●ClarıonNEWSPAPER OF THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF CONGRESS / CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK SUMMER 2005

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS ● AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS ● N.Y.C. CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL ● N.Y.S. AFL-CIO ● NEW YORK STATE UNITED TEACHERS

KennethClarke

1915-2005

ACTIVIST ACADEMIC

NEW ORGANIZING

RF workers at the Grad Center voted ina union election stalled two years by RFappeals. Now, another appeal keeps theballots sealed in the boxes. Workerswant the RF to drop its appeal so thevotes can be counted. A union victory is predicted. PAGE 3

CONTRACT

PSC members protested at variousvenues throughout May and June; littleheadway was made at the table. The po-lice union broke the City pattern, win-ning 10% over two years – though muchof this gain was funded by slashing payfor new hires. PAGES 4-5

Union gains better retirement benefits

PENSION NEWS

The PSC had advocated for thesechanges for more than a decade. Now,less money must be kept in TIAA-CREFaccounts. PAGE 12

A CCNY professorin his own

wordsPAGE 11

Grad Center to RF:Count the votes!

Negotiations andprotests continue

The American Association of University Professors will conduct an inquiry into the state of academic freedomat CUNY. The AAUP cited four recent cases that raise concerns about a pattern of political interference in academic affairs. In two cases at Brooklyn College in May, faculty members came under attack in the news me-dia and the PSC came to the defense of their rights. The union called on Chancellor Goldstein to speak out indefense of academic freedom, but he remained silent. PAGES 6, 7, 10, 12

ACADEMIC FREEDOMACADEMIC FREEDOMUNDER UNDER ATTACK ACK AT CUNYT CUNY

AAUP INQUIRYAAUP INQUIRY

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● In the Department of PhysicalSciences at Kingsborough Com-munity College-CUNY we recentlywent through a search to fill anopen tenure-track chemistry posi-tion. The search was a success. Wefound a highly qualified candidate,one with an excellent record atprestigious institutions. Further-more, he really wanted to teach inNew York City.

The candidate was heavily re-cruited by the search committee inour department and seemed veryinterested in the position. He wasso interested that when the Collegewouldn’t pay for the candidate tofly across country for an interview,he paid for the trip himself. The interview went really well, andeveryone agreed that he would bea great addition to our department.All that remained was negotiationof salary.

I recently learned that we lost thecandidate to another academic insti-tution. The primary reason was eco-nomic: Our college offered a finan-cial package significantly lowerthan our victorious competitor. Asalary of $20,000 a year lower, infact. The candidate wanted to live inManhattan, and could not afford todo so on the salary that our collegeoffered.

What institution could afford topay a salary so much greater thanour institution was willing to offer?Columbia? NYU?

The correct answer is: A highschool in the New York City publicschool system.

Patrick LloydKingsborough Community College

Godless prof at spineless college● Back to the future: recent eventsat Brooklyn College [see page 6]suggest that the following peoplewould presumably be unfit to serveCUNY as a department chair:

Thomas Jefferson: “In everycountry and every age, the priesthas been hostile to Liberty.”

Pascal: “Men never do evil socompletely and cheerfully as whenthey do it from religious conviction.”

Mary McCarthy: “. . . the averageCatholic perceives no connectionbetween religion and morality, un-less it is a question of someoneelse’s morality.”

Voltaire: “The truths of religionare never so well understood as bythose who have lost the power ofreason.”

Denis Diderot, quoting the atheistpriest Jean Meslier: “Man will neverbe free until the last king is strangledwith the entrails of the last priest.”

Sigmund Freud: “Religion wouldthus be the universal obsessionalneurosis of humanity; like the ob-sessional neurosis of children.. . .”

Bertrand Russell: “I say quite de-liberately that the Christian reli-gion, as organized in its Churches,has been and still is the principal en-emy of moral progress in theworld.”

One more quote for those whomight support Tim Shortell’s beingforced to step down as chair of theBrooklyn College sociology depart-ment – this one from US SupremeCourt Justice Robert Jackson: “Theday that this country ceases to be

free for irreligion, it will cease to befree for religion.”

Corey RobinBrooklyn College

Loyalty oath● MEMOTo all Brooklyn College faculty:

It is necessary to emphasize thatacademic freedom does not apply tofaculty members who are elected tothe position of departmental chair-person or to any faculty memberwho might eventually wish to beconsidered for such a post.

Because our College must alwaysbe very cautious about offending theUniversity’s central administration,not to mention students or their fam-ilies, alumni, donors, and, especially,Fox News or the New York Sun, noapproval can be given for the elec-tion of chairs who, prior to their elec-tion, may have done something con-sidered inappropriate or offensiveby members of the groups just men-tioned. Whether this faculty mem-ber might be able to successfullyhead his or her department cannotbe considered relevant.

To simplify the election processin the future, all faculty memberswho might wish to be become chairsare requested to answer the follow-ing question and sign the oath:

Question: Are you now or haveyou ever been guilty of saying, writ-ing, or doing something that mightbe found offensive or inappropriateby the parties listed above?

Yes_______ No________If you answered “no,” please sign

the following:Oath: I have never said, written,

or done anything that might befound offensive or inappropriate bythe parties listed above.

Signed:_______________________________

[Name withheld]Brooklyn College

Editor’s note: The author is a de-partment chairperson.

Union unity● A very compelling reason to con-tribute to the PSC’s recently estab-lished Defense Fund was tuckedaway in the last paragraph of “GiveUs A Fair Contract” in the May 2005Clarion: Former PSC President IrwinPolishook was among the first con-tributors to the Fund.

Despite differences between thecurrent leadership and the former,we should note that they both agreeon the importance of the union be-ing prepared to mount an aggres-sive contract campaign. In its earlydays, the PSC had a defense fund,and even went so far as to designatea strike date!

Let’s follow the lead of PSC’sPresident Emeritus, and make gen-erous contributions to the DefenseFund.

Jay Appleman PSC Chapter Chair

Queensborough CC

Editor’s note: To contribute to thePSC’s Defense Fund, contact yourchapter chair or go to www.psc-cuny.org/contract.htm.

2 NEWS & LETTERS Clarion | Summer 2005

The meaning of ‘non-competitive salaries’LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | WRITE TO: CLARION/PSC, 25 W. 43RD STREET, FIFTH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10036.

E-MAIL: PHOGNESS@PSCMAIL.ORG. FAX: 212-302-7815.

Graduate tuition jumps At their June 27 meeting, theCUNY Board of Trustees voted toincrease graduate student tuitionand fees.

About 20 students attended toprotest the decision, and TrusteeLauren Fasano, the student repre-sentative, voted against the hike.For many students, the increasewill amount to about a thousanddollars per year. Trustees said thehike was needed to make up for ashortfall in state funding.

A survey of students in Hunter’smasters in public health programfound that 30% said they wouldhave to take fewer classes.

Marriage equality & CUNY benefitsCity University will now recognizesame-sex marriages performed inplaces that confer legal status tosuch unions, extending CUNY ben-efits to both spouses.

Empire State Pride Agenda, anLGBT rights group, announced thisdevelopment in June, after inter-vening on behalf of Robert Pisano.Queens College initially said Pisanowould have to file domestic part-nership paperwork before hisspouse could obtain any benefits.

After discussions with 80thStreet, the college subsequently re-versed its position. CUNY said thatPisano had been the first Universi-ty employee in a same-sex couple toapply for spousal benefits, and an-nounced that in the future all suchmarriage certificates would be accepted university-wide.

“It makes me feel good,” Pisanotold Clarion. “They’re supporting me,my family and my marriage.” Pisanois a CUNY office assistant in the Soci-ology Department and member ofAFSCME DC 37. He and his partnerwere married on May 5 in Toronto.

Malo trial drags onThe trial of former Hostos studentMiguel Malo, arrested four yearsago for holding up a sign during acampus protest at Hostos, has beenadjourned until September 6. Malo,a former Hostos Student Senatevice president, was arrested duringa campus protest against cuts inESL classes. He is charged with as-saulting CUNY security personnel,which he strongly denies.

CUNY Action to Defend MiguelMalo, a support group, organized arally on June 7. Many CUNY orga-nizations, including the PSC, havedemanded the charges be dropped.

The PSC supported immigrant youth’s right to affordable higher education at arally on June 30 in Lower Manhattan. The event focused on passage of the DREAMAct, federal legislation that would mandate in-state tuition at public colleges anduniversities for undocumented residents. It would also provide a path to citizen-ship for students who have grown up in this countrys.

CUNYIN BRIEF

By CLARION STAFF

In an important change, especiallyfor part-time employees at CUNY,the CUNY Board of Trustees attheir meeting on June 27, 2005agreed to allow participants in theNYC Teachers’ Retirement Systemthe option of purchasing their priorservice by using monies they hadsaved in their Supplemental Retire-ment Account (SRA) in TIAA/CREF or HRC Financial Services asa tax-deferred rollover. This changeis effective July 1, 2005.

Adjuncts who are currently onlypermitted the option of joining theTeachers Retirement System maypurchase prior employment theymay have had in any public agencyin the state of New York. The cost is3% of the salary they earned at thetime of their employment plus 5%interest.

In testimony before the Board ofTrustees, PSC President BarbaraBowen stated “This change is longoverdue.” In further testimonyBowen strongly urged the trusteesto extend to part-time instructionalstaff the right to join the ORP. “Be-cause of the tenuous nature of ad-junct employment at CUNY,” saidBowen, “having the option of join-ing TIAA/CREF would improve theopportunity for adjuncts to vestand count on a modicum of after-employment income stability, aswell as permitting professionalpart-timers to manage their ownaccounts.”

For further information on join-ing the NYC Teachers RetirementSystem or the new buy-back provi-sion, please contact Clarissa GilbertWeiss, PSC Director of Pension &Welfare Fund Benefits at 212-354-1252 or cweiss@pscmail.org.

TIAA/CREF funds OK’d foradjunct pension buyback

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The May Clarion’s story on PSCchapter elections incorrectly listedJack Hammond as a new union del-egate from Hunter College, andfailed to list Alan Hausman as thechapter’s new secretary and aunion delegate.

Correction

Clarion | Summer 2005 NEWS 3

By PETER HOGNESS

In a unanimous ruling on June 7, afive-judge appeals panel told CUNYthat its refusal to negotiate with thePSC on intellectual property issuesis unlawful.

The judges ruled that managementrights language in the expired contractdid not exempt CUNY from its duty tonegotiate. They ordered the case sentback to the Public Employment Rela-tions Board (PERB), to decide on aremedy for CUNY’s violations.

“The question of who owns, con-trols and profits from intellectualwork is as basic for our members aswages and hours,” said PSC Presi-dent Barbara Bowen. “This is alandmark victory for the union.”

“This decision has the potential tochange fundamentally the bargain-ing relationship between the PSCand CUNY,” said PSC First VicePresident Steve London. “For 30years, CUNY has maintained that itcould unilaterally adopt policiesconcerning terms and conditions ofemployment as long as they werenot already covered by the contract.The court overturned CUNY’s claimto a perpetual right to deny bargain-ing on issues such as intel-lectual property, which arecrucial to our members.”

Other labor leaders rec-ognized the sweeping im-portance of the decision, forpublic-sector bargainingmore generally. “This isn’tjust a win for the PSC, but for publicemployees across the state and na-tion,” said Richard Iannuzzi, thenewly elected president of NY StateUnited Teachers. State AFL-CIOPresident Denis Hughes agreed, andadded, “PSC leadership should becongratulated for persevering andnever taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

PERSEVERANCEAfter the appeals court ruling, the

PSC immediately demanded to bar-gain over IP issues, but CUNY refusedand is exploring an appeal of the deci-sion even before the court reviewsPERB’s new remedial order. “Sincethis decision was not a final order,CUNY cannot now appeal,” said Stu-art Lichten, counsel to PSC. “But sub-sequent steps will provide other av-enues for appeal, and it could take ayear or more before the case is conclu-sively resolved.”

The dispute goes back to Septem-ber 2000, when the PSC presentedCUNY with a list of contract de-mands that included provisions onintellectual property (IP). Twomonths later, CUNY circulated adraft of a new IP policy – without no-tice to the union.

In a June 29 open letter, CUNYGeneral Counsel Frederick Schaf-fer claimed that CUNY’s new IP

policy “was, in every respect, sig-nificantly more favorable to the fac-ulty than the prior…policies.” Theappeals court, however, stated thatthe new policy “awarded far broad-er ownership rights to CUNY thanhad previously existed.” London re-marked that CUNY management“is still pleading a case that thecourt rejected.”

When the PSC asked tobargain on IP issues in a No-vember 2001 bargaining ses-sion, CUNY refused. In re-sponse, the PSC filed acharge with PERB, arguingthat CUNY’s refusal to bar-gain on IP issues violated the

Taylor Law.The same pattern recurred in the

fall of 2002, when negotiations onthe next contract began and CUNYagain refused to discuss IP policy.But in July 2003, a PERB administra-tive law judge (ALJ) ruled thatCUNY was required by law to bar-gain with the union on all parts ofthe IP policy related to compensa-tion or the resolution of disputes.

Unfortunately for the PSC, thisvictory was short-lived. CUNY ap-pealed and in March 2004, PERB it-self – whose members are appoint-ed by Governor Pataki – overturnedthe ALJ’s decision.

SHORT-LIVED WINPERB did not conclude that IP is-

sues were outside the scope of col-lective bargaining. Instead, it foundthat Article 2 of the PSC-CUNY con-tract, a management rights clause,gives CUNY the right to unilateral-ly adopt policies concerning termsand conditions not already ad-dressed in the contract. Rejectingthe ALJ’s view that such an inter-pretation of this clause amounted toa perpetual waiver of the right tobargain and thus violated State pol-icy, PERB concluded that Article 2constituted a “waiver” by the PSC ofits bargaining rights, and meant

that management could adopt itsnew IP policy without negotiations.

PERB’s decision cited a part ofNew York labor law known as the“Triborough doctrine,” which holdsthat when a public-sector union con-tract expires, its terms must remainin effect while negotiations continue.Since Article 2 waived the PSC’sright to bargain on new subjectswhile the contract was in effect,PERB reasoned that this waiver wasalso extended. As a result, PERB con-cluded that if CUNY didn’t want tobargain on IP issues, it didn’t have to.

COURT BACKS UNIONThe PSC challenged this in state

court, and the June 7 decision af-firmed the arguments made by theunion. Noting “the strong public pol-icy in favor of collective bargaining,”the five judges said that a waiver ofbargaining rights should not be as-sumed to continue after the contractexpires. They went further, and con-cluded that the Triborough doctrineapplies to employers, not unions –that its goal is to protect employeesfrom unilateral changes in terms andconditions of their employment, notto require unions “to maintain thestatus quo.”

The PSC’s London said that thishas “far-reaching” implications forpublic-sector unions. “The PSC hasreally struck a blow for the rights ofall public workers to have a say intheir conditions on the job.”

In his open letter, CUNY GeneralCounsel Schaffer said that the ap-pellate ruling “in effect revert[ed] tothe decision of the ALJ.” He addedthat “the University is consideringan appeal.”

“Our position is that these is-sues need to be negotiated, not de-cided unilaterally,” said London.“And our main bargaining demandis the presumption that bothpatents and copyrights are ownedby the creator, unless this is mod-ified through negotiations.”

PSC wins big IPvictory in court

CUNY must negotiate

Unanimousdecision by a five-judgepanel

By DANIA RAJENDRA

Workers employed by the Re-search Foundation (RF) at CUNY’sGraduate Center voted on PSC rep-resentation on May 3 and 4.

Union supporters at the Grad Cen-ter expect a victory, but the voteshave not yet been counted. The RF iscontesting the National Labor Rela-tions Board ruling that ordered theelection, so the ballot boxes weresealed as soon as the voting wasover. They will remain impoundedby the NLRB until the RF’s appeal isdecided, which could be manymonths. Paul McBreen, a researchassistant and CUNY graduate stu-dent, served as a union observerduring the voting. All signs on elec-tion day pointed to a strong majori-ty for the union, he said. “It’s oddthat the ballots will be impoundedfor so long,” said McBreen. “It does-n’t seem in keeping with Americanideology.”

RF appeals have caused lengthydelays throughout the entireprocess; the election came twoyears after Grad Center workersfirst requested it. Now, Grad CenterRF employees must wait for the NLRB to decide the RF’s appeal be-fore their votes are counted.

Grad Center workers have peti-tioned CUNY Chancellor MatthewGoldstein, who chairs the RF Boardof Directors, and RF PresidentRichard Rothbard to drop the ap-peal, which would allow the LaborBoard to proceed with the count.More than 75 workers signed the pe-tition, which was delivered to Roth-bard on July 11.

VOTE COUNT DEMANDED“We are hardworking Graduate

Center Research Foundation em-ployees who want our rights re-spected,” the statement reads. “Wefiled a petition for an election overtwo years ago. We do not want towait any longer.”

Sok Svay, a program assistant atthe Center on Philanthropy and Ci-vil Society, said that she had signedthe petition and circulated it amongher coworkers. “I want to be part ofthe team and be supportive,” she

said. “I’ve never been a part ofsomething like this before, whensomething is really at a stake.”

In its appeal, the RF argues thatCUNY graduate students, whomake up about half of RF employeesat the Grad Center, are not entitledto union representation. It cites anNLRB decision handed down lastJuly, which determined that gradu-ate students at private institutions

are not entitled to protection underfederal labor law, on the groundsthat their work as teaching or re-search assistants is considered partof their education.

However, the RF does not grantdegrees, CUNY is a public institu-tion, and both the RF and CUNYmaintain that they are completelyseparate employers. “The RF’s posi-tion is self-contradictory, and failsseveral basic tests of logic,” saidMary Ann Carlese, the PSC’s associ-ate executive director. Graduate em-ployees paid by CUNY are publicemployees covered by the PSC-CUNY contract and New York’s Pub-lic Employee Relations Board haslong accepted their right to unionmembership. Partially in response tothe RF appeal, the PSC filed its ownappeal asking the Board to reverse aprior ruling and consider the RF andCUNY as a single employer.

Despite the delay, RF workers areholding meetings to determinewhich issues to press at the bargain-ing table after the votes are counted.Tuition remission and job securitytwo of the biggest concerns raisedduring the two-year union drive.

Grad Center RF workerscast votes on unionBut ballots not yet counted

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Rob Sauté, Lorraine Towns and PSC Associate Executive Mary Ann Carlese metwith RF President Richard Rothbard.

Sok Svay

PSC First Vice President Steve London testified about intellectual property in 2002.

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“CUNY should not take the goodwillof its professors for granted.” That’swhat one faculty member said at anend-of-semester contract protest,and that was the message the PSCdelivered as the summer began.

On May 18, the union held an in-formational picket when CUNYChancellor Matthew Goldstein re-ceived a “Man of the Year” awardfrom the Bronx YMCA. Union ac-tivists met gala attendees with signsand flyers that explained why Gold-stein was not the “Man of the Year”for CUNY’s instructional staff.

HOUSE CALLWhen the PSC Delegate Assem-

bly finished its May meeting, it adjourned to hold a noisy candle-light procession outside Goldstein’sapartment building on the UpperEast Side. Three busloads of dele-gates and other union activistshanded out flyers, chanted andsang labor songs. David Fields, thechancellor’s legal counsel, watchedfrom a short distance away as heconversed on his cell phone.

“The marriage of candles andnoise was terrific,” said RosalindPetchesky, a distinguished profes-sor of political science at Hunterand the Graduate Center. She saidthat building residents were “moreor less sympathetic.” Union flyersasked Goldstein’s neighbors to tellhim that “CUNY needs a raise,”noting that “all we’ve had are of-fers that amount to a salary cut.”

“The faculty are not happy aboutworking without a contract,” saidSam Sackeyfio, an adjunct in themath department at BMCC. “Thecost of living is very high in NewYork, and the percentage thatthey’re talking about doesn’tscratch the surface.”

PSC members delivered the samemessage to family and friends of

graduates at commencement cere-monies. At BMCC’s commencementat Madison Square Garden, mem-bers distributed over 3,000 pieces ofliterature.

OUTREACHUnion members attending the

June 27 Board of Trustees meetingheld up signs and marched out

chanting as the session was called toorder. Before the meeting began, at-tendees were handed an open letterfrom President Barbara Bowen tothe Board of Trustees that read, inpart, “Faculty and staff are tired ofhearing management take credit forour work while failing to offer us de-cent pay, benefits and conditions.”

– DR

4 NEWS/CONTRACT Clarion | Summer 2005

Contract action springs into summer

By DANIA RAJENDRA

In a break from the pattern of re-cent City worker contract settle-ments, an arbitration decision inJune awarded a 10.25% increaseover two years to the Patrolmen’sBenevolent Association (PBA).

The United Federation of Teach-ers (UFT), which has not yet settledits contract, seized on the decision’sconclusion that NYC police are un-derpaid compared to other commu-nities, arguing that its membersneed a substantial wage increase forthe same reason.

CITY SURPLUSPSC negotiators have said repeat-

edly that CUNY also lacks competi-tive salaries (see also letter, page 2).“The arbitrator said the City couldafford to give a higher raise andpointed to its $3.5 billion budget sur-plus,” said PSC Executive DirectorDeborah Bell. “We have made thesame argument for several months.”

The arbitration process, whichfor the police officers’ union islegally binding, began last Novem-ber after two years of negotiations.The City had attempted to limit the

PBA to the pattern of last year’scontract with the largest municipalworkers’ union, AFSCME DistrictCouncil 37 – about 4% over threeyears, plus a self-funded 1% from“increased productivity.”The chair of the arbitra-tion panel rejected thispattern – in fact, he said hewould have preferred togrant the police a 20% in-crease over four years, but the lawputs a two-year limit on contractssettled through arbitration.

The panel also imposed stiff“productivity” concessions on theunion. New officers will be paiddramatically less, earning $28,900in their first year instead of thecurrent $36,878, and will take twoand one-half years to pass the oldstarting rate. Other givebacks in-cluded the loss of all officers’ annu-al personal day.

The net result is a sizeable finan-cial gain for the police union, butother uniformed unions said itwould be hard for them to come upwith equivalent concessions.

While the PBA award couldchange the landscape for City bar-gaining, its full implications for otherunions are not yet clear. The fact thatit did not follow the terms of the

DC37 contract is big news.The uniformed unions, how-ever, have won somewhatlarger raises than their civil-ian counterparts in the past.

Most other uniformedunions were actually quite critical ofthe PBA award, because of the conces-sions that are a key feature. The low-er turnover rates of other uniformedservices mean that they would haveto slash the pay of new hires evenmore deeply or add other concessionsto produce equivalent savings. Nei-ther the PSC nor the UFT has accessto binding arbitration under state lawand both unions have said lower payfor new hires is not an option.

FACT FINDINGAt the UFT’s request, a panel ap-

pointed by the state Public Employ-ment Relations Board (PERB) re-cently began hearings in a process of

“fact-finding” on the teacher’s con-tract – a form of non-binding arbitra-tion. (Among City workers, bindingarbitration is an option only for thepolice and fire unions.) On June 8,President Randi Weingarten an-nounced that the UFT would seek in-creases of 6% a year for three years.

UFT HEARINGSThe UFT contract expired on

May 31, 2003. After months of fruit-less talks, in April 2004 the teachers’union asked PERB to declare an im-passe in the negotiations. The unionrenewed this request in December,and PERB agreed. This set thestage for PERB-sponsored media-tion between the City and the UFT,which lasted two months and madeno progress. In February 2005, theunion asked PERB to appoint a fact-finding panel, which held five hear-ings in June. The panel is expectedto issue recommendations for a newteachers’ contract in September.

PSC negotiators told Clarion thatthey are in close contact with theleadership of other City unions, andwill consider developments in theircontracts as the PSC plans its nextsteps.

PBA wins 10% over two years First to break City pattern

Retiree Jim Perlstein and BMCC Chapter Chair Jane Young protest Chancellor Matthew Goldstein in the Bronx.

UFT arguesfor a similarsettlement

By DEBRA BERGEN PSC Director of Contract Administration

In a July 1 victory for the PSC, anarbitrator ordered CUNY to ceaseand desist from its practice of re-quiring LaGuardia Community Col-lege counselors to return to workbefore the first day of classes inSeptember. Counseling faculty atLaGuardia who have performedthis extra work since 2002, whenCUNY unilaterally shortened theirperiod of annual leave, will receiveback pay.

“This is a major victory for theunion,” said PSC Director of LegalAffairs Nathaniel Charny. “Thanksto the vigilance and well-organizedactivism of the PSC’s LaGuardiachapter, they have now ensuredthat CUNY will never again alterthe annual leave period for coun-seling faculty unilaterally.”

DIFFERENT CALENDARLaGuardia operates on a differ-

ent calendar from most of the restof CUNY and is the only campuswith no Spring commencement. De-spite decades of past practice, in2002 LaGuardia insisted that allcounselors return to work beforethe first day of classes to assist withregistration and refused to pay thecounselors for this additional work,despite having done so in the past.

At arbitration, CUNY contendedthat the contract’s reference to an-nual leave ending on the “thirtiethof August” meant that CUNY couldshorten the annual leave period.But Charny argued that the Au-gust 30 date only applied to thosecampuses with Spring commence-ment, and that the contract alsoprovides for an “equivalent timeperiod” for annual leave. La-Guardia’s decades-long past prac-tice of scheduling annual leavefrom Spring finals until the firstday of classes was a binding inter-pretation of the contract’s lan-guage, Charny said.

CUNY MUST PAYThe arbitrator, Howard Edelman,

sided unequivocally with the union.“This view makes particular sensein light of LaGuardia’s special cir-cumstances,” Edelman wrote. Henoted that “certainly, the adminis-trators at LaGuardia knew of thepractice because . . . [counselors]were paid extra if they came intowork before the first day of classesin the Fall.”

Edelman ordered that CUNY“cease and desist from requiringCounselors to report for duty at La-Guardia…prior to the first day ofclasses in September without prop-er compensation.” He also ruledthat “CUNY shall make whole thoseCounselors who were required toreport for duty prior to the first dayof classes in September of each yearbeginning in 2002.”

Pay back for LaGuardia counselors

Dav

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Clarion | Summer 2005 CONTRACT 5

By DANIA RAJENDRA

PSC and CUNY bargaining teamsmet three times in May and June,but remained far apart on econom-ics and concessions sought by man-agement.

The union continued to press forenough money to both preservebenefits and raise salaries – butmanagement insisted on keeping itseconomic offer in line with CUNY’ssettlement with District Council 37,which does not allow for either.

In response, the PSC Delegate As-sembly (DA) gave the green light to aFall referendum on whether to autho-rize the Executive Council (EC) to calla job action (see below). The EC willdecide after September 1 whethersuch a referendum is needed.

CHAIRS AN ISSUEOn May 24 – with City and State

representatives at the table – CUNYoffered a 6.25% increase over fouryears, plus an $800 lump sum and 1%self-funded by union concessions.

CUNY refused to increase the sizeof its salary offer. The only change inits position was the addition of 1% forthe Welfare Fund on the last day ofthe proposed contract – an amountthat in comparable agreements hasgone to pay increases.

Management continued to de-mand that department chairs be re-moved from the union and that an-nual leave be reduced, calling forfull-time faculty to return August 22.

“The union is doing everything itcan to reach a settlement at the bar-gaining table, but the Chancellor hasobviously not understood that weare entitled to both real raises anddecent health benefits,” PSC Presi-dent Barbara Bowen told Clarion.

“Management’s insistence onfurther concessions is the sting inthe tail of their proposal,” Bowenadded. “Ending summer annualleave on August 22 and removingdepartment chairs from the unionwould permanently change life atCUNY. Both are unacceptable.CUNY would become a very differ-ent university without the colle-giality of elected departmentchairs and with an even shortertime for research and renewal inthe summer.”

In its June 22 counteroffer, thePSC said it is willing to compromiseon several non-economic demands –but not on the fundamental econom-ic issue of maintaining health bene-fits and gaining a real increase in

pay. The union maintained its eco-nomic proposal for a salary increaseof 10.6% over four years, plus an in-crease in Welfare Fund contribu-tions to stabilize the Fund and re-store the dental benefit.

PATTERN UNDERMINEDCUNY’s insistence that all mu-

nicipal union settlements must fol-low the pattern of last year’s con-tract between the City and DC37was undermined in June, when anarbitration decision granted raisesof 10% over two years to NYC po-lice, in part funded by deep pay-cuts for new hires (see page 4). ThePSC argues that the City’s $3.5 bil-lion surplus, the highest in NYChistory, shows that the union’s de-

mands are affordable. In a June 22 e-mail, Chancellor

Goldstein claimed that the annualincrements of step increases arepart of the “raises” that employeeswould receive. PSC negotiators saidthis was misleading, management’sbelow-inflation wage offer wouldmean an erosion of real salaries forall job titles.

“Without adequate across-the-board increases, the real dollar val-ue of each of our salary steps willcontinue to decline,” Bowen ex-plained. “If the $53,455 step had keptpace with inflation since 1972, itwould now be $75,000.” PSC FirstVice President Steve Londonlikened it to trying to climb up a“down” escalator – you move up a

step, but the entire staircase is go-ing in the opposite direction.

Union negotiators also pointedout that thousands of PSC membersdo not benefit from step increases,including about 30% who are stuckat the top salary step.

At the DA, Bowen minced nowords. “The proposal ChancellorGoldstein is desperately trying tosell the faculty and staff sacrificessalaries for health benefits andleaves us with a cut in pay, inade-quate benefits and major conces-sions,” she said later. “This is not aproposal in our interest.”

EVERY EFFORTDelegates agreed, and voted to al-

low a referendum in the fall onwhether to give the Executive Coun-cil the authority to call a job action ifthere is inadequate progress. Theresolution notes that the PSC heldsuch a vote before it secured its firstcontract in 1973.

“The PSC will make every effortto reach a fair contract settlementwithout a job action,” the resolutionsays. It reaffirms the union’s plan tonegotiate throughout the summer,and states that the Executive Coun-cil will not authorize any job actionunless there is majority support in areferendum. The DA passed themeasure with no votes in opposi-tion, and delegates voiced supportfrom the floor.

“I voted for the referendum in1973, which not only authorized astrike but set a date,” said IrwinYellowitz, chair of the retireeschapter. The 1973 referendumpassed by a large margin, he said,and this put the PSC in a strongerposition. “This fall, we have a lot ofwork to do,” he added.

CUNY stonewalls in contract talksDelegates authorize fall vote on job action

Amy Nicholas and other union activists outside Matthew Goldstein’s apartment building.

This resolution authorizing the ExecutiveCommittee to call a referendum was passed bythe PSC Delegate Assembly on May 26:

Whereas, the Professional Staff Congresscontract expired more than two-and-a-halfyears ago, and CUNY faculty and profession-al staff have not had a raise for four years; and

Whereas, the membership and the leadershipof the Professional Staff Congress have triedin countless ways to reach a fair settlement:collective bargaining, direct advocacy withthe City and State, organized protest anddemonstration, informational picketing,leafleting, television advertisements, politicaladvocacy with elected officials, support by na-tional and state affiliates, informational cam-paigns in the workplace, and campaigns togenerate calls, e-mail and fax communicationwith the employer; and

Whereas, after more than two years of bar-gaining and member action, the City Universi-ty of New York has failed to offer an acceptablecontract: one that provides real raises, a lasting

solution to the Welfare Fund crisis, and otheressential gains in equity and due process; and

Whereas, the failure of CUNY management toagree to a fair contract ultimately displays con-tempt for CUNY students: no amount of public-ity about CUNY’s recent “renaissance” canmake up for uncompetitive salaries, shrinkingbenefits and substandard working conditions– the education of our students is jeopardizedif the University fails to support the academicstaff on whose work it depends; and

Whereas, the PSC won its first contract, in1973, only after taking a referendum on astrike, and the United Federation of Teacherswon its 2002 contract after voting to authorizea future referendum on a strike; therefore be it

Resolved, that the Professional Staff Con-gress will make every effort to reach a faircontract settlement without a job action; andbe it further

Resolved, that the Professional Staff Congresswill continue to work throughout the summer

to achieve a fair settlement – participating ingood faith in collective bargaining, exploringoptions for mediation and arbitration, organiz-ing protests by members, conducting a publicrelations campaign, working toward coalitionswith other unions, strengthening member-to-member organizing; and be it further

Resolved, that if the City University of NewYork fails to agree to a fair contract with thePSC by September 1, 2005, the ExecutiveCouncil of the PSC will have the authority todetermine whether and when to conduct a ref-

erendum, either by campus or union-wide, onthe question of whether the PSC ExecutiveCouncil should authorize a job action; and fur-ther be it

Resolved, that the PSC Executive Council willnot authorize a job action unless the majority ofvotes cast in the referendum, conducted by se-cret ballot by the American Arbitration Associa-tion or similar neutral organization, are in favor.

Passed by the PSC Delegate Assembly, May26, 2005

Resolution authorizing a referendumon job action

Delegates vote.

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By PETER HOGNESS

On May 28, after the Memorial Dayparade in River Vale, NJ, a ceremonywas held to remember Min Soo Choi,a John Jay student killed in Iraq thispast February. At the time of hisdeath, Choi had just turned 21. He hadbeen in Iraq for less than a month.

A Japanese dwarf maple wasplanted in Choi’s honor, donated bythe Korean American Associationand other local organizations. Speak-ers included Choi’s father, Jong DaeChoi, who spoke in Korean, and Riv-er Vale Mayor George Paschalis.

CAME TO THE US IN HIGH SCHOOL“What a beautiful person he

was,” said Jackie Barsalian, whotaught Choi in ESL classes at Pas-cack Valley High School. “You justsmile when you talk about him.”

Min Soo Choi came to New Jerseyfrom South Korea when he was just

starting high school, Barsalian toldClarion. “His dream was to go to theJohn Jay College of Criminal Justiceand enter a criminal justice career,”she said. “He was such an upstand-ing person of integrity that I felt thiswas the perfect career choice.”

Barsalian said that Choi was ahard worker, considerate of his fel-low students and very respectful ofhis teachers. “He had a great senseof humor, and when you’re learn-ing a new language that’s veryhelpful,” she said. “And he had avery relaxed manner, he wasn’t anervous one.” Some students, sheexplained, remain hesitant aboutspeaking in a language that theyhaven’t mastered, afraid of makinga mistake. “But Min Soo was al-ways willing to talk,” she said. “Hewas willing to take a risk, because

he wanted to learn.”Choi was at John Jay College for

only one semester, taking speech andmath classes in Fall 2003. In the springof 2004 he decided to enlist in the USArmy, and by the summer he was aprivate in the 3rd Infantry Division.On February 26, he became the fourthCUNY student to die in Iraq.

FINISHED ONE SEMESTER“My son said he needed to serve

our new country,” Jong Dae Choisaid in a statement to the pressthree days after his son’s death. “Hewanted to become an Army officerand looked forward to becoming anAmerican citizen.”

Min Soo Choi “said the militarywas something that was always onhis mind,” his high school guid-ance counselor, Vincent Paolini,

told the Newark Star-Ledger. “Hefelt this went hand-in-hand withhis career aspirations.” Paolini ex-plained that Choi’s ultimate goalwas to become an FBI agent, “andthat would not be something hewould be able to do had he not be-come an American citizen.”

A friend of Choi’s, Ji Ha Lee, saidat his funeral that when Min Sootold her and some other friendsabout his decision to enlist, theyshouted a question at him: why?“His decision wasn’t made on im-pulse,” she said. “He did not wantfear of the impending war to stophim from achieving what he wantedto in life.” Lee said that her friend“wanted to protect the people andthe country that [he] loved,” theStar-Ledger reported.

Choi and PFC Landon Giles werekilled by an “improvised explosivedevice,” or IED, while patrolling in aHumvee in Abertha, Iraq. Themedic who assisted him posted anextended account of the incident onthe website teampages.tripod.com.

“About 10 min before we got tothis IED we stopped and got off ourHumvees and just pulled security,”

the medic wrote. “The mortar pla-toon sergeant…told me that an IEDmight hit the third Humvee and hetold me that I was a medic and thatI was important. So he told me to goswitch out with Choi who was in thefirst vehicle.”

After the explosion, the medicsaid, “I ran as fast as I can down tothe site running out of my breath.Before I even got to the Humvee, ithad already fallen into the canalsmashed up in two, three pieces.”

POSTHUMOUS CITIZENSHIPThe medic found that one of the

two badly injured soldiers was notbreathing, and began CPR. “Theother was breathing really hardwith blood in his throat,” themedic wrote. “One had blood com-ing out of his nose and the othercoming out of his ears. That meansthey had injuries to their headsand possibly their brains. At thetime I didn’t even think aboutthat….I yelled, “I need a bird!”meaning I need a medical heli-copter. It came about 15 minutesafter and we loaded both of theminto the Blackhawk.” But Choi didnot survive the flight to the hospi-tal, and Giles died soon after.

Min Soo Choi’s military servicedid lead to gaining US citizenship:he was made a US citizen within aweek after his death. He was buriedin Arlington National Cemetery onMarch 7, his parents’ 22nd weddinganniversary.

8 NEWS Clarion | Summer 2005

CCNY suspends secretary again

Fourth CUNY student to die in conflict

John Jay student killed in Iraq

By ELLEN BALLEISEN

City College secretary Carol Lang,arrested after she took part in acampus protest against military re-cruitment in March, has been sus-pended from her job without payfor an additional 25 workdays. Atpress time, CCNY had not told Langwhen this suspension would begin.

“This was a way of not only pun-ishing me but also a way of chillingfuture dissent at City College,”Lang said.

Lang was first suspended for 19workdays in March, immediatelyafter her arrest for allegedly hittinga CUNY security officer during theprotest. Lang denies that she hitanyone, and says that campus secu-rity personnel in fact assaulted stu-dent demonstrators. Her originalsuspension was indefinite, but waslifted after intense protest on theCCNY campus.

SURPRISEAt a June 2 disciplinary hearing,

Dean of Faculty and Staff RelationsPaul Occhiogrosso announced thatCCNY would seek to impose an ad-ditional suspension without pay.This was a surprise to Lang, a mem-ber of Local 384 of AFSCME DistrictCouncil 37, since there had been noindication that CUNY would seekany penalty beyond the “timeserved” during her first suspension.

Three students arrested at theprotest were also suspended by CCNY in March, but faced no fur-ther sanction after their suspen-sions were lifted in April. The Man-hattan District Attorney decidednot to press charges against Langand the students if they were not re-arrested within six months.

“The hearing began with Oc-chiogrosso saying that it was a fact-finding hearing,” Lang said in an

interview. “Why didn’t PresidentWilliams [of CCNY] do this before I was suspended in March?” Thelack of a hearing before the initialsuspensions had been criticized by CCNY’s Faculty Council, the PSCchapter and student groups.

The hearing began on June 2 andcontinued on June 13, with Langrepresented by DC37 attorneyLeonard Shrier. CCNY’s case wasargued by Occhiogrosso, who is al-so counsel to the collegepresident. The hearingwas closed to both pressand public.

Management presentedtwo witnesses, CCNY secu-rity officers Douglas Whiteand Emmanuel Tukpui. White tes-tified that he saw Lang hit Tukpuiseveral times while Tukpui was ar-resting a student protester, Langtold Clarion.

“White said he didn’t arrest meat that moment because he had tosecure the students who had beenarrested,” she said. “But there wereat least 15 other officers on thescene. If I had really hit Tukpui…why did they wait until two days af-ter the protest to arrest me? If Iwere really a dangerous personwho went around hitting officers,you’d think that they have arrestedme within 24 hours.”

DIFFERENT ACCOUNTSWhen White and Tukpui testified,

Lang said, they contradicted eachother, giving different accounts ofwhere Tukpui was allegedly hit andwhere Lang was standing at thetime. The two also gave different ac-counts of who arrested the studentprotesters, she said. The Chief re-ported that Tukpui testified Lang hit

him with a hard object, not her fist.But White testified it was a closedfist.

Two witnesses who appeared onLang’s behalf – Mark Turner, direc-tor of the Artino Laboratory for Com-putational Mathematics, and SethRosenberg, a faculty member in theSchool of Education – both testifiedthat they were present the entiretime that students were being arrest-ed and never saw Lang hit anyone.

In its decision, signed byVice Chancellor Brenda Mal-one, CUNY asserts thatTukpui and White “bothclearly identified [Lang] asthe individual who struck Sgt.Tukpui,” and that “the notion

that Lt. White and Sgt. Tukpui havefalsely accused [Lang] is unpersua-sive.” The decision also concludesthat, “[g]iven that [Lang] was a staffmember known to [White andTukpui], the decision to defer ad-dressing her conduct until two dayslater was not unreasonable.”

ARBITRATIONLang says her union has decided

to take the case to arbitration; sheexpects an October hearing.

After Lang’s first suspension,she was nominated as a candidatefor president of Local 384, one oftwo unions representing CUNY ad-ministrative and clerical staff.However, the local’s election com-mittee ruled that Lang’s suspen-sion meant she did not have a yearof continuous employment prior tothe election and was ineligible torun. The issue was the subject of adisputed vote at a June 8 member-ship meeting, which Lang has ap-pealed to Local 384’s national affil-iate, AFSCME.

Double penalty for protesting

Queens College faculty, staff and students held a rally opposing the war in Iraqon May 9. It focused on countering military recruitment on campus. Lehman Col-lege held its own rally the day before.

“A way ofchillingfuturedissent”

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AUT boycott rescindedThe Association of UniversityTeachers (AUT), a British highereducation union, voted on April 22to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan Uni-versities in Israel. On May 26, afterintense internal debate, the AUTrescinded that decision.

Proponents of the boycott con-tended that Haifa University hadviolated the academic freedom of adissenting academic and that Bar-Ilan University was involved inthe occupation of the West Bankthrough links with a college in thesettlement of Ariel. Those oppos-ing the boycott did so for a varietyof reasons: some called the moveanti-Semitic; others contested spe-cific charges against the twoschools; others called a boycott in-consistent with academic princi-ples and said it would not producepositive change.

The AAUP had called for theboycott to be rescinded, a standsupported by the PSC member onits Committee on Academic Free-

dom. The AFT followed suit, de-claring that “boycotting universi-ties and their faculty is anathemato academic freedom” in a resolu-tion adopted May 18. PSC Presi-dent Barbara Bowen, a member ofthe AFT Executive Council, helpedshape the resolution and voted tosupport it.

PSC tsunami relieffunds are put to work

The $2,000 for tsunami relief do-nated by the PSC in January ofthis year has been put to use in re-construction efforts at Syiah KualaUniversity in the Aceh province ofIndonesia. Syiah Kuala Universityis the largest higher education in-stitution in Aceh, and had about11,000 students at the time of thedisaster.

Rahmad Dawood, a Syiah Kualafaculty member, recently reportedto the PSC International Commit-tee that the PSC’s donation, to-gether with other funds, has beenused to aid in the expansion of stu-dent dormitories, rebuild homes,and provide direct monetary assis-tance to faculty and staff in need.Since tuition is not being collectedthis year, some international relief

funds are also being used to sup-port the day-to-day operation ofthe University.

Aussies protestThroughout June, thousands ofAustralian academic workersprotested government plans tocurtail their rights and benefits.The protests, carried out by theNational Tertiary EducationUnion, occurred in the threelargest Australian cities andeach of Australia’s 38 public universities.

The government seeks to givemore power to the universitymanagement over the professors,and change almost every facet ofacademic working conditions, in-cluding tenure, hiring, salary, andlabor rights.

NTEU Victorian Division Secre-tary Matthew McGowan said thatuniversity and TAFE staff are atthe “cutting edge” of the govern-ment’s attacks on workers’ rights.

The attacks, he said, “are designed to weaken staff’s ability to bargain collectively, and theNTEU’s capacity to defend staff rights and employment conditions.”

Clarion | Summer 2005 NEWS & BENEFITS 9

By CLARION STAFF

PICAEffective July 1, the New York CityEmployee “PICA” drug programwas split in two (see the May issueof Clarion). The I and C compo-nents (Injectables and Chemother-

apy medications) remain with theoriginal plan (which at present isstill called “PICA”). Membersshould use their PICA card and theExpress Scripts mail-order servicefor these medications. The P and Acomponents (Psychotropic andAsthma medications) are being re-absorbed into the PSC-CUNY Wel-fare Fund. For these drugs, mem-bers should use their PSC-CUNYWelfare Fund / Medco Card and the

Medco mail-order service to fillprescriptions.

MEDICARE PART DThe Bush administration claimsthat this new program will help se-niors with prescription drug costs,but it is so flawed that the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund does not rec-ommend signing up. Eligible per-sons (those retired, over 65, or PartA/ Part B eligible) will be contactedby Medicare and by private entitiesthis summer – probably with greatfrequency – in an effort to “sell”them on enrolling in the program.“The Welfare Fund thinks that thisplan is not in the best interest of ourmembers,” said Larry Morgan, theWelfare Fund’s executive director.The Part D plan will have a $250 an-nual deductible and huge gaps incoverage. Watch for more on this inupcoming issues of Clarion.

YOUR BENEFITS

PICA & Medicaredrug update

JOANNE CHANGDepartment of MusicLehman College

I’m at the end of my third year, andthis was the first time I’ve been toanything like this. When it comes totenure requirements, there is a lot ofvariation, and as junior faculty, wedefinitely need a lot of help. For in-stance, my department hasn’t hadanyone up for tenure in 20 or 30years. So it was helpful to meet oth-ers who are also currently going fortenure.

I’d like to see more conferenceslike this, with more time to focus onthe specific questions that come outof people’s very different experi-ences. I’d also like a chance to domore networking, make more con-nections, through the union.

The PSC’s junior faculty conferenceOur Roving Reporter asks what people thought of the May 6 union conference,

“How to Survive & Thrive at CUNY”

LINDAMICHELLE BARONDepartment of Teacher EducationYork College

What I appreciated most was thewelcoming approach. There were al-ways people ready to answer anyquestions you had.

I was a member of the UFT as aBoard of Education teacher duringthe 1970s, and I always appreciatedthe proactive stance of the union onissues of professional support anddevelopment. In fact, I often spokeon professional development pan-els then.

In this capacity, as a junior facul-ty member, I appreciate the union’sinvolvement in professional devel-opment from a whole differentstandpoint. Academia is a differentworld, and it’s so helpful to meetothers in the same situation, to feelsupported in a professional commu-nity, and to get a sense of what youneed to look towards.

DAVID HUMPHRIESDepartment of English Queensborough Community College

I went to the tenure panel and theone on the contract. I hope the newcontract will encourage new facultyto come to CUNY the way the cur-rent contract encouraged me – thecourse reduction for junior facultywas a factor in my choosing CUNY.

There was so much useful infor-mation about professional develop-ment – and a strong sense of com-munity and fellowship. It’s what aunion is supposed to be – not an ab-straction, but people working to-gether, helping one another.

I want to be very involved in theunion as a junior faculty member.It’s just so hard with all the de-mands on my time. So I really appre-ciate having the union reach out thisway. It makes it much easier to getinvolved.

FELIPE PIMENTELDepartment of Behavioral & Social

SciencesHostos Community College

It was especially interesting for mebecause my own research is aboutthe faculty at CUNY. Each school inthe system has its own culture.

Unfortunately, only about a thirdof the attendees were from commu-nity colleges, which was surprisingsince that’s where bulk of last year’shiring took place. And communitycollege faculty make, on the average,about $3000 less at every rank thantheir senior college counterparts,from new hires on up. If our wagesdon’t go up, CUNY won’t be able toattract and retain new faculty.

I’m 100% behind the union on this.I’m very skeptical of the administra-tion. They talk about how greatCUNY is, but I think they’re reallynot committed to the project of thepublic university. The union is.

CHRISTOPHER WINKSDepartment of Comparative

LiteratureQueens College

I appreciated the opportunity tomeet other junior faculty memberswithin this vast, far-flung CUNYsystem – to find out about their situ-ations, hear their stories.

My mother was a teacher andAFT member and I remember hergoing to meetings and picket lines,so I’ve always had the feeling that ifthere’s a union where you work, youought to join it and get involved. Forall that you can have criticisms ofthe union, it’s always best to be partof it.

At chapter meetings, I’ve alwaysfelt welcomed for what I could possi-bly contribute. I’ve had a really greatfirst year. But I’m still waiting forthat contract like everybody else!

– Kristin Lawler

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WORLDIN BRIEF

By ELLEN SCHRECKER

Brooklyn College does not have agood record in the academicfreedom department. Duringthe 1950s, at the height of theMcCarthy era, it fired more peo-

ple than any other institution of higherlearning. And today, although the CUNYadministration should have learned fromthat experience, many professors fear areplay in the offing.

As both the PSC and the American Asso-ciation of University Professors have indi-cated, the current attacks on faculty mem-bers at Brooklyn College raise serious is-sues of academic freedom (see page 6). Thestrong statements both organizations haveissued are welcome, yet insufficient. If weare to defend academic freedom at CUNYand elsewhere, we need the intellectual am-munition to explain why the campaignagainst Brooklyn College by the New YorkSun and its allies is so threatening – and notjust to the interests of its professors.

NOT EASYThis is not an easy task. All too often we

take our professional privileges for granted,as if mouthing the magic formula “academicfreedom” was explanation enough. Twothings seem clear, however. First, the na-tion’s faculties need some kind of specialprotection if they are to carry out their pri-mary functions of teaching and research;and, second, this special protection hascome to be known as academic freedom.

It is related to – though not the same as –free speech. The Constitution ensures thatcitizens can express themselves without in-terference from the state, but it offers nosuch protection against private employers.As a result, although the courts can protectthe First Amendment rights of faculty mem-bers at public institutions like CUNY, theycannot do so for teachers at private schools.Nonetheless, both types of professors enjoyacademic freedom that, as we shall see, isderived from their activities as teachers andscholars, not their status as citizens.

Academic freedom is a professional at-tribute. It consists of the practices and pro-cedures, like tenure and faculty governance,that make it possible for professors to dotheir job effectively. Academic freedom isessential because that work – teaching andresearch – must be free from external con-straints. Scholars and scientists cannotmerely follow orders; the new knowledgethey produce must come from the unfet-tered interplay of their trained minds withthe data they collect. Similarly, as teachers,academics can develop their students’ pow-ers of rational and independent thinking only if they are themselves autonomouswithin their classrooms.

AUTONOMYThis is not to say that professors can do

or say whatever they please. On the con-trary, they must conform to the mores oftheir profession. They must operate withinthe established boundaries of their disci-plines and abide by the same standards ofevidence and accountability as their fellowscholars (although they can, and do, pushat the edges). And, of course, they must notmisuse their classrooms by propounding ir-

relevant material or taking advantage ofstudents.

Over time, the academy has created a va-riety of institutions to enforce these profes-sional obligations – departmental commit-tees, faculty senates, disciplinary associa-tions, scholarly journals, and so on. Throughpeer review and the constant assessment ofeach individual’s work, these institutionsensure the quality of academic scholarshipand teaching. Sloppy research will rarelyget published; poorly prepared lecturers willrarely get tenure. Conflicts arise, of course –academics are, after all, only human – but ageneral consensus about what constitutesgood work within each field ordinarily ex-ists. Academe could not function with-out it.

Significantly, however,this system onlyworks if themen andwomen whoenforce thenorms ofthe acade-mic profes-sion areacademicsthemselves.Who else possesses the expertiseand experience needed to evaluate the qual-ity of someone’s research or teaching? In almost every instance, when academic free-dom is under attack, it is because outsidersseek to make academic judgments – a situa-tion that seriously threatens the quality ofhigher education.

QUALITYThere is nothing hypothetical about these

dangers. From the time of Galileo, the suppression of academic dissenters by ex-ternal authorities has all too often impededintellectual progress. At the height of the McCarthy era, after his political enemies de-nied J. Robert Oppenheimer security clear-ance, few physicists were willing to risktheir careers in government service. EastAsian scholars suffered as well; the purgesof the 1950s silenced an entire generation ofexperts – just as the conflict in Vietnam washeating up. Today, because of politicallymotivated and scientifically counterproduc-tive post-9/11 security regulations, someuniversity biologists have stopped studyinganthrax. And who knows how the currentattack on Middle Eastern studies will affectfuture scholarship about that vital part ofthe world? Or whether the proponents of“intelligent design” will try to push evolu-tion out of college, as well as high school,classrooms?

The academic freedom that protects theautonomy of the faculty thus also protectsthe quality of American higher education. Itensures that the professoriate controlsthose aspects of the university that affect itscore instructional activities and that acade-mically irrelevant considerations will notgovern the selection and retention of facultymembers or the design of curricula. Whenoutside pressures intrude, the quality ofteaching and research suffers – and this en-dangers the vital interests of our nation. In

our increasingly complex world, where acollege degree has become a necessity, wecannot afford to have stunted, second-rateuniversities. When viewed in this light, it isclear that academic freedom is not just anindividual right but a communal benefit.

Historically, most classic academic free-dom cases involved faculty members firedbecause of their off-campus (and usuallyleft-wing) political activities. Such dis-missals, which tend to lop off an institution’ssqueakiest wheels, pose as serious a threatto freedom of inquiry as any limitations on

teaching or publication. Not only do they di-rectly violate the individual professor’s FirstAmendment rights, but they also indirectlyconstrict the range of acceptable discourse.This is what happened during the 1950swhen dozens of college teachers (who werenever charged with academic impropriety)lost their jobs simply for having once beenin or near the Communist Party. Their col-leagues responded by avoiding controversyin their classes and censoring what theywrote and said.

SERIOUS THREATSuch dismissals are less likely today, but

the current threat to the academy may wellbe more serious. It reaches directly into theclassroom. Appropriating the traditionalrhetoric of academic freedom, conservative

activists call for a more ideologically bal-anced campus. Nonetheless, when we un-pack their rhetoric – whether it comes fromDavid Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights,Columbia’s David Project, or the New YorkSun – it turns out to be a demand to imposesome kind of external political controls onthe academic community.

SUPPOSED PRIVILEGEToday’s institutions of higher learning are

poorly positioned to counter these demands.Though Americans know that their econom-ic security now requires a college degree,most do not respect the academy. Decadesof financial scrambling and right-wing pro-

paganda have sapped its prestige, whileshrinking support for the public sectorhas forced many schools to adopt quickfixes that undermine their academicquality. They hire underpaid and inse-cure adjuncts who lack the academicfreedom and professional advantagesof their full-time colleagues. They ac-

cept corporate funding that places re-strictions on research and publication.

And they raise tuition, year after year. It is no wonder, then, that so many Amer-

icans resent the supposed privileges of the“tenured radicals” and “deadwood profes-sors” who, they’ve been told, inhabit mostfaculties. Nor is it a surprise that college ad-ministrators, under pressure to revampcontroversial departments, usually appointa committee or cave in.

OUTREACHThat was the response of the nation’s aca-

demic leaders during the McCarthy erawhen congressional investigators and theFBI demanded the scalps of politically“tainted” professors – and over a hundredfaculty members were fired. We cannot letthat happen again. The academic professionmust fight back.

We must explain to our students, admin-istrators, trustees, and the rest of the Amer-ican public what academic freedom is, howit protects the quality of the nation’s col-leges and universities, and why the current

campaign against it is such a threat. Un-less we intervene in what, until

now, has been a scandalouslyone-sided debate, we may losethe political battle to preserve

American higher education as we knowit.There is some hope. Americans do cherishtheir basic civil liberties. In almost every in-stance when the partisans of freedom havesteadfastly resisted the forces of repression,they have prevailed. Our problem is simplythat until now, the academic community hasbeen too reactive and too introverted.

We cannot talk only to ourselves. Wemust reach out to convince the rest of ourfellow citizens that they, too, have a stake inacademic freedom. In a globalizing worldthat requires an increasingly well-educatedpopulation, we can only survive as a free,democratic, and prosperous society if wepreserve the autonomy of our colleges anduniversities. We have no other choice.

Ellen Schrecker is professor of history at Yeshi-va University and the author of several bookson McCarthyism, including Many Are theCrimes: McCarthyism in America and No IvoryTower: McCarthyism and the Universities.

10 OPINION Clarion | Summer 2005

Our work requires freedom of thought

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ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Protect teachers and scholars

By KENNETH B. CLARKCCNY (emeritus)

Kenneth B. Clark, professor emeritus of psy-chology at City College, died May 1, 2005, atthe age of 90. He was the first African Ameri-can faculty member to receive tenure at CUNY– an event that did not happen until 1960.

Clark’s research on the development ofself-image in black children included thewell-known “dolls test” studies, a joint pro-ject with his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark.Their work was cited by the Supreme Court,in its Brown v. Board of Education decision,as evidence of the destructive psychologicalimpact of racial segregation.

In the following excerpt from a 1993 essay,Clark describes how his experiences as a stu-dent at Howard University in the 1930s ledhim to combine academic scholarship with“the ongoing struggle for social justice.”

Ifelt very comfortable at Howard. I in-truded myself among the faculty. Italked with them out of class. By mysophomore year, I had learned whythese professors were at Howard. It

was because of their race that RalphBunche, Alain Locke, Sterling Brown, Abra-ham Harris, and other outstanding scholarswere concentrated at this one institution.

I developed a curious and pervasive rela-tionship with these people I so highly re-spected. I got to know how they felt. Ilearned more about racism in academiathan I had been aware of before. HowardUniversity was the beginning of the persis-tent preoccupation I have had with Ameri-can racial injustice.

At this stage in my personal development,I became engrossed in the contradictionswhich exist: the eloquence of American“democracy” and academic hypocrisy. Thesemembers of the Howard faculty I respectedall became my mentors against Americanracism. My life became dominated by an on-going struggle against racial injustice. I donot believe this would have happened if Ihad attended an integrated institution.

SEGREGATIONThese outstanding professors made it

very clear to me that under no circum-stances should I ever accept racial injustice.They advised me to go to graduate schooland get my Ph.D. They further warned meagainst ever teaching in a segregated col-lege if at all possible. They believed I shouldpursue the goal of knocking down racial bar-riers in institutions of higher education.

During the Christmas holiday that firstyear at Howard, I was able to obtain a job at

the main post office in Wash-ington, D.C. It was a boringjob, sorting mail during thegraveyard shift, from 12 mid-night to 8 A.M. My first nightat work, I went with a fellow-classmate worker during themeal break to a White Towereating-house across thestreet. When we walked in, Isaw two vacant seats. I wentand sat in one. My companiondid not take the second seat. Isoon found out why.

STUDENT ACTIONThe counterman came

over, shouting that I was toget up. I could buy food totake out, but I was not al-lowed to sit and eat it. I askedhim, “Why not?” He becameeven more angry and shoutedlouder that I would not beserved because I was a Ne-gro. I, too, became angry anddid not want to leave. I feltthe outrage that my motherexpressed at the Childsrestaurant many years be-fore. My companion cameover and said, “Let’s get outof here.” He escorted me out.At that time I was takingdemocracy seriously. A few blocks away theCapitol of the United States was visible andilluminated. As I was leaving, I looked at thebuilding and cursed. I do not believe I haveever again entered a White Tower eating-house since that time….

This was another experience in hypocrisyin America. I learned in Washington, D.C., inthe shadow of the Capitol, that democracywas not to be taken seriously. This lessonstayed with me throughout my college daysat Howard University.

In my senior year I was part of a group ofstudents who demonstrated inside the Capi-tol building. At that time, 1935, they did notserve Negroes in the restaurant. Wemarched into the building with signs protest-ing this racial exclusion. I shall not forgetthat a Negro attendant came up and startedpushing some of us out. He punched a few ofus. Even though this was long before theMartin Luther King, Jr. training in nonvio-lent protest, we did not punch him back. I feltsorry and somewhat contemptuous of him.

Meanwhile, a cadre of white policemencame and arrested a number of us. We weretaken to the nearest police station in a pad-dy wagon. When we got to the desk, we

were told to remove our ties and belts. Thedesk sergeant asked the arresting police-men what the charges were. He was told,“Guilty of disorderly conduct.” As thesergeant was taking our names, the captainof the precinct came out of his office andasked why we were there. The policemenand the desk sergeant repeated the chargeagainst us. The captain became red in theface and ordered, “Take their names off thebooks. These young men should be praised,not arrested. Let them go. Let them go.” Iwas fascinated by his anger, by the fact thathe was white, and by his identification withthe issues and goals.

SUSPENSIONThe press carried the story. The New York

Times carried it on the front page. When wereturned to the campus the following Mon-day, we were brought up on disciplinecharges. The president of the university andthe disciplinary committee made it clearthat by our actions we were threatening thesecurity of the university (Howard Universi-ty received funds from Congress). The disci-plinary committee said we would be sus-pended or expelled for our actions.

While they decided whichpunishment to impose, wewere asked to step outside. Wecould hear the debate going onin the conference room. I rec-ognized the voice and passion-ate insistence of Ralph Bunche.He maintained that the discipli-nary committee must not evenconsider suspending or ex-pelling us. He argued that whatwe were doing was not onlycourageous, but essential indealing with America’s racialinjustice. He maintained thatHoward University would beembarrassed if it took any neg-ative action against us. The im-plications were that if the disci-plinary committee took suchaction against us, he would re-sign. After a prolonged discus-sion, we were brought back in-to the conference room and thedisciplinary committee told usthey had decided against pun-ishing us….

ACADEMIABunche[’s] unmistakable

position was that verbal ex-pressions and concerns aboutracial injustice were notenough. It is important that

those concerns go hand in hand with rationaland courageous actions….

[He] and the other Howard professors Ihad come to know well encouraged me to goto Columbia University for graduate work.They maintained that it was essential tocombine academic credentials with the ca-pacity and qualifications for activism. Theyled me to believe that I was to be a part ofthe ongoing struggle for social justice. And Iwas naïve and confident enough to believe Icould do it. I received encouragement andsupport in my decision to pursue a Ph.D. inpsychology at Columbia University….

[At Columbia,] when it became evidentthat I was interested in the developmentand complexities of racial attitudes, I wasgently advised…that I should not concen-trate my research interest on specific racialproblems. Subtly [my professors] suggestedthat this focus would raise political academ-ic problems. I accepted their advice and con-centrated my research on the effects of so-cial attitudes on remembering….

Initially [Mamie’s] research was con-cerned with the general problem of the de-velopment of the self-image in children. Atfirst this was not related to race. However,as her research was to be done in the segre-gated Washington, D.C., public schools, hersubjects were restricted to Negro childrenbecause of her own race. Ironically, theracism of the school system made it possi-ble to discover that race and color were keyfactors in the development of the sense ofself in these children. When the signifi-cance of this factor of race became appar-ent to both of us, we decided to collaborateand conduct a more extensive study of theproblem.

From “Racial Progress and Retreat: A Person-al Memoir,” in Race in America, edited byHerbert Hill and James E. Jones, Jr. (Univer-sity of Wisconsin Press, 1993).

Clarion | Summer 2005 OPINION 11

Clarion SUMMER 2005Newspaper of the Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York, collective bargaining representative of the CUNY instructional staff. Vol. 34, No. 6. PSC/CUNY is affiliated with the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers (Local 2334), AFL-CIO, the New York City Central Labor Council and New York State United Teachers. Published by PSC/CUNY, 25 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Telephone: (212) 354-1252. Web site: www.psc-cuny.org. E-mail: phogness@pscmail.org. All opinions expressed in these pages are not necessarily those of the PSC.PSC OFFICERS: Barbara Bowen, President; Steven London, First Vice President; Cecelia McCall, Secretary; John Hyland, Treasurer; Stanley Aronowitz, Jonathan Buchsbaum, Susan O’Malley, John Pittman,Sheldon Weinbaum, University-wide Officers; Michael Fabricant, Vice President, Senior Colleges; Robert Cermele, Janice Cline, Nancy Romer, Senior College Officers; Anne Friedman, Vice President, Com-munity Colleges; Samuel E. Farrell, Andrew McInerney, Shirley Rausher, Community College Officers; Iris DeLutro, Vice President, Cross Campus Units; Arthurine DeSola, Steven Trimboli, Vera Weekes,Cross Campus Officers; Marcia Newfield, Vice President, Part-Time Personnel; Susan DiRaimo, Denise Ingram, Diane Menna, Part-Time Personnel Officers; Irwin H. Polishook, President Emeritus; Israel Kugler, Deputy President Emeritus; Peter I. Hoberman, Vice President Emeritus, Cross Campus Units.STAFF: Deborah Bell, Executive Director; Mary Ann Carlese, Associate Executive Director; Faye H. Alladin, Coordinator, Financial Services; Debra L. Bergen, Director, Contract Administration & University-wideGrievance Counselor; Barbara Gabriel, Coordinator, Office Services and Human Resources; Diana Rosato, Coordinator, Membership Department; Clarissa Gilbert Weiss, Director, Pension and Welfare Benefits.

Editor: Peter Hogness / Assistant Editor: Dania Rajendra / Designer: Margarita Aguilar © 2005 Professional Staff Congress/CUNY

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Scholarship and social justice

“…to combine academic credentials with the capacity for activism.”

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In memorium: Kenneth Clark combined activism and action.

By RON HAYDUK

More than one million adultsare currently disenfran-chised in New York City, andthey are mostly workingclass and people of color.

That’s because one out of five of the newestNew Yorkers – legal adult immigrant resi-dents – can’t vote.

This includes many CUNY students, halfof whom are foreign-born, and members ofthe PSC. These members of our communitypay billions each year in taxes, bolster everysector of the economy, own businesses andhomes, serve in the military, attend andsend children to schools, and make count-less social and cultural contributions. Yetthey cannot vote on the local issues that af-fect their daily lives. This taxation withoutrepresentation flies in the face of democraticprinciples and practice.

A 53-member coalition of immigrant andcivil rights organizations, religious groups,and labor unions – including the PSC – haslaunched a campaign to extend voting rightsin local elections to all legal adult residents.Legislation (Intro 628) has been introducedin the City Council that would restore non-citizens’ voting rights and is now co-sponsored by nine Council members.

HISTORICAL PRECEDENTIf this legislation is approved, it would

radically change electoral dynamics in thecity. Support for CUNY, the main path to acollege education for New York’s immi-grants, would certainly increase. That is oneof the reasons that the PSC Delegate Assem-bly passed a resolution in support of immi-grant voting rights in October 2003.

Citizens understandably question whyimmigrants should be able to vote beforethey take the Oath of Allegiance. To manyAmericans, voting is the essence of citizen-ship. But non-citizen voting in Americanelections is hardly new. It is a long-standingpart of US history and contemporary prac-tice. In fact, the idea that non-citizens shouldhave the right to vote in their adopted com-munities is older and was practiced longerthan the idea that they should not.

Early American notions such as the socialcontract, which posits that legitimate gov-ernment rests on the consent of the gov-erned, made non-citizen voting a logical wayto encourage newcomers to build a stake inthe emerging republic. Voting rights werenot originally tied to citizenship: voters onlyhad to be white, male property owners. Herein New York, non-citizens voted in local andstate elections until the early 1800s.

In fact, during most of our country’s histo-ry – between 1776 until 1926 – non-citizensvoted in local, state and even federal elec-tions in 40 states and federal territories. Non-citizens held public offices such as alderman.

But over the years, non-citizen voting wasincreasingly restricted. At the turn of the20th century, a growing working-class votewas fueling the rise of social movementsand third political parties (Populist, Labor,Socialist) and threatening established politi-cal elites. At a time of rising xenophobia, theruling political class moved to impose re-strictions on the right to vote, including theelimination of immigrant voting.

UNLIMITED FRANCHISEThese limits on the franchise were im-

posed around the time that Jim Crow legisla-tion was being adopted in the South, and thetwo often overlapped in content. Decades lat-er the civil rights movement swept awaymany of these obstacles, but its work re-mains unfinished. Nationally, 12 million vot-ing-age legal immigrants remain disenfran-chised. In some NYC council districts, over40% of adult residents can’t vote. Denying le-gal immigrants local voting rights reducesgovernment accountability and underminesthe health of our democracy and legitimacyof our public policies.

We’re a stronger society when everyoneparticipates, because we all benefit when de-

cisions are made democratically. Immigrantsand native-born Americans have the sameinterests in safe streets, good schools, afford-able housing, health care, and good jobs.

Today in New York City, working-classresidents are being priced out of the essen-tials of daily life, but public policy has donelittle to stem the tide. But with a millionworking-class voters disenfranchised, itshould be no surprise if our city govern-ment is not responsive to their needs. Vot-ing rights for legal immigrants would makeour government more accountable toeveryone who lives here, and would helpstop our city from becoming just a play-ground for the rich.

Shouldn’t non-citizens just become citi-zens to gain the vote? The coalition sup-ports efforts to facilitate naturalization, butit takes immigrants an average of 8 to 10years to become citizens. It used to be mucheasier, faster, and cheaper to facilitate natu-ralization, but anti-immigrant policies at thefederal level mean that the current backlogis not going away any time soon. Opening lo-cal elections to legal immigrants would stillleaving plenty of incentives to become a citi-zen. Citizenship would still be required forstate and federal elections – and there are atleast ten rights and privileges that immi-grants gain when they naturalize; voting isonly one.

At least 22 countries around the world al-

low non-citizen residents to vote at variouslevels. In New York City, non-citizens wereallowed to vote in community school boardelections until the school boards were dis-mantled in 2003.

NOT UNIQUE TO NYCToday immigrant residents vote in school

elections in Chicago and in municipal elec-tions in six towns in Maryland. The effort torestore immigrant voting rights in New YorkCity is not unique: there are similar cam-paigns in over a dozen jurisdictions in theUS, including in Massachusetts, Maine, Min-nesota, California and Washington, D.C.

The immigrant rights movement is part oftoday’s civil rights movement, and residentvoting is the suffrage movement of the day.New York, home of the Statue of Liberty andEllis Island, symbolizes America’s past andfuture as an immigrant nation. How appro-priate it would be to affirm this role byrestoring non-citizen voting in our greatcity’s elections. By doing so, New York wouldupdate our democracy for this global era.

Ron Hayduk teaches political science at theBorough of Manhattan Community College(BMCC), and he co-directs the Immigrant Vot-ing Project (www.immigrantvoting.org).

If you would like to help support Intro. 628,contact your Councilmember and urge them tobecome a co-sponsor.

12 OPINION Clarion | Summer 2005

Professional Staff Congress/CUNY25 West 43rd StreetNew York, New York 10036

THIRD CLASS MAIL

NonProfit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDNew York, N.Y.Permit No. 8049

Tell Chancellor Matthew Goldstein topublicly support academic freedom.

In two recent cases at BrooklynCollege (see pages 6 and 10), distort-ed press attacks on CUNY faculty created a climate of fear on campus.Well over a month ago, the PSCasked the chancellor to speak out buthe has remained silent.

If he won’t tell the public why high-quality research and teaching requirefreedom of thought, then academicfreedom at our institution is in danger.

Log onto www.psc-cuny.org andclick on ACT NOW to send a letter. It’sa way to affirm the PSC’s commitmentto academic freedom, and to ask thechancellor to do the same.

15–MINUTE ACTIVIST

Support academic freedom

Rallies are part of the campaign to extend the franchise in New York City.

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POLITICS

Let all residents vote The PSC won a significant victory on pen-sions when, at its June 27 meeting, CUNY’sBoard of Trustees agreed to policy changesfor members in the Optional Retirement Pro-gram (ORP), including TIAA/CREF. The mostsignificant change is that as of September 1,participants will only have to keep $50,000 inretirement funds within TIAA/CREF upon re-tirement, to cover the cost of after-retirementhealth insurance premiums. Previously, aCUNY regulation required one-third of retire-ment funds to remain with the program – andfor most retirees in TIAA/CREF and similarplans, this amount was substantially morethan $50,000.

“This is a major victory for our membersbecause it gives TIAA/CREF participantsmore control over and access to their own re-tirement funds,” said PSC President BarbaraBowen. Changing this regulation has been amajor PSC contract demand.

In her testimony, Bowen told the Trusteesthere was still more to fix with CUNY pensionpolicy. She strongly urged the Trustees toconsider an amount lower than $50,000 for thefunds to be retained with TIAA/CREF, andpressed management to extend to part-timeinstructional staff the right to have the ORPas one of their pension options.

More details will be available at www.psc-cuny.org and in the September Clarion.

Pension victory

One million adults are disenfranchised