OPEN BARGAINING

To sign up for a bargaining session in upcoming PSC negotiations, follow this link. (simply attending a negotation session is not open bargaining, though it’s a step in the right direction! We are waiting for further directions from PSC officers regarding the outcome of this form)

To get involved with RAFA in the fight for open bargaining, send an email with name, title, and campus to rafa.cuny@gmail.com.

WHAT IS CLOSED BARGAINING?

Every few years, our union bargains with CUNY management to come up with a new contract that covers our pay, working conditions, and much more. This is usually a long and difficult process, during which the union bargaining team meets repeatedly with the administration’s team. At the end, the members are presented with a contract and they vote to ratify it. They can either reject the contract wholesale or not, but there is no opportunity for input on its parts.

In closed bargaining, the bargaining team may gather input from rank and file union members about what they want in a contract through chapter meetings, and they may do periodic updates as bargaining unfolds. Rank and file members are not directly involved in the negotiations or decision making during the bargaining process. Bargaining is considered to be best reserved to the experts, to be done in closed room meetings. The bargaining team works hard, but it is small and stretched thin, limited in their expertise of all title’s issues and ability to pursue all avenues for fact-finding and outreach. The CUNY administration does not have to confront the real power behind the union: a large, diverse, and formidable membership.

WHAT IS OPEN BARGAINING?

Unions across industries, including higher education, have adopted open bargaining to get better contracts. Rank and file union members, and even non-union community members, are invited into the negotiating sessions to observe and testify. Proposals from both sides are shared with union members, and there are detailed and timely updates on each bargaining session. Members are involved in every step of the process. They work on title and issue-focused committees, they participate in planning meetings, do outreach, and conduct research. Open bargaining lends the union legitimacy and real power – power that we give up by continuing to bargain behind closed doors. 

WHY OPEN BARGAINING? 

Members of unions in places like Oregon State University and University of Massachusetts Boston report that their management really does not like open bargaining because they know it undermines their power to screw the workers over. When members attend negotiating sessions, they see how management talks to and about workers firsthand. They feel part of and support the bargaining team. The result is a better contract and a union membership that is actively involved, making for a more powerful union. 

What do the PSC Principle Officers think about open bargaining? Here’s one account from Fall 2022.

For more information, please watch the CUNY Graduate Center PSC Chapter’s teach-in on Open Bargaining, “Democratizing the Bargaining Process,” from October 2021.