Public Employee Press

Unions rally against CUNY’s chancellor

CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken received a loud wake-up call on Oct. 1 as hundreds of boisterous and angry workers demanded a new contract at an early morning rally outside his luxurious four-bedroom Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan.

Workers employed by the City University of New York gathered at the entrance to the 33-story 215 East 68th Street Apartments where Milliken lives to protest stalled negotiations and express outrage over their frozen wages.

The 12,000 CUNY workers represented by DC 37 haven’t received a raise in seven years. While contract talks opened up last November, the administration has yet to make a wage offer. (See page 2, page 3 and page 10.)

The demonstrators carried signs with such messages as “No More Excuses, Chancellor Milliken” and “CUNY Contract Now!” They chanted, “CUNY needs a raise!” and “We need a contract,” to the pulsating drum beat and riffs of a musical combo. DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido and several DC 37 local presidents accompanied the workers at the demonstration, which the Professional Staff Congress, the faculty union, spearheaded.

Members spoke about struggling to get by as the real value of their pay continues to drop in the face of rising household expenses. Thousands of CUNY workers earn less than $15 an hour. Many of the low-wage workers are the chief breadwinners in their households.

“It’s unfair,” said Narka A. Flocker, a College Office Assistant 3. “They don’t care about us. Morale is horrible.”

Flocker, a Local 384 shop steward at the Graduate Center of CUNY in Manhattan, directed her ire at Gov. Andrew Cuomo because he has not moved negotiations forward. “He’s the worst of them,” she said. CUNY’s funding comes from the state and city, as well as from tuition.

Another domonstrator was Dorothy Walsh, a College Office Assistant at the College of Staten Island. “The cost of living has skyrocketed,” said Walsh. “They need to understand that these wages are not enough for living in New York City.”

“I have to do fancy financing to make things work,” Walsh said, saying she needs to juggle her bills very carefully to stay afloat economically.

As negotiations remain stalled, Milliken’s compensation package has become an issue for workers. He receives a $19,000 monthly housing subsidy.

His annual compensation is $670,000. And CUNY provides him with a chauffeur and car.

“His monthly rent would pay for my annual mortgage,” said Walsh, who lives in a condo. Local 375 member Marisa Holmes, a Broadcast Associate who works at CUNY TV, said the union’s contract fight reflects the economic stratification in New York City.

“They have the money for the chancellor and upper management, but they are not paying the workers who run the university,” she said. “People have families and expenses. It’s difficult to live in New York City. This is a class issue.”