Items

• Statements of Belle Zeller and Israel Kugler before the Board of Higher Education

  These statements were prepared shortly after the Legislative Conference, led by Belle Zeller, and the United Federation of College Teachers, led by Israel Kugler, merged to form the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) in April 1972. This marked the first appearance by Zeller and Kugler in front of the Board of Higher Education as representatives of the PSC. Zeller focused on CUNY's recently developed "Statement on Professional Obligations for Faculty," as well as newly instituted student evaluations of faculty. Both, she charged, were developed without consultation of faculty and therefore violated existing contracts negotiated in 1969. Kugler, deputy president of the PSC, focused on CUNY’s refusal to bargain with the new union and their insistence on a division into three separate bargaining units for full-time, part-time, and non-classroom staff. CUNY's initial opposition to the PSC led to hostility between the two parties as well as strike votes by members of the union. Despite the insistence of CUNY administration, the PSC would come to serve as the single bargaining representative for all faculty and staff at CUNY and their first contract was negotiated in July 1973.
• Chancellor Bowker to NYS Politicians Opposing Community College Faculty Advancement

  In this letter to New York State politicians, CUNY Chancellor Albert Bowker opposes a bill in the New York State Legislature that would have changed full time faculty salaries in the community colleges to be equal to that of faculty in the senior (four-year) colleges; provided a higher salary for full time community college faculty who had the doctorate or its equivalent as compared to those who did not; and equalized the workload between full time community college and senior college faculty. Bowker outlines his reasons for opposing all three provisions. The bill did not become law, but a single salary schedule became a basic element of the first collective bargaining contracts in 1969. The other two provisions of the bill did not materialize.
• LC-UFCT Merger Agreement

  This is the full text of the merger agreement between the Legislative Conference (LC) and the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT). The agreement was approved by the governing board of each organization, and then by the membership of each union; it took effect on April 14, 1972 with the new union called the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC). The groups had previously competed with one another as each was guided by a different philosophy and represented different members of staff and faculty across CUNY campuses. While their merging ultimately allowed the leaders of both to better focus their efforts on the needs of union members, competition between the two sides still remained in the early years of the PSC.
• Letter from UFCT President Israel Kugler to Frederick Burkhardt: Removal of Department Chairmen at Kingsborough Community College

  This letter from UFCT President Israel Kugler stemmed from the unprecedented decision of the CUNY governing board to remove all department chairmen from the bargaining unit at Kingsborough Community College in July 1971. Although the UFCT did not represent the full time faculty who served as chairs, (the rival Legislative Conference did), it strongly supported the principle of elected chairpersons. While the elections of chairmen were legally only a recommendation, the college president had previously overwhelmingly accepted them.
• "Unity At Last: LC-UFCT Merger Proposed"

  This memorandum to the memberships of both the Legislative Conference and the United Federation of College Teachers came from the presidents of the two unions, Belle Zeller and Israel Kugler respectively. The memo announces the merger agreement between the two organizations, and calls on the members of each union to vote in favor of a new, single union to encompass all faculty and staff in CUNY. The measure promised to end conflict between the two groups that stretched back nearly a decade. The members of each union overwhelmingly voted in favor of the merger, which officially took place in April 1972.
• "Letter Requesting Support for UFCT in Upcoming Election"

  This letter from M. Fred Tidwell offers reasons why faculty and staff at CUNY should vote for the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT) as the single bargaining unit for CUNY faculty and staff. Tidwell was a chapter chair with the UFCT, which served, alongside the Legislative Conference (LC), as one of two collective bargaining agents for the faculty and staff of CUNY. The UFCT had called for a new collective bargaining election in order to select between itself and the LC, a single unit of all faculty and staff, full and part time. The election never took place as the UFCT and its rival, the Legislative Conference, negotiated a merger agreement in March 1972. The merger subsequently was approved by the respective memberships, creating a new union – the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, in April 1972.
• UFCT University Reporter: "Legislative Memorandum: Support Support Support"

  This February 1968 memorandum was issued to the membership of the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT) by its president. Israel Kugler calls for support for legislation that would equalize the salaries and working conditions of senior (four-year) and community college faculty at CUNY. A year later in 1969 CUNY negotiated two contracts, one with the UFCT for part time faculty and staff plus lecturers, and a second with the Legislative Conference (LC) for the full time faculty and staff. The LC contract did manage to equalize salaries and promotional opportunities between senior and community colleges, but did not equalize workload, which remained higher in the community colleges.
• Response from PSC to Non-member's Letter Regarding Membership Responsibilities

  In this response to the concerns of non-member Mary Jane Blanpied about striking, a representative from the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) makes clear that ”no such action could be taken without a full membership referendum.” Such a vote would be taken in mid-1973 with union members approving a strike following a prolonged deadlock with CUNY administration over contract negotiations. However, a July 1973 agreement between the two parties would render the planned October 1st strike unnecessary.
• Handwritten Letter Concerning Responsibilities of Membership in the Professional Staff Congress

  This letter from a nonmember of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) asks about the responsibilities of membership, particularly in regards to striking. The sender, a CUNY instructor, had been inquiring prior to deciding whether or not to join the newly formed union. Her concerns regarding striking were prescient as PSC would soon deadlock in contract negotiations with CUNY and vote to strike on October 1, 1973 should no agreement be reached. The letter writer's concern was one shared by many faculty as striking was illegal under the New York State Taylor Law of 1967 which dictated that strikes by public employees could lead to financial penalties on both the union and individual strikers. The question became moot, however, as the PSC and CUNY reached an agreement on a new contract in July 1973 several months before the planned strike.
• Letter from UFCT President Requesting Contributions to UFCT Legal Defense Fund

  In this letter, Israel Kugler, president of the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), asks for voluntary contributions to a Legal Defense Fund. The funds, he explains, would used to meet the high costs of implementing the contract of 1969 and to further the efforts of the UFCT to organize in private colleges. While resistance from an employer in the implementation of a first contract is not unusual, it nonetheless had a considerable impact on the financial viability of the UFCT, forcing Kugler to take the unusual step of asking the UFCT’s members for additional contributions beyond their typical dues.
• "Sign the Petition for a New Collective Bargaining Election"

  In this open letter from April 1971, Israel Kugler, president of the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), first outlines some of the serious problems facing his union and CUNY. He then calls for a new collective bargaining election, with the goal of electing a single unit to represent all faculty and staff, full and part time. He argues that this single unit would unify the faculty and staff and would more effectively be able to face the disastrous prospects he describes. At the time, the other bargaining agent and the UFCT's rival, the Legislative Conference, opposed such an election, preferring the status quo or a new single union as a result of negotiations. As the open letter notes though, talks regarding a possible merger had been fruitless to date. The rival groups would eventually recognize the mutual benefit of a merger, and the two unions negotiated terms in late March 1972. The members of both groups subsequently ratified the merger.
• Letter from UFCT President Requesting Protest

  In this letter to the membership of the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), union president Israel Kugler stresses the UFCT’s support for both a more diverse student body at CUNY and the newly established Open Admissions program. Kugler ties this support to the UFCT’s need to protect full time lecturers, a group the union had represented since the collective bargaining elections of 1968. At the time of his writing, many full time lecturers were being reduced to an hourly pay basis. Kugler's document blends a union’s duty to represent its members along with a larger social vision.
• "Don't Sign Away Your Contract!"

  In this item, the Legislative Conference (LC) voices disapproval of the ongoing efforts by the rival United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT) to replace the two bargaining units and two contracts that resulted from the collective bargaining elections and contract negotiations of 1968-69. The LC warns of the danger of a new collective bargaining election, including the possibility of a termination of the contracts of 1969, which were scheduled to run until August 31, 1972. The UFCT had desired the election of a single unit to represent all of faculty and staff at CUNY. The LC, meanwhile, preferred that any change in the representation of the faculty and staff come through negotiations with the UFCT, a process that guaranteed that the LC’s interests would be protected. They were against a new election, the outcome of which was uncertain. Ultimately, the two groups would agree to a merger in April 1972, forming the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).
• Conference Leader: "Merger Special"

  In this leaflet, the Legislative Conference (LC) announces that their merger with the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT) had been approved by the governing boards of both organizations, and that it now would be submitted to the memberships for a vote. In the subsequent referendum, the merger was overwhelmingly supported by the members of both organizations and the new union, the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC), came into existence in April 1972. Previously, the rival groups coexisted at CUNY with the LC representing full time instructors and staff and the UFCT part-time faculty, staff, and lecturers. Their merging would be a contentious one as leadership from both groups would struggle to wrest control of the PSC in its early years.
• Legislative Conference Position on Merger

  In this document, the Legislative Conference (LC) lays out its position on a merger with its rival, the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT). The LC came to the merger proposal most reluctantly as it had already been satisfied representing full time faculty and staff, a right which it had won in the initial collective bargaining elections of 1968. However, the UFCT had been pushing for a second bargaining election with the aim of forming a single unit of full and part time faculty and staff. Not sure it could win such an election, the LC proposed merger talks as an alternative. The negotiations allowed the LC to retain a veto over what would happen with the newly formed Professional Staff Congress (PSC), a preferable option to the uncertainties of a new election.
• Proposal for Merger - LC and UFCT

  Pending member ratification, this merger proposal, dated March 28, 1972, ended the intense rivalry between the Legislative Conference (LC) and the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), resolving the issue of who would be the sole bargaining agent for the instructional staff of CUNY. The document describes the compromises and decisions that needed to take place in order to resolve fiscal, organizational, and staffing issues at the newly formed Professional Staff Congress (PSC). The parties were reluctant to merge, and only pressure from their affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) for the UFCT, and the National Education Association (NEA) for the LC, finally pushed the two rival organizations within CUNY to join together. Around this time, the AFT and NEA affiliates in New York State were themselves about to merge, and the two national unions did not want divisions within CUNY to mar that process. In addition, the AFT and NEA had been financially supporting their CUNY affiliates, and the threat of an end of that support was a powerful incentive for leaders of the UFCT and LC.
• "Faculty Members at City University Pick Single Bargaining Agent"

  This New York Times article reports the results of a June 1972 election among members of the CUNY instructional staff. Voters elected to form a single bargaining unit for CUNY, with an overwhelming number choosing the newly formed Professional Staff Congress (PSC) as the bargaining agent of choice. The election ended a dispute stretching back to 1968 over how many bargaining units there should be in CUNY and which organization would represent which unit. Previously, staff at CUNY were represented by either the Legislative Conference or the United Federation of College Teachers; despite popular support, their merging of the two was not a smooth process in the early years of the new union. Nevertheless, their unification allowed for the leaders from the two competing groups to redirect their focuses away from their rivalry towards better addressing the needs of faculty and staff at CUNY.
• "City U.'s Merged Union Set To Act for 15,000 on Staff"

  This article from the New York Times reports on the merger of the Legislative Conference (LC) and the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), the two bargaining agents for CUNY faculty and staff. Together they combined to form the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) in April 1972. The piece supplies background information on the situation at CUNY since the first union contracts were signed in 1969 and details how each union was spending time and valuable resources fighting the other instead of winning a good contract for its respective members. Following the merger, the new union would become the largest campus union in the country.
• Double Think on Unity: Vote UFCT

  This flier was created by the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT) in January 1972 and was designed to appeal to voters in an upcoming collective bargaining election for CUNY instructional staff. The election sought to establish a single bargaining agent for CUNY staff, doing so by pitting the UFCT against its rival the Legislative Conference (LC). The flier advocates for the UFCT and criticizes their opponent's record. CUNY administration, meanwhile, had hoped for three separate bargaining units in an attempt to divide full-time, part-time, and non-classroom staff. The election advertised on the flier, however, never took place as members of the two unions agreed in April 1972 to merge into the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).
• 25 Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress/CUNY

  In celebration of their 25th anniversary, the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC) published this collection of articles written by Irwin Yellowitz, "professor emeritus of history at City College and a former PSC treasurer." The articles and photographs trace faculty union efforts at CUNY. Beginning with the Legislative Conference and the United Federation of College Teachers, the book details their merging in 1972 to create the PSC, and follows the difficulties and successes of the group over the course of its first 25 years.