Legal Status

The PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund (“Fund”) is a trust established under New York State law. It is the product of a Trust Indenture and a Tripartite Agreement among the City University of New York (“CUNY”), the Professional Staff Congress (“PSC”), and the Fund. The PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund is a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association (VEBA) which is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(9) by the United States Internal Revenue Code. The Fund is a supplemental union welfare plan. It is a single-employer, public sector fund. As such, it is not governed by ERISA and it is exempt from certain DOL filings.

The PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund is governed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with a set of by-laws which is reviewed and amended from time to time. The Board is presently comprised of nine union-appointed trustees and two CUNY-appointed management trustees. The Fund provides benefits that are supplemental to the basic City/ CUNY provided hospitalization and medical insurance coverage.

The Fund provides a package of supplemental benefits to the instructional staff of the University, whether active, on leave or retired (and in certain instances, members of their families, dependents and survivors).Teaching and non-teaching adjuncts who are eligible according to the collective bargaining agreements between the PSC and CUNY are plan participants. The Fund also covers specific titles outside the scope of the PSC bargaining unit; full-time instructional staff excluded from the unit, those on the Executive Compensation Plan, certain supervisory staff associated with Buildings and Grounds and the University Chief Engineer.

The package of benefits is determined by the Board of Trustees, consistent with terms of the contract and in consideration of expenses, contributions and other income.