UUP, state to exchange proposals Feb. 14

UUP members around the state have spoken, and the Negotiations Team has listened. Now the many good ideas that came out of last fall’s campus visits will be put to action.

UUP is scheduled to exchange contract proposals with the state Feb. 14 at a meeting in Albany. UUP members can be assured that their voices have been heard and that their concerns will be carried to the table by their representatives on the Negotiations Team.

The upcoming exchange will be a critical next step in a negotiations model that UUP President William Scheuerman and Vice President for Academics and Chief Negotiator Phillip Smith have described as open and inclusive.

The message is: In this negotiations process, the voices of the members are heard, and they count.

The UUP model for negotiations consists of three distinct, but related, groups of volunteers: the Negotiations Team, the Negotiations Committee and the Ad Hoc Negotiations Committee. The 19-member Negotiations Team, appointed by and answerable to Scheuerman, represents UUP at the bargaining table and is responsible for negotiating the contract with the state of New York. As the union’s chief negotiator, Smith is the leader and spokesperson for the team.

The 35-member Negotiations Committee, also appointed by Scheuerman, has a representative from each chapter and reflects the approximate whole-number ratio of academics and professionals in the bargaining unit. The committee also includes one part-time academic and one part-time professional.

The committee is charged with preparing proposals for negotiations and submitting the tentative agreement to the membership for ratification.

The Ad Hoc Negotiations Committee is made up of one professional and one academic member from each chapter, and focuses on issues specific to individual campuses.

Throughout the fall, the Negotiations Team visited 32 SUNY campuses and held open forums in which members asked questions and discussed the issues most important to them.

Team and committee members listened and took note. At the UUP Fall Delegate Assembly, they got additional input from delegates.

And, as team and committee members listened, UUPers were providing additional, valuable input through a survey that invited them to offer their opinions on a number of key issues, and to also rank their top concerns.

With the visits, the survey and the Delegate Assembly complete, members of the team and committee gathered to review the survey results, read the comments from members on the surveys and other correspondence, and begin forming a package of proposals.

They’ve been spending the last few weeks preparing specific language and final proposals. Now, with the exchange of proposals quickly approaching, UUP team members are gearing up for the next, all-important stage.

Regular meetings will be scheduled throughout the winter and spring to achieve a new contract. The current contract will expire July 1.

The Negotiations Team hopes to present a proposed agreement to the Negotiations Committee in late spring or early summer. The committee will then make a recommendation on ratification to the membership. Copies of the proposed agreement will be mailed to members, and each member will have an opportunity to approve or disapprove the proposal.

Smith has pledged that the Negotiations Team will adhere to the goal expressed by Scheuerman: a work environment at SUNY that supports academic and professional faculty, helps academic freedom flourish and addresses workplace issues that will keep SUNY strong and growing.

— Darryl McGrath