BARGAINING UPDATES
Bargaining updates from "This Week in the PSC," the union's weekly e-newsletter. (Click here to sign-up for the e-newsletter and/or back issues).
Monday, August 6, 2007. The PSC bargaining team met with management on Thursday [August 2nd] for a session that focused on non-economic issues. There is still no money on the table because CUNY has not yet made an economic offer. PSC President Barbara Bowen began the session by reminding the Chancellor’s representatives of how difficult it will be to settle the contract on time, by September 19, if at this point in August there is still no financial offer. The two sides did, however, have productive discussions on non-economic items, including CUNY’s proposals on the grievance process and the PSC’s proposals on two topics: health and safety and “banked” sick days. The union has proposed something new at CUNY: a collective “bank” of sick days. Where such systems exist, they allow employees to donate some of their sick days each year to a common pool of days; employees with special needs can draw on that reserve if their own sick days are insufficient. We will continue to discuss this idea, and several proposals for improving health and safety on the campuses, with CUNY.
The next bargaining session will be on August 28. Contact Amanda DeJesus Magalhaes at adejesus@pscmail.org if you would like to attend that session or a future session. Visit the negotiations section of the website for a full list of both sides’ demands, analysis and more.
Monday, July 30, 2007. The union and management negotiating teams are scheduled to meet this Thursday, August 2, and again on August 28. Contact Amanda DeJesus Magalhaes at adejesus@pscmail.org if you would like to attend either session. The August 2 session will focus on non-economic issues raised by both sides, including the PSC proposal for better health and safety provisions. Informal discussions have taken place during July, and the August sessions will build on progress made there. Despite progress in informal talks and a schedule of formal sessions, the most important element—a financial offer—is still missing. Less than two months from the expiration of the current contract on September 19, CUNY has still made no economic offer to the faculty and staff represented by the PSC. Chancellor Goldstein’s representatives explain that they cannot advance until New York State is prepared to authorize an offer, and the State has yet to sign any contract agreements under Governor Spitzer. But touting CUNY’s renaissance, as University officials have been busy doing, while delaying needed raises and other improvements for the people who have made that renaissance possible is an insult to the faculty and staff.
Monday, July 23, 2007. Save the Date: September 19, an evening of cultural presentations on “our CUNY vs. Their CUNY”
The Contract Campaign Organizing Committee is inviting PSC members to contribute a piece of creative work on what life would really be like under management’s demands, or under the PSC’s demands, to be considered for presentation at a cultural event on September 19, the date the current contract expires. As “This Week” readers know, the union has been in negotiations with CUNY management for a new contract since February. The bargaining demands presented by the two sides reflect radically different visions for the University. As part of an effort to highlight for members just how different those visions are we are calling on the many artistic skills of PSC members to bring to life what is really at stake in these negotiations. For more details and submission information, visit the negotiations section of the website. Watch for a postcard the union is mailing today, too, which also contains details.
Save September 19 on your calendar for this not-to-be-missed event. And save October 30, too; the union is planning a mass rally that evening in the event that management has not agreed to a new contract by then.
Click any of the dates below if you want to go "This Week" updates before July 23, 2007.