All PSC members are urged to attend the union’s virtual mass meeting Wednesday, October 26, 6:30-8:00PM. This is The Big Unionwide Event of the fall contract campaign. Please make it a priority to be there. Be there to hear from the PSC bargaining team and your fellow union members, to ask questions, and to learn about upcoming campaign actions at your campus or worksite.

We want raises, better terms and conditions, and more, and a union with the power to win that strong contract — a Contract for #APeoplesCUNY — means that we must all be a part of the campaign.

Mass Meeting on Winning a Just Contract

Wed., Oct. 26, 6:30PM on Zoom

The CUNY Board of Trustees will hear in-person testimony for the first time in two and a half years at a public hearing to be held 4:30 PM on Monday, October 17 at The CUNY Graduate Center in the Elebash Recital Hall. Pushing the CUNY Trustees to advance a robust budget request is a critical step in our campaign for a strong contract and a New Deal for CUNY.

PSC members can sign up here by 12 noon Thursday, October 13 to let us know you plan to deliver testimony related to CUNY’s budget request or the coming contract campaign. We’ll register you with CUNY and publicize your testimony after the hearing. If you wish to give remote testimony or to register yourself for in-person testimony, email the Board Secretary at hearings@cuny.edu prior to CUNY’s deadline of noon on Friday, October 14. (Official Hearing Notice.)

PSC members and allies have sent 3,811 letters to the City Council urging them to oppose a change in City Administrative Code section 12-126. Help us double that number! The change would allow the City to shift its retirees from traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan and open a door to future changes to the quality or cost of health insurance for active employees. This fight affects all of us! Sign up here to lobby your City Council member, and if you haven’t sent the letter to the City Council, send it today! Need help convincing your colleagues to send a letter? Download this flier from the PSC’s Social Safety Net Committee. 

Being the target of a workplace bully or a witness to bullying can be traumatic. Feelings of powerlessness, guilt, anger, and anxiety can make work and life harder than it should be. One’s mental health, relationships with colleagues and job performance can suffer. The PSC Anti-Bullying Committee confronts workplace bullying through collective action and education. The Committee is urging colleagues who feel they would benefit to learn more about a new, free benefit from our national affiliate, the AFT. Free, private trauma counseling is now available to provide help and healing for union members. You can learn more about AFT Trauma Counseling Programs and Services at an online meeting Tuesday, October 18, 12:30 PM. Register here. 

Many people who contract COVID develop medical issues that persist even after they test negative. When COVID is contracted in the workplace, employees who develop “long COVID” may be eligible for Workers’ Compensation benefits, including compensation for lost wages and medical expenses. Learn about this important topic from Robert Grey, an attorney from Grey & Grey, LLP, who specializes in Workers’ Compensation cases. You will leave knowing what Workers’ Compensation covers, how to apply, important deadlines, and guidelines for making a long COVID claim successful. RSVP here.

PSC chapters at the Brooklyn and Bronx Educational Opportunity Centers and at Medgar Evers College will vote in December to choose new chapter leadership. The deadline to submit a signed Candidate Declaration Form for these special elections is 5:00 PM this Friday, October 14. Election rules, other deadlines and forms are posted here on the Elections Committee webpage.