Adjuncts Demanded $7K or Strike… They Get $6,875 Instead
Professional Staff Congress posters at Lehman's Carman Hall faculty room doors. (Photo Credit: Deanna Garcia)
By Deanna Garcia
Two months after the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) and City University of New York (CUNY) agreed to a new contract that they promise will fulfill 30,000 full and part-time faculty and professional staff, staff and students are still asking whether the contract meets their hopes.
Some CUNY staff claim the contract is not enough.
“I think that it is about time that CUNY recognized this unpaid work and now will begin to compensate all adjuncts for it,” said Ayanna Alexander-Street, a biology professor and secretary of Lehman Chapter’s PSC. “I think we are still far from a desirable place, as far as wages go.”
Alexander-Street, who formerly worked as an adjunct at Hunter College and the Borough of Manhattan Community College for five years, continued: “We are energized by this contract and will keep working toward these goals, as well as fighting in other ways to keep CUNY affordable, ensuring that we offer enough courses each semester, improving conditions on campus and addressing the needs of students, such as housing and food insecurity.”
Lehman students also questioned the contract.
Chantel White, 18, a Lehman fine arts freshman, thought the wages were outrageous to begin with. “Why can’t they just give the professors what they deserve?” she asked. “They work hard to make sure their students are educated throughout a semester. A professor doesn’t only work during class hours, but also off-campus.”
“I hope they keep fighting for a higher pay,” said David Ortiz, 24, Spanish senior. “Adjuncts, like anyone, have every right to. They should be getting more than what they’re offered.”
Unlike other students, Kendall Jackson, 20, chemistry junior, was unaware of the unequal pay of adjuncts. “It’s upsetting to even think that some professors aren’t getting recognized for the work they do in classrooms,” he said. “These low wages hold professors from helping their students succeed in life and in their future careers.”
CUNY adjunct professors standing in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo's office building while chanting, "What's outrageous? Adjunct wages!" back in March. (Photo Credit: Deanna Garcia)
Under the old contract, part-time professors, also known as adjuncts, were only paid $3,222 per course. The new contract promises to increase these wages by more than 70 percent. The minimum for a three-credit course would be $5,500 and the maximum would equal $6,875 for a four-credit course, instead of the $7,000 that was originally demanded by PCS’s Committee of Adjuncts and Part-timers with the slogan “$7K or Strike.”
“I hope they keep fighting for a higher pay.”
According to PSC, 15,976 of 21,416 members eligible to vote participated. 2,316 of which were not in favor of the contract a few weeks later- the biggest contract ratification union-voting ever recorded.
Union leadership praised the contract. PSC President Barbara Bowen stated, “The 2017-2023 contract prioritized equity and is a testament to the unity of our membership. Everyone gains when the salary floor for the lowest paid is lifted.”
Robert Farrell, PSC Chair of the Lehman Chapter, refers to the contract as “a major breakthrough in the union’s fight for equitable adjunct wages.”
The PSC website claims the new wage will also create equity between staff and grant adjuncts more individual time with students, office hours and professional development, as well as giving department chairs research funds to support their staff.
It will create a paid family leave program modeled New York State and City programs, financially supporting graduate students who teach, expanding funds to allow access to healthcare for graduate employees.
And it includes equity raises for full-time College Laboratory Technicians, entry-level Higher Education Officer employees, Lecturers, and full-time CUNY Start and CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP) staff.
The contract between PSC and CUNY promises to increase adjunct wages by 70 percent. (Photo Credit: Deanna Garcia)
“To achieve these gains, the union was able to secure funding from the City and State to pay adjuncts for some of the currently uncompensated labor they are doing as part of their work at CUNY,” said Farrell.
While the contract now awaits approval by the CUNY Board of Trustees, Bowen wrote on the PSC website that just because there was a contract agreement does not mean that every problem was solved and the union would not stop fighting for adjuncts’ rights.
She added that the PSC has support from the CUNY Board, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to improve CUNY’s employees and students.
“We have more work to do to ensure that our students have adequately paid faculty in the classroom who have time to devote to them,” said Farrell.
