(NEW YORK CITY) - Dozens of Professors and other Staff with the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) at the City University of New York (CUNY) were arrested during a demonstration tied to a prolonged contract fight.

More than 30 PSC Members, including its President, James Davis, were arrested for blockading the 10th Avenue entrance of John Jay College of Criminal Justice while a CUNY Board of Trustees meeting took place inside. 

The Union Members' last contract - covering about 30,000 Faculty, Adjuncts and other Staff in the Public University System, expired on February 28th, 2023, and the two sides have been negotiating since June 2023.

The pay increases University Officials have proposed are significantly lower than what PSC Members are seeking.

The PSC is seeking salary bumps totaling 18% over four years or nearly 50% more than what the University is offering, and over a shorter period.

Union Members note the proposed raises failed to keep up with inflation.

“When we were inside, we told the Board of Trustees and the Chancellery that ... we are prepared to blockade them in this building until they make us a new economic offer,” Davis told Members at the demonstration outside of John Jay College on Manhattan’s West Side. “We’re going to sit here and we’re going to chant until they come out and make us the economic offer that you deserve, that this City deserves, that all of our students deserve.”

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