Rallies Against Budget Cuts, Layoffs, CUNY Tuition and MTA Fare Hikes

On December 16, after New York's Democratic governor David Paterson presented his 2009 cutback budget, a rally was held outside Paterson's NYC office, called by the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing faculty and staff of the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY Contingents Unite (CCU), a grouping in the PSC speaking for adjunct and other part-time employees, also called to protest there, demanding No Tuition Hike, No Budget Cuts, No Layoffs.

At the end of that rally, which drew several hundred participants, well over 100 demonstrators marched to a second protest outside the Midtown headquarters of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) called by the Take Back Our Union Movement in Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, the union representing New York City subway and bus workers. Among the speakers at this demonstration was Sándor John, who teaches labor history at CUNY and is a member of CCU and Class Struggle Education Workers. Below is a video clip of his speech.