Author: Derrick

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2021

Statement by United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal on priority COVID-19 vaccinations for all SUNY on-campus employees

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our members on the job, which is why UUP fought so diligently to ensure that all employees working in-person on campus be eligible for priority COVID-19 vaccinations. With the governor’s March 9 announcement, that is now the case.

“For months, UUP worked closely with SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras, state legislators and our union colleagues to extend priority vaccinations to include not only in-class faculty and instructors, but all on-campus employees who work with students and the public. Those essential employees include residential life directors, counselors, instructional support staff, librarians, financial aid staff, researchers and other similar positions.

“Last week, I sent a letter to the governor demanding that he grant vaccine eligibility to all on-campus employees. And nearly 4,000 people, most of them UUP members, signed a UUP petition calling on the governor to clear all SUNY employees working on campus for priority vaccinations.

“While we believe this situation should have been resolved months ago, we are grateful that all on-campus workers can be vaccinated effective March 17. Without UUP’s intervention, I am firmly convinced that these dedicated workers would still be ineligible for vaccinations to protect them from COVID-19.

“UUP will always do all it can to protect our members and ensure their safety on the job.”

UUP is the nation’s largest higher education union, with more than 42,000 academic and professional faculty and retirees. UUP members work at 29 New York state-operated campuses, including SUNY’s public teaching hospitals and health sciences centers in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Long Island and Syracuse. It is an affiliate of NYSUT, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the

AFL-CIO.

Dear Colleagues,

Sorry for the short notice, but we have just received information on this NYSUT event that is part of our collective advocacy efforts.

Please join me Monday, Feb. 22 at 6PM on a NYSUT Higher Education Budget Priorities and COVID Impact zoom meeting. During this event legislators will have an opportunity to hear about our budget priorities, our issues, needs and the impact that COVID-19 has had on our members and the communities they serve. Please join me in supporting our public higher education colleagues, especially our UUP members who have been asked to present during this meeting. You can join by registering here. 

In solidarity,
Fred

March Student Debt Clinics UUP

Colleagues,

As we navigate advocacy in a virtual world, one of the tools we have utilized for many years is now more important than ever—social media. Many of our UUP advocates are already sharing UUP’s advocacy materials on social media—thank you for joining us in this important work. To help us increase our impact, we have expanded our current social media toolkit to focus on one area of the HEALS agenda each week. In coordination with Higher Education Advocacy Week with UUP’s coalition partners, this week’s social media theme is the Education section of UUP’s Legislative Agenda.

The toolkit will be updated each week with a new focus and additional sample posts and graphics. You will always find the most up-to-date toolkit here. Posts can be shared on personal or chapter social media pages.

Thank you to everyone who has joined us in advocating for UUP’s HEALS Agenda through advocacy days, virtual conversations with legislators, and sharing information on social media. Every conversation and contact makes a difference.

In solidarity,
Fred

Colleagues,

About a week ago, I announced our goal of connecting at least 10,000 times with our congressional members before Feb. 15 to urge them to approve President Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus plan.

One of those ways is to send an e-letter calling for them to quickly pass Biden’s plan. The link to that letter is HERE.

While we are getting closer to our goal, we still have more work to do.

On Friday, Feb. 5, we invite you to attend a virtual meeting hosted by our Mobilization and Outreach Department. Sessions will be held at noon and 4 p.m. You can sign up to attend one or both of the sessions HERE.

At the meetings, Mobilization and Outreach members will discuss how to use a UUP social media toolkit to make direct connections about the Biden stimulus plan via social media. You can view the toolkit HERE.

The meeting will also focus on ways to talk with other members and get them involved in this initiative.

Chapter leaders, I strongly encourage you to have at least one member of your leadership team at these meetings.

If you are unable to attend the workshops, one-on-one strategy sessions are available. Please contact Mary Becker at mbecker@uupmail.org to setup a session for your chapter.

In solidarity,

UUP President Fred Kowal