For more information contact. Howie Jones

; PSs Gare (ext. 2192) or Bill Friedheim (ext. 3562)
MCC STRIKE COMMITTEE BULLETIN=1

> ae ee a ea CI VS eae : Rey :
CUTS DEVASTATE EDUCATION AT MCC
] - 47 full-time faculty members have been declared "in excess" (many with
up to five years of service at CUNY, and all adjuncts have been fired.

- "Excess" faculty have been re-assigned to other departments, with no
consideration for the effect on faculty or students of their lack of expertise in
the new discipline, e.g. Physical Ed.faculty teaching English Compositi a philoso-
phy teacher teaching psychology, etc.

- Arbitrary decisons have been made with regard to the number of hours that
re-assigned faculty are required to work: some Modern Languages faculty have been

- assigned to 35 hours of tutoring; full-time faculty re-assigned to the Math Lab work
30 hours, while faculty re-assigned to Reading work 12-15 hours in class and lab;
for some faculty one hour of lab counts equally with one hour of class, but for others
two count as one, etc.etc.

-~ Some courses are being split between two teachers in order for the teacher
to take on the extra hours mandated by the college: in the Science Dept. one faculty
member may teach the lab and another the lecture class of the same course; in English
as a Second Language some 6-hr. courses are taught 3 hours by one teacher and 3 by
another. This makes continuity for beth teachers and students nearly impossible.

~ Many faculty members have schedules that start at 8 a.m. and finish at
8 p.m on the same day, and re-assigned faculty ~ some with a 30-hour new assignment-
are expected to function as "total" members of their original departments.

- New CETA workers and re-assigned faculty in the Math Lab are being shut-
tled around,&given contradictory directions. Chaotic and dehumanizing conditions pre-
vail, resulting in low morale for both staff and students.

«The tutoring program has been completely cut. Tutoring, a vital se
for BMCC students, is now being done in each department (if at all) in an inefficient
and ae way. Some faculty are tutoring in different disciplines than their own.

Lce

- In Puerto Rican Studies, 10 courses we cancelled, both adjuncts were
fired, and one of the four full-time faculty has been "re-assigned.”

- Evening and late-afternoon classes can no longer have films
because_the Media Center now closes at 3:30p.m.

“Only one bus now runs between the uptown end downtown buildings, and it
is always jammed. Recently a scuffle broke out and one student was injered as studene
were trying to crowd onto the bus. Students miss, or are late for, classes, or are
forced to pay 50¢ each way for their own transportation.

-Guards and maintenance people in most buildings have been fired, or dras-
tically reduced in number. This is especially serious in the M Building where condi-
tions have always been sub-standard and unsafe. (There have been several rapes at
Hunter College already this semester, due to lack of guards.)

mummers STUDENT=FACULTY UNITY sma

> Budget Cuts at BMCC are part of an attack on higher education at CUNY. This

means there is a basis for uniting a large number of students and faculty to defend
education and to fight every aspect of the cuts - from threatened imposition of tuitic
to increased teaching loads and class sizes.

But if the Cuts are viewed narrowly then the whole question becomes merely a
contract issue. Students can not be expected to support a purely faculty struggle.
In fact, management will try to pit teachers against students (e.g. promising to re-
hire faculty at the expense of students by imposing tuition).

The BMCC chapter of the PSC feels that it is important to develop the potential
unity between students and faculty. At a meeting of 150 faculty on September 8, it
passed the following resolution:

We do not look forward to a strike. However, we see:no alternative. If
we do not strike, we will give a green light to the BHE to fire more fac-
ulty and to implement still greater productivity drives.

But the issue goes beyond the union contract. The cuts are in ree y an
attack on education at City University. Students. and faculty are born
affected. There is growing unity between faculty and students about the
need for coordinated action. Te win, we must develop that unity into a
joint student and faculty strike ageinst the budget cuts.

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the MCC chapter of the PSC hereby urges the central
office to seriously explore with the Univ ity Student Senate the possi-
bility of a joint student ty str nst the budget cuts, ani to
start building for this str



-2-
WHAT THE BUDGET CUT MEANS TO YOU.

“The budget cuts are not temporery. The banks and "Big MAC" are squeezing

the City and Carey has responded by stating that thousands of jobs must be
cut. What does this mean to you? j

-the $64 million cut is coming. Departments are being asked to make
contingency plane to assess what these cuts will mean to their
respective departments.

-an imposition of tuition will spell the end of open admissions.
Thousands of students will be forced to withdraw from the University.
Not only does this mean the end of any chance for higher education for

. these students but if Nyquist gets his way thousands cf jobs will be
lost. Less students means less jobs.

-a unilateral increase ‘of 25% in the workload here at BMCC meens a
deterioration in the quality-of-education. Larger class size and more
classroom hours means that less time is spent with each student, turning

“open admissions" into “revolving door education. In addition, as
faculty are asked to work more hours less faculty are needed. No one
is safe and tenure is no guarantee of job security. Any one can be
fired for "educational reasons" regardless of tenure or seniority at
the discretion of the President. ;

-the BHE is in the process of deciding which schools may be merged in an
effort to cut costs. Next year there may be no BMCC and it should be

s remembered that the Toard has always mAintdinéd that tencre*is in’the
college and not in the University. Your job is on the line if there
proposed mergers go through.

At its Sept. 8th meeting our PSC cha chapter set up a strike committee. I+ now
has 20 active members. You can join the committee by contacting Howard Jones
(-2192) or Bill Friedheim (-3562), The committee is involved in a number of
activities:
~Newsletter - this is the first of a series of strike bulletins.
-Mini-teach-ins - students and faculty are organizing mini-teach-ins
on the budget cuts and the economic crisis. The teach-ins will include
a skit about the cuts followed by a discussion of the issues and what
we can do. If you want the mini-teach-in to come to your classes,
~~ gontact us. : : : *
-CUNY Outreach - by sending literature and speakers we are trying to-
spread the word about what is happening at BCC to other PSC chapters.
We think all chapters should be building student-faculty unity along the
lines stated in our Sept. 8th resolution,
-Student Sign-up Sheets - faculty can circulate sign-up sheets for the
Student Fight Back Committee to their classes. If you are willing to
do this contact us.

SOCIAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT RESOLUTION.

The Social Science Department passed the following regolution at its

Oct. Ist meeting:
The Social Science Department strenuously objects to the mandated Board
of Higher Education 15% increase in the teaching load. It is covnter-
productive to our functioning as effective teachers and scholars.

The Social Science Department insists on a return to the uniform
12 hour. teaching load, and will accept no other alternative.

We urge ail departments to pass a similar resolution so that we can fight the
increase in teaching hours with the greatest faculty unity.

STUDENT COMMITTEE

There is a fightback committee of 50 students actively organizing against the
cuts. They are planning teach-ins, forums, demonstrations and other actions
- all pointing toward a student-faculty strike.

UNION FACTS .
--The PSC has gone to fact finding and mediation. What does this mean?
Not much. Neither fact finding nor mediation is binding. The BHE holds
the upper hand and has nothing to gain by giving into a fact finder's
decision backed by no more than moral persuasion.
--Actions before the courts and PERB (Public Employers Relation's
Board) look just as unpromising. The BHE, by appealing, can tie up any
favorable decision on teaching hours. PERB is a dead end because it. has
no legal power to enforce its decisions.
--What all of this boils down to is that a strike is probably our only
recourse. :

NEWS FROM FROM AROUND THE CITY
“==6, 000 students and faculty demonstrated against the cuts in front of
Governor Carey's office on Sept. 18. Four cays later, 400 students
demonstrated in front of the BHE when it met to consider the imposition
of tubtten, 289 strdents oncupted the Bronktivn Sollage Ifbremr who