates
approved the
proposal from
the union’s
Executive
Council by a
wide margin. Its
main themes,
which follow the
union’s
strategic
priorities,
include:
-
maintaining
progress on
salaries;
-
creating a
process for
advancement
for
employees in
Higher
Education
Officer-series
titles;
-
achieving
substantial
movement
toward
parity and
job
stability
for
adjuncts;
-
restructuring
full-time
faculty
workload to
allow more
time for
students and
research.
The demands
approved by the
DA include other
initiatives such
as tuition
waivers at CUNY
for members’
children and
additional
support for
department
chairs. In
addition to the
115 delegates
and alternates,
more than 100
other PSC
members
attended, most
of whom came to
voice their
support for the
urgency of
winning gains on
adjunct parity.
The main focus
of the evening’s
energetic
discussion was
on the best
strategy to
reach that goal.
Click
here
for the full text of the
demands in a
special
supplement
of the
December 2010
Clarion.
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Elections:
Union Action
Makes Difference
in Key Races
Grassroots
action by the
PSC and other
unions helped
elect a number
of pro-union,
pro-CUNY
candidates in a
year when
Republicans
racked up
electoral gains
with calls for
cuts in public
spending.
“I believe in
movement
politics,” said
Attorney
General-elect
Eric
Schneiderman.
“This was a
campaign of
activists – and
boy, did we show
what activists
can do.”
Schneiderman’s
55%-44% victory
came with strong
backing from the
PSC and other
unions, tenant
organizations
and groups
dedicated to
equal rights for
all. Comptroller
Tom DiNapoli won
by 50%-47% with
a campaign that
hit hard at his
main opponent’s
cozy
relationship
with Wall
Street.
Get-out-the-vote
organizing by
unions was a big
reason that
candidates
hostile to
public workers
lost both races.
Efforts by the
PSC and other
unions also made
the difference
in a State
Senate upset in
Queens, where
Tony Avella, a
strong advocate
for public
education,
defeated
anti-immigrant
State Sen. Frank
Padavan.
Avella was one
of several
elected
officials who
attended a
reception that
the PSC held on
Thursday,
December 16th to
honor union
volunteers in
these key
campaigns.
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Joined by a green, furry
friend, RF workers and supporters picket 12/22/11 RF Board meeting.
Details and photos.

Click
image to
play video
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RF Workers on Three Campuses continue to rally
◄RF BOARD SAYS "BAH, HUMBUG! " RF WORKERS SAY "FIGHT BACK!" December 22. The Grinch tried to share his inspiring story of redemption today with the the CUNY Research Foundation at its biannual meeting.
The Grinch, now a reformed man, once tried to steal Christmas from the Whos in Whosville. But when he couldn't break their spirit, he had a change of heart and gave Christmas back to the Whos.
When the Grinch tried to enter building to attend the RF meeting -- so that he could convince the Board to have a change heart, like he did, and restore Christmas -- he was ceremoniously turned away. It was a moment that stood in stark contrast to the holiday spirit, the Grinch's own inspiring story and the solidarity of RF workers and supporters picketing the meeting. Details and photos.
[Posted 9/30/10] CUNY Research Foundation (RF) employees held coordinated protests at three City University campuses last week, each demanding a fair first contract. In the protests at City Tech, LaGuardia and the Graduate Center, held September 27, 28 and 29 respectively, RF workers and other PSC members called on management to move toward a settlement at the September 30 collective bargaining session.
About 550 RF employees, many of them part-timers, work at the three campuses. Some of them have not received a pay raise in a decade.
“It was rousing to have people here from so many areas,” said Jay Klokker, an RF worker who teaches English as a Second Language at the City Tech’s Adult Learning Center. “I hope this will be the nudge that the Research Foundation needs to settle this in a fair way.” RF employees on the three campuses were joined by library and teaching faculty, CLTs and several members of a SUNY-Stony Brook union local.
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Click the
image
above to read January '11
Clarion. |
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CUNY and PSC
Reach Agreement
on Enhanced PSC-CUNY
Awards/ NEW
GUIDELINES SET.
CUNY and the PSC
have finalized
agreement on new
guidelines for
PSC-CUNY
Research Awards.
The CUNY
Research
Foundation
website has the
full text of the
guidelines,
which will
govern a
three-year pilot
program
beginning this
year.
The application
deadline for
this cycle of
awards is
January 28,
2011. In future
years, the
deadline will be
January 15, but
it was extended
this year due to
the time it took
to work out all
the details of
the pilot
program. All
applications, as
in the past,
must be
submitted
electronically;
details are
online
here.
Under the new
guidelines,
applications
must now be
submitted for
one of three
categories of
awards:
-
Traditional
A Awards, of
up to
$3,500.
-
Traditional
B Awards, of
more than
$3,500 and
up to
$6,000.
-
Enhanced
Awards, of
more than
$6,000 and
up to
$12,000.
Last year the
average award
was about
$3,400, and this
year the largest
number of awards
will be in the
Traditional A
category. The
most competitive
category is
expected to be
the Enhanced
Awards, of up to
$12,000. In a
change from the
past, selection
panels will not
reduce requested
budgets; if an
award in any
category is
granted, it will
be funded in
full.
“I want to thank
members for
their patience;
I know many of
you have been
eager to see the
new guidelines
so you can
prepare
applications,”
said PSC
President
Barbara Bowen.
“By extending
the deadline to
the end of
January, we
hoped to create
enough time for
you to prepare.”
Further details
will be in the
next issue of
Clarion,
and on this
website.
(The January
Clarion has an
in-depth article
which provides
more details.
[Posted
12/21/10]
[An earlier
story was posted
on 8/23/10].
The Professional
Staff Congress
and The City
University of
New York are
pleased to
announce a
three-year pilot
program to
streamline the
selection
process and
enhance the PSC-CUNY
Research
Awards. As part
of the
restructured
program, faculty
retain
responsibility
for the
selection
process; a new
category of
awards of up to
$12,000 has been
introduced; and
the application
deadline has
been changed to
January 15. In
reaching the
agreement with
the University,
the PSC
leadership
worked closely
with the chair
of the
University
Faculty Senate
and current
members of the
University
Committee on
Research
Awards.
Details.
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PSC theater
evening is
Jan. 23
By Steve
Leberstein,
Retirees
Chapter
The Retirees
Chapter and the
PSC Women’s
Committee are
sponsoring the
union’s fourth
winter theater
event, with the
Working
Theater’s
production of
“Honey Brown
Eyes” on Sunday,
January 23 at
3:00 pm. Last
year’s event,
André De
Shields’s
one-person show
about the life
of Frederick
Douglass, drew
60 PSC members,
who were wildly
enthusiastic
about the play
and De Shields’
performance.
This year the
feature is
“Honey Brown
Eyes,” a play
set during the
Bosnian War in
1992. It tells
the story of two
friends and
former bandmates
who find
themselves on
opposite sides
of the conflict.
Interestingly
enough for a
play about war,
most of the
violence takes
place off-stage,
with the action
set entirely
within the
confines of two
separate
kitchens.
“It certainly
brings home the
message that war
happens to
people,
families,” says
playwright
Stefanie
Zadravec. “I can
separate myself
from war if I
think of tanks
on a
battlefield, big
ships and
missiles, but
empty cupboards
in a kitchen,
that means
something to
me.”
“The play is a
theatrical
powerhouse
taking an
unflinching look
at the lengths
ordinary people
will go to
survive a brutal
war,” said the
Working
Theater’s
artistic
director Mark
Plesent. “When I
first read
Stefanie’s
play...I was
struck with the
sensation that
if, god forbid,
the events of
the play were
taking place in
New York City,
it would be
taking place in
the kitchens of
Working
Theater’s
constituency.
These are people
who didn’t ask
for this war,
but now that it
is happening
find themselves
challenged in
the most
extraordinary
ways.” The
playwright,
Stefanie
Zadravec will
join us for a
question and
answer session
following the
play.
The event will
be at Clurman
Theater at
Theater Row, on
W. 42nd St.
between 9th &
10th Aves.
Tickets for PSC
members are $20.
Reserve your
seats today –
last year’s
event was sold
out! Send your
checks, payable
to “Working
Theater,” to
Steve Leberstein
at the PSC, 61
Broadway, 15th
floor, NY 10006,
as soon as
possible. For
more
information,
e-mail me at
sleberstein@pscmail.org.
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CUNY and PSC
Reach Agreement
on SUBSTITUTES.
The PSC and CUNY
entered into an
important
settlement
agreement
affecting the
use of
substitutes by
the University
that will end
the abuse of the
substitute title
and establish
new rights for
PSC members who
serve in
substitute
titles.
Details.
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Clarion Wins 4 National Labor Media Awards.
Clarion garnered four first-place awards for excellence at the November 19 International Labor Communicators Association annual awards event. Competing against local union newspapers from across the United States and Canada, the PSC’s newspaper took the top prize for Best Profile, Best Analysis, Best Editorial or Column, and Best Photo.
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DREAM Act
DREAM
DEFERRED.
The DREAM Act
would provide a
path to
citizenship for
hundreds of
thousands of
undocumented
young people who
have grown up
and been
educated in the
U.S. The
House narrowly
approved the
legislation on
Wednesday
(12/8), but the
Republican
Caucus in the
Senate blocked
it on Saturday
(12/18) from
reaching the 60
vote threshold
necessary to
prevent a
filibuster and
bring it to the
floor. The
Obama
administration
and Senate
supporters vowed
to reintroduce
the bill in
January when the
new Congress
convenes.
College
supporters from
across the U.S.,
including
hundreds at
CUNY, vowed to
continue
organizing for
the bill.
[Posted
12/18/10]
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Agreement on
Winter Session
Teaching Load
for Adjuncts.
In response to
requests from
department
chairs and
adjuncts for a
change in the
contractual
provision on
winter session
workload, the
PSC and CUNY
management
signed an
agreement last
week to allow
adjuncts to
teach up to
eight hours
during the 2011
winter session
at all CUNY
colleges (except
Kingsborough and
LaGuardia, for
which a separate
agreement on
winter teaching
load already
exists).
Classroom
contact hours
during the 2011
winter session
will not be
counted toward
adjuncts’
workload in the
fall 2010
semester or the
spring 2011
semester.
“The union
leadership
appreciates how
hard it is for
adjuncts who
rely on their
CUNY employment
to make a living
wage, and how
hard it is for
department
chairs to staff
their courses
given the
inadequate
funding they
receive for
full-time
faculty
positions,” said
PSC President
Barbara Bowen.
“I hope this
agreement
provides some
relief; it
recognizes the
fact that almost
all CUNY
colleges now
offer a
significant
winter session
with courses for
full credit.”
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MLC PRESS CONFEFRENCE

Barbara Bowen speaking
at Municipal Labor Committee press conference on Thursday, 12/16 on the
steps of City Hall protesting the city's wasting millions of dollars on
private contractors while CUNY is being cut, firehouses are being
closed, and low-paid City workers are losing their jobs. Click
here for NY1 coverage. Photo credit: Dave Sanders
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to top |
THE
BUDGET CRISIS:
PSC Tells the City Council:
Hike Funding, Not Tuition. PSC President Barbara
Bowen told the City Council Higher Education Committee on Thursday
that CUNY’s planned reliance on tuition hikes would reduce students’
access to college and undermine public funding for higher education.
Bowen argued that increased public investment rather than tuition
increases is the way to fund CUNY. She called for the restoration of
progressive tax policy to make such investment possible. She also
debunked a popular myth that financial aid protects the poorest
students from tuition hikes and called for targeted financial aid
reforms.
PSC to Join in February Lobbying Pushback Against Cuomo’s Austerity Agenda; Please Get Involved Now.
Given the signals of severe budget cuts, wage freezes, tax caps, and other austerity measures coming from the Cuomo Administration, NYSUT has scheduled two important statewide events.
An extraordinary lobby day to be held February 15 at the Capitol will bring in grassroots lobbyists early to speak up on bedrock issues: budget, revenues, jobs and defending union rights. Unprecedented statewide home district lobby days are being planned for February 3 and 4 to turn out members in full force from one end of the state to another, carrying our messages to legislators in their district offices. "We must fight back now to preserve a quality education for our students and hard-won benefits and labor rights," said Steve London, PSC First Vice President. Please contact
Amanda Magalhaes
to learn more and sign up to participate.
City Council Restores $4 Million to CUNY Community Colleges.
On January 6 the City Council restored $4 million to CUNY community colleges out of a $11.8 million cut proposed by Mayor Bloomberg in his mid-year reductions. The bulk of the $4 million restoration will be targeted to instruction.
“Members' actions, advocacy, and voluntary contributions to PSC-CUNY COPE [Committee on Political Education] made possible this important gain,” said PSC First Vice President Steve London. “The PSC partnered with City Council members and Speaker Quinn to win these restorations. And it was our PSC-CUNY COPE contributions that helped us elect City Council members who understand the importance of funding CUNY.”
LABOR PUTS
OUT ALTERNATIVES
TO GOVERNOR'S
PLANNED BUDGET
CUTS & TAX CAPS.
Gov. Andrew
Cuomo outlined
his plans for
budget cuts and
tax caps in his
State of the
State speech on
January 4.
Cuomo wants to
end the
"millionaire's
tax" income tax
surcharge when
it expires later
this year, a
position opposed
by a broad range
of unions &
community
organizations.
Labor groups
have advocated
an alternative
strategy.
A new
labor/community
coalition,
Strong Economy
for All, is
running
radio ads
that call for
Wall Street and
New York's
wealthy to pay
their fair
share. An
article in the
January
Clarion,
by James
Parrott of the
Fiscal Policy
Institute,
outlines a range
of alternatives
to deep budget
cuts.
testimony on
next year's
STATE budget.
PSC President
Barbara Bowen
testified
on next year's
CUNY budget at
the Board of
Trustees public
hearing on
November 15.
Bowen spoke in
support of
CUNY's request
for funds to
create 275
additional
full-time
faculty
positions and
improve student
services, but
did not support
the
administration's
proposed tuition
increase.
Click
here for
Bowen's
testimony and
here
to read more
about why a
tuition increase
is not the
answer to CUNY's
budget needs.
FACULTY &
STUDENTS SPEAK
OUT VS MAYOR'S
CC Budget
Cuts. [Posted
12/8/10]
Faculty members and college students gathered at City Hall at
noon on Wednesday, December 8th to speak out on the impact of Mayor Bloomberg’s 5.4% cut in City
funding for CUNY’s community colleges. The midyear reduction of $13
million will mean a loss of hundreds of class sections and adjunct
faculty positions. Increased class size and decreased support services
will harm students’ education and hurt graduation rates.
More.
3,000 Against
CUNY Budget
Cuts.
[Posted
11/29/10]
A PSC
petition against
Mayor
Bloomberg’s
planned midyear
cut in City
funding for CUNY
community
colleges was
delivered to the
City Council on
Nov. 22. Signed
by 3,000
faculty, staff
and students,
the petition was
accepted by
Ydanis
Rodriguez, chair
of the Council’s
Higher Education
Committee.
Rodriguez said
he would argue
for CUNY as a
priority in
discussions with
Speaker
Christine Quinn
and other
Council members.
“Our classrooms
are already
overcrowded,”
said Geoff
Kurtz, an
assistant
professor at
BMCC who helped
deliver the
petitions. “The
budget cuts the
mayor is
proposing could
lead to more
than a 20%
increase in
class sizes by
next year at
BMCC.” The
mayor’s plan
would reduce
City support for
CUNY community
college
operations by
5.4%, or $13
million this
year and $16.5
million next
year.
The CUNY
reductions were
among a range of
cuts to public
services that
Bloomberg
announced Nov.
18, in a plan
that was
immediately
criticized by
City Council
leaders. “CUNY,
libraries,
after-school
programs, those
are services
that our middle
class utilizes
every day,”
Quinn said to
Gotham Gazette.
She vowed that
the Council
would have a
voice in
decisions on the
midyear
reductions, even
if Bloomberg
structures the
package of cuts
to avoid a
Council vote.
If you haven’t
already signed
the PSC
petition, it’s
not too late to
add your name.
You can sign
online
here.
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B.O.T. VOTES
"YES" ON
Early
Retirement
Incentive.
The CUNY BOT
voted on Monday
(6/28) to allow
all fulltime
members of the
instructional
staff who have
at least 10
years of service
and are at least
50 years old as
of January 27,
2011 to consider
taking the state
sponsored early
retirement
incentive.
Two separate
PSC information brochures on CUNY’s 2010 Early Retirement Incentive (ERI)
are now
available.
-
TRS brochure
for members
of the
Teachers
Retirement
System.
-
ORP brochure is for members of TIAA-CREF and other plans in CUNY’s Optional Retirement Program
(ORP).
ERI information is also available on the
CUNY website.
The
incentive will
provide for
members of the
NYC Teachers
Retirement
System
additional
service credit
of one month for
each year of
service to a
maximum of 36
months for 36
years of
service.
Members of TIAA/CREF
will receive
1/12xyears of
servicex15%
salary to a
maximum of 45%
of salary with
36 years of
service. This
lump sum will go
directly into
the TIAA/CREF
pension plan in
late spring of
2011. Travia
and annual
payments will be
spread out over
3 payments in
late spring of
2011, 2012 and
2013. There will
be January, 2011
deadline dates
by which forms
will have to be
filed with both
the university
and the
retirement
system. The PSC
will be setting
up meetings in
the fall on each
campus for those
interested. CUNY
will also be
holding meetings
in all 5
boroughs and
TIAA/CREF
individual
counselors will
be on campus
continuously to
meet with
instructional
staff. For
those interested
in making an
appointment with
a TIAA/CREF
counselor please
call
1-800-732-8353.
Clarissa Weiss,
PSC Pension and
Welfare Benefits
Director, is
visiting
campuses to talk
about ERI.
Click
here
for a calendar
of her visits.
(Click
here for
the joint PSC-CUNY
announcement of
the ERI.)
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Dedicated
Sick Leave Program at CUNY Announced
[Posted 5/3/10] The PSC is proud to announce that CUNY now has a Dedicated Sick Leave program allowing eligible participants to donate and receive sick days in cases of serious injury or illness. The program arises from a PSC contract demand and fulfills a commitment made in the current contract to negotiate a Dedicated Sick Leave program modeled on the City of New York’s program. Negotiations continue on allowing part-time employees to receive donated sick days, and to create a Sick Day Bank, on which individuals could also draw. The new program covers full-time instructional and classified staff at CUNY and, in a first, was jointly bargained by all the unions representing affected staff at CUNY. Full-time faculty and staff can donate and receive leave from their PSC colleagues, and also from department secretaries and custodial workers.
The program’s eligibility requirements are based on the City’s program, and are specified in the full text of the agreement. To receive dedicated sick leave, a full-time employee has to have been employed at least 2 years at CUNY and have an illness or injury requiring an absence of at least 30 continuous working days. Employees with fewer than 5 years of service may donate only annual leave. Employees with 5 years or more may also donate up to 10 sick leave days per year. Annual leave is credited to a recipient as a full day; sick leave is credited to a recipient as a half day.
Program details and the applications to donate and receive leave will be posted on the PSC website shortly. College HR Offices are responsible for implementing this benefit; contact your HR Office for more details.
Click
here
for a PDF of the
agreement.
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ELECTION NOTICE
Click
here
for a schedule
and list of
chapters up for
election in
April (and
election and
nomination
procedures).
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ADJUNCT PAY
DATES
Click
here
for the Spring
2011 pay dates.
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RF Workers
rally
◄More than 40
protesters
rallied outside
CUNY Researh
Foundation
headquarters in
midtown
Manhattan on
Monday May 24 to
demand that PSC
members at the
NYC Tech,
LaGuardia and
Graduate Center
Research
Foundations
receive a fair
first contract.
RF-CUNY has
offered salary
increases of
only 1.5% while
demanding that
workers
immediately
increase the
contribution to
their health
insurance
premium from 11%
to 19% while
offering them
salary increases
of only
1.5%. During the
protest, PSC
First Vice
President Steve
London and two
members of the
union bargaining
teams went to
the RF Board of
Directors
meeting on the
8th floor and
delivered
petitions, that
were signed by
700 people, to
RF President
Richard Rothbard.
Help us send the
message that RF
workers deserve
a fair contract
now! Click
here
to sign the
petition to the
RF Board of
Directors.
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CUNY TRUSTEES
GIVE RAISES TO
CHANCELLOR, VICE
CHANCELLOR AND
COLLEGE
PRESIDENTS
On November 23,
CUNY’s
chancellor, vice
chancellors and
college
presidents were
awarded raises
by a vote of the
Board of
Trustees.
The largest
raise for a CUNY
college
president went
to Hunter’s
Jennifer Raab,
whose 8% raise
in base pay came
to $18,863. Most
presidents
received
increases
between 4% and
5%, ranging from
about $8,500 to
$12,000 apiece.
Increases for
vice chancellors
were more
uniform: almost
every vice
chancellor
received a 5%
increase, which
added up to
about $10,000 to
$14,000 each.
Chancellor
Goldstein’s
$450,000 salary
was increased by
$40,000, to a
total of
$490,000 per
year. This
9% increase came
on top of a 14%
increase in Fall
2008. In
addition to
salary, the
chancellor also
receives a
housing
allowance of
$90,000 per year
and use of a car
and driver.
[Excerpted from
an article by
Peter Hogness in
the January
Clarion.]
Click
here
for a
compilation of
the raises for
vice chancellors
and college
presidents.
NY TIMES: "Growth of CUNY
Chancellor’s
Salary Outpaces
Rise in
Faculty’s Pay"
This
was the headline
in a Thursday,
May 13th
NY Times
article on
the disparity
between
executive and
faculty salaries
at CUNY.
Read the
Times
article,
then check out a
January 2010
article from
Clarion
plus a detailed
chart on
this website on
CUNY executive
pay raises.
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PROPOSED
New CUNY
Community
College RAISES
QUESTION.
The union's
Delegate
Assembly passed
a resolution at
its 12/17/09
meeting stating
that “the PSC
cannot support
CUNY’s proposal
for a new
community
college in its
current form.”
The resolution
called for the
proposal to
address: liberal
arts education;
permanent,
tenured or
tenure-track
faculty; a 70/30
full-time/part-time
ratio; faculty
governance;
academic
departments and
elected
department
chairs; academic
freedom;
adherence to the
union contract;
open admissions
and access; and
the possibility
of unequal
resources. The
PSC will urge
the NYS
Department of
Education to
withhold
approval until
these issues are
satisfactorily
resolved.
Click
here
for an analysis
of the issues
raised by 80th
Street's plans
for a new
community college.
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RACE &
EMPLOYMENT AT
CUNY.
More than six
years ago, CUNY
college
presidents
called for a
“revitalization”
of the
University’s
affirmative
action programs.
Progress since
then has been
uneven: A few
steps forward
and some notable
steps backward.
Click
here
for Clarion
article.
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Click
image to send
an "Act Now" letter to Albany urging passage of a bill for adjunct
unemployment benefits.
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UNEMPLOYMENT
BILL FOR
ADJUNCTS
◄As the PSC
continues its
fight for a fair
budget for CUNY,
we are pressing
to remedy the
serious inequity
in the state
unemployment
insurance
program. Current
law is unfairly
exploited to
prevent
part-time
faculty from
claiming the
benefits due
them, the same
benefits to
which all other
seasonal workers
are entitled.
Please join the
push for
fairness now by
signing the
letter to Albany
lawmakers
here.
Click
here
for
more information.
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PSC, UUP,
NYSUT Leaders
Reject Regents’
Proposed
“Reforms”
This Fall, the
New York State
Board of Regents
proposed
sweeping changes
to teacher
preparation
that, if
enacted, could
affect thousands
of PSC and UUP
members who
teach in
departments of
education, and,
of course,
future teachers.
Schools of
education are
already subject
to national
accreditation
and the Regents’
proposals are
largely untested
and, in many
respects,
clearly unwise,”
said PSC First
Vice President
Steve London,
who has worked
on the union’s
position, which
was informed by
extensive
discussions with
the education
faculty. Last
week, PSC
President
Barbara Bowen,
UUP President
Phil Smith and
NYUST First Vice
President Maria
Neira wrote
Education
Commissioner
David Steiner
rebutting the
proposals. “The
proposal would
have been
strengthened by
involving
faculty in these
discussions,”
Bowen, Smith,
and Neira wrote
before arguing
each point in
detail. (See the
letter
here).
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Final
Phase of
pension equity
victory
increasing take
home pay
April 2010 saw
the
implementation
of the final
phase of the
legislative
victory on
pension equity
spearheaded by
the PSC. The
pension equity
legislation,
passed in 2008
as a result of
intense advocacy
in Albany,
increases
take-home pay
for employees in
the Optional
Retirement
Programs
(primarily
TIAA-CREF) who
have 10 years of
full-time
service.
Details.
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PSC & TIAA
EXPLORE
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
SOLUTIONS.
More than 1,200
PSC members
returned an
affordable
housing survey
that the union
sent out this
summer. The
survey was an
initial step
toward assessing
what role the
union might play
in addressing
members’ housing
needs.
Details.
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HEO OVERTIME
AGREEMENT
Overtime pay and
compensatory
time have been
crucial issues
for HEOs and the
union has
pursued a
multi-pronged
strategy to
address it. More
than a
year ago an
arbitration
ruling
definitively
declared that
the PSC contract
bars CUNY from
regularly
scheduling HEOs
for more than 35
hours a
week. The
arbitrator also
ruled that the
contract allows
CUNY to grant
compensatory
time off to HEOs. In
May 2007, the
union also won a
legal
settlement,
based on the
federal Fair
Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) that
established
time-and-a-half
overtime pay for
eligible HEO
series employees
for time worked
beyond 40 hours
in a week. The
union and the
University have
now worked out
an
implementation
agreement in
response to
these rulings.
The August 24
deadline for
filing comp.
time claims
comes from that
agreement.
HEOs who have
questions about
the agreement
after reading
the
mailing
should call the
Contract
Enforcement
Department at
the PSC to speak
with a HEO
grievance
counselor.
(Please read the
letter and
enclosed Q&A
sheet first…it
might answer
your questions
without the need
for a call.)
HEOs can read
the overtime
implementation
agreement by
clicking
here.
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Be One
of the Million
Signatories in Support
of Labor Rights
The American
Federation of Teachers
(AFT, our parent union)
announced a campaign to
collect one million
signatures on a
petition
calling on the new
president and Congress
to pass the federal
Employee Free Choice Act
(EFCA). EFCA would
reform our national
labor law to protect the
right of workers to form
unions. Current labor
law is tilted in favor
of the employer and
fails to guarantee that
workers who try to form
unions will not face
vicious anti-union
campaigns by their
employers. The result is
that fewer workers are
able to join unions,
which means fewer
workers have the power
to bargain for better
wages and work
conditions. This dynamic
means that there is a
downward pull on the pay
and quality of all jobs.
Click
here
to
add your name to the
petition -- or click the
button below.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
For
information and application materials for HEO-CLT grants and the
new series of
Adjunct/CET grants click
here.
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DELEGATE ASSEMBLY
MINUTES
The minutes for the PSC
Delegate Assembly, beginning with the 2006-2007 academic year, are
now online (click
here). |
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PSC MODIFIES AGENCY
FEE REBATE POLICY
On April 3, 2008, the
PSC modified its agency
fee rebate notice and
procedure for
consistency with
existing rulings on the
subject and a decision
of the Second Circuit of
the U.S. Court of
Appeals. Details.
New Court Ruling on Agency Fee Withholdings.
In
October, 2009, the US Court of Appeals upheld the PSC’s right to charge non-members for political activities aimed at securing a new contract and for lobbying efforts related to collective bargaining, but remanded to the Second District Court for further review the bases of the union’s actual apportionment of charges in four categories of expense and one category of expense of the PSC’s national affiliate. Details |
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