• Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    The Energy Revolution Will Not Be SubsidizedIf asked the question, “Do you think governments should support renewable energy with subsidies?” most progressive trade unionists would pro […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    When Science Upends Wishful Thinking: Can Renewables Alone Ensure 1.5 DegreesVolume 28, Issue 1, Winter 2018 Calls for “100% renewable energy ” have proliferated in recent years, and in the U.S. this demand has bec […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    The Fizz Has Gone: Time for the Left to Say Goodbye to Carbon PricingVolume 28, Issue 3, Winter 2019 The Green New Deal (GND) discussion currently taking place in the U.S. and around the world has drawn […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    How Can Cities Reach Their Climate Goals?Volume 31, Issue 3   September 2022 A decade ago, the global network of “megacities” known as C40—so named for the forty cities that founde […]

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Taylor Law event 03.07.24 More than 100 people attended our The Taylor Law: The risks and rewards of striking in New York State event with Labor Historian Joshua Freeman. It was a hybrid event held at the School of Labor and Urban Studies. The video of the event can be found on our YouTube channel. Due to technical difficulties, you can’t see Josh until about 10 minutes into the video, but you can hear him and there are […] “Taylor Law event 03.07.24”

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    In Everyone’s Backyard? Facing the Challenge of Energy SprawlA new international movement is rising. First as a breeze, then a gale. Soon, perhaps, a Category 5 hurricane? What is it? It’s the movement a […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    Volume 32, Issue 3, Fall 2023 Contents The Strike: Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat By Bob Master The Crisis Dividing Israel: Palestinian Workers in the […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    The 2023 UAW Strike: A Turning Point in Labor History? How transformative was the strike that the United Auto Workers concluded in November 2023, when it shut down factories at Ford, General […]

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    PSC Letters to CUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor Call for Open Presidential Search The Graduate Center Chapter of the PSC and PSC President Davis have each sent letters to the CUNY Board of Trustees and CUNY Chancellor calling for an open and inclusive search process that welcomes the whole of the Graduate Center community to select our next […] “PSC Letters to CUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor Call for Open Presidential Search”

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    High Risk, Low Pay: Residents and Interns Fight Back Editor’s Note For this article, New Labor Forum’s “Working-Class Voices” columnist Kressent Pottenger interviewed Dr. Phillip Sossenh […]

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Notes from GC Labor-Management Meeting January 2024Follow-up items from previous meetings: Science bridge funding: Interim President Brumberg is meeting later this month to pursue GTF class size issues: Brumberg will discuss with EOs Payment issues and CUNYBuy support Labor raised the changes that CUNYBuy has brought, increase in workload with new system. Brumberg is putting together groups to generate step by step instructions for working with CUNYBuy, particularly knows about issues paying honoraria. Acknowledged the issue as complex and requires re-registration at state level for anyone paid by CUNY. Future of WAC program Changes to WAC will not result in loss of financial support for students. This decision to change the system coming from CUNY Central, but the GC can generate a menu of options to fill in for the program. Brumberg will be speaking with EOs about alternative options, and changes will not be implemented until Fall 2025 [speak to your EO if you have suggestions!] Potential change in GC classification from R1 to R2 Change due to Carnegie classifications, American Council of Education. 2 metrics: # of phds the university graduates, and research spending from internal sources only. Classifications had not been updated since the 1980s. 5 million for #2 threshold. Graduate at least 70 phd on IPEDs, GC far exceeds that. #2 increased from 5 million to 50 million (!). Brumberg is trying to appeal for the GC to have its funding counted differently, across CUNY. Staff and community involvement in GC presidential search All presidential searches at CUNY have been closed for some time. This one will be closed as well. Search committee will be charged by BoT, chaired by a cuny college president–senior college in this case, 3 BoT, 3 faculty members elected, one alum (chosen by Brumberg), one GC foundation (chosen by Brumberg) and 2 student reps chosen by Matt Schoengood. Will be listening sessions for whole community with the search committee, but not candidates (those who meet with candidates will sign NDAs). Tuition reimbursement for work-related courses (and associated tax issues) Labor requests that application materials be changed to better outline tax implications for GC employees who are taking GC classes Postdoc employment status Discussion about confusion over whether these folks are tax levy funded or not (could be both, esp at ASRC), how they know about benefits and resources like library access, and funding postdocs not merely at national rates but to live in NYC. Update on food services: food services will launch on the 22nd of January. Before that on Thursday and Friday, 18th and 19th, before there will be free food. During the first and second semester there will be opportunities for feedback. Cafeteria open in the morning until 3pm. Grab and go will open later in the semester on the first floor. Portal and app for paying for food with 10% bonus for using the app. But restricted covenant that means that the dining spaces can’t use outside vendors–and this means potlucks can’t be held in these spaces (which are the rooms? 8th floor for sure, not sure which other rooms). They have a liquor license too. A bar will be opening in the found […] “Notes from GC Labor-Management Meeting January 2024”

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    No Whitewashing the Past: A Black Farmworker Family in Segregated California Vance McKinney at Matheny Tract, in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Copyright © 2023 by David Bacon. Story and photos reprinted with […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    Argentina’s Road to a Universal Wage Caption: Annual march by popular economy organizations in Argentina, on August 7, the day of San Cayetano, patron of bread and work, […]

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    The Long Road to Recognition: Southern Service Workers Find Their Power Credit: Union of Southern Service Workers Caption: Waffle House worker, Naomi Harris, speaks to a crowd of supporters outside a Waffle House […]

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Chapter Rally Nov 15, 2023 150 PSC members – grad workers, staff, and faculty from the Grad Center and the professional schools showed up to fight for living wages and fair working conditions – and to express our anger at working under an expired contract. Students, faculty, staff unite! One struggle, one fight! Check out the speech made by Olivia […] “Chapter Rally Nov 15, 2023”

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Join Us On November 15 for Our Chapter RallyOn November 15, a PSC-GC rally will bring together speakers from across faculty, staff and student titles to call for a strong contract and assert a revived and more inclusive vision for the GC and the professional schools in our PSC chapter. We must advocate for a workplace that shows respect and dignity to its workers and that rejects austerity models for public higher education. We need better provisions for remote work, more fulltime faculty lines, more departmental and center resources, and higher wages. Many of us—not just graduate students—are struggling due to inflation. We need, urgently, to raise the low salaries that have people barely scraping by in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Our working conditions are the learning conditions of CUNY students — and will determine the well-being and future of the university as a whole. Our chapter’s core demands, taken from the demands voted on at our April 2023 chapter meeting, are $53k pay for all PhD students who want it; $13,000 per 3-credit class for adjunct faculty; and an end to chronic understaffing of all of our offices. The rally will be on November 15, at 1 PM. Details on speakers to come. Sidenote: If you are a PSC member and haven’t already attended a bargaining orientation, the next one is on Monday, November  6, 6:30-7:30pm, on Zoom. Click here to register for the Zoom and confirm your attendance. You MUST attend a bargaining orientation first if you want to come […] “Join Us On November 15 for Our Chapter Rally”

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Resolution on Protection of Palestine Solidarity Speech and Academic FreedomWhereas the events detailed in PSC President James Davis’ October 25th letter to the Chancellor present a grave cause for concern regarding the future of academic freedom and labor rights at CUNY; Whereas, since the publication of President Davis’ letter, workers and students across the CUNY system have reported incidents of intimidation, doxxing, harassment, and disciplinary threats for participating in Palestine solidarity organizing or speech; Whereas over 600 legal organizations and professionals have released a new letter warning of increasing racist and unlawful attacks and retaliation against those advocating for Palestinian rights; Whereas Governor Kathy Hochul announced, on October 31st, the expansion of New York State Police’s Social Media Unit, a move that is likely to increase political surveillance of college students and workers across New York state; Whereas CUNY’s messaging and actions conflate expressions of solidarity with the internationally recognized Palestinian right to self determination with anti-Semitism, in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate and silence CUNY students and workers speaking out for Palestine; Whereas the actions of the CUNY administration and the governor fuel political attacks against CUNY and public higher education by right-wing, anti-labor politicians and actors; Let it be resolved that the PSC will commit support and resources to defend its members facing retaliation or harassment for their protected speech on issues related to social, economic and racial justice and will use the union’s communications channels to advise members of these resources; Let it be further resolved that the PSC will provide a training for its grievance counselors and chapter leadership before the start of the spring 2024 semester, and annually thereafter, led by experts in defending academic workers on free speech issues, to help them more effectively defend our members under attack for their protected expression;  Let it be further resolved that the PSC will organize an online or hybrid workshop with Faculty First Responders, open to all PSC members, with a presentation and Q&A component that will be shared on the PSC website; Let it be further resolved that the PSC will share with its membership regular updates summarizing the number and nature of incidents of repression of free speech reported to the union by members, and channel necessary organizing and financial resources to campus-wide conversations on free speech and academic freedom rights. Passed by PSC-GC Executive Committee co-signed by Graduat […] “Resolution on Protection of Palestine Solidarity Speech and Academic Freedom”

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    How Antitrust Can Help Tame Capital and Empower Labor By Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan After decades of operating in distinct silos, the antitrust and labor movements have lately […]

  • Profile Photo

    The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    September 2023 Notes from Chapter MeetingThe first GC PSC chapter meeting of the year was held on Friday, September 22. What follows are brief notes on what was presented and discussed, and results of a few votes: Collective discussion: What is the purpose of PSC union work, what the PSC does for CUNY. GC especially is a fighting unit in the PSC, and our chapter is primarily made up of GC students. There was some discussion of issues on the ground for different titles and schools within the chapter. Nod to the intense late payment issue still ongoing for new GC students. Credit hours in many departments are being cut by GC admin, resulting in fewer courses, larger classes, difficulties in scheduling courses to support specialties. GAs being assigned mega/huge classes during first time teaching. Introduction of Professional School Liaison position: Sofya Aptekar was voted to be Professional School Liaison (a new role) after making a brief candidate statement. We also had updates from bargaining sessions and breakout room discussions. The campus action plan for the GC for this semester was shared and discussed (email psc.cuny.gc(at)gmail.com with questions or to get further involved) Labor Against Cop City Resolution: This resolution was passed by those assembled for the meeting: […] “September 2023 Notes from Chapter Meeting”

  • Profile Photo

    New Labor Forum

    How Privatization Infects the Canadian Health Care System By Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong It has been called privatization by stealth. For-profit companies are taking over more and […]

  • Load More