Dear Colleagues,
I am proud to introduce to you Ryan Taughrin as your UUP Buffalo Center Chapter’s Outreach Officer. While we are looking forward to Ryan’s work in the Fall to help get out the vote for candidates that support SUNY, there is an immediate effort for your support.
Through an active advocacy Program, UUP was quite successful in achieving some of our major goals in this year’s state budget. Foremost among these successes, is of course, the Legislature’s rejection of SUNY’s plan to close Downstate. But we also were able to garner more operating funds for the campuses where we work. Including:
- Securing additional $114 million in new operating aid to state-operated SUNY campuses. This funding is in addition to the recurring&163 million increase that UUP’s advocacy secured last year.
- Securing $53 million for hiring full-time faculty at SUNY state-operated campuses.
- An increase of $5.1 million to cover the TAP gap for a total of $54.7 million.
- First step changes to Tier 6 with regards to final average calculations for pensions.
- Establishing Paid Prenatal Leave.
- Eliminating the Lag Payroll Salary Withholding Program.
If these issues matter to you, please sign up to contribute to your UUP’s VOTE Cope Program. Your donation will not only help efforts within the Buffalo Chapter, but neighboring SUNY campuses as well. You can sign up for the Program at UUP Vote Cope Form (uupinfo.org).
In addition, your UUP Buffalo Center Chapter is making a Call Out to anyone interested in being a part of the Chapter’s Outreach Committee. If you are interested or would like to learn more about the Chapter’s Outreach efforts, you can reply here. Ryan will lead the Outreach committee, starting this fall, in planning advocacy and political action efforts to bring visibility to issues that matter to our membership and to our union.
In Solidarity,
Ken Kern
Chapter President
UUP Buffalo Center