News & Events

  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
  • Print HTML logo
Medicare Advantage Plus provider withdraws from contract

In a letter to PSC retirees on Monday, July 25, PSC President James Davis wrote:

"As you know, the proposed contract that the City and the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) agreed to last year with Anthem/Empire to administer retiree health insurance through Medicare Advantage Plus (MA+) faces a court challenge. I’m writing with an update not on the litigation itself, which is ongoing, but on the information that the Municipal Labor Committee provided last week about the status of that contract. Anthem/Empire has withdrawn and is no longer willing to administer the MA+ program. They asked the City and the MLC to guarantee a January 1, 2023 start date for the program. It was not possible to make that guarantee because of the pending litigation, so Anthem/Empire withdrew."

"Many of you know that the PSC was one of five MLC unions that opposed the MA+ contract with Anthem/Empire, and we continue to advocate for alternatives to MA+...."

But, he added:

"...many MLC unions remain committed to an MA+ plan in some form, even if it is not with Anthem/Empire. It is likely that MA+ is still on the table...."

PSC in the News

Media Coverage (July 2022)

Media Coverage (June 2022)

Media Coverage (May 2022)

Media Coverage (April 2022)

Response to "SAFE CUNY" email

A Message to PSC Delegates
President James Davis
July 12, 2022

Dear Delegates,

I’m writing because you and your colleagues may receive an email from an anonymous group called “SAFE CUNY.” They are spamming people at their CUNY addresses, calling for my resignation as PSC President. They reference my testimony at last week’s City Council Committee on Higher Education hearing about anti-Semitism at CUNY. This is a distraction from the critical work we do at the PSC, but delegates should be aware in case you get questions. Anyone who wants to know what actually happened at the hearing can view my full testimony here (beginning around 4:54). It includes an exchange with a MAGA Republican member of the Council who was trying to extract from me, as she had just done with CUNY representatives, a denunciation of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against Israel or a full-throated endorsement, and I was not willing to engage in that disingenuous exercise.

Read more.

Research Professor Contract Signed

PSC President James Davis and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez met at CUNY Central on June 29th to sign the Memorandum of Agreement formalizing the collective bargaining agreement for CUNY Research Professors. Members of the Research Professors’ Bargaining Committee were in attendance.

The contract with CUNY was ratified—with a 100% yes vote!—in early May. The vote set a PSC record for participation: 96% of eligible members voted. The agreement was then approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees on May 16.

The Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade

June 24, 2022

The decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade is the greatest setback to women's rights and reproductive justice we have seen. Organized labor must stand unequivocally with pregnant people and defend their right to make their own reproductive choices and control their own bodies. As a nationwide movement, unions must fight to protect access to abortion. And we must commit to the kind of deep organizing that can reverse the decades-long conservative attack on our court system, our bodies and our politics. In the interest of our students, our members, and all working people, the dangerous, aggressive advocacy of this Supreme Court must be challenged.

In solidarity,
James Davis, President
Andrea Vásquez, First Vice President
Felicia Wharton, Treasurer
Penny Lewis, Secretary

We're suing to fix CUNY's vaccine mandate

Dear PSC Member,

The PSC filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of New York State in Manhattan, challenging the legality of the COVID-19 vaccination policy as CUNY has applied it.

Teaching Adjuncts | Contractual Raises Summer or Fall 2022

A major change in Teaching Adjunct rates of pay is coming this fall. To ensure that you receive every increase to which you are entitled if you are teaching next year, it is important that you check your current hourly rate and payroll history now.

CUNY must revisit mask requirement now

Dear PSC Members,

I hope this finds you well as the end of the semester approaches.

Like many of you, we are alarmed by the rapid resurgence of COVID-19 in New York City and concerned for the health and safety of our students, colleagues, and families. The PSC has consistently advocated sensible mask-wearing indoors at CUNY during the pandemic, regardless of vaccination status. We recognize the tradeoffs with respect to comfort and ease of communication, but also know that safety is paramount. On Tuesday, I contacted Chancellor Matos to strongly urge that mask-wearing be required once again at CUNY...

Research Professor Contract Ratified, Approved

The CUNY Research Professors Bargaining Committee announced Friday, May 6 that their proposed contractual agreement with CUNY has been ratified—with a 100% yes vote! And the Research Professors’ ratification vote has set a PSC record for participation: 96% of eligible members voted. What a tremendous show of engagement and support! The agreement was approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees at their May 16 meeting.

The agreement ensures salary increases on par with other CUNY faculty, retroactive pay, codification of benefits that were at management’s discretion, and essential legal and workplace protections that come with union representation. The Research Professors, serving in a title that CUNY created many years ago outside our bargaining unit, are now part of our union, and their terms and conditions of employment are part of our contract.

Hiring from Within Letter to Department Chairs

PSC President James Davis and Secretary Penny Lewis sent a letter to all CUNY department chairs on Thursday, May 5 urging them to “consider the qualifications of CUNY’s excellent adjunct faculty” as they seek to fill the new full-time faculty lines won in the latest State budget. The letter is just part of a much larger effort to help “promote our talented, qualified faculty colleagues whose prospects for a full-time appointment have been curtailed by austerity conditions” while at the same time increasing the racial diversity of the full-time faculty. To help, get involved with your PSC chapter or the Committee for Adjuncts and Part-timers.

Pages