The road to ratification: UUP begins its journey for a new agreement with New York state

As a prominent higher education union, UUP stands for — and takes stands about — many important issues facing college employees today, from academic freedom and distance learning to the faculty’s role in university governance. But its primary function is to bargain for the agreement that sets the salary, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment for the 28,000 academic and professional SUNY faculty it represents.

During the summer, while parades and other Labor Day celebrations were planned all across the country to honor working people, UUP labored on a comprehensive process that will lead it to negotiate the next contract with the state of New York on behalf of the union’s bargaining unit.

UUP President William Scheuerman — who is constitutionally responsible for the union’s collective bargaining — set the wheels in motion by appointing Phillip Smith, statewide vice president for academics, as chief negotiator. He also named the rest of the 19-member Negotiations Team, which will confer along the way with its 35 colleagues on the Negotiations Committee.

Scheuerman warned that the road to a new contract will be rough, as New York faces a precarious economic period.

“We’re entering into negotiations in tough times,” Scheuerman said. “The state is experiencing an enormous deficit — the largest budget shortfall in its history — and that is the backdrop for our talks.”

At the same time, “our members deserve fair and equitable treatment,” Scheuerman added. “The state is obliged to recognize UUPers’ contributions to SUNY and to the future of New York state.”

Primed for action during a mid-summer training workshop, UUP’s negotiators are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Work, after all, is what it’s all about.

— Lisa Feldman Reich