{"id":2367,"date":"2016-05-22T14:32:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T18:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=2367"},"modified":"2017-11-04T22:30:19","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T02:30:19","slug":"chasity-fernandes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/chasity-fernandes\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Hunter and CUNY Do More to Alert Students About a Possible Strike?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article by Chasity\u00a0Fernandes, May 22, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexa Ellis, who writes for the<\/strong> WORD<\/strong>,<\/em> sits with friends on Hunter\u2019s third-floor sky bridge during Dean’s Hour, the time of day when many students on campus don\u2019t have class. They watch as the sky bridge gets extremely crowded as many students rush to the cafeteria or the library, the campus\u00a0hangout places.<\/p>\n

On this date,\u00a0student members of The Envoy, which calls itself the independent voice of Hunter students, circulate flyers about a possible strike by the union representing CUNY faculty as well as to recruit student writers. The group usually sets up a table with posters and flyers to attract passersby into stopping to learn more about what is going at CUNY.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the\u00a0Professional Staff Congress<\/a> is proposing a strike, I just think the reasons for why and what exactly is going on is a little confusing. At first, I thought it was a whole CUNY versus SUNY issue<\/a>, in regards to Governor Cuomo increasing the wages of low income workers (at SUNY) but not CUNY\u2019s, \u201c says Ellis, 19. What would she do if the union called a strike? \u201cI am in favor of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Professional Staff Congress represents the more than 25,000 faculty and staff at City University of New York who have not had a contract in five years nor a raise in six, according to information in a PSC press release, On Minimum Wage Increase: Yet Again, Gov. Fails to Invest in CUNY<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The article quotes PSC President Barbara Bowen about Governor Cuomo\u2019s executive order, which raised the wages of SUNY workers but not CUNY workers. Ellis was confused that the executive order was the reason for the possible strike.<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u2019s decision was unfair, says Bowen and others. \u201cThe decision to exclude CUNY from the wage increase is a slap in the face to the thousands of low-wage workers whose labor helps to make a college education possible for CUNY\u2019s 500,000 students,\u201d Bowen is quoted in the article. \u201cIt is part of a pattern of refusing to invest the necessary funds in CUNY: the governor continues to deny any state funding for pay increases for CUNY\u2019s academic staff, who have not had a raise in five years. Cuomo\u2019s continuing refusal to invest in decent pay for CUNY workers is hurting the whole University. Full-time faculty are beginning to seek other jobs, and there are part-time faculty on food stamps because their CUNY salaries are so low.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another PSC press release (that was picked up by several news organizations), To Reduce Inequality, Reinvest In CUNY,<\/a> by Meena Alexander, Michelle Finne, and Nicholas Freudenberg, three CUNY professors, \u201cSince 1847, the City University of New York has provided millions of New Yorkers with a path out of poverty and an opportunity to contribute to our city. CUNY connects New Yorkers across boroughs, zip codes, races, and social classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Prime, 22, a psychology major who lives in Brooklyn, sat on one of the library group study floors at a table with friends. He was dressed in a black and red bomber jacket, a hoodie, and jeans. Books were spread about and laptops were out. \u201cI\u2019d say CUNY definitely allows New Yorkers to connect. I\u2019ve met so many people of different races, from completely different boroughs,\u201d he says, gesturing to the table of friends where he is seated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing at CUNY, you make connections all over New York. But I had no idea the issues the University was facing as far as contracts, and I\u2019m interested to find out how that affects me as a student, if at all,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

According to the Alexander, Finne, and Freudenberg press release, the poor funding of CUNY affects students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, growing enrollment in the face of diminished state support, even at a time when the state\u2019s finances are strong, has forced CUNY to drop courses, lay off part-time faculty members and cut money from student services, according to the comments. It has also deferred maintenance of aging facilities and delayed modernizing laboratories, a handicap for our science and technology students. CUNY is now a system overly reliant on underpaid, dedicated, adjunct labor. The cost-cutting forces some students to delay graduation, a predictor of dropout, and saps faculty morale.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Steve Budhan, 24, a psychology major who lives in Queens, sitting on the Hunter skywalk, and wearing Adidas track pants and red Nike roshe run sneakers, says, \u201cThe fact that this issue could indirectly affect students\u2019 graduation as well as their work, is crazy. The fact that so many students are completely unaware or this is even crazier. It makes you wonder why Hunter College isn\u2019t doing more to inform its students to help us join their fight for a PSC contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chasity Fernandes can be reached at chasityfernandes@yahoo.com<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some students support the PSC’s strike threat, some don’t.<\/p>\n

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