The City University of New York Professional Staff Congress announced yesterday that the faculty had voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.  As reported by various media:

More than 10,000 unionized faculty and staff members participated in the vote, and 92 percent voted in favor of the strike authorization.  There are no plans to strike during this academic year, said Barbara Bowen, the PSC president and a professor of English at CUNY’s Queens College, but might do so in the fall if negotiations with university leaders continue to fall flat.

The move followed New York lawmakers’ passage last month of a state budget that included no money for CUNY faculty members to receive pay increases. Professors here at CUNY haven’t received a raise in six years, while the cost of living in New York City has gone up by 23 percent.

If faculty members decide to go out on strike, they could face fines under New York state law.

Dr. Bowen wrote in an op-ed in the Daily News on Thursday that CUNY was struggling to retain faculty members because of the university’s noncompetitive salaries. According to a statement from the union, seven of the 11 professors hired in City College’s economics department over the past 10 years have left.