If you have difficulty reading the newsletter, please go to www.patriotreturns.com to see the latest release.
THE PATRIOT RETURNS |
Vol. 31, No.2 March 31, 2006
THE DEAR LEADER'S INCREDIBLY
It's not easy being our Dear Leader, Barbara Bowen. In her six-year reign as PSC president, The Patriot Returns cannot recall a single instance---even one---in which the Dear Leader publicly admitted she was wrong. But, as in Pyongyang and the Pinochet's Chile, such a record of historical infallibility requires considerable . . . flexibility . . . in recalling past events. The Dear Leader's most recent contract update described the union's baseline demand as approximately a 9 percent increase over four years. And it's clear that some of that increase would go to shore up the Welfare Fund, whose reserves have plunged from $15 million to less than $2 million on the New Caucus' watch. It turns out that the Dear Leader's "baseline" salary demand has shrunk noticeably since she first publicized a figure in November 2004. Yet she has acted as if the 9 percent figure was the baseline demand all along. Being the Dear Leader means never having to admit you're wrong. The quotes: "The PSC proposed . . . increases of about 15 percent over the life of the four-year contract. 'We made clear that a critical difference was that our Welfare Fund covers prescription drugs and faces acute needs this year,' said Barbara Bowen, the PSC's president and chief negotiator. 'These needs cannot be addressed, as in the past, simply by allocating a fraction of a percentage point in salary to the Welfare Fund---nor can we eviscerate our raises to maintain our benefits." "We stand by the proposal we presented in October, which was to use the settlement reached by the SUNY union, UUP [approximately 11.5%], as a framework for salary increases, and to add to that sufficient money for our Welfare Fund and other needs." A settlement that "barely brushes the level of inflation . . . would be a disaster." The DC 37 settlement (8.5% increase) "does not rise to the level of inflation, and thus a settlement at this level would represent a decrease in the real value of our salaries. Everything I have heard from PSC members has told me that a decrease in salary is unacceptable." "The PSC continues to press for a non-austerity settlement, one that meets our needs of at least 10% on salary, a solution to the Welfare Fund crisis, and improvements in equity and working conditions." Why can't the Dear Leader be honest with us, admit that negotiating tactics such as picketing the Chancellor's residence or comparing the Pataki/Bloomberg agenda to that of Colombian paramilitaries have failed, and say that she'll learn from her mistakes in the future? That way, we could have confidence that future contracts might yield the raises and benefits this one apparently will not. Instead, she treats the CUNY faculty as if we've never heard of the internet and can't easily expose her . . . flexible . . . reinterpretation of the past. STEVE'S "FOGGY" LAWAs she races from protest to picket line at the PSC's out-of-doors headquarters in NYU's Washington Square, the Dear Leader (though she'll never admit it publicly, of course) must regret not bumping V-P Steve "Foggy" London off the ticket. Jettisoning him would have provided a scapegoat for the Welfare Fund mess and avoided the embarrassment of continually having to defend his odd public statements. Foggy's latest howler came after his frenzied allegations that the CUNY Alliance's revelations about Welfare Fund mismanagement under his watch had broken the law by posting confidential health care information on-line. As we noted in our last newsletter, Foggy has consistently delayed releasing proof of his claims. Now we know why: as usual, Foggy was all smoke and no fire. The "confidential" information referenced three lawsuits filed against the WF. We realize that Steve, even though he was hired as a political science professor, hasn't been in the classroom for a long time. So in the spirit of solidarity for a clueless fellow PSC member, The Patriot Returns would like to offer him this brief "political science refresher course." Now, we understand why PSC chief counsel Charny might prefer that legal matters be shielded from prying eyes: after all, you don't see many unions that hire people who pled guilty to making false statements and whose license to practice law was temporarily suspended. But in the United States, lawsuits are in the public domain. They don't occur in closed courtrooms. Information about them isn't protected under federal confidentiality statutes. Frankly, we found "Foggy" more convincing when he was trying to explain away the PSC's "lost" 2,103 members. "LOOPY LORRAINE" CONCEDES? We always enjoy the writings of "Loopy Lorraine" Cohen, who this year replaced the PSC's "Queen of Released Time," Susan O'Malley, as a NC university-wide candidate. Cohen was last heard from declaring that all CUNY faculty would be "forced to acknowledge" that the Dear Leader has their best interests at heart. Announcing an election debate at her home campus of LaGuardia, Cohen proclaimed via e-mail, "The New Caucus is the exiting leadership." Has the campaign thrown Lorraine for a loop? Even by the New Caucus' bizarre political standards, this seems like an early concession of defeat!
Sharad Karkhanis, Ph.D. Forthcoming issues of The Patriot may be accessed at http://www.patriotreturns.com/. |