When: Friday, January 27, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: CUNY Graduate Center, Room 5409

CUNY contingent employees face big issues and challenges this year. Let’s use this first meeting of 2012 to kick off an energetic and productive offensive for the rights of us all.

A proposed agenda will be distributed, but topics will doubtless include:

- The current state of the fight for adjunct healthcare

- How to further the CCU’s position of healthcare for all contingent employees

- Possible campaign over underpayment of TAs (This topic emerged after a CCU member at Hunter brought this practice to light; see the October-November 2011 issue of the CCU Advance.)

- CCU organizing plans for the Spring semester

- Administration backlash against union teach-ins in defense of the right to protest at CUNY

- Other topics that you consider important for contingent employees at CUNY

Please plan to attend, and bring a friend!

It will be held in front of the Board of Trustees meeting at the “vertical campus” of Baruch College, which is located on Lexington Avenue between 24th and 25th streets. The Board is slated to approve the latest tuition hike, which like the “Pathways” initiative and the worsening conditions for contingent employees, is aimed squarely against those who study and work at CUNY.

TV news, the press and YouTube are filled with graphic videos and reports on how CUNY management unleashed police brutality against student protesters at the previous Board session, its “hearing” held last Monday at Baruch. Now the Hunter Envoy has released investigatory reports on the direct involvement of the NYPD inside the Baruch lobby. (See below.)

Now, in an evident attempt to lock down the campus and curb dissent and protest, the Baruch administration has unilaterally declared the cancellation of all classes there on Monday beginning at 3:00 p.m.

In response to the outrageous actions by CUNY management last week, student activists have been organizing for a large-scale protest this Monday at Baruch. In response to their appeal, our union, the PSC, has called a demonstration to defend CUNY students, the right to protest, and key positions the union has defended against the depredations of the Board, in front of Baruch this Monday beginning at 4:00.

Activists have also been working to bring unionists and community groups from other struggles around the city, to build solidarity and make a powerful statement at Baruch this Monday beginning at 4:00 that we will not allow the CUNY administration to brutalize and silence the students, faculty and staff of the City University.

Monday’s protest is of crucial importance to members of CUNY Contingents Unite and all those adjunct, Continuing Ed, HEO, CLIP and other activists working to build solidarity in the struggle against CUNY’s two-tier labor system.

Let’s help organize a big and vocal turnout to this Monday’s protest! Bring out your colleagues, friends, energy and determination to the protest at Baruch, this Monday, November 28th, beginning at 4:00 p.m. See you there!

It will meet in Room 5489 at the CUNY Grad Center.

A proposed agenda will be distributed. Key topics will doubtless include discussion of the present stage in the struggle over adjunct healthcare, an evaluation of the 9/26 union rally on this issue, CCU organizing tasks, discussion on members’ participation in recent and ongoing protests, committee reports, etc.
Getting the CCU’s message out on the campuses continues to be crucial to our work. To prepare discussion on this topic, it would be great if CCUers could send reports about how it’s going on your campus to cunycontingents@gmail.com

CCU October meeting
When: Friday, October 23, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: CUNY Graduate Center, Room 5489.
(This is around the corner from the room we usually meet in.)

Please join us, and bring a friend!

When: This Monday, Sept. 26, 4:00 p.m. (arrive by 3:30 if you can)
Where: Outside Baruch College, 24th Street & Lexington Avenue (easily accessible by the 6 train)

Look for our big banner reading “Two-Tier Labor Must Go! CUNY Contingents Unite“

The demonstration has been called by the PSC with the demand to save healthcare for the 1,700+ adjuncts who currently get it from the Welfare Fund. The union is calling for these adjuncts to be put on the city health plan.

Participating in and mobilizing for this fight, the CCU demands healthcare for ALL of CUNY’s contingent employees. The one-year waiting period should be eliminated; there should be full CUNY funding for coverage on the city health plan; and none of our colleagues and coworkers should be without healthcare — as summed up in our contract demand #3: “Comprehensive employer-paid health insurance on par with municipal workers for all contingent employees.”

Together with our other three contract demands, this is key to opposing CUNY’s divide-and-conquer tactics and waging a real fight against increasingly unequal and destructive two-tier labor system. For its part, the Adjunct Project is raising the slogan “All CUNY contingents on city health plan” in its flier for Monday’s protest. At Monday’s demonstration, the idea is for members of the CCU, Adjunct Project, First Friday committee and others to group together in a united-front “contingents’ contingent,” each raising its own banners, signs, slogans and views in pursuit of the common goal of defending and winning full healthcare for us all.

Your participation is of great importance. If you can involve colleagues, friends and students in sign-making parties, leafleting and other work to build for this — and above all come down with them to the protest on the 26th, this will be key to making our voices heard.

ALL OUT FOR MONDAY’S PROTEST!

When: Friday, August 26, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: CUNY Graduate Center, Room 5409.

As everyone has doubtless heard by now, there is a major threat to adjunct healthcare (for those who even have it at all). Organizing around this issue will clearly be a big topic at our meeting. Among related topics: discussion of the union’s response; our efforts to build joint action with all other PSC members committed to the fight for adjunct healthcare; and the importance of the CCU’s contract demand #3, “Comprehensive employer-paid health insurance on par with municipal workers for all contingent employees.”

A proposed agenda will be drawn up, but other topics facing us include:
- CCU plans for the Fall semester, including “organizing days” on different campuses.
- Adjunct layoffs: updates; measures against them.
- Update on defense of Ajamu Sankofa and Jill Humphries at CUNY’s Murphy Institute.
- Committee reports. Report on CCU solidarity work with the Verizon strike.
- Update on CUNY Diversity Study and related topics.

Please join us for this important meeting, and bring a friend!

Looking forward to seeing you there!