Author: Derrick

Dear Chapter Leadership and Members,

One of our most popular workshops has been the Pre-Retirement Workshop and with the use of online tools we are now capable of doing them statewide.  We are trying a new format of splitting the 1 ½ – 2 hour workshop into two 1 hour sessions, which will give many of our members the chance to attend at lunchtime.  Campus workshops will still be available if needed and chapter leadership can still set them up with Walter Apple.  We are encouraging all new and long time members to attend these workshops as the retirement benefits that we negotiated over the years are excellent and we need our members to realize that in order to maintain them we need a strong organized union. We plan on doing these workshops every month if the response is good and if you miss one or have questions that you didn’t ask, you will have another chance to do so.  Please distribute as widely as possible,  the link to sign up for the workshops is below and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

In Solidarity,

Tom Hoey
UUP Statewide Membership Development Officer

Colleagues,

As campuses are reopening across the state, UUP has planned regional tele-town hall virtual membership meetings to hear directly from members about their experiences with the reopening process and other COVID-19 related concerns. The regional tele-town halls will provide an overview of the political and economic landscape related to public higher education, as well as an opportunity to hear about the progress that we have achieved together through coordinated member, chapter, and statewide actions to address COVID-19 reopening issues. While the meeting will begin with a brief presentation, the majority of the virtual meeting will be driven by the participants. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and share additional concerns that may need to be addressed by UUP at the chapter and/or statewide level.

The regional meetings will begin at noon and take place over a two-week period beginning the week of September 15. The campuses have been divided up into six regions, as the questions and answers may differ based on the region that the campus is located within. If you are a member at Empire State College, please sign up for the region closest to your location.

The tele-town halls will take place on the following days at noon:

·         September 15 – Western NY (Alfred, Brockport, Buffalo Center, Buffalo HSC, Buffalo State, Fredonia, & Geneseo)

·         September 16 – Capital District (Albany, Cobleskill, Polytechnic Institute, & System Admin.)

·         September 17 – Central NY (Binghamton, Cortland, Delhi, ESF, Morrisville, Oneonta, & Upstate Medical University)

·         September 22 – Long Island (Farmingdale, Old Westbury, Stony Brook, & Stony Brook HSC)

·         September 23 – Hudson Valley/Metro-Downstate (Downstate Medical Center, Maritime, New Paltz, Optometry, & Purchase)

·         September 24 – North Country (Canton, Oswego, Plattsburgh, & Potsdam)

We will always be stronger when we are engaging one another and advocating together for our common future. I encourage you to join your colleagues and participate on the tele-town hall for your region by registering here. Information on how to log-in to the event will be sent to registrants the week of the tele-town hall. Log-in information is individualized. Please share information about the tele-town halls as widely as possible. To assist in sharing the information please find a flier attached (pdf and image

UUP is standing strong in the face of the greatest challenges we’ve ever encountered. I’m looking forward to hearing from as many of our union siblings as possible as we continue to fight for safe, healthy communities and a better SUNY for all!

In solidarity,
Fred

Colleagues,

UUP will be joining our coalition partners in NY Renews for the virtual rally launch of the Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery campaign on August 19^th.

UUP is a long-time coalition member of NY Renews, and we have worked together to fight for environmental justice across New York. Most recently, we celebrated the passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act last year. UUP member advocacy was essential to getting that important legislation passed.

Our current public health crisis, financial crisis and social justice crisis are all deeply linked to our climate crisis. It is more urgent than ever that NY State invest in its communities, create green jobs, transition to 100% renewable energy, and make polluters pay to provide for a decent, just recovery and a transition to an economy that works for all.

I encourage you join us for the Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery campaign launch virtual rally on August 19^th at 12 pm. I will be speaking alongside other climate activists about the importance of environmental justice for our communities. You can register for the event here.

Please share this information with your colleagues. NY Renews has also compiled a rally toolkit that includes sample social media posts/graphics and emails.

In solidarity,

Fred

As you know, members who are diagnosed with COVID-19 who believe their infection was due to work related exposure should be encouraged to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. At this time, potential long term effects of COVID 19 are unknown. Given this, it important that our members protect their rights to medical care and wage replacement through New York’s Workers’ Compensation system. Documenting on-the-job exposure to COVID 19 now can prove critical to protecting their rights to receive Workers Compensation benefits in the future.

Members who are exposed to COVID-19 at work should be encouraged to: document the exposure; report the exposure by following their campus process for filing an accident or incident report; report the exposure to the state Accident Reporting System; and, if they become ill, file a Workers’ Compensation claim. To assist members in this effort, we have prepared an information flyer on Workers’ Compensation and COVID 19 and a COVID-19 Exposure Tracking Form which members can use to create a written record of their exposure. Both the flyer and the tracking form are posted on the COVID 19 Resources page on the UUP website at https://uupinfo.org/resources/covid19/
UUP COVID-19 Resources Page
*Commit to Participate in Action: For the Health & Safety of Our Communities ; UUP Question Portal-Direct link to UUP officers regarding your COVID-19 questions and concerns.; Know Your Rights-Reasonable Accomodations FAQ -July 17, 2020; Workers Compensation and COVID-19 -July 2, 2020; UUP Member COVID-19 Exposure Tracking Form -July 2, 2020; Higher Education Detailed Guidelines -June 22, 2020
uupinfo.org

In solidarity,
Fred

To date, we have held statewide webinars to discuss campus reopening issues and other concerns for the four employee groups listed below. During these webinars, UUP members were able to address questions to me and other statewide officers, learn from each other about common challenges across campuses, and consider ways to work together to address pressing issues related to the COVID-19 crisis. Participants received notes from the discussions and we continue to help facilitate connecting colleagues to each other and to their chapter leaders for follow-up.

We began this webinar series in response to requests and suggestions from members at various campuses. Based on participation (more than 100 members at each webinar) and feedback from participants after the webinars, we believe it could be very helpful to provide similar opportunities to other employee groups — or to hold additional webinars with those groups we’ve already met virtually with.

Please submit suggestions for additional employee group webinars via our COVID-19 comment/question portal at this link: https://uupinfo.org/resources/covid19/index.php#Portal

UUP Employee Group Webinars to date
Residence Life – June 17
Student Health Services and Counseling Services – June 24
Academic Department Chairs – June 25
Academic Librarians and Library Professionals – July 13

In solidarity,
Fred

Dear Members,

If you are considering retiring in the next few years you should attend the UUP Pre-retirement seminar. This session was well attended in June and is in response to a request for those that may have missed it. It is scheduled for Friday 7/24/20 from 12:30-2:00 PM via the Microsoft Teams Meeting Link Below. It is being hosted in conjunction with and by the Empire State College UUP Chapter.

Here is the link:
Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MjNiMmU0MDYtNDUxYS00ZTJiLTkxOTctNzhiMmQ3OGE4OGVk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2250091132-5464-4f69-98c6-d089ea5e875c%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%224b98f64c-4f7b-4ee5-970e-ada8dbb51969%22%7d

An important note is that past retirees from Cobleskill recommend that if you are within 5 years of retiring you should attend this session to learn some of the vast important content and considerations. Numerous retirees have said they found it helpful to attend this presentation more than once as they approached retirement.

Topics include:
• State Retirement System
• Retiree Health Care Plan
• Medicare coverage
• UUP Retiree Membership
• Dental and Vision coverage options for Retirees and more…

Please RSVP to Wtusang@uupmail.org if you plan to attend.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bill Tusang
UUP Cobleskill