CUNY faculty disrupted a CUNY Board of Trustees meeting at John Jay College on Oct. 21st, leading to a protest outside and over 30 faculty arrests.
“CUNY offered unacceptable raises seven months ago, a year after their top executives received 27% and 30% bumps in pay,” PSC President James Davis said. “They haven’t shown faculty, staff and students the respect of a fair economic offer and haven’t put another dollar on the bargaining table since March.”
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a CUNY-wide worker union representing over 30,000 faculty members. The PSC is responsible for negotiating improvements in staff wages, educational programs, fund distribution, and policy reforms with the CUNY Board of Trustees (hereinafter referred to as “the trustees”). The trustees failed to renew their contract, which expired on Feb. 28th, 2023, stalling negotiations, straining working conditions for faculty, and growing concerns over the quality of CUNY’s educational facilities.
At approximately 4:00 p.m., the trustees opened its live panel meeting to the public university community, which included several faculty members representing the PSC. These faculty members presented testimonies to the trustees, highlighting issues such as mold-infested libraries in CUNY schools, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of staff raises.
“I didn’t set out to be a mold specialist, but here I am,” Dr. Carole Harris, English Professor from the City College of Technology, said about the mold infestation in the campus’s library. “So far, our dean is the only one from our administration to agree that the spots and the fuzz are indeed mold. He proposed that one of our biology professors use the archive as a laboratory for students to engage in experiments to learn how mold grows.”
Alycia Sellie, faculty librarian at the CUNY Graduate Center, testified on behalf of her City College colleagues:
“On August 28th, staff in the Cohen library discovered mold on a number of library books. In the past, there have been issues with mold in this library, usually due to leaking infrastructure. But, this Fall, the mold is different. We are now experiencing a mold infestation. After years of understaffing and underfunding our libraries, time devoted to managing this mold robs time away from our other library duties and diminishes the time we have to provide direct support for CUNY researchers.”
Prior to the walkout, PSC President Davis approached the podium to give a testimony. The trustees requested that Davis sit down as he had not signed up to speak. This led to an uproar from the crowd, who chanted, “Let him speak!” As the auditorium filled with chants and raised signs, the trustees called a recess, and protestors exited toward the campus entrance.
CUNY’s contract offer includes an annual salary increase for faculty that remains capped at 3.125% through 2026, which falls below the average rate of increase for college faculty.
The Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act, known as the Taylor Law, grants public sector employees the right to join any union of their choice, requires public employers to negotiate with unions and establishes guidelines for both employers and employees. However, it significantly restricts the employees’ right to strike with penalties that can negatively affect individual salaries or the entire union’s salary.The ongoing wage issue has intensified frustration among PSC members. According to a press release from the PSC on Oct. 21st, “proposed raises totaling 18% over 4 years, while CUNY’s offer adds up to only 12.25% over 4 ½ years.” The union is also advocating for “pay parity and job security for adjunct faculty, better benefits, remote and flexible work options for staff, and strong workplace safety and health provision, among other key items.”
