The PSC Fight to Improve Life for Junior Faculty at CUNY

Paid Parental Leave

Junior Faculty were at the forefront of a fight that made PSC the first public employee union in the state of New York to win paid parental leave, starting in July 2008. Funding is available through June 30, 2010 for new parents to take up to eight consecutive weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or for newly adopted children up to one year of age. Union members will be organizing to win Paid Parental leave as a permanent benefit in the upcoming contract negotiations. The current contract expires on October 19, 2010.

Reassigned Time for Research

The PSC won 24 hours of reassigned timeduringthe first five years of service for untenured faculty appointed on or after September 1, 2006. (The union had previously gained 12 hours during the first three years.)

Better PSC-CUNY Grants

In 2010, the PSC worked with CUNY to add larger grants, streamline the selection process and maintain faculty control of the PSC-CUNY awards. The changes will be part of a three year pilot project from 2010-13. PSC-CUNY grants are funded through the contract for CUNY faculty, with a particular emphasis on grants to untenured faculty. There is an application process, and grants are administered through the CUNY Research Foundation website.

Fighting Pay Reductions

In May 2010, the PSC and other public employee unions joined forces to win a court order blocking Governor Paterson’s effort to cut public employee pay by 20% through a furlough scheme.

Dedicated Sick Leave

Won in the most recent contract and effective summer 2010, full-timeemployees who have exhausted their own sick leave can use up to 120 days or 6 months (whichever is greater) per year of paid leave donated by other full-time employees, if they meet various eligibility requirements, including being out sick for at least 30 consecutive work days.

Sabbaticals

In 2006, the union won an increase in annual sabbatical pay (called fellowship leave) to 80% of the annual salary.

Keeping Department Chairs in the Bargaining Unit

The union has repeatedly rejected management’s proposals to remove faculty from union representation when they are elected department chairs.
Academic Freedom

The PSC and its chapters fight to maintain and encourage the academic freedom of their members.For instance, when the HunterCollege administration announced a policy requiring professors to receive prior approval before talking to public officials, the chapter passed a resolution denouncing the policy as “an assault on the academic freedom and basic democratic rights of the Hunter community.” The Hunter administration subsequently revised the policy.

Conversion Lines

As part of the union fight for more full-time lines, during 2007-2009, the university agreed to create 200 new full-time lecturer lines throughout CUNY and to hire from the pool of long-serving adjuncts.

Safer Working Conditions

CUNY employees are entitled by law and by contract to a safe and healthy workplace. The PSC chapters and the PSC Health and Safety Committee work to assure that the CUNY administration responds to the health and safety concerns of instructional staff. These concerns range from indoor air quality,over (or under) heated classrooms,and lack of proper ventilation, to swine flu preparedness. PSC members have addressed these concerns through labor management meetings, legislative campaigns, member education and direct action.

Keeping CUNY Affordable

Into the summer of 2010, the PSC was at the forefront of a battle against Governor Paterson’s proposal to charge differential tuition for different undergraduate majors and to replace public funding with private tuition dollars. PSC leadership and members made numerous trips to Albany, pressed legislators at their New York City offices, and led a campaign that generated more than 7,500 letters from members protesting the proposed legislation.

To get involved in the union’s contract campaign, legislative action, or just get more information, you can call the PSC Office, (212) 354-1252, visit the PSC website, or contact your chapter chair (names and contact information on website).