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Memorandum of Agreement | FAQs | Tables of Adjunct Salary Increases | How the Increases in Adjunct Pay Would Work | 2017-2019 Contract Campaign | Salary Schedules 2017-2022
PSC-CUNY Contract Approved by Board of Trustees
The CUNY Board of Trustees voted to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the PSC and the University at a meeting held last night at Baruch College. The approval process is now complete. The union’s bargaining team and Contract Enforcement department will be monitoring the implementation of the contract. PSC leaders have already begun pushing the CUNY administration and City and State officials to pay the retroactive salary increases and begin paying members at their new salary rates as soon as possible. CUNY management has not yet announced dates. (Read the FAQ on the timing of the raises.)
Contract ratified by 86 percent!
With an 86 percent vote in favor and the union's highest-ever voter turnout on ratification, the PSC membership has ratified our contract. Congratulations, PSC members! My thanks to every member who voted and everyone who participated in a spirit of solidarity during the union-wide discussion about the contract and ratification. The high turnout and high percentage of "yes" votes shows that the PSC membership is engaged with the union and in strong support of the contract.
Of a total of 21,416 eligible voters, 15,976 votes were cast, a participation rate of 75 percent. 13,660 members, or 86 percent, voted "yes"; 2,316 voted "no."
We won this contract together, through building and exercising the power of the union. The 2017-2023 contract prioritized equity and is testament to the unity of our membership. Everyone gains when the salary floor for the lowest-paid is lifted.
Ratification of the contract means that PSC members are ready to consolidate its gains and build on them in the future. Ratification does not mean that this contract resolves every labor issue PSC members face at CUNY or that it alone can fix CUNY's austerity budget. And it certainly doesn't mean that the union will stop organizing and fighting. Just the opposite: the PSC's ability to win salary increases for all, together with increases for adjunct faculty averaging 45 percent and as high as 71 percent, should give us confidence in our ability to demand and accomplish even more. At this moment of rising labor power nationally --- a moment from which the PSC benefited and to which our contract contributes --- we are in a strong position to take on new challenges.
Starting Monday, the PSC leadership and staff will concentrate on pushing CUNY management to pay our increased salaries and back pay as soon as possible. We will also begin to work on implementation of many of the other new provisions in the agreement, such as paid family leave and the anti-bullying campaign. And we will focus hard on assisting adjunct faculty and academic departments as thousands of adjuncts begin being paid for weekly office hours in the spring semester.
This is the perfect moment to get more involved in the union! Everyone is welcome, everyone is needed, regardless of how you voted on ratification. Click here if you want to be part of what comes next for the PSC: a new approach to demanding full funding for CUNY; newly energized campaigns for better conditions at your campus; or mastering the union contract so you can use it to defend your rights.
The moment of ratification of a new contract, especially after months of campaigning and weeks of engagement by members with its details, is a critical juncture in a union's history. Let's build on the momentum of the hard-fought contract campaign and the big voter turnout to tackle the hardest issues that still confront faculty, staff and students at CUNY.
The new contract originated in a vision of what New York City's public university should be, and it takes us a few steps closer to making the vision real. We have many steps to go. Let's take them together.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, safe travels and good feasting with those you love.
Barbara Bowen
President, PSC
AAA Breakdown of Ratification Vote Results
The PSC has received the information below from the American Arbitration Association on the contract ratification vote results. AAA’s breakdown refers to broad membership categories, and is based on the eligible voter list provided by the PSC. For details about the categories, please refer to the notes included with the chart.
The breakdown shows that the membership overwhelmingly supports the new contract. Every category of members, except the smallest category (with the lowest turnout), graduate assistants, voted by wide margins to approve the agreement. Despite a loud “vote no” campaign, including some misrepresentation of the facts, members participated and voted “yes” in numbers that broke PSC records.
The most striking message of the voting results is that the union as a whole supports the principle and practice of equity. That is a collective affirmation of support for each other and recognition that we all benefit when the salary floor is lifted.
The results show that the union was right to aim high in this contract and make an ambitious demand on adjunct pay. By aiming high we broke new ground, but we did not achieve every improvement members demanded and deserve. Historically, PSC ratification votes have been even higher than in this round, usually at around 92%. The 86% “yes” vote demonstrates strong support, but it also signals the need to do more in future contracts. This vote positions union members well to wage the next campaign together.
PSC-CUNY Contract Ratification Vote Results
Data Provided by American Arbitration Association
(based on eligible voter list provided by PSC)
| Employee Title Category | Voted Yes | Voted No | %Yes |
% of Eligibles Voting |
|
F/T Faculty & Other FT1 |
5,514 | 489 | 92% | 82% |
|
CLTs (F/T & Adjuncts)2 |
493 | 45 | 92% | 69% |
|
HEOs |
3,934 | 126 | 97% | 86% |
|
Adjuncts, NTAs, CETs & Hourlies3 |
3,604 | 1,342 | 73% | 62% |
|
Grad. Assts. |
115 | 314 | 27% | 61% |
|
TOTALS |
13,660 | 2,316 | 86% | 75% |
1 In addition to F/T faculty in the colleges, professional, law and medical schools, this category includes Research & EOC titles, Hunter Campus School titles.
2 Of the eligible voters in this category, 66% are full-time.
3 Of the eligible voters in this category, 90% are teaching adjuncts, 7% are non-teaching adjuncts and 3% are Continuing Education Teachers.
Highlights of the Contract
- Breakthrough on adjunct pay—the biggest gain in equity in the union’s history
- Salary increases across the board of more than 10% by November 2022
- Retroactive pay increases
- Pay for teaching adjuncts restructured: minimum for a three-credit course rises by the end of the contract to $5,500 (an increase of 71%), four-credit course to $6,875
- Adjunct workload restructured starting next semester to include paid office hours for every course
- Additional salary increases for equity: full-time CLT titles, all Lecturer titles, and Assistants to HEO
- Across-the-board salary increases also applied to EOCs and Continuing Ed faculty
- Graduate employee health insurance funding and tuition waivers expanded
- Improved funding and firm time frames for HEO differential awards
- First-ever contractual language on on-line teaching, union participation in University technology committee
- Contractual travel funds doubled
- Research support for department chairs, starting 2021
- Increased funding for professional development funds for adjuncts, Continuing Ed faculty, CLTs and HEOs
- Access to professional development grants for non-teaching adjuncts
- Pilot program on payment of stipends for specific projects
- Welfare Fund funding increased, supporting further benefit enhancements
- Joint PSC and CUNY anti-bullying campaign
- No give-backs
Memorandum of Agreement
This Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is the legal document that contains every provision of the proposed new contract. This is the signed MOA. Attachment I, the 2018 letter agreements with NYC regarding health insurance are attached to the PDF version of the 2017-23 MOA.
