| THE PATRIOT RETURNS |
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Vol. 24, No. 4 July 18, 2005
JOB ACTION EXTRA!!! BOWEN THREATENS TO THROW THE PSC OFF THE TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE (Amendment)
On Tuesday, June 28 Barbara "I Am the Leader" Bowen summoned all PSC chapter chairs to an emergency "Contract Campaign Workshop" at the Center for Worker Education in mid-town. Despite the fact that this extraordinary meeting was held during the annual leave period---no problem, of course, for the perpetually on-leave members of the Executive Committee---the chairs were treated to extended presentations on the practical and LEGAL issues raised by the upcoming referendum on a "job action". Bowen introduced a "hard-core, systematic" organizing plan that involves "mapping" each campus, identifying "activists" and recruiting some 200 "picket captains" by September 1. Rantin' Nancy Romer and Jon "Senõr Sandinista" Buchsbaum conducted a role-playing session on how to browbeat colleagues and intimidate adjuncts and untenured faculty into supporting a strike. Nathaniel Charny, the PSC's convicted felon attorney, provided information on the civil and criminal penalties for violating the law: subjects with which he has considerable experience. Also on hand were two representatives from the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, which has conducted four illegal strikes in the last thirty-three years. The minutes of this special meeting have been withheld from the Delegate Assembly, let alone been released to the rank and file. However, we at The Patriot Returns do have our sources. We would like to know when, if ever, Battlin' Barbara will be candid with the entire union: in particular about ALL the implications of a "job action". Not only will ALL faculty and staff who go out on strike---oops, participate in a "job action"---be penalized, BUT ALL THE TERMS OF THE CURRENT CONTRACT WITH CUNY WILL BE ABROGATED!!! How could this happen, you might ask? As required by the so-called "Triborough Amendment" to the Taylor Law, employers must maintain the terms of an expired bargaining agreement until a new one has been reached. [Public Employees' Fair Employment Act §209-a 1(e).] This is the current situation. We are working under a contract that expired on October 31, 2002, to which CUNY must adhere nonetheless. If, however, a public employees' union engages in an illegal strike, all "Triborough Amendment" protections would evaporate. [PEFEA §210 1, 2(b).] The university could---and perhaps would---unilaterally impose new salary scales, benefits packages and working conditions. And what could Battlin' Barbara and the Executive Committee do about it? Precious little from their rooms--without--views on Riker's Island. [Personal note to Tony O'Brien: the cellblocks on the Rock are sex segregated.] But wait! What about the recently revived Defense Fund? We expect that those monies would be used to pay some of the court costs, fines and legal fees that the PSC will incur---presuming of course that convicted felon attorney Charny will do his work pro bono. The Defense Fund, no doubt, would also help Bowen and company make bail---unless "Solidarity Steve" London has managed it as poorly as he has the Welfare Fund. But will the Defense Fund provide strike pay---sorry, "job action" compensation---for the rank and file? We don't think so. As before, The Patriot Returns asks Dear Leader Bowen and the Executive Committee to drop the doubletalk and to come clean about their intentions to go out on strike. Their comrade, Stanley Aronowitz, has done so. When interviewed by a reporter for the New York Sun, he advocated "direct actions" and announced that "I'm ready to go to jail". He also, quite uncharacteristically, admitted that "people have to know how weak our position is". [ New York Sun , July 1 st 2005]. We thank "the Guv'nor" for his honesty. We also ask Bowen, London, O'Malley and McCall to explain candidly and comprehensively what THEY mean by a "job action". Finally, we ask ALL dues paying members of the PSC to consider carefully the consequences of the New Caucus' reckless referendum. When Bowen and company order the union to jump off the Triborough Bridge, the rank and file will be the ones paying the tolls.
A PSC PRIMER: PART II
Q: What are the rules of a "job action"? The PSC's Leader can't, and won't, share her secret strike fantasies with the Delegate Assembly or the membership. But we at The Patriot are ready to line out what we strongly believe to be some of the costs and consequences of a "job action": 1. For faculty with tenure and professional staff (HEOs, CLTs, etc.) with security of employment: each and every day that you are absent from work or withhold your services, TWICE YOUR DAILY RATE will be deducted from your salaries. In addition, you "may be subject to removal or other disciplinary action..". [PEFEA §210 2.] The fines and penalties that are sure to be levied against the union will have to be paid as well. Expect them to be steep and severe. So, please be prepared to shell out hundreds of extra dollars in "special levies" in addition to your dues. 2. For faculty without tenure and professional staff without security of employment: the same salary penalties will apply. But since you are working on annual contracts, you will be FAR MORE VULNERABLE to "removal or other disciplinary action". Simply put, firing tenured professors is difficult; firing tenure-track faculty is easy. So, if you are going to participate in the "job action," do make sure that your CV is up to date. 3. For adjunct faculty: again, the same salary penalties will apply. But you will be the PRIME TARGETS for removal. The Patriot Returns has consulted with department chairs from a number of campuses, and their opinion is nearly unanimous: adjuncts who go out on strike can be terminated immediately and WILL NOT BE REHIRED. Get ready to do something else for a living, since your careers at CUNY will be over. So, tenured faculty and professional staff will be PAYING OUT OF POCKET, the untenured will be OUT OF MONEY AND OUT OF FAVOR, and the adjuncts will be OUT OF THEIR JOBS!
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
In the wake of the June 28 "emergency meeting", it is clear that the New Caucus will be devoting all their energies and efforts to the "job action". They will be moving even further away from the bargaining table this summer and in the fall, as they will be moving on to the campuses and out into the streets. Well, as Lenin once asked, "what is to be done?" The Patriot urges its readers to do the following: 1. Demand that Barbara Bowen and the Executive Committee TELL US THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH about their plans to take the PSC out on strike. 2. Contact your chapter chairs and tell them what you think of this ILLEGAL and INSANE scheme. 3. If and when the campus picket captains approach the members of The Patriot Returns, we plan to tell them, "take your job action and shove it!" We don't need them anymore. But make sure to return your ballot with a "NO" vote. they need a majority of those voting - not a majority of the electorate - for a "yes" decision. Not voting can therefore contribute to a win for a strike. THE RUMOR COLUMN MAYORAL ENDORSEMENT DIVIDES THE NEW CAUCUS
The long knives are out again at the PSC's offices. In the wake of the 121,000 member AFSCME District Council 37's endorsement of Mike Bloomberg for re-election, the PSC Executive Committee, representing a mere 17,000 members, is fighting over whom, if anyone, to endorse in the November election. One cluster of New Caucasians, encouraged by Babbling Barb Bowen, would like to support Freddy Ferrer. Another, more radical faction led by "Foggy" London is adamantly opposed to all "bourgeois" political parties. They insist that the PSC back the candidates of the Working Families Party. Moreover, one university-wide officer, Stanley Aronowitz, is considering a try for Gracie Mansion via the Green Party ticket. On West 43 Street, it is 2002 déjà vu. All of this puffing and posturing would be amusing were it not for Barbara's delusional strike fantasies. The Patriot has heard rumors that Dear Leader Bowen wants to carry out a "job action" during the closing weeks of the mayoral contest in the fall. She hopes that media coverage of a CUNY-wide strike will hurt Bloomberg and will help the New Caucus' choice. But there's the rub: with the fierce Bowen vs. London struggle for power, whom will the PSC support with the membership's money? While that question remains to be answered, we at The Patriot Returns are prepared to announce our choice for mayor: Professor Stanley Aronowitz. By putting him in City Hall, we'll get him the hell out of CUNY! We can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and benefits paid to him as a distinguished professor for most un-distinguished services. RUN, STANLEY, RUN!!!
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