CUNY union reaches tentative contract agreement after two years

I think it represents a move toward disinvestment in higher education and . . . slowly degrading the quality of the workplace and quality education.”

Dr. Renee Bell, assistant professor at Lehman College

After two years of bargaining, the City University of New York public higher education school system reached a tentative employment contract agreement with the CUNY Professional Staff Congress on Dec. 16.

The contract for union employees expired on Feb. 28, 2023 and the memorandum of agreement is currently awaiting approval from union members. 

Part of the bargaining included demands for job security and higher pay for all workers. The finalized agreement contained a salary increase of 13.4% across the contract’s duration with three separate dates of increase set for Sept. 1, 2025, Sept. 1, 2026 and one retroactive pay date of March 1, 2023. 

Due to the contract’s expiration, employees will receive retroactive pay to make up for underpayment during previous pay periods when negotiations were underway. All full-time and part-time CUNY staff are expected to receive the back pay by the spring 2025 semester. 

Renee Bell, assistant professor of mathematics at Lehman College, said she would vote no on the proposed contract. 

“The proposed wage increases are well below inflation,” Bell said. “It's just not enough to keep up with rising costs.”

University faculty salary increases were found to average 4% in a 2024 report published by the National Education Association. But even with the increase the cost of necessities like food, housing and gas, have increased by 6%, canceling out the raise. 

One of the biggest fights over the last two years has been for the increase in pay for adjuncts. The previous contract paid adjunct lecturers $5,665 for a standard 15-week course meeting three times a week. 

The newly reached agreement sets adjuncts at a minimum of $7,100 for courses meeting three times a week and a four-hour-per-week course at $9,467 by the contract’s expiration in 2027. 

Bell said her biggest issue in the fight for a new contract is job security for adjunct professors. 

The memorandum states, “teaching adjuncts shall not be assigned an unreasonable workload,” but offers no clarification on what the word unreasonable means. “There’s no ceiling on what [adjuncts] can be asked to do. . . they can’t be asked to do an unreasonable amount of work. Who decides what that means? It’s dangerously vague,” Bell said. 

Adjuncts are paid per course with no additional payment offered for the extra work expected of them, according to the memorandum. This includes student support mentoring and advising, attendance at university orientations, professional development training and other university assessments and activities.  

“There are a lot of disrespectful proposals put across by membership. I think it represents a move toward disinvestment in higher education and . . . slowly degrading the quality of the workplace and quality education,” Bell said. 

Previously, a three-year contract was provided to adjuncts, originally initiated in 2016 as a pilot program to offer stability for adjunct faculty, the new agreement scrapped the contractual agreement offering no long-term agreements for adjuncts. 

“It's difficult for us to build community, it's difficult for us to build departments, it’s difficult for us to build professional relationships, long-lasting relationships with the students and build up the intellectual and active community the students deserve,” Bell said. 

Another request initially made by the union was for a kill fee paid to instructors when school administration cancels a course. Bell views this fee as an additional element of job security and stated courses get canceled at the last minute frequently, leaving instructors with no alternatives for payment. 

For Bell, offering payment to instructors who would otherwise forgo their predetermined income for the semester is the only choice.

“The real impact is students are thrown into disarray when their classes are canceled at the last minute . . . suddenly [instructors] are out thousands of dollars at the last minute,” Bell said. 

In October, Bell was among 30 individuals arrested outside of John Jay College for protesting. She was charged with obstructing pedestrian traffic and failure to disperse, but all charges were dropped against the faculty before their court date. Bell was proud of her decision to fight back and earned a livable wage and rights for herself and her fellow faculty as a result. She shared her students were also appreciative of her willingness to stand up for her beliefs. 

As for the memorandum, Bell urged everyone to vote no and win the demands they are looking for, including better pay and job security. 

“I think that now more than ever we have an opportunity to fight back,” Bell said. 

Voting on the memorandum began on Dec. 20, 2024 and will be finalized at the end of the day on Jan. 10, 2025. The new contract will terminate Nov. 30, 2027 after being finalized by the CUNY Board of Trustees and voted on by members. 

“This is something I would go back to the table for,” Bell said, “This is something I would go back to jail for.”