Month: February 2015

Dear Colleagues:

UUP is having its annual joint Chapter Presidents Retreat and New Union and Labor Activists Workshops (formerly know as the New Leaders Workshops) on March 20-22, 2015 at the Otesaga in Cooperstown, NY. The workshops/retreat will begin at 5:00 PM on Friday, March 20th and will conclude on Sunday, March 22nd at 1:00 PM.

We need your help to find new members who would benefit from the workshops. This year we are redoubling our efforts to recruit members who have not attended the workshops in the past and want to become involved or those who might be interested in additional activist training.

In Solidarity,
Fred

Dear Colleagues,

We are done playing nice.

That’s why the cover of the latest issue of The Voice has a one-word title: Wrong.

In his Executive Budget, Gov. Cuomo seems to be pulling out the stops to undermine SUNY and the good work that our hard-working, dedicated members do to provide an accessible, quality education to New York’s students and the life-saving health care they provide at SUNY’s public hospitals.

The governor’s so-called “Opportunity Agenda” is an opportunity only for profiteers and corporations who would benefit from schemes that would have SUNY become little more than a trade school with a ready supply of trained workers.

Simply put, SUNY is under attack.

Our teacher preparation programs are at risk of being shut down. A miniscule 1 percent increase for SUNY is tied to a skewed proposed performance-based funding system would pit campuses against each other to fight for what little aid the state is offering to SUNY.

Once again, the governor has proposed to cut the subsidy to SUNY’s state-run hospitals, this time by more than 20 percent. He also wants to privatize the hospitals. To boot, he’s budgeted $700 million for a new Brooklyn hospital, but there are no restrictions on how or where it’s built or who does the work. There’s just one man who will control how that money is spent—the governor.

His student debt repayment plan does nothing to help more than 2.8 million New Yorkers struggling to pay more than $70 billion in debt. And to add insult to injury, there are bonuses for college presidents who attract new businesses to campus through START-UP NY.

We’ve had enough. And we’ve got a better plan, which you can read about in this issue of The Voice.

Please tell your members to read The Voice, which is available on the UUP website, at http://www.uupinfo.org. It should be in their mailboxes shortly.

And please urge your members to join us for HSC advocacy day on Feb. 25 and Student/Faculty Joint Higher Education Advocacy Day on Feb. 26. Both events are in Albany.

Click here to sign up for HSC advocacy day: http://goo.gl/yTkFMr

Click here to sign up for Student/Faculty Joint Higher Education Advocacy Day:
http://goo.gl/Qdqbrw

Call UUP Legislation at 1-800-342-4206 to get involved and for more information. We need your help to inform and press legislators to reject the governor’s plan and adopt the real opportunity agenda supported by UUP and its coalition partners.

In Solidarity,
Fred

DSCR 2014

Dear Colleagues:

Please be aware that there is a scam email campaign targeting current and former Empire BCBS members asking them to “click here” for credit monitoring.  These e-mails are not from Empire or Anthem. Please see the attached scam alert from Empire Blue Cross.

EmpireCONSUMERALERT

Thanks,
Fred

Dear Colleagues:

There was a data breach at Anthem – the parent of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield (EBCBS), which provides coverage for the Hospital component of the Empire Plan.  Most of the media reports indicate that the breach was the result of a “sophisticated cyber attack”, rather than an internal business failure.

The breach involves Anthem’s entire book of business, including Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Anthem has contacted law enforcement, is working with the FBI, and has retained the cybersecurity firm Mandiant to evaluate its systems and conduct forensic work.  At this time, Anthem has not yet determined which specific enrollees have been affected.

Until proven otherwise, we should anticipate that the breach could impact all Empire Plan and EBCBS HMO members.

Anthem’s Actions:
·         Anthem will notify each current and former member whose information has been accessed;
·         Anthem will provide credit monitoring and identity protection services free of charge to those   who have been affected;
·         Anthem has established a website, www.AnthemFacts.com for members to access information or see FAQs; and
·         Anthem has established a dedicated toll-free phone number (1-877-263-7995) for members to call with questions.

The Department of Civil Service has placed an alert notice on the opening page of its website (http://www.goer.ny.gov/) with directions to the toll-free phone number and website.
I will let you know if additional details become available.

In Solidarity,
Fred

Please click on the link below to see UUP’s latest report on developments pertaining to teacher preparation programs and students.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

http://uupinfo.org/committees/pdf/teached/UUPGovernorTeacherEdFINAL2-1.pdf

Sincerely,
Jamie Dangler
UUP Vice President for Academics
Teacher Education Task Force chair