Adjunct Health Benefit Extended

On April 24 Barbara Bowen, Chairperson of the Welfare Fund Board of Trustees and President of the PSC, sent the following letter to adjuncts on the health insurance plan.

Adjunct health insurance through the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund has been extended for a year and two months-through June 30, 2014. An agreement between the PSC and CUNY on the 14-month extension was reached today, and was supported by a vote by the Welfare Fund Board of Trustees.  

I had hoped to be able to announce a permanent shift of adjunct health insurance to the City of New York, but agreement with the City has not been reached. Rather than ask you to live in uncertainty any longer, the PSC worked with CUNY to negotiate an extension of the current adjunct health insurance program through the Welfare Fund. We are grateful to the CUNY administration and to the Welfare Fund Trustees and staff. 

The PSC will provide more information in a subsequent message, but the important news for you is that coverage through the Welfare Fund will continue to be available. Coverage through the Welfare Fund is not a permanent solution, and the union will continue to work with CUNY on a long-term structural solution. Meanwhile, we have agreed on the extension.  Details about the agreement will follow. 

I regret deeply the anxiety the constant renewals have caused you. All of us on the PSC negotiating committee hope that the 14-month extension will offer some sense of health security while we continue to work on the long-term plan. Thank you for your patience.