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PSC BUDGET CAMPAIGN -- WHAT YOU CAN DO

EMERGENCY MOBILIZATION:  Governor Paterson is going to release his executive budget proposal on December 16. The PSC and our allies will be at his New York office to let him know that CUNY needs investment, not cuts.  Join us on the 16th at 4 pm  at 633 3rd Ave. (at 41st Street).  Click here for a flier. Details. 28,950 45,000 AND COUNTING!  As of this week, the PSC has collected 28,000 (now 45,000) CUNY Rising postcards (see below), calling on Gov. Patterson, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Goldstein to invest in CUNY with public funds - not tuition hikes.  Read below to find out how you can help and click here for a breakdown of the count.  UPDATE:  The total is over 45,000 as of 11/18/08. BUDGET FACT SHEET.  Click here for the "PSC case for investment in CUNY -- and against budget cuts and tuition hikes" (and here for an 11/18/08 press release). BUDGET CUTS AND TUITION HIKES ON HOLD.  On November 18 Governor Paterson failed to win support from the New York State Legislature for his proposals to cut State aid to CUNY’s community colleges by close to 11% and to raise tuition at the senior colleges by $600 per year (beginning with a $300 increase in Spring 2009).     While this lack of action is a reprieve for CUNY and other vital public services, it is not yet a victory.  New York still faces multi-billion-dollar budget deficits this year and next, and Gov. Paterson’s call for massive cutbacks is still on the table.  Neither the governor nor legislative leaders have expressed support for the progressive revenue measures that could solve this crisis in a way that is thoughtful and fair.   Board of Trustees Hearings on Budget.  PSC officers and members and CUNY students testified at the 12/3/08 hearings on the proposed budget cuts and tuition hikes.  Click here for PSC press release on the hearings and here for testimony by PSC officers and members.   Continue reading to see what you can do.

Front side of CUNY Rising Postcard
 

OVERVIEW:  As the economic situation deteriorates, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson have sought more mid-year budget cuts -- and we're anticipating an even worse picture for the 2009-10 budget which comes before the legislature in the spring. CUNY cannot withstand further cuts, especially with record enrollments. New Yorkers depend on CUNY more in hard economic times. 

The PSC is working hard to protect CUNY from more cuts -- and to get the public investment we need. We need your help -- join us!

CUNY Rising, a project of the PSC, is building a coalition of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community to defend CUNY. 

Here's what you can do.  Start by circulating postcards (pictured above) to your colleagues, your students, and your community members. (The back of the card has a place for your signature and calls on Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Goldstein to "invest in CUNY with public dollars -- not tuition hikes.") Your co-workers will be tabling on campus. Join them, or drop off your completed cards at the tables.

We'll collect 45,000 signatures on these postcards and use the stacks to tell City and State elected officials, and CUNY leadership, that CUNY needs public investment -- not tuition hikes!

Click here for a budget campaign fact sheet.

Here are some upcoming landmark dates for the campaign:

November 18:  Special Legislative Session in Albany to make budget cuts.

December 3:  Public hearing of the CUNY Board of Trustees on CUNY budget.

December 8:  CUNY Board of Trustees votes on CUNY’s budget proposal.

December 16:  Governor Paterson issues proposed budget for 2009-10

Click here for an overview of key dates in building our PSC campaign

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Here's what you can do right now -- Collect cards on your campus.  We are tabling on every CUNY campus.  For postcards, or to sign up to table, email Chris Aikin or contact your chapter chair.

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KEEP THOSE CARDS COMING! -- 28,000 AND COUNTING (UPDATE: 45,000 AS OF 11/18)

The PSC has collected 28,950 (now 45,000) CUNY Rising postcards, calling on Paterson, Bloomberg and Goldstein to invest in CUNY with public funds – not tuition hikes. (UPDATE:  The total is 45,000 as of 11/18/08).

Hostos collected the most cards so far -- 5,200! It’s not too late, though, to up your chapter’s count – see the schedule (above) and contact your chapter chair (here's a list) or Chris Aikin by email to get involved. The rest of the counts are: City Tech, 4800; Brooklyn, 2250; Baruch, 2000; Medgar Evers, 1800; BCC, 1800; John Jay, 1600; CSI, 1400; LaGuardiaCC, 1200; Lehman, 1200; York, 1100; CCNY, 1000; BMCC, 800; Hunter, 700; Queens, 650; Grad Center, 550; QCC, 550; KCC, 350.

Each card represents a voice against budget cuts and tuition hikes – a chorus that grows as Gov. Paterson makes more and more dire announcements about the state budget. He has called the legislature back on Tuesday, November 18 for a special session to make even more budget cuts this year – and next year is going to be worse. The PSC will be in Albany on November 18, and is working hard to oppose budget cuts, fight tuition hikes, and argue for progressive revenue options. It’s all part of the union’s year-long campaign to win a fair budgets for CUNY from the City and the State. Public investment is the way out of the recession and a new deal for New York starts with CUNY.

College	Card Count As of 11/17/08
NYCCT	7000
Hostos	5700
Medgar	2700
Brooklyn	2600
BCC	2550
York	2500
CSI	2450
Baruch	2300
John Jay	2200
LAGCC	2100
QCC	1800
BMCC	1500
Queens	1350
Lehman	1300
Hunter	1100
KCC	1050
CCNY	1000
Grad Center	850
Total	42050

*Updated total as of 11/18/08 -- 45,000.  The campus numbers reflect totals as of 11/17,

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NOVEMBER 18TH ALBANY BUDGET RALLY:

 

Below are photos of a big rally at the state house, organized by the One New York Coalition, on November 18th to protest budget cuts.  The PSC and CUNY students joined the rally, calling for no cuts or tuition hikes.

 

 

Brooklyn College PSC activist James Davis (second from left) protesting in an Albany snowstorm with CUNY students (from left) Helen Abreu, Jenny Perdomo, Trevor Cooper and Odalís Dominguez, with PSC student intern James Long (at right).

 

 

One New York Coalition rally against the backdrop of the statehouse.

Picture credit: Lisa Quinones

More than 400 faculty, staff and students rallied against budget cuts and tuition hikes at LAGCC  on Monday, 11/24.

Picture credit: Lisa Quinones

Part of the picket line in front of LAGCC on 11/.24.  A similar big and spirited rally took place at Bronx CC the same day as well as one earlier in the month at Queens College.. 

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The union is running a radio ad on the budget.  Click the radio to listen.

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Letter to Members from Barbara Bowen in Response to Reports of Gov. Patterson's Call to Re-open Labor Contracts

"The PSC officers learned...from the governor’s office that the PSC is not included in the group of unions with whom the governor proposes to reopen contract negotiations."

Click here for a printer  friendly copy

November 12, 2008 

 

Dear Colleague:

 

For the last few days the news has been filled with reports that Governor Paterson expects to  “urge labor unions to reopen the contracts they have struck on behalf of public employees as a way to avoid or decrease layoffs” (New York Times, November 10, page 1).  Today in his budget message, the governor explicitly called for concessions by certain statewide public employee unions, including the elimination of negotiated 3 percent salary increases.

 

The PSC officers learned on Monday night from the governor’s office that the PSC is not included in the group of unions with whom the governor proposes to reopen contract negotiations and seek concessions.  CUNY is not a state agency, and the CUNY budget must be approved by the Legislature.  New salary rates and retroactive salary will be paid this month by CUNY as announced.     

 

My message, however, is not that we can relax.  It is completely unacceptable for any union to be forced to reopen a contract in order to make concessions under threat of layoffs.  Every single public employee in the state would be hurt if any union is forced to make that choice.  The precedent it would set is disastrous.  As union members, our first obligation at this moment is to stand in solidarity with the other public employee unions at the state level—including United University Professions, at SUNY.  Solidarity is not just the right thing to do; it is the principle that our own well-being is directly tied to the well-being of other union members and working people.  As a first step, I have offered our support to the statewide public employee unions, and pledged to rally with them on November 18 in Albany—the day the legislature returns for a special session to consider budget cuts. 

 

Meanwhile, we are already feeling the effect of Albany’s deep budget cuts to CUNY this year. Faculty in several departments report that spring schedules will include the elimination of some adjunct positions and an increase in class size.  Such changes would directly contradict the assurances by CUNY management that midyear budget cuts would not hurt the University’s core instructional mission.  Responding to these developments is a priority for the union.  It is in everyone’s interest to resist further budget cuts, which would inevitably damage the University.     

 

There is an alternative to both budget cuts and concessions: increasing revenue.  New York State would have $16 billion in additional revenue this year alone if it had restored the 1994 tax cut for the highest earners.  What New York is really facing is a revenue crisis.  The richest one percent of New York families (those earning $1.6 million or more a year) pay only 6.5 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the poorest New Yorkers (with incomes under $15,000) pay 11.6 percent.  Restructuring the unfair tax system would eliminate the need for budget cuts—and generate the funds for desperately needed new investment, starting with CUNY. 

 

In the short term, the state could close this year’s budget gap by drawing on the more than $1 billion in the “rainy day fund” (Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund) and gaining support from a federal economic stimulus.  The federal government is considering a stimulus package that would increase aid to state and local governments; announcement of devastating budget cuts before the decision on a stimulus bill is premature.

 

The PSC has joined economists, unions and community groups across the state in calling on the governor and the legislature to adopt a revenue proposal rather than resorting to cuts and layoffs that will deepen the effect of a recession.  Brooklyn College, Queens College and Lehman College were all founded during the Depression.  These times demand a similar, visionary investment.  Public higher education is the key to reinvigorating the economy. 

 

While the PSC contract has not been targeted in the governor’s current proposal, we must build the strength we will need to resist budget cuts, potential attacks on our benefits and threats of retrenchment.  Collectively, we have to change the conversation in Albany from one about cuts to one about revenue.  The PSC has been working since September to build the force we will need this winter and spring.  More than 40,000 postcards calling for increased public investment in CUNY have been collected by faculty, staff and students.  Union members will present the cards to the governor as part of our budget campaign.  The PSC has also developed a radio advertisement on the need for increased investment—not cuts—to CUNY, and it will be aired in Albany during budget deliberations.  Public hearings on the University’s budget needs are planned on many campuses for this spring, and teams of PSC members are already organizing to advocate directly with their legislators for our needs.

 

I anticipate, however, that an even stronger response may be needed.  The PSC is working in partnership with other unions, students and community groups; and we have joined the One New York coalition, which will also be rallying in Albany on November 18.  Our greatest resource, of course, is you—the members—organized as a political force.  We will be ready with plans to show the strength of the membership behind the position that cuts to CUNY are unacceptable, and that there is an alternative to concessions and layoffs.  Collectively, we have the political power to force a different kind of discussion in Albany; it’s up to us to use it.  Your chapter chair and the union’s central leadership will update you on how you can participate as the campaign develops.  Read “This Week in the PSC” and check the union website for the latest information.

 

Thank you for your support for investment in CUNY.  This is an important year, and I look forward to building the union’s strength together. 

 

In solidarity,

 

Barbara Bowen

 

President, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY   

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printer  friendly copy

Updated 12/04/08

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