►CONTRACT FAQs.  Click here.

►WHEN NEW PROVISIONS IN THE CONTRACT TAKE EFFECT.  Click here.

►DATES SET FOR BACK PAY.  The PSC has received word from CUNY management that retroactive pay and new salary rates will be reflected in paychecks for senior college employees on November 6, and for community college employees on November 14.  Click here for new salary schedules.

►MAJOR STEP IN HEALTH INSURANCE FOR GRAD STUDENTS.  Click here for details.

►UPDATE ON PAID PARENTAL LEAVE.  On September 25th,  New York State gave its approval for CUNY to move forward on implementing a paid parental leave provision using the fund negotiated in the new contract.  Details.

Posted 9/5/08

CONTRACT RATIFIED BY 93%.  The American Arbitration Association counted ballots on Wednesday, September 3 with 6,764 (93%) voting yes and 480 (7%) voting no. 

Above are details of the agreement and below information on the ratification process.

The ratification process for the new contract includes for the first time the option to vote online or by phone in addition to the traditional mail ballot option. Ballots and voting instructions will be mailed to all members’ home addresses on July 29. Mail ballots will be due by 5pm on September 2, and online and phone voting must be done by that deadline as well. The online and phone options, along with the extended voting period, were added to ensure that all members could vote; for instance, even if you are returning from annual leave the day before classes start, your ballot will be waiting with your mail and the additional voting options mean you won’t have to factor in time for the post office to deliver your ballot. As in past contract ratifications, the entire process is being supervised by the American Arbitration Association, including the vote count. Within the mailing that contains the ballot, there will also be the official memorandum of agreement on the contract terms and a summary overview written by the PSC. In addition, a special issue of Clarion, to be mailed July 22 and now available online, will also provide a contract summary, a section on “frequently asked questions”, and interviews and opinions on the proposed agreement. The website will also feature all of this information.

As required by the PSC Constitution, to vote on the contract you must be a member in good standing as of March 29, 2008.

Posted 7/10/08
Special Campus Meetings to Discuss the Proposed Contract

In concert with the contract ratification vote, the union held a series of meetings on various campuses for members to come and discuss the contract with bargaining team members and ask any questions they have.

Posted 7/2/08
DA Recommends Contract Ratification

After almost three hours of discussion on Tuesday, July 1,  the Delegate Assembly voted 92 to 13 (with seven abstentions)  to recommend the proposed 2007-2010 contract settlement for ratification to the full membership. The DA vote followed a unanimous recommendation for ratification from the Executive Council earlier in the evening and came after an extensive question and comment period at the DA. In addition to a record turnout of delegates, the meeting was attended by dozens of other members, including many part-time faculty and graduate employees who came to advocate against the proposed agreement.

Bargaining team members spoke passionately about both what the proposed contract achieves and what it does not, emphasizing the salary gains to the top steps, the importance of securing reasonable increases in the current economic climate, the success in resisting management’s demands, the paid parental leave fund, the new sick leave bank, the end of the ban on use of college email for union communication, and the additional agreement for 100 new full-time lines reserved for adjuncts. Even though the union fought hard, the failure to achieve adjunct job security protections in the proposed contract, beyond the100 conversion lines, and the desire for greater economic and health insurance gains by adjuncts and graduate employees were major points of often heated discussion.  Many full-time delegates expressed solidarity with adjuncts and graduate employees and vowed to work even harder to create the conditions that make a more transformative agreement possible in the future.

With the DA vote, the proposed contract now goes to the full membership for a ratification vote. A special issue of Clarion will be published at the end of July, and members will have all of August and until after Labor Day to vote on ratification of the proposed agreement.

DELEGATE STATEMENTS. Several delegates (and alternate delegates who voted that night) have asked to explain their votes and allow the broader membership to experience some of the discussion.  Click here for their statements.

Posted 7/2/08
MAJOR STEP IN HEALTH INSURANCE FOR GRAD STUDENTS

We are not all the way there yet, but two major hurdles—securing the funding and gaining agreement for inclusion in the State Student Employee Health Plan—have been cleared. The demand for doctoral employee health insurance on the basis of parity with SUNY was one of the PSC’s priorities in this round of bargaining, and we have continued to pursue it even after we reached a proposed contract settlement with CUNY in June. Details.

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