Amessage from the president - PSC CUNY | Years of Progress by Irwin... · Amessage from the president ... These articles by Irwin Yellowitz, ... treasurer, originally appeared in

A message from the president

.T' he merger of the LegislativeConference and the UnitedFederation of College Teachers to

form the Professional Staff Congress onApril 14, 1972, was an extraordinaryevent in the world of academicumomsm.

Two rival unions with significantdifferences in background joinedtogether in the interest of more effectiverepresentation for the City University'sinstructional staff.

At the time, many observers didnot believe the fledgling union hadmuch chance to make a go of it. Butthrough perseverance, dedication toour ideals and hard work the PSChas succeeded beyond the expectations.of its creators.

We have repeatedly broken newground for academic unionism as thesepages recount.

As the PSC marks its 25thanniversary, we take pride in ourachievements on behalf of the CityUniversity instructional staff and lookforward to still greater progress in thenext quarter century.

These articles by Irwin Yellowitz,professor emeritus of history atCity College and a former PSCtreasurer, originally appeared in ournewspaper, the Clarion.

We hope the account will beuseful to students of academiccollective bargaining and toeveryone with an interest in publichigher education.

Irwin H. PolishookPresident

25 Years of Progress: Professional, Staff Congress

Table of contents2 Building the Union

10 A Time of Crisis17 A Decade of Advance24 A Decade of Defense

Building the unionThe Professional Staff Congress celebrated its 25th anniversaryon April 14, 1997. This is the union's history.

by Irwin Yellowitz

The 25th anniversary of theProfessional Staff Congress is anoccasion for reflection not only

about our future, but about our past. Weshould know how the faculty and staff atthe City University of New York movedfrom an isolated, often impotent,condition to united, strongrepresentation by a professional unionthat negotiates a contract widely viewedas a model for higher education.

The PSC defends that contractzealously through a well-developedgrievance procedure, protects andadvances the interests of the faculty andstaff, provides the real clout for CUNYin Albany and at City Hall and advancesthe interests of retirees, a group thatneeds the strength of a union as muchas when they were active employees.

The union protects and enlargesan extensive, much admired benefits

program, offers a wide range ofancillary services, including retirementcounseling and a full-service creditunion, and recognizes and supportssome of the outstanding students inCUNY by full tuition scholarshipsthrough the Belle Zeller ScholarshipTrust Fund.

The PSC has a prominent role inthe New York City labor movement andcooperates with faculty and stafforganizations within CUNY, such as the

2

University Faculty Senate, to advancecollegiality and shared governance.

To reach this point has requireddetermined and intelligent leadership, afirst-rate union staff and the continuingsupport of the members.

The Legislative ConferenceThe strong PSC that we know

today is the product of a complexhistory reaching back over half acentury. In the 1930s, Committees onLegislation represented the individualcity colleges, but they were hamperedby poor coordination and minimalresources.

In 1938, the governing board forthe four city colleges (Brooklyn, City,Hunter and Queens) issued a set ofbylaws that created formal facultygovernance at the colleges andestablished faculty tenure. This spurredfaculty to think of a more effectivelegislative organization, especially sincethere was need to reinforce the bylawtenure provisions with statutoryprotection. On Jan. 6, 1939,22 facultymembers created the LegislativeConference of the City Colleges (LC)and elected the first set of officers.

The LC first worked to achievestatutory tenure, and in 1940, after adifficult campaign, it achieved success.The LC next moved to salaries and

pensions. It won some salary increasesthrough the early 1950s, but in 1956 theLC secured passage of a state law givingcollege faculty parity with employees ofthe Board of Education. Salaries forthose in professorial titles matched thepay of supervisory personnel in thepublic schools.

With the growth of the UnitedFederation of Teachers (UFT) in the1960s as the union for the staff of thepublic schools, salaries for teachersincreased, and in 1963 supervisorysalaries rose accordingly because of anindexing arrangement. Through theparity law, this automatically raisedsalaries for the faculty in the citycolleges. Thus the college faculty andthe LC benefited directly from theunionization of the public schools.

'The PSChas a prominentrole in theNew York Citylabor movement.'

The LC also worked unceasinglyfor improvements in the pension system.Again the situation elsewhere set basicpolicy for the city colleges since facultywere either members of the Teachers'Retirement System with the personnelof the public schools or the New YorkCity Employees' Retirement Systemwith other city workers. However,the LC did gain much valuablelegislation that had specific application

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress

to the needs of the colleges.

The leadership of the LC wascomposed of senior faculty as was truefor most faculty governance bodies atthe colleges. In late 1944, Prof. BelleZeller of Brooklyn College became thechair of the LC. She retained this postuntil 1972, when she became the firstpresident of the PSc. Prof. Zeller wasan authority on lobbying, and herexpertise, plus her extensive personalcontacts with state legislators, many ofwhom had been her students,maximized the influence of the LC.

The UFCT challengeIn 1963, the LC was challenged as

the representative of the faculty andstaff of CUNY when the UnitedFederation of College Teachers (UFCT)began determined organizing within theuniversity.

The UFCT had been the local forcollege teachers of the UFf and itspredecessor organization since 1950, butin 1963 it became an independent localof the American Federation of Teachers(AFT). With continued financial help

from the UFT, the UFCT beganvigorous organizing not only in CUNYbut at other colleges including St. John'sUniversity, Pratt Institute and LongIsland University.

Prof. Israel Kugler of New YorkCity Community College (now CityTech) headed the UFCT as he had itspredecessor organizations since 1950.An experienced and articulate laborleader with a record of significantachievements, he stressed the 'need foracademic unions to affiliate with thelabor movement. This was a key

Members picket Board of fligher Educationin September 1972.

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress 3

difference from the LC, whichemphasized its independence.

The UFCT received much positiverecognition in 1965-66 for itsdetermined defense of 31 members ofthe faculty at St. John's University whowere dismissed without charges orhearings. St. John's became a nationalissue.

Although the strike called by theUFCT was lost in the narrow sense,most of the strikers received betterpositions elsewhere, and St. John'ssuffered censure from the AmericanAssociation of University Professorsand a general loss of reputation. The LC

clearly faced a real challenge from thisnew organization.

'The strong PSCthat we know todayis the productof a complex historyreaching backover half a century.'

The LC responded by calling onCUNY to recognize it as the solecollective bargaining agent. Naturally,the UFCT opposed any such action.

Chancellor Albert Bowker decided toincrease consultations with both groups,but he ignored the issue of collectivebargaining. His hand was forced in 1967when the state legislature passed theTaylor Law, which granted publicemployees the right to choose acollective bargaining agent.

An election takes shapeAn election was now a certainty in

CUNY, but under what terms? TheUFCT had to face its weak supportamong the faculty of the senior collegeswho were familiar with the LC. Yet theLC also had problems, including littlesupport among lecturers and adjuncts.

PSC informational picket line outsideBaruch College in February 1973.

4

STOP.UNION

8USTIN~~j-. BARGA"~

IN GOOD fA

2 5 Yea r s of Pro g re s s: Pro f e s s·j 0 n a 1St a ff Con g res s

Then, as now, CUNY used adjuncts ascheap labor: they were 42 percent of theteaching personnel in 1968, and 34percent of the total faculty and staff.When lecturers, who had no assuranceof reappointment, are added to theadjunct figure, the so-called temporarystaff constituted 45 percent of the totalfaculty and staff.

These considerations led to aprotracted dispute before the PublicEmployment Relations Board (PERB)over the nature of the unit for theelection. The LC called for two units -one for all faculty and staff paid on anannual basis, and a second for adjuncts,with those who worked less than sixhours excluded entirely. Clearly this wasdesigned to gain victory for the LC in apowerful unit in which it had electoralstrength. The downside was allowingthe UFCT to win among the adjuncts,but if the two units were combined, theLC could not be sure of victory.

The UFCT demanded a singleelection for all employees except thatCollege Laboratory Technicians wouldbe in a separate unit. The UFCT hopedto win among the technicians therebygaining a foothold in CUNY while theremaining large single unit, whichincluded all the adjuncts and thelecturers, gave it a chance for victorythere as well.

The university also called for asingle unit minus adjuncts teaching lessthan six hours. As with most employers,CUNY wanted to avoid multiple unionsand several contracts.

'l

PERB ultimately determined the

.Protesting tenure quotas, October 1973.At left, then PSC First Vice President Irwin Polishook.

units in a form close to that proposed bythe LC. PERB called for two units -one for those holding some sort ofpermanent or annual status, includingHigher Education Officers and CollegeLaboratory Technicians, and a secondunit for those in temporary titles,principally adjuncts, although full-timelecturers on annual appointments wereincluded in this second group.

The instructional staff choosesThe election was held on Dec. 5,

1968. In unit 1, the LCreceived 47percent of the votes, the UFCT 38

percent with 15 percent voting forneither. This required a second electionsince a majority was needed. In therunoff, the LC won 54 percent of thevotes and the UFCT received 46percent. This close result shows thatthe UFCT was correct in estimatingits strength, and had there been onlyone unit, the UFCT most likely wouldhave won.

In unit 2, the UFCT won60 percent of the votes while the LCreceived only 27 percent with13 percent voting for neither. These

25 Years of Progress: ProfessLonal Staff Congress- 5

results left two bargaining agents havingto face not only challenges from theuniversity but from each other.

Some CUNY officials wonderedwhy the faculty and staff had supportedcollective bargaining. They citedthe good salaries and governancestructure under the bylaws. Prior tothe election, Chancellor.Bowker openlycalled for rejection of collectivebargaining, saying it would weakenfaculty governance and replace acommunity of shared interest withan adversarial relationship.

He also strongly encouragedformation of the University FacultySenate as an alternative to collectivebargaining. However, the faculty andstaff rejected these arguments. Theyunderstood that unionism wouldactually enhance governance as eventshave borne out. They also appreciatedthe gains made by the UFT in the publicschools through vigorous unionism.

Subsequently the State Universityof New York and many other collegesand universities voted for collectivebargaining. The Yeshiva decision of1980 by the United States SupremeCourt, which declared faculty in privatecolleges and universities to be managersand thus ineligible for collectivebargaining, essentially stopped furtherorganizing in those institutions.

The results of 1968 were close tothe plan of the LC, but clearly thiselection was not to be the final word.The UFCT continued a strong campaignagainst the LC among members ofunit 1.In April 1971,the UFCT launched

6

a petition drive for a new electionunder one unit.

The LC responded to the challengefrom the UFCT by discarding itsfiercely held independence and joiningthe National Education Association(NEA). The NEA provided money,including funding for the new post ofExecutive Director, to which ArnoldCantor was appointed in May 1970. TheUFCT delighted in attacking this changeof course, claiming the LC hadexchanged principle for cash. However,the UFCT failed to note that it stilIreceived considerable financial supportfrom the UFT.

A move toward mergerThe battles between the two

organizations were rapidly bankruptingboth of them. The UFCT had increasingand sizable debts, and as a newcollective bargaining election loomed,the LC took out a loan of $100,000in September 1971. Once againPERB would have to make a unitdetermination. The LC called for thetwo existing units; the UFCT, awareof the 1968 results, called for one unit;and in a sharp turnabout CUNYproposed three units.

Since neither union was confident·of victory, they began to discussmerger to stop the slide into bankruptcy.The momentum for merger wasgreatly assisted by a parallel set ofmerger talks between the statewideaffiliates of the NEA and the AFT. Ifsuch a merger took place, the supportfrom the national organizations to theiraffiliates in CUNY would end.

After rocky negotiations, the LCand the UFCT achieved a merger, andin April 1972 the members of eachorganization quickly approved it by anoverwhelming vote. Shortly thereafterthe faculty and staff as a whole votedstrongly for one unit that would be theirbargaining agent. The new organizationwas called the Professional StaffCongress/CUNY - a name chosen withdifficulty to distinguish the new unionfrom its two predecessors.

'The initialcontractswere concludedin 1969.'

Belle Zeller became presidentand Israel Kugler deputy-president;key leadership positions in the centralunion and in the campus chapterswere divided fifty-fifty.

The merger produced one union,but not unity within it. Caucusesdeveloped immediately around BelleZeller and Israel Kugler, and there wasconstant tension between them and alsoamong their supporters. Althoughdivided leadership made it moredifficult, the union was able to negotiatethe first unitary contract with CUNY.

In the spring of 1973,Profs. Kuglerand Zeller ran on opposing slates in thefirst PSC election. The Zeller slate,known as the City University UnionCaucus (CUUC), won the major

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress'

offices andcontrol of theExecutiveCouncil andDelegateAssembly.Prof. Kugler andhis supporterscontinued inopposition until1976 whenIrwin Polishook,running on theCUUC slate,defeatedIsrael Kugler.

Duringthe period priorto merger, thecollectivebargainingagents had tocontend withseveral majorchallenges fromthe universityas well as negotiate contracts.

The initial contracts wereconcluded in 1969. The LC contractestablished parity between senior andcommunity college faculty and staff insalaries. The UFCT contractincluded the Certificate of ContinuousEmployment for fuU-time lecturerswith five or more years of service.These basic contractual principles andmany other provisions of the currentPSC contract are direct descendantsof those initial agreements.

PSC President Belle Zeller and Deputy President Israel Kugler soon after the merger of theLegislative Conference and the United Federation of College Teachers to form the Professional Staff Congress.

The first PSC contractThe newly created PSC began to

negotiate the first unitary contract in1972. The process lasted untilratification by the PSC's membershipin September 1973 as the university,under a new chancellor, Robert Kibbee,tested the union.

The process included impasse,fact-finding (the report was accepted bythe PSC but rejected by CUNY), a votefor a strike on Oct. 1,1973, shouldthere be no contract by that date, thewithholding of increments by CUNY


and a declaration by the universitythat,it would impose a contract underits reading of the Taylor Law, andfinally an agreement on July 20, 1973,that closely followed the report of thefact finders.

This contract settlement firmlyestablished the major provisions of the1969agreements and added several newand important features.

The 1972 contract retainedincrements despite the university'sstrong a¥mpt to end them; allowed fora more effective grievance procedure by

"7

requiring a college president to givereasons for overruling a personnelcommittee on reappointment orpromotion and by broadening thepowers of an arbitrator through remandof cases to special faculty panels whena fair academic judgment could not beexpected at the college; definedworkload more precisely - which adecade later became a key factor in theworkload arbitration that still applies inCUNY; and provided new forms of jobsecurity by making instructors eligiblefor contractual tenure and providingmultiple-year reappointments forHigher Education Officers.

'ThePSC ...began a blisteringcampaign againsttenure quotas;'

Important as these provisionswere, the long battle by the PSC to winthe agreement also showed the resolveof the union to meet the determinedopposition of management. A youngunion almost always faces such achallenge, and this was the time oftesting for the PSC.

Managementtries to make inroads

During the period of the twocompeting unions, the university choseto try to make some basic changes inacademic practice, perhaps in the beliefthat the discord between the twoorganizations would weaken theirresponse. In late 1969, Chancellor

8

Bowker proposed to eliminate electedchairs, citing the heavy managerialresponsibilities placed on them by thenew contracts. He tried to rush thechange through the Board of HigherEducation, but determined oppositionfrom the two unions led first to delayand ultimately to the dropping of theproposal.

In late 1970, Chancellor Bowkerproposed a 75 percent tenure quota.The two unions resolutely opposed theidea as inimical to quality and contraryto peer review, and the proposal quicklydisappeared. However, in 1973Chancellor Kibbee revived the proposalfor tenure quotas. He called for a50 percent quota with specialjustification required if the collegepresident chose to recommend tenurein a department that had hit the limit.The Board of Higher Educationapproved the policy on Oct. 29, 1973.

Battling tenure quotasThe PSC immediately began a

blistering campaign against tenurequotas. The union proposed that facultybodies vote no confidence in thechancellor and refuse to cooperatewith any special procedures for tenureunder the quota system.

Ultimately 14 of the university's18 campuses, plus the UniversityFaculty Senate, demanded the recisionof the quotas, and 8 campuses andthe University Faculty Senate passedresolutions for the resignation ofthe chancellor.

Other measures in the campaignincluded a boycott of all contact with

the chancellor, which receivedwidespread support throughout CUNY;support from prominent politicians,including Mayor-elect Abraham Beame,who received the PSC's endorsement inthe election and who would appoint newmembers to the Board of HigherEducation; national publicity throughthe solid support of the AFT and theNEA; a warning to faculty nationwidethrough advertisements in professionalpublications ("Applying to CUNY?Think Twice."); rallies, continuousattention to the issue in the Clarion: andconstant work by the PSC's officers tokeep the issue before the universitycommunity. It was a comprehensive,tough and unrelenting campaign todefeat this attack on sound academicpractice.

On April 22, 1974, the Board ofHigher Education rescinded the tenurequota resolutions. As then First VicePresident Irwin Polishook put it, the endof tenure quotas was "an unprecedentedvictory not only for the PSC, theinstructional staff and the student body,but for merit and academic freedom andfor the national movement of facultyunionization." It clearly was the greatesteffort yet made by the young union, anda significant achievement.

By 1975, unionism and collectivebargaining were firmly established inCUNY through the PSC. There hadbeen a series of crises that seeminglycould have no equal. Yet looming justahead was the fiscal collapse of NewYork City which threatened the veryexistence of CUNY. •

25 fears of Progress: Professional Staff Congress

Building the UnionJanuary1939 22 faculty members create the

Legislative Conference (LC).1940 LC wins passage of law

granting statutory tenure.1944 Belle Zeller elected chair

of the LC. senior and community collegeinstructional staff in salaries.The UFCT contract winsa Certificate of ContinuousEmployment for lecturers.

1963 United Federation ofCollege Teachers (UFCT)begins organizing drive atthe city colleges.

1967 Taylor Law grants publicemployees the right to choosea collective bargaining agent.

April1972 LC and UFCT merge, forming

the Professional Staff Congress.Belle Zeller becomes president;Israel Kugler, deputy president.

1968 In an election for bargainingagent, LC wins a majorityof the professoriate at CUNY;UFCT wins lecturersand adjuncts.

Spring1973 City University Union Caucus

wins control of ExecutiveCouncil and DelegateAssembly in first PSCgeneral election; Belle Zeller

1969 First instructional staffcontracts. The LC contractestablishes parity between

becomes president.

September1973 PSC members ratify the first

unitary contract.

October1973 Chancellor Kibbee proposes

a 50% tenure quota which isapproved by the Board ofHigher Education. Aftera blistering campaign by theunion, quotas are rescindedon April 22, 1974.

1976 Irwin Polishook, runningon CUUC slate, is electedPSC president.

With management refusing to negotiate in good faith,PSC members held 'Rally for a Decent Contract' on Oct. 5, 1972.

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Con2ress 9

A time of crisis

The 1960s and early 1970s werea period of rapid growth for theCity University. New colleges

opened, the student body increased -moderately at first in the 1960s, and thenrapidly after the advent of OpenAdmissions in 1970. Although studentfees rose, they remained under $100,and free tuition continued. Significantlymore faculty and staff provided anexpanded array of courses and services.

The instructional staff moved tocollective bargaining in 1968, and afterseveral years with two negotiatingagents, the PSC in 1972 became the soleunion for CUNY as a result of the

merger of the Legislative Conferenceand the United Federation ofCollege Teachers.

Despite the many problems facedby the university and the PSC, in theearly 1970s the future seemed bright.Lurking just ahead, however, was afiscal crisis that not only threatened thequality of education and the jobs offaculty and staff, but the very existenceof CUNY itself.

On a collision course

The storm hit the university whenCUNY's expanded costs collided with afiscal crisis in New York City. The citysupplied 50 percent of the budget for thesenior colleges plus a significant shareof community college expenses. While

Rally in December 1974 was one of many organized by the PSCto protest massive cuts in city and state aid for CUNY.

10

New York State experienced less fiscaltrauma, it also faced budget problems.The financial stresses combined with atraditional upstate hostility to New YorkCity made help from the state, whileessential, difficult to achieve.

Under political pressure from thePSC and the New York State UnitedTeachers (NYSUT), the state ultimatelydid intervene to increase its share offunding for the senior colleges from50 percent in 1974 to 75 percent of whathad been the combined city and statecontributions in 1979, with 100 percentforthcoming four years later. Yet thisshift was too slow to avoid a crisis atCUNY. It also came at a significantprice: the end of free tuition.

Cuts and more cutsAn angry sea of budgetary cuts

broke over CUNY in the fall of 1974.For three years the cuts came in waves.As the exhausted university, and aPSC fully engaged in its protectionrode out each great breaker, anotherfollowed. CUNY survived only becauseof the activities of the PSC, and itsability to galvanize political supportfor the university.

In the fall of 1974, MayorAbraham Beame called for sharpreductions in the city's support of thesenior colleges. This meant doubletrouble since lower municipalappropriations triggered a matchingdecline in state funds for CUNY.

As the city's financial problemsdeepened in the winter of 1974-75,Mayor Beame made three rounds ofcuts in CUNY's budget. The


university's management responded byreducing services. In what was tobecome a familiar litany, the cutsincluded reductions in staff, principallypart-time and non-tenured or non-certificated faculty at this point, a freezeon the hiring of full-time personnel andfewer library resources. Much worsewas to come.

The university limped through the1974-75 academic year. New York Citycalled for an even greater budget cut for1975-76. Chancellor Robert Kibbeereacted with continued and more drasticchanges. The Board of HigherEducation (BHE) on July 28, 1975,raised student fees significantly, reducedadministrative and support staff,

increased class sizes, eliminatedsabbatical leaves (restored after the endof the fiscal crisis) and increased annualcontact hours for faculty to 24 in thesenior colleges and 30 in the communitycolleges. These hours ultimately werereduced by a PSC challenge that led to a1982 arbitration decision whichestablished the current contact-hourteaching load.

Yet as this wave crashed on theuniversity, the next one crested. MayorBeame demanded the end of freetuition, and cut another $32 millionfrom CUNY's budget in place of it.Since the BHE refused to give up freetuition, this became an additionalreduction in available funds.

During the crisis, the PSC's labor allies joined the fight to save CUNY.At 1976 rally, First Vice President Irwin Polishook with Central Labor CouncilSecretary Harry Avrutin, United Federation of Teachers PresidentAlbert Shanker and DC 37 Executive Director Victor Gotbaum.

25 Years of P'r o e r e s s : Professional Staff Conl!ress

Kibbee proposes retrenchment

Chancellor Kibbee prepared forstill other waves by having the BHEpass a retrenchment plan which wouldallow immediate dismissal of tenuredand certificated faculty and staff. Heprojected the firing of a minimum of1,500 employees in all categories.

The Chairman of the BHE,Alfred Giardino, floated additionalactions including a pay less furloughof up to four weeks and the closing ofCUNY for two weeks. At the sametime, Chancellor Kibbee tried to slowthe momentum of the cuts by callingfor "thoughtful analysis and carefullyplanned implementation." This was akinto bailing out the Titanic with a bucket.The individual colleges moved aheadwith poorly conceived cuts to meet theirreduced budgets.

PSC fights for full state funding

Clearly CUNY management hadadopted a policy of acquiescing in thecuts, even though an occasionalpresident, such as Joseph Murphy ofQueens College, called for a fightagainst the reductions based on theirdisastrous impact on the university. Incontrast to management, the PSCfought resolutely against the cuts fromthe very first. .

The PSC maintained from theoutset that more money must come fromNew York State to offset what would beinevitable losses of funds from NewYork City. In the short term, moniescould be found by restoring to CUNYthe windfall the state gained by not

II

having to provide matching funds forthose withdrawn by the city. In thelong term, the answer was full statefunding of the senior colleges. In 1979,the PSC won this battle and gainedfull state funding.

To achieve this objective, whileattempting to mitigate the cuts fromNew York City and temper thewillingness of CUNY's managementto decimate the university, the PSCpursued several strategies. OnDec. 12, 1974, the union organized thelargest rally in the history of CUNY tooppose the first round of budget cuts.

Many more rallies anddemonstrations followed. The PSCwent to the courts, although successthere proved to be slight. The unionalso launched a full-scale publicitycampaign to win public support forCUNY, including both radio andnewspaper outlets. Most important, thePSC drew on the strength of the labormovement, particularly NYSUT, towork for more money from the state.It also participated in the MunicipalLabor Coalition that helped reverse thecollapse of the city's credit.

For some in the PSC, theseactions were not enough. Althoughthere was talk of a strike in the future,the opposition caucus called for animmediate strike referendum. InOctober 1975, the Delegate Assemblydefeated such a motion by a58-26 vote.

President Belle Zeller opposed themotion because in the context of thecity's financial collapse it would turn thepublic against CUNY's faculty and staff

12

and complicate efforts to win moremoney from the state. Also smallerunions, such as the PSC, were morelikely to suffer the full weight of theTaylor Law's severe penalties againststrikes by public employees, includinga loss of tenure and a loss of two days'pay for each day an employee wason strike.

'CUNY survivedonly because of the...PSC and itsability to galvanizepolitical supportfor the uniJ)ers;ty.~

As President Zeller put it, animmediate strike would favormanagement and the enemies of theuniversity "and would send the PSCto a graveyard filled with unions thathave struck at the wrong time."

Restructuring plansAs the crisis deepened,

institutional cannibalism came to thesurface. President Robert Marshak ofCity College proposed to close sixcolleges - not including his own - andthen merge the four older seniorcolleges, including City, into the StateUniversity of New York as more highlyfunded university centers.

One problem with such a scheme. was that the state had no interest in newuniversity centers with increased costs.Others at CUNY floated variations onthe restructuring theme.

The PSC strongly opposed all suchplans. The union consistentlychampioned the academic advantage ofa system that included two- and four-year colleges. In addition, any newinstitutions would be significantlyweaker politically than a unified CUNY.Ultimately this would translate intofewer resources, poorer education and aweakened union less able to defend theuniversity and those it represented.

Chancellor Kibbee would alsooffer a restructuring plan, but in late1975 he still focused on massivechanges within the university rather thanon dismembering it. His programcontinued to rely on disastrousreductions in services rather than onmore money. It included a significantcut in the number of students, increasedworkloads, a payless furlough and thefiring of faculty and staff. As First Vice-President Irwin Polishook commented,the Kibbee Plan "would save theuniversity by destroying it."

Instead the PSC went to the public.One advertisement in The New YorkTimes told readers "You Can Save CityUniversity" by supporting more statemoney for CUNY. However, it was atough time for a citizen of the BigApple. Mayor Beame's appeal toPresident Gerald Ford for federal helpbrought a resounding no, with theaccompanying free advice that thecity declare bankruptcy, or as theNew York Daily News headline put it:"Drop Dead."

President Ford saw no reason whyother Americans "should support


Protesting cutbacks.


advantages in New York [free tuition]that they have not been able to offer intheir own communities." Howeverstrongly New York City rejected thisreductionist argument, it still resonatedwidely, including in upstate New York.Upstate legislators resisted aid to a CityUniversity that provided a freeeducation while SUNY charged tuition.

In addition, the fiscal crisis in NewYork City was affecting the state'sfinancial position. In January 1976,these considerations led Governor HughCarey to oppose state financialassistance to CUNY. Instead, GovernorCarey proposed a plan to consolidateand close units within the university.

'ThePSCin 1972 becamethe sole unionfor CUNY.'

Chancellor Kibbee now moved hisown restructuring plan forward. Hepresented it to the BHE in February1976. It proposed to close Hostos, JohnJay and Richmond Colleges, andconvert Medgar Evers and York intotwo-year colleges. Chancellor Kibbeealso called for an end to OpenAdmissions by raising CUNY'sentrance requirements and for tighterretention standards. These two measureswere intended to reduce enrollmentsignificantly. Throughout the crisis, thePSC fought all efforts to restructureCUNY, and it won that battle.

13

Chancellor Kibbee's planAll of the reorganization proposals

had one goal in common - to reduce thesize of CUNY. For the governor, thiswould allow an increase in thepercentage of state support to the seniorcolleges without spending more dollars.For the chancellor, it would bring thecost of CUNY closer to the lower levelof funding that he expected fromAlbany and City Hall.

The Kibbee Plan was based on thecontinuation of free tuition. In April1976, the BHE approved thechancellor's reorganization proposal bya 6-4 vote. The minority contended thatan end to free tuition would precluderestructuring of CUNY, and they were

- prepared to pay that price. The majority,including Chairman Alfred Giardinoinsisted on continuing free tuition 'whatever the consequences.

Events now moved quickly to aclimax. The PSC had been negotiating acontract during this turmoil. On April28, 1976, it reached an agreement withthe university cancelling the four-weekpay less furlough that was still in theKibbee Plan approved by the BHE andsubstituting a two-week deferral ofsalary and increments. This was similarto other unions' wage deferrals. Despiteskepticism by some, the deferredmonies were repaid, with interest,during the 1980s once New York Cityhad recovered its financial health.

CUNY shuts downMayor Beame then confronted the

tuition issue. Two members whosupported free tuition had resigned from

14

the BHE following its action in April asthey realized they could no longerprevail. The mayor quickly appointednew members who favored ending freetuition. He then announced the citywould not pay its share of the May 28CUNY payroll.

'CUNY managementhad adopteda policy of

• •acqutesctngin the cuts.'

President Irwin Polishook calledon the members of the PSC not to workif they were not paid. This ledChancellor Kibbee to close theuniversity indefinitely. Forced to act, theBHE ended free tuition. New York Statethen appropriated $24 million to allowpayment of the unmet CUNY payroll.

During the crisis, the PSC electionfor general officers took place in Marchand April 1976. The rhetoric from theopposing caucus included charges ofweak and inept PSC leadership, but thereal issue was a difference in strategy.Irwin Polishook, running for president,stressed the primacy of political action,built in part on community supportthrough the publicity campaign andclose cooperation with CUNY'sstudents, and in part through affiliationwith NYSUT and support fromelsewhere in the labor movement.

The opposing caucus put more

emphasis on Sit-ins, demonstrations anda one-day strike. The electorate gaveIrwin Polishook 58 percent of the vote,and his slate swept the ExecutiveCouncil as they won in the senior andcommunity colleges and among thecross-campus units. Clearly the facultyand staff supported the approach takenby the incumbent leadership.

RetrenchmentThe 1976-77 academic year

brought the next waves in the crisis.The city's workforce experienced asecond round of firings as thousandsof uniformed personnel and 20,000teachers were laid off. Thus on May 24,1976, the BHE authorized retrenchment,and the chancellor ordered the collegesto cut 2,000 positions, including tenuredand certificated faculty.

The PSC fought these firings andsucceeded in getting management toreduce the number to less than half. Theunion also redoubled its efforts toincrease state funding as the only realway to stop further retrenchments.

Under pressure from the PSC andNYSUT, Governor Carey in early 1977announced his support for increasingstate funding for the senior collegesfrom 50 to 75 percent. The governorrealized that with an election yearapproaching there would be severepolitical consequences from NYSUTand the labor movement should he notmove to raise state aid.

He foresaw a decline in CUNY'sstudent body as free tuition ended,which he hoped would offset some of


the additional dollars required by theincrease in funding. Ultimately theinfusion of state money ended the crisisin CUNY, but not soon enough toreverse all the retrenchments.

The proponents of dismemberingCUNY as a solution to the crisiscontinued their efforts into 1977. Evenas Governor Carey accepted the increaseto 75 percent for state funding of thesenior colleges, members of his stafffloated restructuring plans. The unioncontinued to support CUNY's unitarysystem of community and seniorcolleges as the best academic structurefor New York City.

However, as fiscal stability beganto return, proposals for structuralchanges in CUNY waned. Thus theKibbee Plan was not implemented inlarge measure, the efforts by some at theolder senior colleges to join SUNYfizzled, and a call. in March 1977 by astate commission, headed by NilsWessell of the Sloan Foundation, forCUNY to be reorganized into two hewuniversities gained little support.

'In 1979,the PSC ...gained fullstate funding.'

In June 1979, the PSC finallyachieved its goal of providing a firmerfinancial base for CUNY and deflectingschemes for reorganization. The union'spolitical efforts led key legislators,

Faced with proposals to dismember the university, the PSC wageda media campaign to enlist public support for CUNY. First Vice PresidentIrwin Polishook and Treasurer Ada Agronin at a press conference in 1975.

including Speaker Stanley Fink, StateSenator John Marchi and State SenatorH. Carl McCall, to play leading roles increating a financial and governancearrangement for CUNY that has lastedto this day.

.Legislation signed by GovernorCarey provided for an autonomous,unified CUNY, full state funding of thesenior colleges in four years (a 75percent state funding rate already hasbeen voted for the 1979-80 budget year)and a new Board of Trustees to replacethe BHE; with ten members appointedby the governor and the remaining fiveby the mayor.

The storm had finally subsided.Although the university and itsinstructional staff had suffered losses,CUNY had survived as an institution,

25 Years of P'r o g r e s s : Professional Staff Congress

and the great majority of faculty andstaff had remained in place. The PSChad played a major role in achievingthis result. The university was nowpoised to take advantage of quieter seasduring the 1980s as it rebuilt from thenadir of 1974-77. The PSC also wasready to use brighter times to improvesalaries and working conditions offeredby the university, and to build a strongerunion offering more services andprograms to the instructional staff. •

'The PSCdrew onthe strength of thelabor movement.'

15

drive; organizes a series ofprotest rallies.A Time of Crisis

Fall 1974As city fiscal crisis develops, MayorBeame calls for sharp reductionsin city support for senior colleges,triggering a matching decline instate funding.

Fall 1975Chancellor Kibbee announces plansto fire 1,500 CUNY employees,including tenured and certificatedinstructional staff. PSC mountsmedia campaign to enlist public supportto save CUNY.

Winter 1974-75CUNY is hit with three rounds ofbudget cuts from the city. Staffreductions and a hiring freezeimposed. PSC mounts "Save CUNY"

February 1976Chancellor Kibbee proposes plan todrastically downsize the university.

It- .1 .":

r:~~~~".PSC President Emerita Belle Zeller and First Vice President Claude Campbell withGovernor Hugh Carey in June 1979 at signing of CUNY Governance Bill.

April 1976Irwin Polishook elected PSC president.Union agrees to two-week wagedeferral instead of proposed four-weekpay less furlough.

May-June 1976City refuses to meet May 28 payroll.PSC tells members not to work if theyare not paid. Chancellor shuts downCUNY for two weeks. BHE endsfree tuition.

May 1976 through 1977BHE authorizes retrenchments.Union's efforts cut layoffs.

February 1977Governor Hugh Carey agrees toincrease state funding for thesenior colleges, ending the crisis.

June 1979PSC wins firm financial base forCUNY as an independent, unifieduniversity with enactment of theCUNY Bill.

'All of thereorganizationproposalshad one goalin common -to reducethe size of CUNY.'

16 25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress

.~~. ~~ .~~ ~~~~~

A decadeof advance

poised to advance. The prerequisiteswere in place.

First, the improved financialcondition of the state and city allowedpoliticians to respond to the strongpressure from the PSC and our affiliate,the New York State United Teachers(NYSUT). Second, the PSC hadexperienced leaders, plus an excellentstaff, who were able to take advantage

lttersuccessfully surviving thecrisis of 1974-1979, the

Professional Staff Congressentered the 1980s with the universityintact and without major losses amongfaculty and staff. The union stood

of the larger economic and politicalsituation. It took great skill andimmense energy to convert thesepotential advantages into real gains.

Underlying any advances had tobe a livable budget. This did not comeeasily, but at the state level a clearpattern existed throughout the decade:the governor generally cut the CUNYbudget to a greater or lesser extent, and

PSC chapter chairpersons reviewproposed contract in September 1980.

25 Years of Progress: ProCessional Staff Congress 17

the legislature restored some or all ofthe money the governor had proposedto cut. New York City offered less of aproblem until 1986.

For the rest of the decade, thesame pattern emerged as at the statelevel. In this case, reductions made bythe mayor were largely restoredthrough agreements reached among theCity Council, Board of Estimate andthe mayor.

Battling budget cutsThe existence of these overall

patterns and the positive outcome forthe PSC should not obscure the complexinner texture of events. In 1980,Governor Hugh Carey continued hishighly ambivalent attitude towardCUNY by proposing the mostsignificant cuts in the university'sbudget since 1975-76, with 600positions slated for elimination. Whenthe legislature restored the money, thegovernor vetoed their actions. In aseldom seen response, the legislatureoverrode the governor's veto. The fiercelobbying ofthe PSC and NYSUTcontributed to this unusual event.

The PSC also gained a highlysignificant modification of the fundingformula for the College of Staten Island(CSI) and New York City TechnicalCollege. Both schools had seniorcollege and community collegeprograms, which meant budgetaryinsecurity since the state and city didnot always agree on their levels offinancial stipport.

Against the backdrop of theprojected budget cuts of 1980, the PSC

18

gave the highest priority to changingthis unstable situation. In June 1980, theunion won state funding for a majorportion of community college expensesbased on a formula of parity with theagricultural and technical colleges ofthe State University of New York.

'lt tool' greatskill and immenseenergy to convert ...potential advantagesinto real gains.'

As he finished his second andfinal term in 1982, Governor Carey gaveCUNY a going away present of budgetcuts. These were part of a generalreduction in state aid to all levels ofeducation. It led to a lengthy budgetstandoff, significant restorations by thelegislature, more vetoes by the governorand ultimately a second set of overridesby the legislature. Again the PSCcalled on the statewide reach ofNYSUT to further this result.

The Cuomo yearsAlthough the mid-1980s saw the

annual budgetary pattern of executivecuts and legislative restorationscontinue, there was a major change indegree. Under Governor Mario Cuomo,the executive reductions were smallerand more targeted, the overall CUNYbudget increased, there was support foran ambitious $4-billion buildingprogram in CUNY funded by statebonds, and restorations by the

legislature met no vetoes. However,budgetary problems became severeagain once the state passed a multi-yeartax cut in 1987 and the stock marketcrash in October of that year hurt theeconomy of New York City.

The final years of the decaderesembled the earliest ones as thegovernor proposed major cuts whichwere largely eliminated by thelegislature. Mayor Edward Koch alsobegan to demand reductions in the city'scontribution to the community colleges,but again strong political action by thePSC blocked any significant cuts.

Still, budgets became increasinglyaustere, and while the basic fabric ofCUNY remained intact, it began to frayas libraries, counseling and other vitalsupport services became strained.The PSC and NYSUT campaignedvigorously for the state to suspend thetax cuts. However, it was the era ofReaganomics, and the effort failed, -except for the last phase of thereductions, amounting to $400 million,which was not implemented untilafter Governor George Pataki'selection in 1994.

The relative financial stability of .the 1980s allowed the PSC's leaders tonegotiate four contracts that restored thefinancial losses suffered by faculty andstaff during the crisis of the 1970s andmade important advances in virtuallyevery area. Just as the PSC used thestrength of NYSUT in lobbying andpolitical action, so it joined the othermunicipal unions in a coalition tonegotiate the basic financial featuresof contracts. This clearly maximized

25 Years -of Progress: Professional·Staff Congress

the influence of the PSC.During the decade, the PSC and its

coalition partners secured salaryincreases that averaged 6.1 percentannually (more when compounding istaken into account). The coalition alsonegotiated significant improvements inthe basic medical plans plus higherpayments to the unions' welfare funds,including the PSC-CUNY WelfareFund. Yet all of this was only thebeginning for the PSc. It had manyimportant issues to negotiate that werespecific to CUNY.

Protecting TIAA retireesMost difficult to achieve were

after-retirement basic health benefitsfor members of the Teachers Insuranceand Annuity Association-CollegeRetirement Equities Fund (TIM-CREF). The members of the Teachers'Retirement System (TRS) receivedthese benefits, including coverage forhospitalization and doctors, but suchwas not the case for TIM-CREE Thiswas a critical issue since most of thosewho had entered CUNY since the1970s, when modifications reduced theattractiveness of TRS, had joinedTIM-CREE

The state and city resisted addingafter-retirement basic health benefitsfor TIM-CREF because of thesubstantial cost and a reluctance toprovide additional public moniesto a private retirement plan when apublic retirement system, TRS, existedas an alternative. During the contractnegotiations of 1984, President IrwinPolishook played a major role inwinning this new provision for members

The PSC created the Belle Zeller Scholarships to honor its founding president.President Polishook, Governor Cuomo and Dr. Zeller with two winners.

of TIM-CREE He convinced city andstate officials that CUNY could notcontinue to attract high quality faculty ifthe TIM-CREF retirement plan lackedhealth benefits, and that the cost wasbearable since it would be spread overmany years as the members retired. Heinsisted that this item was essential toachieving a collective bargainingagreement.

Ultimately the PSC prevailed. Forthe first time, members of TIM -CREFhad the same after-retirement healthcoverage as those in TRS. This wasclearly one of the most importantachievements in the history of the PSC,and all the more difficult to win becauseit did not affect other city employees.

In 1982, the PSC also made amomentous gain for retirees in terms ofthe supplementary health benefitsprovided by the PSC-CUNY WelfareFund. The contract of that yearcontained for the first time a per capitapayment from the employer for all


retirees who left the universityafter 1982.

'In' a seldom seenresponse, thelegislature overrodethe governor's veto."

This per capita payment was only$50.00 less per year than the per capitapayment for active members, and itallowed the Welfare Fund to develop afull range of benefits for the post-1982retirees. In essence, the PSC won acontractual assurance that one reward ofa lifetime of service to CUNY would becomprehensive after-retirementhealth coverage.

PSC made other important changesin the contracts of the 1980s that werespecific to CUNY's instructional staff.The 1980 contract initiated ScholarIncentive Awards and the Faculty

19

Development Program. The 1982contract included the creation of thechief college laboratory technician title,the establishment of permanence ofappointment for higher educationofficers under article 13.3b andrepayment of the deferred moneyof 1975-76, with interest, over aseven-year period beginning in 1984-a commitment shared with othermunicipal unions.

Contractual gains

With the 1984 contract, healthbenefits were expanded to includeadjuncts who met service requirements(soon sharply reduced) and who had noother health plan. This was a major gainfor adjuncts, and quite difficult toachieve because it ran counter to thecommon practice in American highereducation. Adjuncts are regarded byuniversities as cheap labor for whomany health plans are a contradiction interms. The last contract of the decade,in 1987, included a differential forlecturers with the doctorate andlongevity steps for all members ofthe instructional staff who had beenat the top of their rank for five andseven years.

'Strong politicalaction by the PSCblocked anysignificant cuts.'

Librarians received four weeksof special assignment leave instead of

20

ExecutiveDirectorArnoldCantoraddressesa PSC Pre-RetirementConference.The union has securedcomprehensivehealthcoveragefor retirees.

three while higher education officershad the years needed to reach apermanent appointment reduced fromeleven to eight. Yet there was also ahint of tougher times ahead as theuniversity demanded several negativechanges. The 1990s would offer amuch more difficult bargaining climate,making the enormous gains of the1980s even more important.

The PSC also helped secureequity for female members of theinstructional staff through support forthe CUNY Women's Coalition in itslawsuit against the university. Beginningin 1973, members of the Coalition,led by Professor Lilia Melani ofBrooklyn College, worked to assemblethe data needed to show discriminationin the salaries paid to women inCUNY since 1968.

The coalition won a judgment inFederal District Court in 1983 andsubsequently reached a settlement withCUNY that provided monetary damagesto all female members of theinstructional staff who had servedduring these years.

Judith Vladeck, counsel for theWomen's Coalition, acknowledged thehelp of the PSC in May 1984. In a letterto President Polishook she wrote,"I have often relied on the Union's

assistance, wise counsel and ultimatelyits financial support." This included helpin arriving at the final settlementagreement. Judith Vladeck regarded theactions of the PSC as a "principledposition" for which its leaders couldtake justifiable pride.

Strengthening the Welfare Fund

Another area of major concern forthe PSC was strengthening the WelfareFund. Increased employer contributionsallowed the Fund to improve programsduring the 1980s, including new majormedical insurance in 1985, the additionof a prescription drug card plan in 1988and the introduction of a pioneeringand highly successful contributorylong-term care program at the endof the decade.

The Fund also directedconsiderable money into the dental planand developed a panel of participatingdentists so that members could reducetheir out-of-pocket expenses to aminimum. By the end of the 1980s,protection for active members hadexpanded significantly, and a newhigh-quality program was in place forpost-1982 retirees. The Fund alsomaintained and improved benefits forthe oldest retirees. As the decade closed,the Welfare Fund had the most extensivearray of programs for its members


of any comparable public fund inNew York City.

In 1985 the union recast thegovernance of the Welfare Fund withcooperation from CUNY.While theFund remained an independent body,control over its operations shifted to thePSC. Until this point, the unionhad negotiated the monies for theWelfare Fund but had only minorityrepresentation in the Fund's leadership.On occasion, this produced differencesover policy.

Believing decision making andfinancing should be unified, the unioncreated a new, appointed board oftrustees, chaired by the president of thePSc. In this way, the Welfare Fundbecame more directly responsive to theneeds and opinions of the members asreflected through the highly visible,elected president of the PSc.

'In 1982, the PSCmade momentousgains for retirees':

In the area of grievances, duringthe 1980s the union won victories inseveral cases involving presidentialreasons where improper or carelessactions by college administrations rancounter to the due process rights grantedunder the contract.

The most important arbitrationduring the decade was the 1982 decisionthat reversed the increase in contact

Credit Union added services throughout the decade. President Howard Jonesand Manager Zuzana Kelly with applicants for the first home mortgage. .

hours established unilaterally byCUNY in 1975. The arbitrator set themaxima still in force - 21 hours for thesenior colleges and 27 hours for thecommunity colleges. He also awarded30 hours for lecturers, but in 1983the PSC negotiated a reduction tothe current 27.

Agreement with AAUPIn 1981, the PSC signed a

contractual agreement with theAmerican Association of UniversityProfessors (AAUP). The union becamethe AAUP's chapter for CUNY,replacing the small chapters that hadexisted on some campuses. In 1983, the


PSC helped arrange the end of theAAUP's censure of CUNY, imposedas a result of the retrenchmentsof the 1970s.

'The 1990swould offer amuch more difficultbargaining climate.'

The 1981affiliation agreement alsobarred AAUP from involvementin any effort by the National EducationAssociation to raid affiliates of theAmerican Federation of Teachers inNew York State, thereby reducingdestructive competition among thenational teachers' organizations. Finally,the PSC's new affiliation encouragedcontact at the national level between theAAUP and the PSC's national affiliate,the American Federation of Teachers.

Creating a credit unionThe comparative stability of the

1980s also allowed the union toencourage two important ancillaryorganizations that served the interestsof members and the university. Thefirst of these, the Federal Credit Union,was established in October 1979. It nowhas over 5,000 members. Assets havegrown from $1.9 million in 1979 to$23.9 million as of June 1996. In thatsame month, loans stood at $9 millionand reserves at $3.4 million. Duringthe 1980s, the credit union added IRAsaccounts, universal life insurance,

22

checking and overdraft protection toits basic menu.

The PSC sponsored the creditunion and supported it financiallythrough the 1980s, but it has been fromits inception an independent institution,as required by law. The success of thecredit union indicates that it has beenattuned to members' needs.

Scholarships establishedA second organization sponsored

by the PSC in 1979 has also grown to bea major asset to the union and theuniversity. The Belle Zeller ScholarshipTrust Fund was established to honor thePSC's founding president for herlifetime of service to the faculty andstaff of CUNY. The Belle Zeller Fundmakes awards to CUNY students basedon academic excellence (a minimumgrade point index of 3.75) andsignificant service to the college andthe community.

To date, the Fund has awarded199 scholarships. Originally, set at$1,000, since 1989 the awards havecovered full tuition. Winners receive thescholarships until they complete theirundergraduate degree at CUNY so longas they continue to meet the criteria forthe award. In 1982, the Fund added aroughly similar program for studentsat the Graduate Center. The PSCprovides staff support, but the BelleZeller Scholarship Fund operates as anindependent organization under aboard of trustees.

From its inception, the annualdinner of the Belle Zeller Fund, atwhich the awards are presented to the

scholars, also has been the occasion forthe PSC to honor a "Friend of CUNY."The 1996 honoree was H. Carl McCall,comptroller of the State of New York.Not only does the event enable theunion and the university to thank afriend, it also allows that friend to meetthe Belle Zeller Scholars and understandeven more deeply why CUNY deservessupport.

The 1980s were not the good olddays. There were struggles aplenty, butthe combination of a relatively stablefinancial situation for CUNY and PSCofficers able to see the possibilitiesand work effectively to convert themto real gains led to a period of growthfor the university and notable advancesfor the union. Yet the decade closedwith new storms brewing. As PresidentPolishook put it in 1988, we face"a fiscal hurricane with ourselves andthe students we serve as its victims."

Unfortunately the 1990s were toprove how accurate his commentswould be. The PSC would now haveto shift gears from advancing thecondition of the instructional staffand the university to an all-out defenseof everything that had been achievedduring nearly two decades ofstruggle, including the very survivalofCUNY .•

'The PSCu.helped secureequity forfemale members:'

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Cong'ress

A Decade of Advance 1981• PSC becomes AAUP chapterforCUNY.1980

• Gov. Carey's budget proposesto cut 600 positions at CUNY.Following PSC campaign,legislature restores funds, overridesgovernor's veto.

1982• PSC again wins budget restorationsfor CUNY as legislature overridesGov. Carey's vetoes.

• First per capita funding by cityfor post-1982 retirees permits afull range of after-retirementhealth benefits.

• Contract creates chief CLT title,permanent employment statusfor HEOs; provides for repaymentwith interest of salaries deferredduring fiscal crisis.

• PSC secures state support formajor portion of community collegecosts at City Tech and Collegeof Staten Island.

• Contract creates ScholarIncentive Awards, FacultyDevelopment Program.

• First Belle ZellerScholarships awarded.

Contractsmademajorgains in healthcoverage.

2S Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress

1984• Union wins after-retirementhealth benefits for TIM-CREFmembers.

1985• Restructuring of Welfare Fundleaves it an independent body,but with a board of trusteesappointed by the presidentof the PSc.

1987• Contract wins differentialfor lecturers with doctorate,adds longevity payments forinstructional staff at topof schedule for five andseven years.

1989• Credit union, opened in1979, reaches $12 millionin assets.

'The 1980swere notthe goodold-days.'

23

A decadeof defense

The optimism and advances of the1980s ended as the 1990s openedwith a reprise of the crises of the

seventies. Once again CUNY facedmajor budget cuts, once again theuniversity's management respondedwith retrenchment and reorganization,once again the Professional StaffCongress and the New York StateUnited Teachers (NYSUT) were themajor force for the restoration of fundsand the preservation of CUNY as aviable institution.

Once again there were somelosses, but without the victories won bythe PSC, the magnitude of the carnage

that would have befallen both CUNYand its instructional staff can scarcelybe imagined.

Storm warnings

Although New York City'sfinances in the first half of the 1990sdid not plunge to the depths of1975-76, both the city and the statefaced large and continuing deficitsthat placed extreme pressure onCUNY's budget.

This situation resulted from anumber of factors. Most important wasthe multi-year state tax reductionenacted in 1987, which limited theresources available to support thestate's many obligations, includingCUNY. Secondary developments addedto the problem.

The stock market crash in late1987 hobbled the finances of the cityand state for several years. At the sametime, the federal government's reducedsupport of social programs placed agreater burden on both. Finally therecession of the early 1990s furtherlimited revenues.

'The gains of1993-94 provedto be the calmbefore the storm."

As the available resources fell,costs for many of the programssupported by the state and city rose.In the case of CUNY, not only were

PSC was joined by state legislators, leaders of the University Faculty Senate and student government organizationsin 1993 march to protest proposed cuts in CUNY's budget.


there increasesbecause ofinflation and risingmandatory costs,but a greaternumber ofstudents enteredthe university. By1990,CUNY'sheadcount roseto 200,000.

In contrast, PSC PresidentIrwinH. Polishookralliedcrowdin Albanybetween 1990 and in 1995demonstrationagainstproposedbudgetcuts.1993 state aid tothe senior collegeshad dropped by 21 percent whilethe community colleges suffered a28 percent reduction in combined aidfrom city and state.

Rapid increases in tuition and earlyretirement incentives that permanentlyvacated higher-paid positions made upfor some of this lost public support,but not all of it. The remainderconstituted shortfalls for the universitythat translated into a succession ofbudget crises.

As in the 1970s, cuts came notonly in the adopted budget, but duringmid-year as well. In 1991, the state,under Governor Mario Cuomo,unilaterally proposed a payroll lag offive days for the senior colleges as anadditional means to reduce expendituresfor the university.

The PSC regarded this action as aviolation of the union contract, went tocourt to block the lag and won a reversalof the state's action from the New YorkCourt of Appeals on June 27.1991, and

from the United States District Court inNovember 1992. The PSC contractapproved by the membership inFebruary 1993 provided that the statewould repay 1 112days of the withheldmoney on April 1, 1994, with theremaining 3 112days to be repaid onFeb. 1, 1996.

In another attempt to cut costs, thestate also shed its financialresponsibility for associate degreeprograms at two senior colleges,John Jay and New York City TechnicalCollege (NYCTC). Only theintervention of the PSC with Mayor·David Dinkins in 1991, and insubsequent years with Mayor Dinkinsand Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, led tothe city's agreement to pick up thisexpense, thereby avoiding a crisis atthese two colleges.

The cuts of 1991were severeenough, on top of prior reductions inthe budget, to lead CUNY's Boardof Trustees to declare a financialemergency in the summer of 1991.

25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff· Congress

The decision of the city concerningJohn Jay and NYCTC relieved the fiscalpressure, and no retrenchments tookplace at this time.

The management of CUNY didreduce costs in other ways, including acut in the funding for the PSC-CUNYResearch Awards. This program wasimportant and venerable, having firstappeared in the Legislative Conferenceagreemerit of 1969. It continued throughall the subsequent PSC contracts. In1991, the university cut the moneyavailable for that year's awards in half,claiming that the adopted state budgethad provided only $1.4 million for themand had contained language barringCUNY from using other funds tosupport the program.

The PSC regarded this as anillegal breach of the contract, muchlike the state payroll lag, and theunion's response was similar. It filed aclass-action grievance, then a lawsuitand ultimately resolved the issue inthe contract that became effective in

25

:;.<.'"

February 1993. This agreement restoredfull funding for the research awardsbeginning with the 1994-1995 academicyear. Once again, the PSC defended itscontract even in difficult times.

·You cansave $9.27:Or you can saveCity University:'

In 1992-1993, Governor Cuomo'sExecutive Budget proposed even largercuts for CUNY. Despite an infusion ofmoney by the legislature, a tuitionhike of $500 and an early retirementincentive which led 350 members ofthe instructional staff to leave theuniversity, a $24-million shortfallremained. The situation was madeworse by cuts in city support for thecommunity colleges.

The result was another declarationof financial emergency by CUNY, andthis time some retrenchments did takeplace. Responses by college presidentsvaried. President Bernard Harlestonof City College made 30 retrenchmentsand eliminated two departments.

Many of those affected took forcedearly retirement while six otherswere ultimately restored to theirpositions by actions of the PSC. Incontrast, other presidents avoidedretrenchment entirely.

Agreement on a new contractIn 1993 and 1994,CUNY gained a

welcome respite from disastrous

26

budgets. The economy had improved,producing more revenue for the stateand city. But equally important,Governor Cuomo and Mayor Dinkinsbegan preparing for upcoming elections- which both were to lose - by shoringup their political support. In this period

-of relative calm, the PSC was able tocomplete negotiations for a contract thathad remained unsettled since February1990. The main obstacle had been thestate's refusal to offer anything but zerosfor the salary package.

Ultimately the PSC gained12.5 percent in salary increases over thelife of the agreement, which ran throughJan. 31, 1996. The union also securedsignificant additional monies for theWelfare Fund, which prevented anysignificant cuts in benefits or theelimination of any programs.

The thaw also allowed the union towin one of its most consistent demands.In response to pressure from the PSCand NYSUT, the legislature in 1994reversed its action of 1976 and restoredMedgar Evers College to senior collegestatus.

New problemsThe gains of 1993-1994 proved to

be the calm before the storm. GeorgePataki's election as governor in 1994reopened the attacks on CUNY from thestate. The new governor claimed thatMario Cuomo had secured his yearsof pre-election calm by hidingincreasing state deficits, and moved toclose the gap, primarily by makingenormous cuts in expenditures.

Mayor Giuliani, elected in 1993,

also announced that the city faced largebudget deficits, and he resolved to cutthe city's support of the communitycolleges. The magnitude of theseproposed budget reductions was fargreater than any advanced by GovernorCuomo or Mayor Dinkins, and theyplaced CUNY squarely into a crisis.

The PSC responded with amultifaceted campaign that exceededeven those of the 1970s. With NYSUT,the union secured another earlyretirement incentive to cushion theimpact of looming retrenchments. Thetwo organizations also intensified theirpolitical action, and the PSC workedclosely with the University StudentSenate and its president, AnthonyGiordano, to organize a series of ralliesin New York City and Albany, and toencourage a massive letter-writingcampaign by students.

'The PSCcampaignwasextremelyeffective."

The PSC also sought to enlist thesupport of the public through the mostextensive advertising campaign in itshistory. The message: the vast damagethat the p&.oposedcuts would inflict onCUNY, how a depleted universitywould hurt the people of the city andstate and how small a savings the cuts


represented in real dollars and cents forthe average person.

As one advertisement put it:"You can save $9.27. Or you can saveCity University." The campaignincluded ads in the major newspapersin New York City and Albany and over100 radio spots. NYSUT ran its ownadvertisements to supplement thoseof the PSc.

RestorationsThe PSC campaign was extremely

effective. By April 1995, the governorand Republican leaders in the StateSenate offered some restorations.However, the union's campaigncontinued and intensified, andultimately the legislature, with thegovernor's assent, made a major

restoration in the lump sum amountoriginally cut, lowered the amount of atuition increase demanded by GovernorPataki, restored money to the SEEKprogram and put new life into a TuitionAssistance Program that had beengutted by Mr. Pataki's proposed budget.

With additional savings from theearly retirement incentive, the

Higher Ed Day '94 brought PSC activiststo Albany seeking aid for CUNY


governor's massive cut had been fullyeliminated. It was a great victory for thePSC, and one would have thought forthe management of CUNY. But in aremarkable retreat from reality, thechancellor, board of trustees and collegepresidents proceeded to act as if thebudget cuts had not been reversed. Asthe PSC's executive director, ArnoldCantor, wrote, there seemed to be onlyone hand clapping.

Following release of GovernorPataki's Executive Budget, CUNY'sboard of trustees had declared afinancial emergency for the seniorcolleges on Feb. 27, 1995. Thechancellor then rushed to implementretrenchment, and most collegepresidents proceeded as quicklyas possible to abolish or reorganizedepartments and break tenure orcertificated status.

Even though the partial restorationof the lump sum cut, the $750 increasein tuition and the savings from the earlyretirement of 617 members of theinstructional staff meant that thefinancial emergency no longer existed,the speeding train of retrenchmentraced on.

On June 26,1995, the boardof trustees approved the collegeretrenchment plans and added a seriesof significant academic changes of itsown under the guise of the financialemergency.

The PSC quickly undertook a legalchallenge to the retrenchments and theother actions of the trustees. Workingwith the chairperson of the University

28

You cansave$9.27.Oryou cansave City

University.Governor Pataki would save $168.7 million at the City University

of New York and put the money in our packets. Distributed evenly among allNew Yorkers, the saving would give us each about $9.27.

Your $9.27would require the raising of tuition at the senior collegesby $1,000 (the community colleges already charge more tuition than 95% ofthe country's other public community colleges)":" and a reduction in studentaid. Your $9.27 would also force the elimination of almost 15,000 courses,drastically shrinking the opportunities available to CUNY's 213,000 studentsand many more would-be students-mostly middle- class or disadvantaged.

Thousands of them would be driven away, along with some of the bestfaculty and staff in the country. The last time CUNY underwent a comparableslash, in 1976 when the City almost went bankrupt, 50,000 students were lost,never to be seen again on any college campus. It was a big loss to the State'seconomy, too. .

If you'd like the $9.27in your pocket, thank the Governor for his pro-posed budget. Ifyou would prefer not to "save" on the future of the State, thereis still something you can do:

Letyour legislators know.There is still something they can do.

Professional Staff Congressthe union of the instructioila.lstaff of the City University of New York. NYSUT!AFT! AFl-CiO

Dr. Irwin H. Polishook, President25 West.43 Street, New York, NY 10036

PSC ad campaignshaveenlistedpublic support.


Faculty Senate and several namedfaculty plaintiffs, the union filed the suitof Irwin Polishook et al v. the CityUniversity of New York.

The lawsuitOn April 30, 1996, State Supreme

Court Justice Alice Schlesinger issued

her decision. It supported the PSC'scontention that the university violatedits own retrenchment rules by takingactions under a supposed financialemergency in June 1995 when there wasconsiderable evidence that such anemergency no longer existed.

Accordingly, Justice Schlesinger

vacated the trustees' actions relating tothe abolition, consolidation and mergerof departments at the senior colleges aswell as three of the academicresolutions, and remanded all theseactions back to the trustees for properapplication of the university's own rulesand bylaws.

t,Vice President Richard Boris addresses rally inlower Manhattan during spring budget drive.

25 Years of Progress: Professional Slaff Congress 29

Joint lobbyingwith other NYSUThighered localshas boostedthe union's effectiveness.

The university appealed thedecision, and on Dec. 19, 1996,the Appellate Division of theNew York Supreme Court reversedJustice Schlesinger's ruling concerningall issues except the reduction ofcredits from 128 to 120 for abaccalaureate degree and 64 to 60for an associate degree.

Unlike Justice Schlesinger,who emphasized whether a financialemergency actually existed, theappellate court used an entirely differentstandard: "Where there is a showing thatthe administrative body, in exercising itsjudgment, acts from honest convictionsand in good faith, based upon facts andcircumstances which it believes are inthe school's best interests, and thereis no showing that the acts 'werearbitrary or generated by ill will, fraud,collusion or such other motives, it is notthe province of a court to interfere andsubstitute its judgment for that ofthe administrative body.' "

'Ultimately the

maderestoration.

Since the Board of Trustees hadexamined CUNY's financial state inJune 1995, the court saw no reason toinquire whether that conclusionconformed to reality.

In contrast, the appellate courtdid choose to interfere and substituteits judgment for that of theadministrative body concerning theissue of credits. The judges did not"perceive a rational basis for Long TermInitiative 27 which, in our view,unnecessarily reduces the number ofcredits required for a degree, and lowersthe value of a CUNY diploma ...."

The court failed to explain whyjudicial intervention was appropriateconcerning credits, but not on otheractions undertaken by CUNY under thesame condition of financial emergency.

The PSC and CUNY sought toappeal the respective negative decisionsin the Appellate Division opinion to thehighest court in New York, the Courtof Appeals. The PSC's request wasturned down. At this writing, thecourt's response to CUNY's requestwas still awaited.

'Without thevictories wonPSC, theof thescarcely be imagined. '

Although the appellate judgeschose not to confirm, as JusticeSchlesinger had, that the financial

30 25 Years of Pro g r e s s : Professional Staff Congress

emergency necessary for retrenchmentdid not exist in June 1995, the PSCcontinues to believe this was clearly thecase. Why, then, would CUNY'smanagement have acted so contrary toreality? PSC President Irwin Polishookbelieved it was because "the declarationof exigency was largely a pretext totransform the university."

Even as the possibility of seriousfinancial damage receded, theuniversity's top management insistedon acting as if nothing had changed.They pushed ahead to make longdesired changes through the enhancedpowers given to management in afinancial emergency, which would havebeen difficult under the normal

governance of the university.

These actioris were part of acontinuing process in which CUNY'scentral management has tried toaggregate authority, reduce theautonomy of the individual colleges andbypass the longstanding and primaryrole of college faculties in academicprogram planning.

This movement in CUNY towarda centralized corporate model is notunique. Throughout the nation, tenureis under attack, traditional governanceis challenged and part-time faculty areused, under exploitive conditions, toreduce the need for full-time faculty.

Some colleges and universities

have strong unions, like the PSC, tooffer defense when needed, and toadvance the cause of the instructionalstaff and the university when possible.

We are very fortunate to bein that number. •

IrwinYellowitz is professor emeritusof history at City College and the

Graduate School.

He was a member of the PSCExecutive Council from 1973 to 1997and served as treasurer of theProfessional Staff Congress from1984 to 1997.

PSC and other municipal unions staged mass demonstrationduring 1991 battle of the budget.


PurposeThe purpose of this organization shall be to advance and secure

the professional and economic interests of the instructional staffof the City University, with special regard for the interest of students·and the university.

The Professional Staff Congress shalladvance the following objectives:

• To improve the quality of education, research andscholarship at the City University.

• To cooperate with other educational, professional, andlabor organizations in order to enhance the quality of education inthe nation and to promote the professional and economic interestsof all workers in education.

• To serve as the public representative of the instructionalstaff of the City University.

• To cooperate with other City University employee andacademic organizations and student bodies in order to advance theinterests of the City University.

- Constitution of the Professional Staff Congress

Professional Staff Congress/CUNY25 West 43rd StreetNew York, New York 10036212/354-1252 Fax: 212/302-7815

Affiliates:American Association of University ProfessorsAmerican Federation of TeachersNew York City'Central Labor CouncilNew York State AFL-CIONew York State United Teachers

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Documents

Amessage from the president - PSC CUNY | Years of Progress by Irwin... · Amessage from the president ... These articles by Irwin Yellowitz, ... treasurer, originally appeared in