"Letter Requesting Support for UFCT in Upcoming Election"
Item
FROM THE DESK OF...
M. Fred Tidwell
Dear Friends and former colleagues:
All of us who work in any capacity for City University face situations that
may affect our professional careers, The Legislature is threatening to re-
duce funds; they are legislating working conditions such as number of contact
hours and class load; they are considering the elimination of tenure; and they
have already eliminated sabbaticals for the time being.
We have to think of our own professional careers and we have to decide which
organization can fight for and achieve the benefits thereunto.
I am writing you, as a former associate of yours, to urge you to give serious
consideration to the forthcoming election which will determine a single bar-
gaining agent for ALL Instructional personnel of CUNY.
The UFCT, of which I was Chapter Chairman when at Kingsborough and of which
I am presently Chapter Chairman at Richmond, is the organization that can
achieve the greatest benefits for us. Because of the Union's experience in
collective bargaining negotiations and because of our affiliation with Labor
which, as you know, is very powerful and influential in both the City and
State of New York, it is the one organization that can bargain most effec-
tively.
The UFCT's present contract is certainly the. better of the two contracts.
We have won 14 of the 16 cases that went to arbitration to say nothing of
the score that were won at Step 2.
This semester, I am teaching a class in the evenings at Kingsborough, and I
am working with your Chapter Chairman, Harold Engelsoln. Perhaps I shall see
you at a departmental meeting.
Sincere ly
M. Fred Tidwell, Richmond College
Negotiating Planning Chairman
Home Phone : 638-8769
Office Phone: 448-8433; Ext. 140
3/8/72
M. Fred Tidwell
Dear Friends and former colleagues:
All of us who work in any capacity for City University face situations that
may affect our professional careers, The Legislature is threatening to re-
duce funds; they are legislating working conditions such as number of contact
hours and class load; they are considering the elimination of tenure; and they
have already eliminated sabbaticals for the time being.
We have to think of our own professional careers and we have to decide which
organization can fight for and achieve the benefits thereunto.
I am writing you, as a former associate of yours, to urge you to give serious
consideration to the forthcoming election which will determine a single bar-
gaining agent for ALL Instructional personnel of CUNY.
The UFCT, of which I was Chapter Chairman when at Kingsborough and of which
I am presently Chapter Chairman at Richmond, is the organization that can
achieve the greatest benefits for us. Because of the Union's experience in
collective bargaining negotiations and because of our affiliation with Labor
which, as you know, is very powerful and influential in both the City and
State of New York, it is the one organization that can bargain most effec-
tively.
The UFCT's present contract is certainly the. better of the two contracts.
We have won 14 of the 16 cases that went to arbitration to say nothing of
the score that were won at Step 2.
This semester, I am teaching a class in the evenings at Kingsborough, and I
am working with your Chapter Chairman, Harold Engelsoln. Perhaps I shall see
you at a departmental meeting.
Sincere ly
M. Fred Tidwell, Richmond College
Negotiating Planning Chairman
Home Phone : 638-8769
Office Phone: 448-8433; Ext. 140
3/8/72
Title
"Letter Requesting Support for UFCT in Upcoming Election"
Description
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.
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.
Contributor
Professional Staff Congress
Creator
Tidwell, M. Fred
Date
March 8, 1972
Language
English
Rights
Obtained from Contributor - Copyright Unknown
Source
Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Original Format
Diary / Correspondence
Tidwell, M. Fred. Letter. “‘Letter Requesting Support for UFCT in Upcoming Election’.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/449