Student groups are leading a statewide coalition to demand more State funding for SUNY and CUNY, and the PSC is proud to be part of the campaign. Add your name to the coalition’s petition urging Governor Cuomo to sign a bill to invest in CUNY and SUNY.
News & Events
CUNY’s Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank is a pool of voluntarily donated sick leave and annual leave available for potential use as sick leave by all full-time employees at CUNY (instructional and classified) who are also donors to the bank. The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank, which arose out of a PSC contract campaign, exemplifies worker solidarity and mutual support. It gives CUNY workers a way to offer aid to colleagues dealing with a catastrophic illness and provides a place to turn for help if they face a similar need. The open enrollment period for the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank will be held from October 1 to October 31. Workers must donate leave in a program year to be eligible to receive leave in that year (up to 90 days). Click here for program requirements and to learn how to donate and receive leave from the bank.
PRESENTED BY THE QC CHAPTER OF PSC/CUNY
Learn how you can help defend the future of higher education at Queens College from the serious threats posed by the chronic underfunding of CUNY by our elected officials in Albany and the Janus v. AFSCME case pending before the Supreme Court, which could seriously erode the power of public employee unions to represent their members.
Tell Washington to Reject the Graham-Cassidy Bill
The Graham-Cassidy bill is being sold as a compromise—but it’s not. It’s just as bad as every form of Trumpcare that we’ve seen so far and, once again, favors the powerful over the vulnerable. This bill would strip millions of their healthcare, increase premiums for working families, deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and punish states that expanded Medicaid. Write Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today and tell them to reject this bill. Even better, use this AFT web tool to call their offices.
The Professional Staff Congress/CUNY rejects the statement by Michael Isaacson about imagining his students dead. Isaacson’s statement is anathema to the teaching profession. It in no way represents the position of the PSC as a union or the tens of thousands of CUNY faculty—both full-time faculty and adjuncts—who choose to work at CUNY because of a profound commitment to the diverse and largely working-class students we are privileged to teach. But the right of free speech protects even repugnant speech, and every worker should be entitled to due process. The PSC will vigorously defend the due-process rights of every CUNY employee - both full time and part-time - we represent.
New full-time faculty and staff members at CUNY have 30 days from the effective date of their appointment to choose a retirement program, and the choice is irrevocable. If no choice is filed within 30 days, the law mandates that the member be assigned to the New York Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). For an overview, go to the Pension section of the website. In particular, see the Choosing a Pension.
Part-time faculty and staff members don’t have a similar deadline, but waiting to sign up for pension benefits may mean leaving retirement money on the table. See Part-Time Pension Benefits.
Veteran full-timers: help reach out! Please reach out to your new colleagues, alerting them to deadline and pointing them to relevant information on the website.
Monday, September 18, 3PM
Join PSC members as we march and rally in solidarity with IBEW Local 3 cable workers as they fight for a new contract. Unions from across the city are supporting the cable workers who have been on strike for six months, fighting against Charter/Spectrum Communications’ efforts to stop paying into workers’ pension and benefit funds. The march starts at 3 PM Monday in Brooklyn at Cadman Plaza Park (near the Brooklyn Bridge walkway entrance). The rally at Foley Square begins at about 4 PM. Download a flier.
Labor Goes to the Movies Presents...
The union’s film series will explore the theme “Sex & Power” with a screening of Moonlight this Friday, September 14 in the PSC Union Hall, 61 Broadway, 16th floor.
To see the 2018-19 Labor Goes to the Movies schedule, click here.
The PSC has registered its strong opposition to the proposed regulation allowing charter school networks to conduct their own teacher training programs and issue a cheapened teaching credential that will short change students. The proposed regulation would allow charter networks statewide to conduct their own teacher training programs and issue a teaching credential that will only be valid inside those schools after just 30 hours of instruction plus 100 hours of supervised teaching. Read the PSC letter.
March for Union Rights and Resources
PSC members will march this Saturday in the NYC Labor Day Parade to demonstrate in support of the right to maintain public-sector collective bargaining and to protect union resources. The Supreme Court will soon hear a case designed to defund public-sector unions like the PSC. It’s an attack on union dues intended to cripple unions’ power to fight for higher wages and defend the rights, benefits and dignity of their members.
Join us at the NYC Labor Day Parade. Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring your colleagues. The PSC contingent will gather at 12:15 PM on West 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. We step off at 1:15 PM sharp.
