Join us on Tuesday, May 12, 5 PM – 7 PM by registering in advance 

Moderators: Lynne Turner, James Davis

Agenda:

1. Summing up the main ideas of Bargaining for the Common Good
2. Personal Reflections: what was most important or revelatory from the 4/22 presentations and discussion?
3. Choice of small group discussion on:
   • Internal organizing: how do we make BCG and CUNY Rising an integral part of the lives of our campuses and members?
   • Going on offense by developing a broader scope of research to identify, expose and challenge our real enemies; learning to leverage capital
   • Community partners – outreach, coalition-building, common demands, priorities; center racial justice
   • How do we expand scope of, and our approach to, bargaining?
4. Report Backs
5. The immediate crisis and BCG: how do we use BCG principles to help our fight in the short-term? What can we learn that we can apply to our long-term strategy?

Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdO2sqj8qHNFEC3sPk5lgkp3kkV_0vjde

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.

The April 22 session can be watched in its entirety here.

Sincerely,
New Caucus Governing Board and Coordinators

New Caucus is a “political party” within the Professional Staff Congress (PSC/CUNY). Our members include the current leadership of the PSC. This email comes from the Governing Board of the Caucus and does not represent an official statement of the PSC or its officers.

1. Non-Essential Personnel Should Not Be Working On-Site

If any further clarification were necessary, Governor Cuomo’s statement should eliminate all doubt: NO ONE should be working on-site except for those previously deemed essential: food pantries, public safety, facilities, and, if necessary, childcare employees. Thanks to the PSC’s relentless pressure, many colleges and college presidents now seem to get this simple fact. However, some college presidents still appear to be acting in violation of the Governor’s order and should be held responsible for the spread of sickness and potentially death. If you are a PSC member being wrongly told to report to campus, we urge you to contact your supervisor and say that you are ready to work, but only from home. Then, to protect yourself, notify the PSC offices and your Chapter Chair.

2. We Must Urgently Work for a Different Kind of New York and United States

PSC officers, chapters, and members have vigorously fought for the health and safety of its members, in addition to other workers and students across CUNY. This ongoing struggle shows that we can beat back attempts to put workers at risk, especially when the rank-and-file is activated and organized. We need to continue to exercise and strengthen these muscles in the weeks and months ahead.

But in this moment of crisis, we need to advance an alternative vision for just, equitable transformation of our university, city, and country. In Washington, a struggle is unfolding over whether the government will help workers or shareholders and disaster capitalists. In Albany, while we welcome Cuomo’s decisive response to the pandemic, all his worst tendencies have emerged around next year’s state budget. In previous years, he has bled CUNY and SUNY to the bone. Rather than raise taxes on the billionaires and the ultra-rich, Cuomo now demands even greater cuts. Shamefully, Assembly Leader Heastie and Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins seem willing to go along.

PSC and all CUNY workers must join with all their sisters and brothers in the labor movement, community organizations, and other progressive advocates to envision and demand a different future. Beyond the immediate healthcare mobilization, we need to be talking about Medicare-for-All, free college tuition, cancellation of all student and medical debt, and a Green New Deal that must now play a crucial part in rebuilding our economy for a more equitable future. Let’s organize to avoid the mistakes of the 2008 recession that bailed out banks and Wall St. but foreclosed on thousands of homes.

3. What Part Can the PSC and CUNY Play in Building a Better Future?

The labor movement can best win contractual gains for its members if it also fights for the needs of our wider communities. This idea, called Bargaining for the Common Good, is both a moral imperative and a practical one. Only the unity of all progressive advocates will be able to end the steady drip-drip-drip of attacks on workers and their unions. We invite you to join us, remotely, as we begin the discussion of how to apply these principles to our own struggles in this moment of crisis.

New Caucus Governing Board

James Davis, Brooklyn College
Luke Elliot-Negri, Graduate Center
Anne Friedman, Retiree
Geoffrey Kurtz, Borough of Manhattan Community College
Gerry Martini, Graduate Center
Eileen Moran, Retiree
Carly Smith, Baruch College
Pamela Stemberg, City College
Sharon Utakis, Bronx Community College

Join us on Wednesday, April 22 at 6 PM – 9 PM for our Zoom Roundtable: Bargaining for the Common Good in Higher Education

Featuring speakers from the Rutgers Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, CUNY Rising, and other public university systems.

Register in advance for this Zoom meeting using the following link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50vd-CqrTspQgZLpxnA9q4jiqout-ry8Q

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Save the date!

Tentative Agenda:
– KCC election debrief
– John Jay Chapter Chair election prep
– Discussion on campaign strategies

Doors open at 9:30 am for light breakfast, registration and mingling.

We are also taking a poll for future NC meeting dates. Please participate at:
https://forms.gle/xGBctHq4iSvEo9TW8

Reminder: New Caucus memberships for 2019-2020 are now due.  You may pay online; the link is on the Membership page of the NC website (https://newcaucus.wordpress.com/).

The direct link to the membership form is tinyurl.com/newcaucus.

Dear New Caucus friends and colleagues,

On behalf of the Kingsborough New Caucus slate, I want to express our deep appreciation for all of the support and solidarity you offered us during our recent electoral campaign. We are very sorry to report that we lost. It was a close election with Kingsborough New Caucus winning 45% of the vote. Though of course we wish that the outcome had been different, we believe that we raised many important issues on our campus and acted with dignity and integrity despite attacks from our opponents. We want to assure you that Kingsborough New Caucus is here to stay and that we will continue to organize for progressive change on our campus and throughout CUNY.

Please know that we are deeply grateful to so many of you — for your words of wisdom, your acts of solidarity, and your political support. We know that the best way to repay you is to keep working hard in pursuit of our common goals.

With gratitude and solidarity, on behalf of the Kingsborough New Caucus slate,

Emily Schnee