Press Releases and Statements

(New York, NY) The CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (CUNY SLU) announced that Deepak Bhargava will serve as Distinguished Lecturer of Urban Studies beginning this fall semester. He will fill one of the rotating Distinguished Lecturer positions at the School. Mr. Bhargava, a long-time social justice leader, brings more than 25 years of experience in public policy, campaign building, social justice advocacy, and non-profit management. For 16 years, he served as President and Executive Director of the Center for Community Change, one of the country’s pre-eminent centers for grassroots community organizing in low-income communities of color.

“I am incredibly excited to work with the CUNY SLU students and faculty,” said Mr. Bhargava. “This is a community that is deeply committed to labor rights and community issues, and it is an honor to be able to learn from and work with such talented and committed people. As a long-time non-profit leader and social justice campaigner, I look forward to contributing to this growing community of thinkers and doers, and to helping to develop the people and ideas that will power a new era of social change.”

As a frontline activist, Mr. Bhargava has played a major role in several national efforts to bring about change through collective action. He has strengthened the field of community organizing in the U.S., nurtured the modern immigrant rights movement; helped launch national coalitions to fight for health care reform, reduce poverty and advance immigrant rights; and trained thousands of young leaders and activists.

“Deepak Bhargava brings an immense amount of knowledge and real-world practice to the classroom,” said Gregory Mantsios, Founding Dean of CUNY SLU. “His commitment to uplifting underserved communities exemplifies the CUNY SLU belief that with concerted efforts we can make our City, State and nation a better place for all.”

Mr. Bhargava currently serves on the boards of the Open Society Foundations (US), JPB Foundation, Bauman Foundation, as well as the editorial board of The Nation magazine. He has written extensively about community organizing, public policy related to poverty and economic justice, progressive strategy, civic engagement and racial justice among many other topics.

This coming semester, Mr. Bhargava will lecture both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, teaching courses in “Public Issues” and “Social and Economic Policy in the U.S.”

“We are thrilled to have Mr. Bhargava join the SLU faculty.,” said Steve London, Chair of the Urban Studies Department at CUNY SLU. “Our students will greatly benefit from his years of social justice advocacy, activism, policy expertise, and experience in campaign building and grassroots organizing.  Our faculty looks forward to collaborating with Mr. Bhargava on important research topics such as immigrant rights, and I have no doubt that his contributions to the SLU community will help us fulfill our social justice and workers’ rights mission.”

Steven Attewell, a policy historian whose primary interests are U.S. social and economic policy of the 20th century, teaches Urban Studies majors at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.

In his book, People Must Live by Work, Professor Attewell presents the history of an idea—direct job creation—that transformed the role of government in ameliorating unemployment by hiring the unemployed en masse to prevent widespread destitution in economic crises. For ten years, between 1933 and 1943, direct job creation was put into practice, employing more than eight million Americans and making the federal government the largest single employer in the country. Yet in 2008, when the most dramatic economic crisis since the Depression occurred, the idea of direct job creation was nowhere to be found on the list of policies deemed feasible or advisable for government at any level.

People Must Live by Work traces the rise and fall of direct job creation policy—how it was put into practice, how it came within a hairbreadth of becoming a permanent feature of American economic and social administration, and why it has been largely forgotten or discounted today. Contrary to more conventional arguments, Attewell reveals that the New Deal ended the Great Depression before the United States entered World War II and its jobs programs continued to influence policy debates over the Employment Act of 1946. He examines the deliberations surrounding the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act that was signed into law in 1978 and demonstrates the ways in which direct job creation played a significant and polarizing role in dividing the economic establishment and the Democratic party in the 1970s. People Must Live by Work not only chronicles the ambition, constraints, and achievements of direct job creation policy in the past but also proposes a framework for understanding its enduring significance and promise for today.

The CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies is honored to announce that Professor Steven Attewell has recently published, .

An expert in political economy of cities, public space, and urban transportation, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Professor Kafui Attoh examines the role of urban social movements in shaping mass transit policy. In this paper “Public Transportation and the Idiocy of Urban Life,” he asserts urban transportation’s centrality to debates on ‘the public,’ the ‘right to the city’ and political mobilization in cities.

The Urban Studies Best Article is awarded by the journal’s editors to the author(s) of what they consider to be the most innovative and agenda-setting article published in a given year. Eight articles were shortlisted by the editors from those published in print copy in 2017, including “Public Transportation and the Idiocy of Urban Life” by Professor Attoh.

About Urban Studies: A monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of urban studies, the journal is produced by SAGE Publishing, founded in 1965, in support of the dissemination of usable, innovative, high-quality content and education of a global community. SAGE produces more than 1,000 journals and has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, and Washington DC.

Arthur Cheliotes, President Emeritus of Local 1180, Communications Workers of America AFL-CIO, where he was elected as president 11 times, serving consecutively from 1979 through 2017, is chairman of the Labor Advisory Board of the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.

In recognition of his career-defining role as advocate for U.S. workers, he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from The New York City Council.

He is a respected labor leader and has been a vocal advocate for Worker Education, Pay Equity and the Enforcement of Civil Service Laws. Beginning in the 1980s, his union set up a program under which it paid it paid for the first 24 credits toward a degree pursued by any of its members at the Murphy School for Professional Studies (now known as the CUNY School for Labor and Urban Studies).

Mr. Cheliotes has given particular effort to raising the prospects for female and minority members in achieving parity in pay and promotions, while ensuring on-the-job training and access to higher education.

About the New York City Council: The legislative, lawmaking body of the City of New York with 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs, conducting committee meetings and public hearings on NYC human services, infrastructure, and government affairs.

The United Association for Labor Education (UALE) has recognized Gregory Mantsios, Dean of CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLUS), with the 2018 UALE Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Labor Education Award in recognition of his career as an activist and advocate for the advancement of education in the fields of labor and urban studies.

In 1984, through a collaboration with NYC labor unions to meet the higher education needs of working adults, Mr. Mantsios founded the Murphy Institute, named for the former CUNY Chancellor, a forceful advocate for working people and the labor movement. In 2005, the Murphy Institute moved from Queens College to 25 West 43rd Street in midtown Manhattan under the aegis of CUNY School of Professional Services to better accommodate students across the university system.

In the Spring of 2018, the CUNY Board of Trustees, with endorsement from NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, announced the transformation of The Murphy Institute to the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLUS), naming Mr. Mantsios as Dean.

Mr. Mantsios has served as a higher education officer – first in SUNY and then in CUNY – for over three decades. His tireless work to advance access to higher education for non-traditional students, particularly those from poor and working class backgrounds, has provided thousands of students with new opportunities and, often, subsequent careers in areas of public service. His own educational path – he holds a BA and PhD in sociology and an MA in urban studies – solidified his scholarly interests and activism in the areas of poverty, inequality, labor relations, and education.

In addition to his educational leadership, Mr. Mantsios oversees the SLUS Center for Labor, Community and Policy Studies, a monthly public forum of panels, roundtables, guest speakers, and conferences generating perspective and lively discussion on the current challenges confronting workers and working-class communities. The Center also produces scholarly analysis through publication of the journal, New Labor Forum.

ABOUT UALE: An international organization of labor educators with a mission to promote education as an essential tool in the process of union transformation, to develop new leadership, and to strengthen the field of labor education in order to meet the ever-changing needs of unions and workers.

Gregory Mantsios, founder and director of the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS), was recognized by City & State New York with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award for Labor and Law in ceremonies held earlier this month.

“City & State New York concentrates on our region’s government and politics, and outstanding leaders like Greg Mantsios come to our attention,” explains Tom Allon, president of City & State.   “We are honored to present him with the CSR Award for Labor & Law in recognition of his dedication and commitment to the well-being of New Yorkers, to education, and his demonstrated regard for human rights, labor, and community.”

In 1984, through a collaboration with NYC labor unions to meet the higher education needs of working adults, Mantsios founded the Murphy Institute, named for the former CUNY Chancellor, a forceful advocate for working people and the labor movement.  In 2005, the Murphy Institute moved from Queens College to midtown Manhattan under the aegis of CUNY SPS to better accommodate students across the university system.  Today, the Murphy Institute offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as certificate programs, and academic internships in Labor Studies and Urban Studies, to over 1,500 students.

Mantsios has served as a higher education officer – first in SUNY and then in CUNY – for over three decades.  His tireless work to advance access to higher education for non-traditional students, particularly those from poor and working class backgrounds, has provided thousands of students with new opportunities and, often, subsequent careers in areas of public service. His own educational path – he holds a BA and PhD in sociology and an MA in urban studies – solidified his scholarly interests and activism in the areas of poverty, inequality, labor relations, and education.

Under his direction, the Murphy Institute’s Center for Labor, Community, and Policy Studies has become a leading voice for scholarly analysis of the current challenges confronting workers and working-class communities through its journal, New Labor Forum, and through its monthly forums and conferences.

City & State New York is the only media company devoted solely to covering government and politics in New York. Formed from the merger of City Hall and The Capitol newspapers in 2012, City & State provides insightful and detailed coverage of the politics, the policies and the influential individuals and organizations all over New York.  The City & State CSR program showcases New York business leaders for their outstanding work and contributions.