UUP Cortland Chapter

Dear UUP Cortland Members and Members of the UUP Cortland Bargaining Unit:

The attached letter below was created on August 21, 2021, by concerned members of the bargaining unit and was signed by over 100 members and concerned individuals. It may not reflect current policy, guidance, or any agreements made between UUP leadership and management since its release.

After discussion, the UUP Cortland Chapter Executive Board agreed to distribute this document to members. It has also led to the creation of the UUP Cortland Chapter Executive Board Principles on Re-Opening for Fall 2021, outlined below, based on member concerns expressed therein and through other venues.

UUP Cortland Chapter Executive Board Principles on Re-Opening for Fall 2021:

We, the Executive Board of the Cortland Chapter of UUP, endorse the following principles on the fall 2021 re-opening:

• Adopt universal vaccination for students, save for medical and religious exemptions;
• Expedite bargaining on any executive directives on vaccination between UUP and the Governor’s Office at the statewide level, taking into account member needs and input;
• Expedite liberal approvals for telecommuting for academics and professionals in keeping with the spirit and intent of the new Telecommuting Policy for the fall semester, especially for those with family members who may be unable to be vaccinated;
• Adopt flexible use of videoconferencing for office hours and face-to-face interactions with students;
• Respond quickly and in a transparent manner regarding information about safety in classrooms, residence halls, and other campus spaces;
•  Utilize up-to-date medical guidance to implement best practices for testing, contact tracing, and quarantine and isolation;
• Provide aggregate information on testing and vaccination rates for the campus on a regular, ongoing basis.

We further recognize the statewide and chapter leadership’s ongoing efforts to deal with these issues, and we recommend that the chapter officers share these principles with the college administration and the membership.

In Solidarity,

The Executive Board of Cortland Chapter

United University Professions

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that we have reached agreement with SUNY on an extension of the mandatory surveillance testing agreement which expired yesterday. The new agreement, which is attached, continues through December 31, 2021, and differs from the prior surveillance testing agreement in certain critical ways:

First, the agreement specifically provides that unvaccinated employees — or, more precisely, employees who choose not to voluntarily disclose vaccination status — will be tested on a weekly basis though the fall semester. In contrast, employees who voluntarily provide confirmation that they are fully vaccinated will be exempted from weekly testing. Fully-vaccinated employees may still be subject to less frequent surveillance testing, conducted on a sampling basis to monitor for possible breakthrough infections. The frequency of testing for fully vaccinated employees shall be established at the campus level after consultation with local UUP representatives.

Second, voluntarily disclosed vaccination information must be collected and retained on a confidential basis, in compliance with Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements which limit how medical information that is collected by and employer may be retains and used. Direct line supervisors are not permitted ask the employees they supervise about vaccination status.

Third, the agreement is clarified to recognize that employees who are either isolated or quarantined will be permitted to work from home to the extent possible and if this is not possible will, in the vast majority of cases, be able to stay move without charge to accruals.

The agreement strikes an important balance between continuing frequent surveillance testing of unvaccinated employees in order to rapidly identify employees who may become infected with COVID and significantly relaxing the frequency of testing for fully vaccinated individuals who the science continues to demonstrate are extremely unlikely to be infected with COVID.

The key to making our campuses and our communities safe is for everyone who can to get vaccinated. The vaccine is free, State law provides that employees must be provided with up to four hours paid leave per shot to be vaccinated on work time without charge to accruals. Finally, science continues to demonstrate that the vaccine are safe and effective. Though it is true that the FDA approval is such that the vaccines are still defined as “experimental,” UUP members surveyed have gotten vaccinated at rates approaching 90%. And it is expected that final approval for the vaccines by the FDA is imminent. I urge all UUP-represented employees who have not yet taken the opportunity to get vaccinated to do so as quickly as possible.

At Cortland, UUP is in consoltation with management to determine exactly what the testing process will look like in the fall.

In Solidarity,
Fred

Jaclyn Pittsley
Lecturer IV
English
UUP Cortland Chapter President