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The Council consists of 38 vice presidents of AFT affiliates from throughout the nation (including the PSC, hence Babbling Barb) and three top officers of the AFT. There were shock waves of disbelief amongst the members of the influential AFT Executive Council when Babbling Barb voted no...They were stunned by Bowen's dissent on this issue of national tragedy. Clearly, Babbling Barb is talking to us from both sides of her mouth. She is wasting our dues money by printing and mailing to us misleading evidence of her sympathies for WTC victims, but then goes to D.C., spends our money wining and dining, and votes against a very fine AFT resolution, thus encouraging the enmity of the leadership of this important parent organization.
TONY O'BRIEN, WHOM ARE
YOU KIDDING?
ISN'T COMRADE BOWEN AN EXTREME LEFTIST RADICAL?
In
his Senate-Forum posting of November 7 (11:53:03-0500) Tony O'Brien
writes, The union leadership as a whole is not left-wing, it's
centrist, or at most center-left. He goes on to say that it has
left-wing people in it which he regards as a strength. Whom are
you fooling, Mr. O'Brien? You know better, because we all know
that you are very close to the leadership, particularly Barbara
Bowen. Her actions and rhetoric - citing, among myriad other causes,
a union role in a global struggle against corporate internationalism,
have convinced most of the faculty that the PSC leadership is
an extreme leftist radical gang. By now, CUNY faculty know this
and will strive to get rid of her radical leadership sooner rather
than later, and before the PSC goes to the dogs.
THE ENDORSEMENT FIASCO
First
Babbling Barb endorsed Allan Hevesi for the primary in the mayoral
race. He lost. Then she endorsed Fernando Ferrere in the run off.
He lost. Then Mark Green; he lost too. Mike Bloomberg, who won
the race, refused to meet with the PSC officers. Are you surprised?
Why should he? As a Republican, Bloomberg does not need to waste
his time meeting with the leadership of a tiny 6,000-member union
of college professors which is perceived to be radical leftist.
He knew well that college professors are intellectually alert
and would not give a damn as to the endorsement from this group.
We can be sure that Bloomy will not allow Comrade Bowen to approach
even his shadow. We know that our leadership was despised by the
Giuliani administration, and Bloomberg will make sure that they
do not get a thing from him. You cannot blame him for that. We
wonder what makes Bowen think that we need her advice as to how
to vote. She really should resign and go back to teaching with
her buddy O'Brien in the English Department at Queens, or answer
the call from Paul Sheridan for contributions to Encyclopedia
of Marches and Demonstrations to be published by ABC-CLIO; a worthwhile
project and one in which she seems to have experience and expertise
(SENATE-FORUM 89.01.OB).
BABBLING BARB AND STEVE "FOGGY"
LONDON
HARD AT WORK AGAINST PSC MEMBERS
Have
you heard of a union leadership working against the interests
of its own members? We have. It's the CURRENT PSC leadership.
Let us give you an example: On page 6 of the October 2001 issue
of the Clarion, an article by Steve "Foggy" London reports
that the PSC has filed a grievance against CUNY management to
stop RRI (Recruitment-Retention Initiative) awards. Careful reading
of this article and understanding of the issues will indicate
that RRI's were negotiated by the previous PSC leadership for
the sole purpose of attracting a well-qualified faculty in hard
to recruit and specialized fields, such as computer science, engineering
and others. These rare faculty, holding PhDs in fields in which
new college graduates with Bachelor's degrees earn starting salaries
of $80,000 - $100,000 are to receive between $10,000 and $20,000
more depending upon their specialty and the need in the subject
field. This agreement remained in force, and the Chancellor continued
to honor its provisions, including salaries of those who were
hired in those specialized fields. As mentioned in the article,
CUNY management has placed this item on the negotiating table.
Now, Steve "Foggy" London is filing a grievance and demanding
that their salaries be reduced! Thus we have the incredible
spectacle of the PSC grieving to reduce the salaries of its dues-paying
members! In his October 16 letter to the affected faculty, Steven
"Foggy" London writes that CUNY is "forcing us to file a grievance."
This is not the truth, but it certainly shows how "foggy" London
can be! CUNY management has placed this provision on the negotiating
table, and any shrewd union negotiator would have agreed to
continue this provision, recognize that if the university wants
this badly, the PSC could get this along with more for its members.
The Aevery one should be paid the same argument doesn't fly; the
PSC has already accepted the principle of unequal pay salary scales
when it comes to members of the medical and law professions (See
Articles 34 and 35 of the Contract) who get paid more. If this
provision dies, so will engineering and other fields. In a November
12 memo to Bowen, the Computer Science Discipline Council wrote
"...we have a serious problem now attracting faculty even with
the RRI. It is not in our interest for the union not to support
its continuation." Our current leadership is either stupid or
doesn't give a damn about the sciences and technology at CUNY.
We will all suffer as long as they are in power.
BLOW TO FACULTY RESPONSIBILITY IN CURRICULAR MATTERS.
BABBLING BARB'S FIRST FATEFUL ACTION
No
Union leader should take an issue before the courts which could
have a damaging effect on the already- diminishing role of the
faculty in academic and curricular matters. But that is exactly
what Babbling Barb, Steve "Foggy" London, Fred Meyers of Brooklyn,
(Chair of the Grievance Committee), hyperactive Anne Friedman
and Jim Perlstein (both of BMCC) did when they filed the Friedman
v. Perez case in the Supreme Court of N.Y. They challenged the
Board's authority to approve a one-credit course at BMCC which
was recommended by the Middle States accreditation body, rejected
by faculty committees and recommended by the college president.
What we got in return was a devastating decision from the court
which will plague us for years to come. Red-faced Babbling Barb
isn't talking about it. Justice Bruce Allen, in his decision,
wrote: "The Board retains the ultimate power, authority, and responsibility
to govern and administer the university, including the setting
of course requirements...the Board remains free to consider and
adopt a proposal without regard to its origination." (Friedman
v, Perez, N. Y. .State Sup, Court, Index No. 117248/00, p. 3,
August 18, 2000). As a result, in a letter to the Board and college
presidents, board attorney Frederick Schaffer wrote, "I am gratified
that ... a court has reaffirmed the authority of the Board over
the governance . . . of the University . . . including academic
matters [emphasis ours]." This means that College presidents can
now on their own, do anything they please in curricular matters
- the prerogative traditionally enjoyed by the faculty - and offer,
change, modify or drop any course they wish, with or without the
consent of the faculty, as long as it is approved by the Board.
Why did these PSC idiots take this case to court and spend your
dues money on attorneys, knowing the potential for a devastating
precedent? Was PSC attorney Arthur Schwartz (who had worked with
the New Caucus group during their election campaign) just trying
to make a fast buck, knowing fully well that this was a no-win
case?
DUES INCREASES: HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
No issue has evoked more anger, frustration and plain disgust than the issue of dues increases. Full-timers, part-timers, HEOs, CLTs, poor adjuncts and meagerly paid Continuing Education teachers, all feel the brunt of it, especially in light of the fact that the proposal was railroaded by Babbling Barb through the D. A., while voices of dissent were given short shrift. One would not be surprised to hear members at all CUNY units beginning to question their local Executive Committees, especially members of the DA., about passage of this shameful scheme for highway robbery. In the next election, remove all these crooks who participated in this abomination by consenting to increase your dues.
KISS THE NEW CONTRACT GOOD-BYE
Due to the pie in the sky demands of the current PSC leadership, and the incompetent, inexperienced, and ideologically-committed incoherent bunch known as PSC negotiators, we had very little chance of getting a new contract even with the old administration. Now, with the dot.com bust, WTC disaster, new Republican mayor, and a conservative upstate Republican governor, we can confidently kiss good-bye to a good contract. The Chancellor may even ask to retrench full-time faculty. Babbling Barb's 168 demands will be gone with the wind, and so will she in the next election. It's time that Babbling Barb return to the cave at Queens College. Queens faculty should welcome her back for the good of the university.
GET COMRADE BOWEN OUT NOW: AN ACTION AGENDA
The e-mails and telephone calls that have been received by The Patriot have a recurring theme: How can we get Bowen out? Here are some suggestions:
! Invite Comrades Babbling Barb and Steve "Foggy" London to your Chapter meetings. Be polite, but stern. Ask the questions raised in The Patriot, particularly about the dues increases and who Tony O'Brien is.
! Visit, e-mail, write and call your legislators, particularly members of the Higher Ed. Committees of the City Council and the N.Y. State Legislature; Mayor-elect Bloomberg; Gov. Pataki; Presidents of affiliates, particularly Tom Hobart, Sandy Feldman, and Randy Weingarten. Tell them what is happening with Comrades Bowen and London, and how the membership has been sacrificed to their ideological agenda.
! Write articles, stories, and news reports for the Clarion, Chronicle, AAUP Bulletin, Daily News, New York Times, N.Y.Post, etc. about Comrades Bowen and London and the rapid decline of the PSC.
! Begin organization at your campus with a view towards alternate slates in your next chapter elections to oppose radical New Caucus slates. Ferret out the turncoats who have switched to the New Caucus for personal gain.
! Contact attorneys and/or PERB (the Public Employees Relations Board) with a view towards bringing charges against Comrade Bowen and the PSC for acting against the interests of the members.
! Use the Freedom of Information Act to demand information on the Union's fattened budget resulting from dues increases. Investigate expenditures on such items as donations to irrelevant social and political causes; rental of buses to Washington to demonstrate against our own governments' policies; expensive retreats; PSC credit card accounts used by the officers for restaurant meals, frills, etc.
! Attend DA and the Executive Committee Meetings (Sunshine Law). Prepare yourself to demonstrate, conduct silent vigils and sit-ins in front of the PSC office protesting Comrade Bowen's actions. Attract media (radio, and T.V.) attention.
! Check on the use of PSC offices, personnel, telephones, printing, etc. for New Caucus activities -this is illegal.
! Observe and report use of released time by the leadership for activities unrelated to PSC, such as organization and participation in non-PSC marches and demonstrations, and collecting funds for issues that are irrelevant to the welfare of our members, and activities and fund raising for the New Caucus.
! Listen in on any talk of a strike.
! Call, write, fax or e-mail the Editor of The Patriot Returns (Tel.& Fax:718-368-5639) (W): patr@patriotreturns.com to keep him informed.
SHARE THE JOY OF READING THE PATRIOT RETURNS
WITH YOUR CUNY COLLEAGUES!
FAX IT, MAKE COPIES, AND DISTRIBUTE
Sharad
Karkhanis
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