Dear Colleagues:

I am happy to report a major legislative win that was spearheaded by your union, UUP, at the end of the legislative session.

UUP’s advocacy has led to the passage in the State Senate and State Assembly of S8389C & A9523B. This legislation will be an incredible benefit for our contingent and adjunct members.

This bill is an amendment to state labor law, giving full-time employment status to public employees who work at least 30 hours per week for the limited purpose of accessing the federal Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

The bill also applies a 3.35x multiplier to contingent faculty’s in-class hours so that hours worked outside of class are more accurately reflected.

Lastly, it will ensure that agencies and employers can transmit requisite paperwork on behalf of workers to the federal government which will help more New Yorkers get their loans forgiven faster.

There is more advocacy work to be done to push Governor Hochul to sign this bill. I hope you can take a moment to send a digital letter to Governor Hochul by clicking HERE.

If you haven’t yet registered for today’s and/or tomorrow’s virtual town halls, you can register here. These town halls will discuss negotiations, proposals, and have a questions and answers segment. They are scheduled for today at 12:00 noon, today at 4:00 pm, tomorrow at noon, and tomorrow at 7:00 pm.

Take a leading role in our campaign for members’ rights and fight for educational justice: Join the Member Organizing Institute. The deadline to apply is June 10, 2022. Register here.

If you are interested in listening to podcasts, UUP now has an official podcast which you can listen to here.

The first episode was released two days ago, and there will be more in the future if you’re interested.