Labor Leaders Join Faculty and Staff at Protest to Demand ‘Hands Off CUNY Job Security!’

Presidents of the American Federation of Teachers, New York State AFL-CIO, New York State United Teachers, and United University Professions joined New York State Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos Thursday for a rally outside CUNY's Midtown headquarters organized by unionized faculty and staff of the City University of New York to call out CUNY management for their attempts to weaken the job security of thousands of faculty and staff.

Contract negotiations between the CUNY and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union of faculty and staff, are progressing, but management wants to eviscerate one of the nation’s first job security provisions for adjunct faculty. The bosses are also calling for other unacceptable concessions that would make it easier to fire full-time professional staff and Lecturers. But job security is a bedrock principle of the labor movement, and union leaders and activists are standing in solidarity with their fellow workers at CUNY.

“Union officers representing millions of workers are here with us to demand a Contract for a People’s CUNY, a contract that supports quality education for students and a stable, healthy livelihood for faculty and staff. When a collective voice this loud calls out ‘Hands off CUNY job security!’ Chancellor Rodriguez and Chairperson Thompson had better listen,” said James Davis, President of the PSC. Read more and check out video of the protest here.