The United College Employees of the Fashion Institute of Technology/AFT in New York City will hold a rally at FIT Friday (April 26) to protest the city's foot-dragging in settling a contract. The union of 1,400 full- and part-time faculty and staff, who have been working without a contract since the end of February 2000, will be joined by fellow AFT unionists from across the city and state. A featured speaker will be New York State Assemblyman Edward Sullivan, chair of the Higher Education Committee.

UCE has been in intensive negotiations with the city to secure funds that former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani suddenly withdrew in 1999, months before the union's signed agreement with the college and city expired. Now in mediation, UCE, the college and the city are negotiating over increases that will be retroactive to March 1, 2000. The union is seeking a commitment from the new mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to honor the city's decades-long history of paying its part of the public education bill.

While Bloomberg advanced himself as pro-education, his administration has yet to come up with the money in its dealings with UCE and the United Federation of Teachers. Other unions in the city have secured a pattern three-year economic package of 4 percent in the first year, 4 percent in the second and 1 percent in the third.

UCE's rally is following on the heels of a morning rally for the UFT. UFT president Randi Weingarten is speaking at both. Also speaking at the UCE rally will be William Scheuerman, president of the United University Professions at SUNY, and Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY.

The rally is one part of a multi-pronged effort to force movement on the contract, says Juliette Romano, UCE executive vice president. UCE has been a presence at every meeting of the FIT Board of Trustees this year. It has lobbied city council members and sent thousands of letters to the council and the mayor. In the next few weeks as the city council prepares its budget, UCE will intensify these efforts. At the same time, it faces the prospect of negotiating the next contract before the ink on the first one is dry. [Barbara McKenna]