4/8 email

To the CSI Community, ​ I hope this communication finds everyone at our college, and your families and friends, all safe, staying indoors and healthy! These are profoundly challenging days facing a disorienting uncertainty about the state of the pandemic, and the larger question of how we will co-exist in the days ahead. For what it’s worth, I want to reassure everyone that the union is hard at work every single minute advocating, protecting and supporting all our members, and the members of our sister unions. Never before has the CUNY mission felt more urgent as each person reading this is doing their utmost to provide learning and education for our students.

I want to provide a few updates in an ongoing effort to reach out and communicate with the CSI community. First, we will be sending out a ZOOM link by Friday for anyone to participate in an open Q and A next Monday, April 13 from 10 am to 11 am. We are doing this to provide more access to your chapter representatives to let us know what your questions and concerns are regarding your title, position and workload. For now, it will be available to all. We hope by holding a ZOOM session we can be in direct communication and exchange stories and information related to your experience of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. If interested, please mark your calendars and we’ll send the info no later than Friday.

Last Thursday we held a labor-management meeting between the chapter executive committee and President Fritz and members of his administration. It was a remote meeting that lasted close to 90 minutes. In summary, we covered four main areas: faculty issues regarding and including workload, online teaching, observations, tenure, promotions and adjunct reappointments; HEO issues regarding VPNs, workload, timesheets and reporting, tech access and support; CSI as a COVID-19 resource site and specifics regarding conversion of the campus to serving as a hospital for both Covid-19 patients, and non-COVID patients. Lastly, looking towards summer and fall registrations and what that might look like.

As a result of our meeting, the administration will be hosting a HEO Town Remote very soon! It was evident in our meeting that the HEOs have many questions and concerns that need immediate follow up. We are pleased to report that message was heard loud and clear and information regarding this HEO Town Hall (remotely) is forthcoming.

Labor-management meetings are contractual and there must be at least two such meetings each semester. Due to this crisis, we asked President Fritz to schedule another meeting right away and he has agreed to do so the week of April 13.

The PSC leadership continues to negotiate with CUNY Management over multiple contractual issues that directly affect all the titles of our membership. Please stay tuned to both these communications, as well as, the PSC web site, for furher information. For now, we have every reason to hope we can successfully negotiate with CUNY on many potential problems, presently and looking forward. But, again, let me reassure you the PSC is working around the clock to document the issues, and to address CUNY directly and immediately from all the information we are gathering from our members.

Lastly, the entire chapter executive committee wishes to acknowledge the tremendous work everyone at this college has been doing! To all the faculty, full and part-time, staff, including our HEOs and CLTs, the Gittelsons and CAs, and our janitorial crews and members of our sister unions, it is an honor to work by your sides!

In solidarity,

George Emilio Sanchez Chapter Chair