LSCe

OFFICERS)

President
Irwin Polishook

First Vice President
Carol Brandon

Secretary
Claude Campbell

Treasurer
Marion Starling

University-wide Officers
Norman Bindler
Pearl Gasarch
Sidney Lieberman
Thomas McNulty
Belle Zeljer

Vice President
Senior Colleges
Irwin Yellowitz

Senior College Officers
Alvin Bachman
Judith S. Klein
Suzanne Siegel

Vice President
Community Colleges
Mildred Johansson

Community College Officers
Geraldine Chapey
Dona!d Davidson
Howard Jones

Vice President
Cross Campus Units
Harold Wilson

Cross Campus Officers
Peter Jonas
Samuel Vernoff

Vice President
Part Time Personnel
Susan B. Prager

President Emeritus
Belle Zeller

STAFF

Executive Director
Arnold Cantor

Associate Executive
Director
Aaron Alexander

Staff Coordinator
Chris Kahan

Director, Contract
Administration &
University-wide Grievance
Counselor

Daniel Kaminker

Director of Organization
Irving Panken

Coordinator, Membership
Department
Mary Pearce

Director, Lega! Affairs
D. Nicholas Russo

Director, Staff Relations
Beryl Weinberg

were of

Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York
25 West 43rd Street New York, New York 10036 212/354-1252

MENORAND UD

July 31, 1978

IO: Tony Ficcio
FROM: Beryl Weinberg
SUBJECT: Unemployment Insurance

January 1978 was the effective date of a new
federal law requiring states to cover public employees
with regular state unemployment insurance. For the past
few years, teachers have been covered by the Supplementary
Unemployment Assistance (SUA), a federal law enacted to
cope with high unemployment. Although SUA was totally
federally funded, it was administered by the State Employ-
ment Insurance Bureau under the same rules and regulations
as a regular unemployment insurance.

getting unemployment
the: Federal) Law. oA

We had a number of problems
insurance for adjunct personnel under
number were turned down under Section 590.10 of the New
York State Unemployment Insurance Law which held that
teachers who had a contract for employment the following
semester were not eligible for unemployment insurance over
the summer. This provision was obviously directed to the
annually employed teachers who were paid in 10 months instead
of 12 months. After a number of appeals, we succeeded in
getting a reversal by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal
Board and agreement that adjunct personnel had no real
contract for employment in tne fall because too many con-
ditions were attached to the offer of employment. Attached
you will find material relating to this. decision.

Now that our people should be covered under
regular unemployment insurance, we are again facing the
problem of Section 590.10 as well as some strange tulings
in relation to a full-time student who is employed as an
adjunct. The Industrial Commissioner has issued a ruling

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS LOCAL 2334 e NEW YORK STATE AFL-CIO
NEW YORK STATE UNITED TEACHERS e NEW YORK CITY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL


Teny Ficeio
ou1y. 32,1978
Page Two

to beineligible for unemployment insurance a contract for
re-employment is not required, a reasonable assurance of
such re-employment will do. Our position is that no adjunct
has reasonable assurance of re-employment; toomany adjuncts
have been tol¢d.on the first day ef class that there would

be no course for them.

More important, I think that we must make the
point that there is no justification for treating adjunct
teachers any differently from other seasonal workers. Other
workers in seasonal industries who are laid off for lack
of work collect unemployment insurance even though they know
they will be returning to work when the season begins.

It is on this basis that we should make our final appeal
and, 4& necessary, ge to. court.

BW/gdc
opeiu #153

Attachment