After lengthy Negotiations Team meetings May 2-3, UUP met with state negotiators Friday, May 4.

The UUP Team presented a comprehensive response to the state’s last proposal, which was given to the union during an April 12 negotiations session.

The May 4 discussion focused on major monetary items, but no final decisions were made. UUP expects to receive a full response from the state at a negotiations session scheduled for May 16.

UUP and the state have reached mutual understanding on many contract items, but all items remain to be finalized in the context of an overall agreement.

Major monetary issues remain unresolved at this time.

In addition to May 16, negotiations sessions are scheduled during the last two weeks of May.

The UUP Negotiations Team spent April 12 and 13 in intensive discussions with state negotiators.

On April 12, UUP received the state’s response to the comprehensive counterproposal it presented March 22.

Over the course of the two-day negotiations session, mutual understandings were reached on many nonmonetary items on the table. As the proposal/counterproposal process continues, UUP will continue to press for a fair and equitable compensation package. An acceptable agreement has not been reached on major monetary items.

The next negotiations sessions are scheduled for May 3 and 4. Over the next two weeks, UUP and state negotiators will work on details and potential contract language to clarify items on which mutual understandings have been reached.

All contract items will be finalized in the context of an overall agreement.

While the Benefit Trust Fund Trustees hoped the adjustment for the grade point average requirement would solve the problems of funding the scholarship, that is not the case. After review of the fund’s financial status, the Trustees agreed the UUP Benefit Trust Fund will suspend its

As you know, the UUP contract expired on July 1, 2011. The monies funding the Benefit Trust Fund Scholarship Program ended with the expiration of our contract.

While the Benefit Trust Fund Trustees hoped the adjustment for the grade point average requirement would solve the problems of funding the scholarship, that is not the case. After review of the fund’s financial status, the Trustees agreed the UUP Benefit Trust Fund will suspend its Scholarship Program at the conclusion of the Spring 2012 academic semester.

It is our hope that we are able to reinstate the program, should State monies become available in the future.

If you have any questions, please contact the UUP Benefit Trust Fund at 800-887-3863.

While progress has been made toward reaching agreement on some contract issues on the table, critical items remain unresolved. The governor’s demand for uniformity across all state employee union contracts presents particular problems for UUP, given the diverse make-up of our bargaining unit and the particular circumstances of employment at SUNY institutions.

UUP represents part-time and full-time professionals and academics. Salary levels and other terms and conditions of employment vary considerably across our bargaining unit, with unique circumstances at different types of SUNY institutions—hospitals, technical and comprehensive colleges, university centers, and specialized institutions.

While the state continues to demand substantial givebacks modeled on the situation of other state employee unions, UUP’s Negotiations Team will continue to press for a contract that is fair and reasonable given the circumstances of our bargaining unit.

The next negotiations session is scheduled for March 23.

Wow, what a Delegate Assembly!  There were six constitutional amendments on the agenda about contingent employees.  Five out of the six were approved, and the one that was not approved was referred to the state-wide Executive Board because we ran out of time.  What are the amendments about?  How will things change because of the amendments?

 Importantly, “contingent” has become a category of membership and contingent membership now extends throughout the membership year.  UUP now recognizes that members are either academic or professional, and that some members are contingent as well.  Contingent members are all part-time employees and any full-time employee who is not eligible for continuing appointment (tenure) or permanent employment.  The fact that membership is for the entire year is important because part-time members who were not renewed in the spring used to be dropped as UUP members.  This meant that UUP was dropping its most vulnerable members at a time when these people needed us most! 

Why is this category of contingent membership so important?  Thousands of UUP members are working in contingent positions.  And thousands have been frustrated by the terms and conditions of their employment.  Part-time contingent members have been pushing for changes within the union because the vast majority of part-time employees working in SUNY are paid a paltry wage and some are living in poverty.   In particular, the starting salary for part-time academics at Oswego is $2,604.  This salary has not changed since fall 2008, despite increases in the cost of living.   Full-time contingent members have been pushing for changes within the union because many have been working for SUNY for decades.  Regardless of how hard they work or how much they are admired by their students and/or colleagues, they have had little hope for a chance at continuing appointment or permanent employment.

The constitutional changes that we made at the fall 2011 Delegate Assembly will give the contingent members of UUP a greater role within the union. 

First, beginning with the spring 2013 elections, we will have an Officer for Contingents.  This position is intended to replace the Part-time Concerns Representative.  The Officer for Contingents will be elected by all members of the chapter, as was the case with the Part-time Concerns Representative. 

Second, we now have the Contingent Employment Committee.  This state-wide committee is intended to replace the Part-time Concerns Committee, and will be comprised of all the chapter Officers for Contingents as well as those individuals who have been appointed by the President of UUP.

Third, we now have a guaranteed seat on the state-wide Executive Board.  

I believe that the constitutional changes that we put in place at the Fall Delegate Assembly will help us improve the terms and conditions of employment for those UUP members who have not had the advantages of continuing appointment.   I hope you will join me in celebrating these changes!

Through the October meetings, UUP’s negotiators presented the state with explanations of member concerns and experiences related to all areas covered by our contract. Health benefits were a focal point of much discussion during these sessions.

While no agreements have been reached on any contract items, UUP continues to move forward with a planned sequence of discussions aimed at reaching a fair and equitable contract. Monetary and non-monetary items are being presented as essential to a final overall agreement.

UUP and the state are scheduled to meet again on November 10 and 11.

Additional updates will be posted on the UUP website ( www.uupinfo.org ) as negotiations develop. Feel free to contact Chief Negotiator Jamie Dangler at contract@uupmail.org for further information or to submit questions or comments.

Whereas both Republican and Democratic officeholders and candidates have failed to check excessive corporate power resulting in damage to every aspect of our lives; perverting democracy by depriving the public of real alternatives and damaging care provided to children, the sick and the elderly, our food supply and literally the air we breathe; and

Whereas Supreme Court decisions, by treating corporations as if they were persons and allowing them unlimited corporate spending to further corrupt the political process, has provided legitimation for the continuation and exacerbation of these abuses; and

Whereas corporations routinely move capital to avoid taxation while simultaneously moving labor to avoid paying living wages, holding people and sovereignty alike hostage; and

Whereas Wall Street has adopted principles and practices responsible for driving and extending a cycle of crisis; and

Whereas the austerity measures adopted to respond to the resulting crisis are, in fact, designed to protect the institutions that have perpetrated it; and

Whereas these austerity measures have seriously damaged the American educational system by laying off tens of thousands of teachers, reducing student access to higher education, eliminating not only numerous individual course sections but entire programs and even attacking the fundamental right of public employees to collectively bargain the terms and conditions of their employment; and

Whereas this cycle of crisis will especially affect the future of young people and, among them, our students who, in their commitment to higher education, will carry debt for decades to come, therefore, be it

Resolved that the SUNY Oswego chapter of the United University Professions supports the movement to Occupy Wall Street, manifest in the streets of cities across America, and its demand for real democracy as well as its denunciation of the effects of current unfair and harmful economic policies on the conditions of life for millions of people around the world.

Phillip Smith, UUP Statewide President, will be available to answer questions regarding contract negotiations.

Other NYS employee unions have been engaged in contract discussions as well. CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association), which represents 66,000 state employees, recently ratified a new contract. In a ratification vote announced on September 27, the members of PEF (Public Employee Federation), which represents 56,000 state employees, rejected a contract with compensation, health benefits, and furlough provisions similar to those accepted by CSEA.

The PBA of NYS (Police Benevolent Association), which recently replaced Council 82 as the collective bargaining unit for 1,100 Forest Rangers and University, Park, and Environmental Police, has begun contract talks. A tentative agreement accepted by the former Council 82 was voted down by the membership and a decertification vote led to the replacement of Council 82 with the new PBA. NYSCOPBA (New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association), which represents over 23,000 state employees, will also be negotiating a new contract.

It’s important for UUP members to keep in mind that no group of state employees is exactly alike and each union negotiates its own contract.

As contract talks continue, please be wary of anything about the UUP contract that is presented in the press or discussed on campus. No one but UUP’s Negotiations Team and President Phil Smith knows what’s going on at the table. Details are not released to the public so anything you hear is purely speculation. Nothing is final until a tentative agreement on the entire contract is reached.

Periodic negotiations updates will be posted under “2011 Negotiations Information” on the home page of the UUP website ( www.uupinfo.org ). UUP’s full package of contract proposals is also available at that site.

UUP’s 16-member Negotiations Team will meet with the state to negotiate a new contract to replace the 2007-2011 Agreement between the State of New York and UUP, which expired July 1, 2011.

An official exchange of contract proposals will be among the first steps taken at the start of contract talks. Once the state has received UUP’s proposals, they will be published in The Voice and posted on the UUP website.

As negotiations proceed, provisions in the 2007-11 Agreement will remain in effect. Under the Triborough Amendment to the Public Employees Fair Employment Act (the “Taylor Law”), all contract articles in the expired agreement continue until a new agreement is negotiated, execpt for provisions that end (”sunset”) upon expiration of the contract.

Members will continue to recieve their current salaries. There will be no across the-board salary increases until there is a new contract, but another round of Discretionary Salary Increases (DSI) will be distributed by Dec. 31, 2011. Existing health, vision and dental benefits will continue at their current levels.

As negotiations proceed, UUP members will be kept informed through regular website postings, mailings form President Phil Smith, and articles in The Voice. Periodic updates and other information will be sent to chapter presidents for distribution via chapter websites, newsletters, fliers, and meetings.

Members are encouraged to periodically check the UUP website ( www.uupinfo.org ) for postings at the “2011 Negotiations Information” link under Latest Information on the right hand side of the home page.

Feel free to contact UUP Chief Negotiator Jamie Dangler at contract@uupmail.org for further information or to submit questions or comments.

The coalition of community groups, unions,
and faith-based organizations that organized the
solidarity rally at Syracuse China
invites you to come together
at
Dr. King Elementary
416 E Raynor Ave
in Syracuse, on 4/4, at 5:30 p.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AobXsiA6xg  

In the spirit of Dr. King who was assassinated in Memphis on the day he stood in solidarity with 1,300 striking sanitation workers, we send this message: without economic justice, there can be no civil rights. 

In a region already devastated by the loss of middle-class jobs and by the subsequent rise of low-wage service and retail jobs, many workers and communities are struggling to make ends meet. Housing is falling apart, emergency food lines are too long, and job training is disappearing. Many agree the way out of this crisis is education, but from kindergarten to college, schools are losing classes, teachers, and the power to make a difference. At the same time, the wealthiest Americans thrive. 

We come together on April 4th, as ONE, to say, “ENOUGH!”

Please contact Maureen Curtin with any questions at maureen.curtin@oswego.edu

Thursday, March 31st
4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
at the
McCrobie Building
41 Lake Street, Oswego NY 13126

in Albany and Syracuse 

***

FIRST 

UUP, along with, NYPIRG, PSC, and

SUNY/CUNY student associations

 Invite you to

 Attend Public Higher Education Day

at the Capitol 

9-10:30 – Register and light breakfast

Westerminster Presbyterian Church

85 Chestnut Street in Albany

 10:30-11:15 – Briefing/Speakers

 11:30-2:30 Meetings with Legislators

 2:30 March to Capitol Steps for Media Event

 To arrange transportation, call Michelle Carter at

800-342-4206 x628

in the UUP Legislation Department

 **** 

LATER the same day, 3/15, at 6pm

 Join NYSUT Rally

in Downtown Syracuse 

“Save Our Schools, Save Our State” 

State Office Building

333 East Washington Street 

For questions about either rally, email Maureen Curtin at maureen.curtin@oswego.edu

 Thurs. March 3
5:00-6:00pm
At the Syracuse China factory
2801 Court Street

Stand in solidarity with the Wisconsin workers!

Stand up for working people’s power, and against budget cuts!

 From Wisconsin to New York, it’s open season on working and poor people. Collective bargaining rights, pensions, education, health care and basic social services are being attacked by the right. What is happening in Madison right now is a battleground for what is proving to be a nationwide trend.

 Big business and the media are trying to blame union workers for this economic crisis, in an effort to pit public workers against private workers, and students and parents against teachers. Join us in Syracuse as we stand in unity with all working and poor people and follow the lead of the workers in Wisconsin.

Be sure to scroll down through the whole document.

Your Ad Hoc Advisory Committee representatives will review them and carry them forward to our state-wide meeting on December 9.

Do not forget to also submit your opinions and ideas in the Member Suggestion form and the Member Survey. See the UUP website for more information:
http://www.uupinfo.org/negotiations/

Ad Hoc Advisory Committee Representatives:
Jim Nichols, Academic Representative, jimbcue@gmail.com
Richard Hughes, Professional Representative

If you would rather provide details in some of other manner, or want to hear what be will done with your contribution, enter your preferred contact information in the space provided through the contract concerns form link above . This information will only be seen by your representatives and used only for following up on your submission.

Refreshments will be served.

Input Form Link

• Annual salaried employees receive a 4% increase of their 7/1/10 salary rounded to the nearest dollar.
• Hourly, biweekly and fee employees receive a 4% increase of their 7/1/10 salary rounded to the nearest cent.

Full article here.

Full article here.