CUNY ALLIANCE           

Campaign Facts and Fictions

OUR BASE SALARY INCREASES HAVE NOT KEPT PACE WITH INFLATION

Facts: As a result of the three contracts negotiated by the New Caucus, our compounded increase in base pay from 2000 to 2008 was 21.0%. This is far short of the 25.33% cost of living increase over that period. It represents a loss of 4.33% in real purchasing power. In two of those years, 2002 and 2003, we received no raises at all. (Click here for details)

Fictions: Barbara Bowen, the New Caucus candidate for president, claims that our salaries did keep pace with inflation, and that the CUNY ALLIANCE has misled you by failing to include the September 2007 and October 2008 increases on our calculation. <Link> First, contrary to Bowen's claim, the September 2007 raise of 3.15% is factored in, as you can see for yourself by examining our detailed calculations. Second, we explicitly stated that our calculation includes August 2000 through October 2008 because that period covers the first two New Caucus contracts and the only complete contract year for the last contract. Third, we directly acknowledged that the base pay increase for the remaining two years might exceed the cost of living, only because the economy is in a severe recession. (Click here for details)

The bottom line: The calculations shown in the above links prove definitively that our base salary from August 2000 through October 2008 was 21.0%, 4.33% less than the cost of living increase over that period. We explicitly state the factors that we used in making that calculation, and directly acknowledge that the increase for the next two years might exceed the cost of living. In an attempt to obscure the stark facts revealed by our calculations, Barbara Bowen falsely stated that our calculation did not include the 3.15% raise of September 2007, and then ironically called us liars. We should note that even if Bowen's defense were taken at face value, it still reveals a record of failure: she acknowledges that salaries fell behind inflation for the first 7 years of her leadership.

WE WERE FORCED TO GIVE BACK OUR SALARIES TO SAVE THE WELFARE FUND

Facts: As we demonstrated in an earlier missive, the Welfare Fund Reserve (our benefits fund) shrank from over $15 million in the year 2000 to less than $2 million by 2006. That drop prompted the NYC Comptroller to warn that the reserve was at short-term risk of insolvency. In Spring 2006, the New Caucus reached a contract deal that required union members to give back about $30 million of our retroactive pay to save the Welfare Fund from bankruptcy. A typical member lost between $1000 and $2000 in retroactive pay, and some gave up as much as $2600. We also showed that the New Caucus mentions none of this when claiming credit for rescuing the Welfare Fund. (Click here for details)

Fictions: Barbara Bowen claims that her New Caucus hid nothing from you on the Welfare Fund's near bankruptcy. <Link> But the title of the New Caucus campaign ad  “New Caucus leadership has restored a fiscally sound Welfare Fund" does just that.  

The bottom line: As shown in detail here, it was union members who saved the Welfare Fund because the New Caucus contract forced members to give back $30 million in retroactive pay. Characterizing these costly givebacks as major victories, and failing to acknowledge this painful sacrifice, distorts the history of these New Caucus imposed losses.

THE NEW CAUCUS HAS NO ANSWERS

Fact: The New Caucus has had nine years to negotiate contracts with higher salaries, better benefits and improved working conditions. They have not done so.

Fiction: During the current campaign, the New Caucus has not candidly explained the losses in salaries and benefits summarized here and presented in detail earlier. They can't. Nor can they account for the incompetence and mismanagement that led to this sorry state of affairs.

The bottom line: It is time to elect a leadership which will put union business first. The ALLIANCE believes that PSC leaders should focus on protecting our rights and interests in job-related matters: wages, benefits, job security and working conditions.

We can't afford to re-elect the same New Caucus administration that focuses on global politics, while our salaries and benefits continue to shrink.

Vote THE CUNY ALLIANCE SLATE
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PAYCHECK JUSTICE

CUNY ALLIANCE thanks you for your support

President: Frederick Brodzinski

First Vice-President: James Blake

Secretary: Thea Pignataro

Treasurer: Rina Yarmish

To contact us via email write to: ca@cunyalliance.org
www.CUNYALLIANCE.ORG