On October 1, I posted an entry on this blog reporting on the efforts of two AAUP/AAUP-CBC affiliate unions, the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), to win fair contracts for their members. CFA members will begin voting on Monday to decide whether to authorize a faculty strike in the California State University (CSU) system, the country’s largest higher education system. Yesterday, the PSC announced that its members would also soon vote on whether to authorize a strike in the City University of New York (CUNY). Here are excerpts from PSC President Barbara Bowen’s message to the members:
October 15, 2015
Dear PSC Members,
At the union’s Delegate Assembly this evening, I announced on behalf of the Executive Council that the PSC plans to hold a strike authorization vote. A strike authorization vote—even though it is not a vote to strike—is a significant escalation of our campaign, and we want to ensure that you have ample time to prepare for it. There will be several months of preparation before the vote is taken. The union’s mass meeting on November 19 will offer an opportunity to discuss and plan for the vote. . . .
A strike authorization vote is not a vote to strike. It is a vote to authorize the union’s Executive Council to call a strike if necessary. I want to be clear: the PSC leadership is not calling for a strike. We are doing everything we can to reach a fair contract settlement without the need to strike. But given CUNY management’s continued failure to secure State funding and put an economic offer on the table, we cannot rule out being prepared for a strike.
It is perfectly legal to take a strike authorization vote. While New York State’s Taylor Law imposes severe financial and legal penalties on unions and individuals who participate in strikes or other job actions, it does not prohibit employees from engaging in a strike authorization vote or even from urging others to vote yes. As we prepare to take this serious step, however, it is critical that we use our power collectively. At this point, the union leadership has explicitly not authorized a strike or other job action, and no members should attempt such actions on their own. To maximize our effectiveness, we must act with discipline and avoid diluting our power by taking individual actions that could lead to penalties.
A strike authorization vote will give the union the power to use labor’s strongest weapon if, after everything else is tried, we cannot achieve a fair solution any other way. Our goal is to achieve a contract worthy of our work and supportive of our students’ education; it isn’t our goal to strike. Throughout the coming weeks and months, the PSC leadership will continue to work aggressively on every front to achieve a good contract.But six years without a raise, six years of erosion of competitiveness and conditions at CUNY, is intolerable—especially in one of the richest cities in the world. If Chancellor Milliken will not defend CUNY, we will.
The union has used every legal means at its disposal to achieve a fair contract—we have held scores of negotiating sessions, we have met privately with CUNY management, we have advocated in Albany and City Hall, we have testified at public hearings, we have run more than 600 radio ads, and we have engaged in protest actions in the boardroom, on the campuses and in the streets. Chancellor Milliken has still not delivered.
The other PSC officers and I will continue direct advocacy with the Governor’s and Mayor’s Offices, and will strengthen our growing support among labor and community allies. We will also intensify our media campaign and build on the momentum of the October 1 rally at the chancellor’s apartment. I hope that these steps, together with a disruptive action planned for November 4, will force CUNY to put a fair offer on the table and reach a settlement.
If not, however, we are prepared to escalate further. There is too much at stake to allow another academic year to go by without a fair contract and another generation of CUNY students to be shortchanged by underinvestment in their faculty and staff. Failure to invest in our contract represents a political decision not to invest in the people we teach—as well as not to invest in us. . . .
In Seattle, Chicago and a growing number of American cities, teachers have felt forced to strike to defend public education against attempts to degrade their jobs and strip resources from poor communities and communities of color. The crisis at CUNY may be less visible because it has unfolded slowly, but it is no less real. We are up against a planned, systematic effort to devalue our labor as academic workers and to deny our students a high-quality education. By announcing the plan to hold a strike authorization vote, we link our fight to the fights of teachers across the country who have stood up for their own dignity on the job and against racial and economic injustice. . . .
I ask for your support as the union escalates one step further, carefully and strategically building the power we need to win a fair contract and force a change in the political decision not to invest in CUNY.
In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
President, PSC
Once again, the AAUP and the AAUP-CBC are proud to stand with and support our colleagues in California and New York in their efforts to achieve fair and equitable treatment for their members and to defend accessible, high quality public higher education.
Here’s a PSC Press Release:
CUNY FACULTY UNION PLANS STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE
New York—After more than five years without a contract and six years without a raise for their members, the union of faculty and professional staff at the City University is planning a strike authorization vote. Professional Staff Congress (PSC) President Barbara Bowen made the announcement last night at a meeting of the delegates who represent the 25,000 academic workers at the City University. The Delegate Assembly then passed a resolution in support of the plan.
“The PSC has used every legal means at its disposal to achieve a fair contract, and we will do everything we can to reach a contract settlement without the need to strike.But six years without a raise, six years of erosion of competitiveness and conditions at CUNY, is intolerable—especially in one of the richest cities in the world. Given CUNY management’s continued failure to secure State funding and put an economic offer on the table, we cannot rule out being prepared for a strike. A strike authorization vote is not a vote to strike; it is a vote to authorize the union’s executive council to call a strike.But it is a significant escalation of our campaign. A positive result will give the union the power to use labor’s strongest weapon if we cannot achieve a fair solution any other way,” said Bowen.
A strike authorization vote is extraordinary for a public-sector union in New York, but it is legal. State law imposes financial and legal penalties on public-sector unions and employees who participate in strikes or other job actions. The vote itself is within the law.
“The PSC’s goal is to achieve a contract worthy of our work and supportive of our students’ education,” said Bowen. “There is too much at stake to allow another academic year to go by without a fair contract and another generation of CUNY students to be shortchanged by underinvestment in their faculty and staff. Failure to invest in our contract represents a political decision not to invest in the people we teach—as well as not to invest in us. If CUNY Chancellor J.B. Milliken will not defend CUNY, we will.”
CUNY faculty and staff are also planning a disruptive action on November 4 to express the high stakes of their contract fight, a series of TeachCUNY events on their campuses, and a mass meeting on November 19 where the strike authorization plan will be discussed.