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