CUNY bosses use Covid-19 pandemic to attack workers and students

 NEW YORK CITY, November 14–With the blessing of New York’s racist-in-chief Andrew Cuomo, City University of New York (CUNY) administrators have used the Covid-19  pandemic, as the pretense to launch an all-out racist attack that will hurt students the most.
Covid-19 crisis has killed more CUNY workers than at any other university system (Higher Ed, 6/23). What’s more, almost 3,000 part-time faculty lost their positions at the start of the fall semester. A hiring freeze has left administrative offices severely understaffed, as workers left, got sick and/or died.
Class sizes have ballooned, with some online classes hosting 80-100 students. Research suggests that effective online classes should have no more than 12 students (Forbes, 6/28).
Most recently, CUNY has indicated that this spring they will impose a 20 percent operating budget cut and decided unilaterally to indefinitely postpone the 2 percent pay increase for faculty and staff that is part of the current contract.
The racism of these attacks is undeniable. Nearly 50 percent of students at senior colleges and 67.3 percent at community colleges are Black and Latin. Due to the inherent racism of a capitalist system that breeds off of profit and competition, any cuts to CUNY will affect Black and Latin students more adversely.  
It won’t end until we make it end
The students and workers at CUNY are coming to the realization that this unrelenting wave of attacks will never end unless we make it end. There is a growing militancy within the entire CUNY community. Members and friends of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) have struggled to heighten this awakening—making the case that what is happening at CUNY is just a symptom of the capitalist disease and that we can never have education that serves the working class until rid ourselves of this disease. We say this as we fight side-by-side every day with our coworkers, students and classmates.
The struggle within the faculty and staff union has picked up as more and more workers understand, not only that the attacks from CUNY won’t end, but also that the union has not led the kind of militant struggle that is necessary to defeat them. PL members are present in a number of union committees, pushing for greater militancy, antiracism and the need for a worker-student alliance.
As the possibility of a strike develops, we will strengthen ties and more boldly share our politics of replacing capitalism and its educational apparatus with communism.
Students lead the way
Most importantly, students have led the way as the CUNY struggle continues to unfold. They have provided leadership at events held throughout the past few semesters, including a forum and speak-out on the murder of Breonna Taylor, the need for a strike at CUNY, elections and multiple demonstrations against adjunct layoffs and increased class size.
Some of these students are in Party-led study groups, which have been a steady occurrence during the pandemic, discussing and learning about communist ideas and the need for communist revolution.
The situation at CUNY is both disturbing and inspiring. The racist bosses, attempting as they always do to solve their financial crisis on the backs of workers and students, will continue their attacks. This spring looks especially grim, and even greater layoffs and cuts to services are almost certain.
Where there is oppression, however, there is always resistance, and so there is reason to be optimistic. Militancy among workers and students is growing as the contradictions of capitalism become more apparent every day. We communists are right there, struggling with ourselves to more boldly share our vision of a capitalism-free future and with our classmates and coworkers to join the fight.