Whereas adjuncts make up a majority of the faculty at CUNY and also teach a majority of the classes, at a starting rate of $3,200 per three-credit class with no compensation for research or advising, with average annual compensation for an adjunct lecturer teaching a full load of 8 courses of just $28,000 compared with an average annual pay of $74,000 for a full-time lecturer with the same course load;

Whereas adjunct poverty is detrimental to student success since adjuncts, who teach the majority of lower-level courses, are forced to work additional jobs and consequently do not have the time they need and want to dedicate to their students;      

Whereas devaluing adjunct labor is the principal means of devaluing the labor of CUNY education workers across all titles;

Whereas the PSC has rightly put adjuncts at the center of the current contract campaign by demanding an adjunct minimum wage of $7,000 per three-credit course in the next contract;

Whereas $7k per course amounts to a living wage in New York City and is parity with what a full-time lecturer makes at CUNY for the same work;

Whereas $7k per course is a radically larger demand than what the PSC has won in past contracts, and thus requires more than typical collective bargaining  to win;

Whereas the PSC leadership stated in the 26 March 2018 bulletin This Week in the PSC that “the campaign to more than double adjuncts’ pay will be waged not exclusively at the bargaining table”;

Whereas the limitations of lobbying are exemplified by Cuomo’s annual veto of the Maintenance of Effort bill and the failure of state lawmakers to override the veto despite having more than enough votes;

Whereas educators across the country, especially in West Virginia where striking teachers won 5% raises for all state workers, have shown the power and necessity of militant direct action as a foundational tool for achieving significant victories for workers;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the Graduate Center of the PSC assembled at the 25 April 2018 chapter meeting support escalating militant activity, up to and including a strike, if CUNY management does not offer $7k per course at the bargaining table.