Letter from UFCT President Requesting Protest
Item
673-6310-I11
260 Park Avenue South
New York, N. Y. 10010
UNITED Federation of College Teachers
LOCAL 1460 + AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFL-CIO
Affillated with New York State AFL-CIO, New York City Central Labor Councll
Empire State Federation of Teachers
May 12, 1970
Dear Friends:
The United Federation of College Teachers, as long ago as 1964, pointed
out the lily-white character of City University and urged that oppor-
tunities be opened up for youth from the disadvantaged areas. This
idea gave birth to SEEK, College Discovery and now Open Enrollment.
The City University estimated in its Master Plan for 1970 that at least
2100 additional college teachers would be needed in the regular courses
as well as remediation.
Despite this fact, several hundred experienced and qualified lecturers,
both full and part-time have been fired in violation of the collective
bargaining agreement between the UFCT and the City University. One
hand of CUNY seeks teachers; the other hand fires them.
Grievances are permitted to pile up at local campuses and at central
CUNY administration in violation of specific time-limits. Now a quota
has been imposed upon us--no more than three grievances a week will
be processed by City University!
Full time Lecturers are being downgraded to hourly paid status losing
credit toward job security, vacation pay, medical benefits, etc.
Lecturers who are deemed professionally competent may be terminated for
reasons outside the contract "which are not discriminatory, such as
someone better being possibly available"!
The education of many new young people is at stake. Will they have qual-
ified and experienced personnel or will they be taught in large classes
by graduate students? Youth, many in severe need of remediation to over-
come academic defects, need dedicated teachers. To do otherwise would
be to dash the: hopes..of those who never thought they would have a chance
to secure a college education; and let us remember that a large portion
would be Black and Puerto Rican.
Please write or wire your protest to Chancellor Albert Bowker at the
Board of Higher Education 535 East 80 St., N.Y.C. 10021. Please commun-
icate your feelings also to Mayor John Lindsay, asking him to fully
fund the City University for open enrollment with a complete profession-
al staff in harmony with collective bargaining agreements. Send us a
copy of your communication.
Thank you. Sincerely & fraternally yours,
opeiu #153 Dr. Israel Kugler, President
> 357
260 Park Avenue South
New York, N. Y. 10010
UNITED Federation of College Teachers
LOCAL 1460 + AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFL-CIO
Affillated with New York State AFL-CIO, New York City Central Labor Councll
Empire State Federation of Teachers
May 12, 1970
Dear Friends:
The United Federation of College Teachers, as long ago as 1964, pointed
out the lily-white character of City University and urged that oppor-
tunities be opened up for youth from the disadvantaged areas. This
idea gave birth to SEEK, College Discovery and now Open Enrollment.
The City University estimated in its Master Plan for 1970 that at least
2100 additional college teachers would be needed in the regular courses
as well as remediation.
Despite this fact, several hundred experienced and qualified lecturers,
both full and part-time have been fired in violation of the collective
bargaining agreement between the UFCT and the City University. One
hand of CUNY seeks teachers; the other hand fires them.
Grievances are permitted to pile up at local campuses and at central
CUNY administration in violation of specific time-limits. Now a quota
has been imposed upon us--no more than three grievances a week will
be processed by City University!
Full time Lecturers are being downgraded to hourly paid status losing
credit toward job security, vacation pay, medical benefits, etc.
Lecturers who are deemed professionally competent may be terminated for
reasons outside the contract "which are not discriminatory, such as
someone better being possibly available"!
The education of many new young people is at stake. Will they have qual-
ified and experienced personnel or will they be taught in large classes
by graduate students? Youth, many in severe need of remediation to over-
come academic defects, need dedicated teachers. To do otherwise would
be to dash the: hopes..of those who never thought they would have a chance
to secure a college education; and let us remember that a large portion
would be Black and Puerto Rican.
Please write or wire your protest to Chancellor Albert Bowker at the
Board of Higher Education 535 East 80 St., N.Y.C. 10021. Please commun-
icate your feelings also to Mayor John Lindsay, asking him to fully
fund the City University for open enrollment with a complete profession-
al staff in harmony with collective bargaining agreements. Send us a
copy of your communication.
Thank you. Sincerely & fraternally yours,
opeiu #153 Dr. Israel Kugler, President
> 357
Title
Letter from UFCT President Requesting Protest
Description
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.
Creator
Kugler, Israel
Date
May 12, 1970
Language
English
Rights
Obtained from Contributor - Copyright Unknown
Source
Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Original Format
Memorandum
Kugler, Israel. Letter. “Letter from UFCT President Requesting Protest.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/443