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PEP June 2016
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Public Employee Press


'Number one priority'
Heavy pressure mounts for CUNY talks

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

DC 37 is pressing the City of University of New York administration to return to the bargaining table.

As PEP went to press, the union sought to pin down negotiating dates in order to reach a settlement on the economic agreement as soon as possible.

In April, the prospect of a contract deal improved when the state Legislature approved next year's budget.

The Legislature restored a proposed cut of about $500 million to CUNY in the executive budget.

No raise in seven years

As negotiations on the state budget wrapped up, legislators assured the union that once CUNY and DC 37 reached an agreement, they would fund the contract by approving what's known as a "pay bill."

Union leaders hope this can be accomplished before the legislative session ends in June, though it's uncertain that scenario will play out.

"Our number one priority is to get the contract," DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido said.

"Our members have gone way too long without seeing a raise because of politics and the uncertainty of CUNY's financial situation," Garrido said.

"The new state budget and the commitment of legislators to fund an agreement mean that the administration should no longer have an excuse to fail to move forward on a deal."

The 10,000 DC 37 members at CUNY have gone without a raise for seven years. They work under a contract that expired in 2009.

Contract talks went nowhere during the administration of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

More recently, the public university system's fragile financial situation and the failure of elected officials to get on board have impeded negotiations from concluding. CUNY is funded by state and city dollars and tuition.

Last year, CUNY made an offer, which DC 37 rejected. DC 37 later made a counter-proposal.

The union seeks CUNY workers to be covered by the state's $15 dollar minimum wage. Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended coverage to state university workers but not to workers at CUNY.

An angry workplace

Members at CUNY are angry about the slow contract negotiations.

The union tapped into that frustration by launching a contract campaign.

The campaign included a protest in front of Chancellor James B. Milliken's luxury Manhattan apartment; a lobbying effort to secure the restoration of the $500 million in cuts; campus meetings, and a major demonstration of hundreds of workers in front of the governor's Manhattan office that concluded with a teach-in.

The union has led activist trainings to encourage coworkers to become more involved in the union. It is establishing Member Action Teams on campuses (see 'Activists get ready for summer').

A social media campaign was established, which included an online petition to Cuomo and updates on DC 37's blog and Facebook, where members have engaged in an animated discussion about the contract fight.


















 
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