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Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Records

Call Number

WAG.009

Dates

1926-2024, ongoing, inclusive
; 1960-1999, bulk

Creator

Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York
Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York (Role: Donor)

Extent

293.75 Linear Feet
in 234 record cartons, 117 manuscript boxes, 2 half manuscript boxes, 2 media boxes, and 7 folders

Extent

187.88 Gigabytes

Extent

80 Reels
on 80 reels of microfilm

Extent

6 websites
in 6 archived websites.

Extent

20 VHS

Extent

1 audiocassette

Extent

6 MiniDV

Extent

8 audiocassettes

Extent

9 DVCPRO

Extent

2 Betacam_SP

Extent

1 U-matic

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York (PSC) is the union that represents faculty and professional/technical staff at CUNY. It is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers as AFT Local 2234. This collection includes records of the union's activity in the areas of collective bargaining, representation of members in grievance proceedings, lobbying (at state and city levels), publicity, general support for public higher education, and participation in national, statewide and citywide labor bodies. In addition to records of the PSC, the collection includes records of its two predecessor organizations, the Legislative Conference of CUNY and the United Federation of College Teachers.

Historical Note

The Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York (American Federation of Teachers, Local 2234) represents faculty and staff (librarians, laboratory technicians and others) in the public higher education system of New York City. The union negotiates a system-wide contract, administers grievance procedures, lobbies aggressively at both the city and state levels, and actively represents the interests of retired members.

The faculty and staff organizations at the City University of New York have had a long history, dating from the 1930s, when there were only four city colleges (Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens). Much of the early union work at the city colleges was done by the Legislative Conference (LC), founded in 1939 and led from 1944 by Professor Belle Zeller of Brooklyn College. The LC achieved statutory tenure in 1940 and secured some significant improvements in salaries and pensions; but it remained independent of organized labor and in many respects saw itself as a professional organization rather than a trade union. In the early 1960s, the Legislative Conference was challenged by the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), led by president Israel Kugler. The UFCT, originally the college teachers' local of the United Federation of Teachers, became an independent local of the American Federation of Teachers in 1963. Members of the UFCT wanted a union that would be more aggressive in pursuit of collective bargaining rights and that would be part of the AFL-CIO. In 1965-66 the UFCT won much positive publicity for its staunch defense of thirty-one faculty members of St. John's University who were dismissed without charges being brought against them. Although the St. John's "strike" was formally lost, UFCT picket lines made front-page news, and St. John's was censured by the American Association of University Professors.

In response to the challenge posed by its dynamic rival, the LC began to seek recognition as exclusive bargaining agent for CUNY faculty. The 1967 Taylor Law, granting public employees in New York State the right to choose a collective bargaining agent, heightened the competition for faculty allegiance, and paved the way for a referendum on the issue. In general senior faculty were inclined to support the LC, while the UFCT commanded widespread support among lecturers and adjuncts.

After several years of heated negotiations and campaigning which threatened to bankrupt the two organizations, a merger between the Legislative Congress and the United Federation of College Teachers was achieved in 1972. The Professional Staff Congress (PSC), under the leadership of president Belle Zeller and deputy president Israel Kugler, became one of the first unions of college teachers to negotiate a university-wide contract. This set the pattern for college-teacher unionism throughout the country.

The PSC defeated an attempt to impose tenure quotas in 1973, rallied public support for the CUNY system during the New York City fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s and fought off budget-cutting and "restructuring" proposals aimed at limiting the provision of public higher education. After the election of Irwin Polishook as president in 1976, the union won improvements in funding for community colleges, and benefit plans (including health coverage for retirees and adjuncts) were strengthened. Recurring fiscal crises and a political climate increasingly hostile to expenditure on public higher education, have regularly forced the union into dual role, defending the gains of the past while adjusting to a changing environment.

When the PSC was formed the City University was in the midst of a momentous transformation. An open admissions policy had been instituted in 1970 and all New York City high-school graduates now had access to CUNY's four-year colleges. Many CUNY faculty members embraced open admissions as a way for the University to fulfill its mission of educating all New Yorkers. However, the "Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge" (SEEK) Program that was supposed to provide the necessary remediation was never adequately funded, and this made it impossible to fulfill the promise of open admission.

Veteran PSC members saw dramatic changes in the City University during their working lives. Many of them who began their careers in the 1950s and 1960s remembered a university that was highly selective and, with free tuition, educated some of the brightest students in the City of New York. The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw an influx of students in need of remedial work, cut-backs resulting from New York's fiscal crisis, salaries that failed to keep up with those at comparable universities, substantial cuts in full-time faculty positions and a sharp increase in adjunct faculty. The years of retrenchment, however, also brought increasing ethnic, racial and religious diversity and pressure toward gender equity. In 1983 Professor Lilia Melani won a major lawsuit that forced the University to address the issues of discrimination against women in appointments, hiring, and tenure. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s there were also steady increases in the numbers of African-American, Asian-American and Latino faculty members. This helped create role models for students from immigrant and minority backgrounds, who were coming to CUNY in increasing numbers.

In February 2000, Irwin Polishook retired. In the union electionof May 2000, an insurgent group, the New Caucus, defeated the caucus that had led the union since 1973. Barbara Bowen became President.

Sources:

Irwin Yellowitz, Twenty-five Years of Progress: Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (New York: Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, [1997].Grayson, Gerald H., "Professors Unite: A History of the Legislative Conference of City University of New York." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1973.

Arrangement

All series and subseries are arranged alphabetically by topic. Series VII and parts of Series III, Subseries III:C; Series V, Subseries E are unprocessed.

The files are grouped into 8 series:

Series List:

  1. I. Records of the United Federation of College Teachers
  2. II. Records of the Legislative Conference
  3. III. Records of the Professional Staff Congress
  4. IV. Arbitrations (CLOSED)
  5. V. Addendum
  6. VI. Legal Files, Arbitrations, and Grievances (CLOSED)
  7. VII. Photographs and Audiovisual Materials
  8. VIII. Archived Websites
  9. IX. 2022 Accretion
  10. X. 2023 Accretion

Scope and Contents

The collection documents the Professional Staff Congress' participation in collective bargaining and grievance proceedings on behalf of its members, as well as its lobbying efforts and other political activities in support of public higher education, various labor organizations, and other causes. The collection traces the union's activities from the 1920s to 2018, but is particularly rich in materials from the late 1960s to the 1990s. Publicity materials, correspondence, minutes, office files of individual officers and staff members, files pertaining to benefits-related programs and committees, photographs and audiovisual materials, and the records of the PSC publication Clarion (including many photographic materials) are also present. To a lesser extent, the collection contains the records of PSC's two predecessor organizations, the United Federation of College Teachers and the Legislative Conference.

Materials added to the collection in 2016 include the files of the Professional Staff Congress' International Committee. These materials largely consist of meeting minutes and files on special events from 2001-2016. Other materials added to the collection in 2016 include 10 reels of microfilm containing administrative files of the Council of Senior Citizens, Pension Committee, and Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund dating from 1982 to 1993.

Materials added to the collection in 2018 include the files of the Professional Staff Congress' Women's Committee. These materials include planning materials and audiovisual tapes of the annual Women's History Month conference, files relating to parental leave, and drafts and files regarding CUNY's sexual harassment policy. It also includes the committee's meeting correspondence, minutes, and surveys.

Conditions Governing Access

Series IV and VI are restricted until 2031. All other series open for research without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Tamiment Library may hold copyright to some of the photographs in the collection taken by freelance photographers Sam Reiss, Dan Miller, and Al Ben-Ness. Copyright holder(s) for photographs by staff photographer(s) and other materials unknown.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Records; WAG 009; Box number; Folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

To cite the archived website in this collection: Identification of item, date; Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Records; WAG 009; Wayback URL; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records of the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY were donated to the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives by the PSC in 1981. The accession numbers associated with this donation are 1981.006 and 1981.009. Since then, regular additions have been made to the Tamiment Library's holdings. A large donation of material was made in 2006, when the union moved from its long-time headquarters at 25 West 43rd Street in New York City to a new location at 61 Broadway. In August 2016 three boxes of International Committee records were sent by Renate Bridenthal. The accession number associated with this gift is 2016.049. In October 2016 the Professional Staff Congress donated additional administative files on 10 reels of microfilm. The accession number associated with this gift is 2016.062.In August 2018 the Professional Staff Congress donated four boxes of records from the Women's Committee. The accession number associated with this gift is 2018.124.

In April and May 2023, the Professional Staff Congress donated an accretion; the accession number associated with this gift is 2023.072.

https://psc-cuny.org/ was initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2007 as part of the Labor Unions and Organizations (U.S.) Web Archive. In 2015, this website was migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In 2020, https://archive.psc-cuny.org/ was added to the web archives. The accession number associated with this website is 2020.011. In July 2020, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FWf8QGNsx5Z4bZ4uF3WqNrasksjL0k9hIzGosBbNoYs/edit was added to the web archives. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.014. In December 2021, https://cunyrisingalliance.org/ was added to the web archives. The accession number associated with this website is 2022.040. In January 2024, https://psccunygc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ and https://www.psc-csi.org/ were added to the web archives. The accession number associated with these websites is 2024.013.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact special.collections@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact special.collections@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Records of American Federation of Teachers, Local 1460 (WAG 96)
Records of the Professional Staff Congress, Kingsborough Community College Chapter (WAG 81)
Records of the Professional Staff Congress, New Caucus (WAG 94)
Records of Communications Workers of American, Local 1180 (WAG 63)
Records of the United Federation of Teachers (WAG 22)
Professional Staff Congress Oral History Collection (OH 061)

Related Materials

Irwin Yellowitz, a labor historian and a member of the Professional Staff Congress whose records and oral history are included in this collection, also interviewed fellow Professional Staff Congress member Belle Zeller for the New Yorkers at Work Oral History Collection. This collection is also available at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, call number OH 001.

Physical Facet

microcassette

Collection processed by

Anna Neighbor, Jason Chappell and Gail Malmgreen, 2000-2001; Adam Schafenberg and Craig Savino, 2007; Alexandra Gomer, 2018.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-08 15:44:04 -0500.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Processing Information

Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and from new accessions and were established as a separate collection, the Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Photographs (PHOTOS 095).

In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Records and Photographs.

In October 2016, 3 boxes of International Committee files were added to Series III: Records of the Professional Staff Congress, Subseries III:C: General Files. Meeting minutes, which were spread out across 3 boxes, were grouped together, but files were not arranged further. In November 2013 an additional box of microfilm reels containing administrative files of the Council of Senior Citizens, Pension Committee, and Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund were also added to Subseries III:C: General Files and described on the box level.

In September 2018, three boxes of PSC Women's Committee material were added to Subseries III:C: General Files and described on the box level. One box with A/V material was added to Series VII.

In 2020-2024, the archived websites were added to the finding aid as Series VIII.

In October 2022, an accretion was added rehoused in archival boxes and folders, and intellectually added to the collection as Series IX. 2022 Accretion. Non-unique materials with evidence of mold were appraised out of the collection. One floppy disk was identified, physically separated, and inventoried, but has not yet been forensically imaged, analyzed, or described.

In August and September 2023, an accretion was rehoused in archival boxes and folders, added to the collection as a new series (Series X. 2023 Accretion), described at the series-level, and inventoried at the box-level. Born-digital items on physical carriers were identified, physically separated, and inventoried, but have not yet been forensically imaged, analyzed or described. One hard drive of photographic materials selected by curator Shannon O'Neill was reviewed; appraisal recommendations for future processing have been saved in the collection file but have not yet been acted upon.

New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

2013: Edited by Rachel Schimke for compliance with DACS and Tamiment Required Elements for Archival Description and to reflect the incorporation of nonprint and unprocessed materials.
October 2016: Edited by Heather Mulliner to include August 2016 accretion
November 2016: Edited by Heather Mulliner to include October 2016 accretion
September 2018: Edited by Alexandra Gomer to include September 2018 accretion.
February 2024: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse to reflect additional administrative information and added archived websites
October 2022: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2022 accretion
September 2023: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2023 accretion

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from a paper finding aid.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012