HEO NEW CAUCUS
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HEO NEW CAUCUS |
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2007 CHAPTER ELECTIONS 2010 CHAPTER ELECTIONS |
3/19/10 LETTER TO HEOs March 19, 2010 Dear Higher Education Officer Members of the PSC, We write as leaders of the union and the New Caucus to urge you to vote for IRIS DELUTRO as Chair, PAUL WASHINGTON as Vice-Chair, JANET WINTER as Secretary and the entire NEW CAUCUS SLATE. Jean Weisman has decided to retire after 26 years of service to CUNY and 9 years of service to the HEO Chapter. Iris has been a leader of the PSC for 9 years, as a member of the Executive Council, Vice-President for Cross-Campus Units, a Director of New York State United Teachers, and a member of the PSC Legislation Committee. Paul has over 25 years of experience as a community activist and legislative staff person, and is currently Director of Reentry and Outreach for the Black Male Development and Empowerment Center at Medgar Evers College; he is also the Brooklyn borough coordinator of the PSC Legislation Committee. Janet Winter has been a HEO at John Jay College for over 30 years and has been an effective leader in organizing HEOs. The New Caucus slate includes many HEOs with extensive experience at the university, as well as many who are new to participation in chapter leadership. Working together with the PSC leadership, the New Caucus HEO leaders on the negotiating team have advanced and protected our salaries. Over the past ten years of New Caucus leadership, our salaries have increased significantly and they beat inflation. We fought against attempts of the administration to eliminate salary steps, and made sure that most of us continue to receive salaries equivalent to faculty salaries. CUNY management has also tried repeatedly to weaken job security for HEOs, and we were successful in protecting job security without making concessions. Through the contracts negotiated by New Caucus leadership, we also created one of the only professional development grant programs in the country for professional staff, making available grants of up to $3000 a year for HEOs and CLTs. We won labor-management committees for HEOs concerning workload and reclassifications, overtime pay for Assistant to HEOs and some Assistant HEOs and compensatory time for all HEOs who work overtime. The victory on overtime pay and comp time broke a thirty-year pattern by CUNY of ignoring the contractual limitation on HEO workload. In the current contract we negotiated additional salary increases for those on the top step of every HEO rank, as well as a permanent salary differential for Assistant to HEOs with Master’s or Ph.D. degrees. And in an important recognition that we have lives as well as jobs, the New Caucus leadership made the PSC the first public-employee union in the state to have paid parental leave—and made sure that the leave included HEOs on equal terms with faculty. All these gains were made in the past ten years; a period that included two recessions. In this time of economic uncertainty, we think it is important to protect these gains and vote for proven and experienced leaders. Now is the time we need to intensify our efforts to organize and protect CUNY against budget cuts and tuition increases. The PSC has worked tirelessly to unite faculty, staff and students in a strong coalition against budget cuts. We have intensified our efforts to lobby against cuts in Albany and at City Hall. The current PSC leadership has encouraged non-members to join the union and gained deep support for the union’s efforts among community groups and other unions. Allow a New Caucus HEO leadership to continue this strong tradition. Vote for a chapter leadership that will continue to make your voices heard, that will stand up for HEO rights and continue the progress we have made as a respected part of the union. WE URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR THE ENTIRE NEW CAUCUS SLATE FOR LEADERSHIP OF THE CHAPTER. Sincerely, Barbara Bowen, President of the PSC Arthurine DeSola, Secretary of the PSC and HEO Jean Weisman, CCNY, Chair of the HEO Chapter Vera Weekes, Medgar Evers College, former member of the Executive Council Donna Gill, Hunter College, member of the Executive Council Andrea Vasquez, Graduate Center, member of the Executive Council |
