April 17, 2024

UUP took a decisive step forward at the 2024 Spring Delegate Assembly, with delegates voting on two significant changes that will help move the union into a stronger profile, both statewide and nationally.

Delegates to the DA, held April 12 and April 13 in Saratoga Springs, unanimously voted for UUP to formally affiliate with Higher Education Labor United, a national coalition of higher education faculty that includes professionals, academics, contingents and tenured faculty, at settings ranging from community colleges to university centers. HELU formed during the coronavirus pandemic, and UUP has been involved with it since the coalition’s inception.

Delegates also endorsed the creation of the Ad Hoc Constitutional Reform Committee, which would investigate the possibility of UUP organizing and incorporating new bargaining units beyond the scope of its existing bargaining unit.

Growing UUP

In his address to the delegates, UUP President Fred Kowal set the stage for the coming changes—which are occurring as UUP celebrates its 50th anniversary—and he struck a note of optimism about UUP’s future.

“We are on the march, and we are going to win every fight we are engaged in,” he told the nearly 300 members from around the state. “I am proud to tell you that the state of our union is strong and growing ever stronger. Our time is now.”

The DA comes at a time of tremendous challenges for UUP, which continues to fight SUNY’s ill-conceived plan to close Downstate University Hospital. A coalition of community organizations, faith leaders, hospital workers and labor have come together to battle SUNY’s plan, which was launched in January without any input from the Brooklyn community.

UUP is also working to protect members at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Fredonia, which SUNY has targeted for program and staff cuts.

All the more reason for UUP to increase its mission and its strength, Kowal told delegates.

As president, Kowal can create ad hoc committees. But in addressing the resolution on the Ad Hoc Constitutional Reform Committee, Kowal said he wanted a formal resolution on the measure so the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly would have a say in the creation of the committee.

“I can appoint an ad hoc committee at any time, but I thought it was important for the delegates to speak on this,” he said.

And speak they did.

“This could create the most important change to UUP in decades,” said Tom Melendy, president of the Buffalo HSC Chapter and an Executive Board member.

“We have 50 years of improving this union,” said Alissa Karl, statewide vice president for academics, in addressing the Constitutional Reform resolution. “We are well poised to expand and grow. This will bring us into the expansion and growth that HELU represents.”

“I’ve mentioned for years the need for our union to organize and expand,” said Andrew Solar-Greco, president of the Stony Brook Chapter.

The resolution asks the Ad Hoc Constitutional Reform Committee to develop recommended changes to the UUP Constitution for consideration by the UUP Fall 2025 Delegate Assembly.

Elections

Also at the DA, delegates elected two statewide vice presidents and six statewide Executive Board members.

Incumbents Carolyn Kube and Alissa Karl were reelected to three-year terms as vice president for professionals and vice president for academics, respectively. Karl defeated challenger Rob Compton, the Oneonta Chapter president. Kube ran unopposed.

Delegates elected Cortland Chapter President Jaclyn Pittsley to serve out the remainder of the Executive Board seat originally held by Benita Roth, a Binghamton Chapter member who died in May 2023. Per the delegates’ vote, Pittsley will then step into her own three-year term June 1 as the board’s academic contingent representative.

Kathleen “Kat” Kielar, the Buffalo HSC Chapter vice president for professionals, was elected to her first term on the board.

Delhi Chapter President Kelly Keck, Buffalo HSC Chapter President Tom Melendy, Buffalo Center Vice President for Academics Lisa Marie Anselmi and Fredonia Chapter member Idalia Torres were reelected to the board.

Recognizing service and a UUP friend

Binghamton Chapter President Brendan McGovern received the UUP Judith Wishnia Award. The award is named for Wishnia, a retired Stony Brook member, and honors exceptional service to UUP, the labor movement, humanity and the concept of equity.

UUP presented state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli with the Friend of UUP Award, in recognition of his advocacy for the labor movement and for public higher education.

Statewide Membership Development Officer Patrick Romain recognized five members for 50 years of service to UUP: former UUP President Nuala McGann Drescher of Buffalo State, Tom Matthews of Geneseo, Jo Schaffer of Cortland, Glenn McNitt of New Paltz and Loraine Tyler of Oneonta.

Albany Chapter President Paul Stasi introduced a resolution from the floor honoring longtime Albany Chapter member and disability rights activist Sally Knapp, who died Nov. 28, 2023. A recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship, Knapp served for years as a delegate.

She was instrumental in the formation of disability rights and concerns committees at the chapter and statewide levels, and she co-chaired the statewide committee. Knapp called out SUNY in a 2004 report for its inadequate compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Delegates unanimously approved the resolution.

Delegates unanimously approved a 2024-2025 budget at the DA. They also approved resolutions to:

• Change the name of Empire State College to Empire State in the UUP Constitution;
• Adjust per-diem rates in the UUP Fiscal Policy Manual per General Services Administration guidelines;
• Save Downstate Health Sciences University; and
• Resist the New York State Education Department’s proposal to change teacher certification requirements.

UUP interns Katie Moreno and Vince Gasparini contributed to this story.