On May 12, 2016, Professional Staff Congress (CUNY’s Faculty Union) voted to authorize a strike that has been anticipated for months. As most of us, if not all of us, are aware, CUNY faculty have been out of contract for five years and gone without pay raises in six years. This means that, though living costs in New York City have risen by 23%, professors are living with salary rates made for six years ago.
The strike, authorized by 92% of 10,000 faculty members, is designed to avoid the academic year, but the union’s president Barbara Bowen says it may extend into the fall.
The 2015-2016 school year has been a year of protests, and after a busy November, PSC decided to hold a strike-authorization vote, despite the fact that public-sector workers in New York are not legally allowed to strike. Now, several months later, there has been no talk of compromise and CUNY professors have finalized their decision to strike. It is unclear whether or not their off-season strike will qualify the union for a fine as of yet.
Though Cuomo has dropped his efforts to cut CUNY’s budget by a third, his lack of prioritizing CUNY employees is not only worrisome and disrespectful, it is harmful to the city and the state. CUNY has not been prioritized for some time, and this situation begs us to ask the question how much longer can the system be sustained without funding? How can a university run effectively when its best professors are considering jumping ship, or have already done so, for higher pay? If the city and state were not acknowledging the fact that CUNY’s lack of contracts are a problem before, I certainly hope they will now.
In short, this development does not shock me, but it does leave me with many questions. If CUNY faculty members are still on strike come the fall semester, what will this mean for CUNY’s students? What will it mean for professors unwilling to return to work before negotiations?
Ballesteros, Carlos. “CUNY Faculty Authorizes a Strike Vote.” The Nation, 30 November 2015. Web. 13 May 2016.
Brown, Sarah. “CUNY’s Faculty Union Votes to Authorize Strike.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 May 2016. Web. 13 May 2016.
