Public Employee Press


CUNY CONTRACT NOW
CUNY contract campaign intensifies
Members, activists lobby in Albany for CUNY workers, NYC Health + Hospitals funding

By GREGORY N. HEIRES and MIKE LEE

About 100 union leaders activists traveled to Albany to attend the Feb. 12-14 Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus's annual conference and raised the alarm about the crisis at the City University of New York. The DC 37 contingent called upon legislators to restore funding at CUNY, which faces a $485 million cut under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed state budget. The spending plan calls upon the city to pick up the funding.

During the weekend, members publicized the plight of the 10,000 DC 37 members who work at CUNY. The workers have gone without a raise for seven years, and contract talks are moving at a snail's pace as the CUNY administration has failed to make a serious offer.

DC 37 members gathered signatures of the participants at the caucus weekend for a petition that the union will present to the governor, in addition to encouraging them to join the union in further actions. The petition calls for an end to the financial starving of CUNY and a contract settlement.

An early-morning trek to Albany

The lobbying weekend in Albany occurred a few days after another DC 37 contingent visited the state capital to push for CUNY funding and to pressure the governor to act on the contract for the workers at the city's public colleges and universities.

The group left DC 37 headquarters in the early morning hours of Feb. 8 to make the trek to Albany. Some of the activists were participating in the union's political work for the first time.

"It went exceptionally well," DC 37 Legislative Director Wanda Williams said about the lobbying effort. "We had 53 members and staff participating, and we all worked very hard to make contact with our state representatives to make our voices heard."

Several DC 37 locals that represent CUNY workers were at the forefront of the Albany effort.

Local 2627, led by President Robert Ajaye, sent 12 members, and several members from locals 384 and 983 also participated. The group split up in teams to attend appointments with legislators throughout the morning and afternoon.

Garrido presses state on budget cuts

DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido, along with other state labor leaders, met with State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie about the proposed cost shifting of NYC Health + Hospitals funding from the state to New York City. If the onerous new financial obligation of the budget plan is imposed on the city, NYC Health + Hospitals could face a funding shortfall that could lead to service cuts or an increase in taxes to pay for these new expenses, which are required by Obamacare.

That afternoon, Garrido met with several legislators and he greeted the DC 37 activists, thanking them for their participation.

In the afternoon, Garrido also took part in a news conference about CUNY at the state capitol along with state legislators and other labor leaders. The group denounced the nearly $500 million in cuts, and they called upon the Legislature to approve a new "maintenance of effort" bill to pay for mandatory ongoing spending at CUNY, as well as funding for outstanding collective bargaining agreements. In December, Cuomo vetoed an earlier maintenance of effort bill.

Afterward, Garrido testified at a joint legislative hearing on higher education regarding the CUNY budget proposals. His written testimony is posted on DC 37's blog at https://dc37blog.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/cuny-under-attack/.