The Baruch PSC chapter has responded to the March 27th at 6:15 PM message from Katharine Cobb and Arthur Downing calling for faculty and staff volunteers to distribute tech equipment to students from Tuesday, March 31 through Thursday, April 3rd.
The chapter strongly cautions any workers or students against participating in this plan, which was created without any consultation with PSC and which will needlessly endanger the lives of workers, students, and the entire community. We must support students in the safest and most responsible way possible. We have sent the message here (and copied below) to the administration demanding a halt to this tech distribution plan while we work together to create a safer way to support our students.
As we await a response, we urge all members to follow PSC’s guidelines for what to do if you’re asked to go to work and the definition of “essential personnel.”
The union will continue to defend the health and safety of workers and students during this tumultuous time; please contact us if you have questions or need assistance.
In solidarity,
Baruch PSC Executive Committee
______________________________________________________________
To: President Mitchell Wallerstein, Baruch College
From: PSC Baruch Executive Committee
Re: Baruch tech distribution plan
CC: Barbara Bowen, President, PSC/CUNY; Baruch USG; CUNY USS
March 29, 2020
Dear President Wallerstein:
We are writing to voice our strong objection to the campus announcement sent on March 27th at 6:15 PM from Katharine Cobb and Arthur Downing calling for faculty and staff volunteers to distribute tech equipment to students from Tuesday, March 31 through Thursday, April 3rd.
While Baruch’s PSC chapter certainly understands the urgent need to support our students — we and our members are a part of this effort every day — we cannot support a plan that flouts PSC’s directives to members and that will needlessly put lives at risk. Other CUNY campuses, including Lehman and Hunter, are mailing devices to students. Baruch must adopt a similar, safer plan, which will also protect its students.
We demand:
- An immediate retraction of the call for faculty and staff volunteers.
- That the administration adopt a plan, in consultation with the chapter, to mail students tech devices in the safest way possible, including minimizing the number of personnel required.
- A remote labor-management meeting before April 15th to address member needs during this unprecedented crisis. This is our second, official request for such a meeting.
We call on Baruch’s administration to communicate regularly and transparently with the chapter about any and all proposed campus policies that will have a direct impact on our members during this unprecedented crisis. We have a responsibility to work together to keep our community safe.
Sincerely,
Vincent DiGirolalmo, PSC Baruch Chapter Chair and Assistant Professor of History
Carly Smith, PSC Baruch Vice Chair and PSC Vice President for Part-Time Personnel
Stanley Wine, PSC Baruch Secretary, PSC Baruch Delegate, and Adjunct Lecturer of Computer Information Systems
Peter Pepper, PSC Baruch Grievance Counselor and Lecturer in the Narendra Paul Loomba Department of Management
Rebecca Smart, PSC Baruch Adjunct Liaison and Adjunct Lecturer in Psychology
Delegates:
Debra Caplan, PSC Baruch Delegate (candidate) and Assistant Professor of Theatre
Stuart Davis, PSC Baruch Delegate and Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
Elisabeth Gareis, PSC Baruch Delegate (candidate) and Professor of Communication Studies
Peter Harrison, PSC Baruch Delegate (candidate) and Adjunct Lecturer of Computer Information Systems
Neil Hernandez, PSC Baruch Delegate (candidate) and Assistant Professor of Public and International Affairs
Karl Kronebusch, PSC Baruch Welfare Fund Representative and Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs
Glenn Petersen, PSC Baruch Delegate and Professor of Anthropology
Gregory Snyder, PSC Baruch Delegate and Associate Professor of Sociology
Elizabeth L. Wollman, PSC Baruch Delegate and Professor of Music
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