December Newsletter

This newsletter was dispatched via Mailchimp on Dec. 31, 2021; we apologize for the delay in getting it up on the website.

Inside this month's issue... Columbia workers still on strike, People's Rally for the New Deal for CUNY, a victory for the BDS movement at CUNY Law, the fight for social justice unionism continues within the PSC, and CUNY students and faculty travel to Alabama to support striking coal miners!

Columbia Graduate Workers are Still on Strike!

Columbia Student Workers are still on strike! Currently they are fighting for full recognition of their bargaining unit. Please donate to their hardship fund here and consider sending this Action Network letter about the latest contract package. Finally, read RAFA member Olivia Wood's excellent and timely piece about Why Scabbing is Bad.

PSC Members March for a New Deal for CUNY

Despite the threat of rain, the PSC rally for a People’s CUNY and New Deal for CUNY on Saturday, Dec. 11, drew many hundreds of attendees. The march was an encouraging sign that the PSC is able to turn out solid numbers of members, students, and community members with sufficient outreach. It is likewise encouraging that the march generated a sense of energy and solidarity. Among a sea of mass produced PSC signs were poignant and inspiring handmade signs and banners pointing out adjunct exploitation, calling for strike readiness, and connecting the fight for a Free CUNY to the struggle for an anti-racist, anti-colonialist university. Striking graduate workers at Columbia University joined the march in solidarity, as did members of UUP Member Action Coalition from SUNY. Unfortunately, too much microphone time was given over to politicians who primarily use these events to bolster their campaigns but disappear when it comes time to stand up and fight for CUNY. At the same time, there were not enough voices from some of the most exploited members of our union, including adjunct faculty. A well-turned out march must be part of a plan of escalating actions in order to be effective. What is next for the PSC if/when we don’t get ND4C? Will we march outside the homes of legislators and board of trustees? Will we withhold our labor to win a free CUNY?

CUNY Law Student Government Passes BDS Resolution

In late November, the Student Government at the CUNY Law School passed a resolution in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that Palestinian civil society has called for since the mid-2000s. The full text of the resolution can be read here.

A Setback for Social Justice Unionism

In our October issue, we wrote about the so-called “resolution on resolutions,” which ended up being tabled in October’s Delegate Assembly. Unfortunately, the Res-on-Res has been resurrected, and this time it’s around to stay. At the December DA meeting, delegates who opposed the Palestine solidarity resolution passed in June introduced their own version of the proposed changes to PSC resolution policy. The union’s Executive Council responded to their resolution with a substitute resolution omitting  a clause about “fact-checking” that implied previous resolutions (i.e. the Palestine resolution) had not been fact-checked and contained bias and inaccuracies. But the proposal’s key feature remained: imposing a month-long delay between when a resolution is introduced and when it is voted on at the DA (unless a two thirds supermajority votes on its immediate consideration, prompting some comparisons to the filibuster in the US Senate).

Authors of the EC’s substitute resolution alleged they had responded to criticism of the previous Res-on-Res by changing language of necessity to that of suggestion, and removing the contentious descriptor “urgent”--so that, they claimed, this does not water down the PSC’s social justice objectives, and serves the laudable aims of engaging more members in the process and policies of the DA. However, the EC rejected a proposal made at the October meeting that it take responsibility for notifying members about resolutions submitted to the DA and telling members how to contact their delegates. Too much transparency would be a liability, apparently. 

The PSC’s International Committee objected wholesale to the Res-on-Res, remarking in a statement that “these new procedures would make it much more difficult to pass resolutions concerning issues of international solidarity and racial justice that fall outside of the narrowly defined ‘bread and butter’ concerns of business unionism,” and questioning who will decide whether a resolution’s criteria will have been met. 

The Res-on-Res passed overwhelmingly at the December DA, providing union leadership with a tool to stifle and undermine rank-and-file-driven resolutions designed to shape PSC policy. Moving forward, we will need even more foresight, even more rank-and-file participation to ensure that our union remains committed to strike readiness, and willing to stand in solidarity with communities under attack by structural racism, imperialist wars, settler colonialism and apartheid. Let’s not be discouraged, but let’s hold our union bureaucrats to the promises they’ve made and facilitate even more conversations on the importance of social justice unionism and agitation among the rank-and-file members of our union.

CUNY Students and Faculty Support Striking Coal Miners

During finals week, a group of CUNY students and faculty travelled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to support the striking miners of the Warrior Met Coal mine. This multi-racial group of miners have been fighting against the rapacious New York investment firm Blackrock, which owns a majority stake in the mine. While raking in more than $5 billion in revenue in the 3rd quarter of 2021, they have slashed the health care of miners, who risk their health and lives every day. For over 9 months, these workers have held the line, making the the longest strike in Alabama history! 

Our small CUNY contingent went down to bring a message of solidarity from workers and students who are facing the same racist attacks, but in different form. We were lucky to be able to help organize a Christmas party for the miners and their families. We distributed food and helped set up donated toys and clothes so that families could find a measure of joy in these difficult times. 

The strike continues and plans are being made to return some time in January or February. If you think you'd like to join the next solidarity trip, let us know!  

Omicron and Workplace Safety

Despite record-high case numbers of COVID both in New York and around the country, the CUNY administration continues to demand that 70% of classes be conducted in-person in the spring, while simultaneously dragging their feet on making sure that classroom and office conditions are safe. Moreover, CUNY staff are expected to work in person for seven out of each ten work days, even when the work they do in the office or on campus is virtual. In other words, in the midst of unprecedented COVID rates, many workers take poorly ventilated public transportation to sit in poorly ventilated offices and… conduct meetings on Zoom. Rather than encouraging remote work, CUNY management seems primarily concerned with worker discipline and surveillance. The chancellor’s announcement that CUNY testing sites would now be open to all with a CUNY ID is pathetic, given that universities across the US have long provided testing on demand to their workers and students.

PSC-CUNY elected leaders have asked union members to write emails to the Chancellor and their college presidents/deans, and have apetitionfor safe return in the Spring. Before the spring semester, however, there are weeks of winter intersession during which PSC members are being forced to work in unsafe conditions. What are the escalating organizing steps beyond emails and petitions? How will we protect the health of our coworkers and communities as a union? It is encouraging that some individual PSC chapters are engaged in active campaigns to put pressure on local administration. Local pressure on the chapter and campus level has resulted in some CUNY sites going de facto remote in the winter. At the School of Public Health, staff are working from home, and only 30% of spring classes will be in person. If your campus administration is pointing to CUNY Central as an excuse to enforce unsafe working conditions, keep pushing for them to do better. Email campaigns and petitions are a good start, but plan your next steps to build power on the local level. (For ideas on turning up the heat on the boss, check out this Labor Notesarticle.)

PSC chapter elections: Jan. 7 open meeting on strategy

Sixteen PSC chapters have elections coming up in April 2022. Members of these chapters will vote for the delegates and alternate delegates who represent them at the PSC Delegate Assembly. The deadline for filing a Declaration of Candidacy form to run in any of these elections is coming up fast: January 14, 2022. What does this mean for those of us who want a strike-ready social justice union capable of mobilizing the member power needed to win real gains through collective action? 

Should you run for a delegate or alternate position as an independent candidate? Can you join with comrades to form an alternative slate? Should you try to join an existing slate controlled (at most chapters) by the New Caucus that has ruled the union for 21+ years? And at Kingsborough Community College, will someone challenge the rightwing caucus that holds onto its power through bullying tactics and frivolous lawsuits against union members who dare to stand up to it? Will Zionist PSC members who are angry about the Palestine solidarity resolution try to use these elections to gain seats in the Delegate Assembly–and if so, can supporters of justice for Palestine defeat them?

RAFA is not an electoral caucus and we don’t have all the answers but we’re calling an open meeting to discuss these questions and share information on Friday, January 7, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. If you share RAFA’s principles and are interested in learning more and/or possibly running for a delegate or alternate position at one of the campuses listed below, RSVP here to get the Zoom link for the meeting.

College chapters with Spring 2022 elections:

• Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)

• College of Staten Island (CSI)

• Kingsborough Community College

• Lehman College

• Medgar Evers College

• NYC College of Technology (City Tech)

• Queensborough Community College

Other chapters with Spring 2022 elections:

• Hunter College Campus Schools (K-12)

• Higher Education Officers (HEOs)

• Research Foundation Central Office

• Research Foundation Field Units

• Retirees

• SUNY Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) chapters:

  • Brooklyn EOC

  • Bronx EOC

  • Manhattan EOC

  • Queens EOC