UFT, Ferrer, and the PSC

by Cliopatria

Another setback for the floundering Ferrer campaign this morning, as the city's largest teachers' union, the UFT, reached a contract settlement with the Bloomberg administration. With the deal, the UFT almost certainly will remain neutral for the mayoral contest.

The settlement represents a slightly more lucrative package than that recommended several weeks back by an arbitrator, but follows the arbitrator's framework: the union got higher raises than the city wanted; the city got more structural concessions than the union wanted.

Joining Ferrer as a big loser in the deal: PSC president Barbara Bowen. At the union's Sept. 29 rally for an illegal strike, Bowen explicitly rejected using arbitration, since"arbitration is conducted in the same political environment as negotiation" and a basic PSC contract demand is to change the city and state political environment. Bowen also dismissed the type of contract agreed to by the UFT (trading salary hikes for workplace changes desired by the city) as" concessionary" ad therefore unacceptable.

Here, of course, is the difference between Bowen and UFT president Randi Weingarten. While both engage in sometimes fiery rhetoric, Weingarten's basic goal all along was a good raise for her members. Bowen's goal all along has seemed to be produce an illegal strike that she (oddly) believes will have a revolutionary effect on the city's political culture.

I've joined more than 130 professors from around CUNY in signing a public letter urging Bowen to start negotiating in good faith. The letter also affirms our intention to follow NYS law (which prohibits public employees from striking) regardless of what the PSC does. I suspect the UFT settlement will substantially increase pressure on Bowen to focus on economic rather than political matters in the contract negotiations.

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Anthony Paul Smith - 10/5/2005

Oh, well that's interesting (though I don't think we should bring reason into this). I'd have to say though, that seems like a really bad move for the union (forced membership, really?). Sad.

Robert KC Johnson - 10/4/2005

The law is a tradeoff, not a draconian punishment of unions. The NYS law prohibits public employee unions from going out on strike. In exchange, in the case of the PSC, it makes CUNY a closed shop in which all faculty members are required to join the union and provides a variety of legal protections for tenure and academic freedom.

The PSC's position is that it wants to be able to flout the portions of the law it doesn't like (prohibiting a strike) while continuing to enjoy the parts of the law that are favorable to the union. That's not a reasonable position.

Anthony Paul Smith - 10/4/2005

Not that I know or care if it is neccesary in this particular situation, but surely you don't think that laws against going on strike are a good unto themselves?!

Robert KC Johnson - 10/4/2005

I'm not assuming that "Bowen is motivated by her radical politics in all things"--I'm simply taking her at her word. It might be, of course, that what she's repeatedly said and written is simply for public consumption, to create the image of someone crazy enough to authorize an illegal strike--the equivalent, say, of Richard Nixon cultivating the image of himself as crazy during the Vietnam War, in the hopes he'd get a better deal out of the North Vietnamese. But I haven't seen much to suggest that Bowen doesn't believe what she says.

The UFT settlement--coming after its decision to go the arbitration route--would seem to dispute Bowen's claim that arbitration is an inherently flawed policy. But, of course, Bowen is correct in recognizing that an arbitrator is likely to dismiss out of hand her contract aims to transform the university, city, or state political culture.

A strike is illegal under New York state law. If Bowen and her allies don't have the skill to negotiate a contract without resorting to violating the law, they should step aside.

Jacob paul segal - 10/4/2005

Of course Johnson assumes that Bown is motivated by her radical politics in all things. I take his account of her speech at the mass meeting with a grain of salt. As to arbitration, I heard Bowen say at a meeting of a local chapter of the union that she opposess arbitration because the outcome is not likely to be good for the union. Her reasoning was that the arbitrator would base salary calcusions on prevaling salaries of other areas colleges but that calulation would not take into considerations of the higher cost of living of New York.

Does Johnson think that the present University offer is acceptable? If not, how do you know that PSC is not negotiating in good faith. Also, an authorization of strike action is a way to at least try to increase pressure on the university, which, after all, is managment to labor.