Dear Colleagues,
From the start of the pandemic, your UUP Buffalo Center Chapter has regularly interacted with the UB’s Departments of Employee Relations and Environmental Health & Safety regarding air quality issues.
Recent efforts in pursuing those issues led the campus to issue the following article –
https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2021/07/addressing-hvac.html
Despite achieving several small victories, we are aware that air quality concerns will continue to arise … particularly as the Delta Variant continues its march through the population.
Working with our colleagues in UUP’s Buffalo Health Sciences Chapter, we have researched how and when employees might need to utilize personal/office-sized air filtration systems. We have also confirmed that the campus has received state and federal COVID relief funds that can be used to purchase personal/office-sized air filtration systems.
With that knowledge in hand, we approached UB regarding the process employees should utilize if/when they believe they need to utilize a personal/office-sized air filtration system. In short, the request for one of these units should be made to the employee’s direct supervisor. However, it would behoove the requesting employee to describe why the request is being made. What is lacking in the workspace/office that necessitates the use of one of these units? What is it about the employee’s specific circumstances that necessitates the use of one of these units? Providing relevant information should make it easier for the employee’s supervisor to obtain an office-sized air filtration system for their use.
UB’s Department of Employee Relations has confirmed that the requests should be made by employees through their immediate supervisors. Employee Relations has also confirmed that the campus has already purchased a number of these systems for employee use.
If your request for an office-sized air filtration system has been denied, please contact the Chapter as soon as possible.
In Solidarity,
Ken Kern
Chapter President