Fall 2019
Committee on Review
Professor Katherine Fry of the Standing Committee reported that the Standing Committee on Review has examined the minutes of the Faculty Council submitted to them and found these minutes in good order.
Remarks From Professor James Davis, PSC-CUNY Chapter Chair, Brooklyn College
Thank you, good afternoon. I had hoped to use my time today to announce that the union and the university reached agreement on a new contract. In fact, the advance draft of these remarks that Professor Florence received from me began, "I am pleased to report that after a year and a half of negotiations, the PSC and the university have reached an agreement." But we're not quite done. We're really close, just inches apart at this point, and by tonight I expect we'll have a tentative agreement. The bargaining team has been working with CUNY around the clock—we worked till 9:30 last night—and I'm headed back to 42nd Street from here. Both sides are eager to conclude negotiations. We are agreed on the basic economic framework. That took a lot of wrangling. We are agreed on a number of non-economic issues, too. There are a few remaining non-economic issues to work out where we're not seeing eye to eye. But they are resolvable, and once the union's Executive Council reviews the contract proposal and approves it, you will all get to read it in full. I think you are going to like what you see. But a full discussion of its contents will have to wait for another day.
I look forward to those discussions. The first will be next Tuesday, October 22, at the PSC chapter meeting—that is 12:30–2 p.m. in 432 Ingersoll Hall. That's next Tuesday, October 22. Another opportunity will be the evening of Wednesday, October 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in 1127 Ingersoll Hall Extension. Again, you will receive via e-mail a copy of the contract proposal in full once the PSC Executive Council approves it, and Illl remind you of the chapter meetings by e-mail, too.
I want to take a second to recognize all the work people in this room put in to achieving a good contract during some very challenging times at CUNY. In these final stages it may seem like the bargaining team is doing the work, but it's really your membership and your involvement throughout the contract campaign that set the parameters for what we achieve at the bargaining table. Thank you for that.
Finally, and related, I want to encourage everyone to attend two events on campus related to CUNY's budget. The first is next Thursday, October 24. Five New York State senators, including the chair of the Higher Education Committee, will hold a public hearing at Brooklyn College, the only public hearing that the Higher Ed Committee has in the city this fall. It's an opportunity we don't want to miss, starting at 11:30 a.m. in the Student Center Maroon Room. A press conference will precede it at 10 a.m. outside the Bedford Avenue entrance to campus. The second event related to the budget is a Town Hall that the PSC chapter is organizing on Wednesday, December 4. This Town Hall, which will also feature state and local legislators, is a collaboration with the University Student Senate, NYPIRG, and the CUNY Rising Alliance. As I'm sure we'll hear from the president, the CUNY senior college budgets continue to suffer, a TAP gap of nearly $8 million sits like a millstone around our necks, so I hope to see you at one or both of these events, October 24 and December 4.
Thanks again for all you do.
President Anderson's Address
Today I will share with you a PowerPoint slideshow (pdf) to present the latest pertinent information regarding the state of the college.
