CUNY reaches contract agreement with 30K-member staff union

A PSC DEMONSTRATION AT BARUCH COLLEGE IN FALL 2017. EAGLE PHOTOS BY JONATHAN SPERLING.

By Victoria Merlino

The City University of New York has reached a contract agreement with its staff union, an organization that represents nearly 30,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff members, following a lengthy contract dispute. 

The contract is a “breakthrough on adjunct pay — the biggest gain in equity in the union’s history” according to the Professional Staff Congress’ website, with salary increases across the board and minimum pay for a three-credit course increasing to $5,500 by the end of the contract term. Adjuncts currently earn $3,222 per three-credit course. Pay for a four-credit course would rise to $6,875 by the end of the contract. 

CUNY and the union agreed to the contract despite the efforts of the “$7K or Strike” movement — a coalition of union members who demanded $7,000 per course for adjunct professors.

Adjuncts who previously spoke with the Eagle detailed how their low pay impacts their ability to live and work in expensive New York City. One adjunct professor said she has her landlord has taken her to housing court on several occasions because she could not afford her rent.

Members “$7k or Strike” criticized the new contract on Twitter. 

“$5500 in 2022, no deal. #voteno #VoteNoPSC #psccontract” the coalition tweeted Wednesday.. 

The new contract will be retroactive to Dec. 1, 2017 and last until Feb. 28, 2023, pending the approval of CUNY Board of Trustees and ratification by the union’s membership. 

“This agreement reflects the University’s strong and unwavering commitment to its faculty, both full-time and part-time, and staff across our 25 colleges,” said Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez in a statement. “Equally as important, all of our faculty will now devote more time to meeting with and advising students and engaging in professional development. This will be crucial to our efforts to increase graduation rates, enhance learning, and remain a premier university.”

PSC President Barbara Bowen, a Queens College professor, also praised the agreement in a statement.

“The proposed agreement represents a turning-point in the history of CUNY’s treatment of contingent faculty,” Bowen said. “It is a principled and imaginative contract that constitutes a victory for every member of the union—and for CUNY students.”