Author: Derrick

Hey, UUP members: you’re getting a raise—thanks to the union’s tenacity at the negotiations table.

Members and SUNY employees represented by UUP are set to receive a 2 percent salary increase for 2019 effective July 1 or Sept. 1, based on whether they work full or part-time and if they are on a calendar or academic year work schedule.

But wait, there’s more.

Eligible UUPers and bargaining unit members will also receive the second half of the retroactive pay owed them by the state in their July 24 paychecks.

The raises and retro pay are guaranteed as part of UUP’s 2016-22 contract with the state—which was negotiated by UUP and approved in September 2018 by a majority of members who voted on the pact. UUP members and represented workers will see a 12.6 percent salary increase over the life of the contract.

“This is what we mean when we talk about being union strong,” said UUP President Fred Kowal. “A strong union gives workers a unified voice at the negotiations table and on the job. Our members work hard for our students and our patients at SUNY, and they deserve the salary and back pay increases that are soon to appear in their paychecks.”

2 percent bump

UUP members who work on a calendar year schedule (pay basis codes ANN and CYF) will find a 2 percent salary increase in their July 24 paychecks.

Members who work and get paid on an academic schedule (pay codes 21P and CYP) will see the pay raise in their Sept. 18 paychecks. Employees who work on an academic schedule but elect to be paid over 12 months (pay code CAL) will see their 2 percent pay bump in their Oct. 2 paychecks.

And those employees who are paid hourly (pay code HRY), biweekly (pay code BIW) and through fees (pay code FEE) will get their raises based on their dates of obligation, according to the Payroll Bulletin issued by the state Comptroller’s Office.

Retro, on-call pay

The retroactive pay is due to elegible bargaining unit members (those who received the first half of retro pay in November 2018) and that worked without raises while the union negotiated its current six-year agreement with the state in 2016 and 2017. The back pay is for 2 percent raises negotiated by UUP for 2016 and 2017.

On-call pay rates will also increase effective July 1. On-call pay rates for upstate will rise to $6 per hour and to $8 for workers in New York City and on Long Island.

CLICK HERE to get detailed information about UUP’s 2016-22 contract with the state.

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, during the most recent round of contract negotiations, we reached an agreement with the State of New York which stipulates that salary compression and inversion – when found to be significant – are to be addressed in a mutually agreed upon process.

Appendix A-41 to the 2016-22 Agreement provides that the guidelines and methodology for analyzing the extent of salary compression and inversion at each campus will be developed in executive-level discussions between UUP, SUNY and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER). The results of these analyses will be utilized in distributing these funds to address identified compression and inversion.

Salary compression occurs when there is little or no difference in pay – but significant differences in skill level, responsibility, qualifications, or seniority.  Salary inversion occurs when salary compression, left unadjusted, results in new hires and less senior employees receiving salaries that are greater than more senior co-workers. Salary compression and inversion arises generally from a combination of factors including market forces disproportionately impacting starting salaries and insufficient pay increases tied to promotion and years of service.

As a result of continuous work since October 2018, state-level negotiations over the final methodology for analyzing salary compression and inversion at each campus and the process for distributing salary adjustments as a result of that analysis, are progressing well. Work will continue through the summer months and we expect to be able to report more details early in the fall semester.  While this work continues, campuses have been instructed by SUNY to begin collecting the employee data (for both academics and professionals) needed to prepare for the salary analysis. They have not been given final instructions for completion of the analysis or for disbursement of the salary adjustments that will follow from that analysis. The state-level Executive Committee will finalize those instructions over the summer.

The 2016-2022 State/UUP Agreement earmarks one-half of the discretionary salary pools (or 0.5% of total UUP bargaining unit basic annual salaries at each campus) in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 for distribution to address salary compression and inversion.  The first of these distributions must occur by December 31, 2019.  (Article 20.8, 20.10, 20.12 and 20.13). This new contract provision covers full-time and part-time Professionals and Academics.

We will keep you posted, to the greatest extent possible, as the process is finalized over the next several months. Lastly – Chapter Presidents – please distribute this message through your chapter membership email distribution lists.

In Solidarity,

Fred Kowal

To prepare for discussions with the state UUP seeks input from Academics and Professionals on SUNY’s new initiative to expand online education. Our objective is to accurately represent concerns about the impacts of online education on terms and conditions of employment, including workload, compensation, intellectual property protection, the need for resources and support systems, involvement of private companies, etc. Please direct colleagues to the following link, which provides background information and access to a new web portal members can use to submit comments and suggestions.

http://uupinfo.org/negotiations/onlineed.php

UUP will discuss online education with SUNY and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations pursuant to Appendix A-13 in our 2016-22 contract, which states the following: “As soon as practicable after a fully executed agreement, appropriate GOER, SUNY, and UUP designees shall meet to discuss and review issues of mutual concern related to the impact of online education initiatives on bargaining unit employees.”

In Solidarity,

Frederick E. Kowal
President

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We just received an update that the commentary will air at 3:50 pm today. Tune in now!

You can listen live as it airs at https://www.wamc.org/, or find a list of stations that carry WAMC at https://www.wamc.org/coverage-map.

You can find a link to the commentary after it airs here: https://www.wamc.org/term/fred-kowal.

Thank you,

Amy Sheldon

Member Communications and Policy Associate

United University Professions

518-640-6627

Dear Chapter Leaders,

Please inform your colleagues that the new UUP Family Leave and Work-Life Services Guide is posted at the link below.

http://uupinfo.org/reports/reportpdf/FLWLSguide2019.pdf

UUP’s 2016-22 contract with NYS contains new family leave provisions, providing members with many options for fully paid, partially paid, and unpaid leave for family care. It covers leave for birth, adoption, foster care placement, sick relative care (including elders), the death of family members, and assisting family members on active military duty.

The Guide also includes information about the following:

• UUP’s newly negotiated “tenure” clock stop provisions for Professionals and Academics following birth, adoption, or foster care placement;
• NYS Work-Life Services programs negotiated by UUP;
• Possibilities for flexible work arrangements;
• Support services and member benefits programs provided by UUP and our affiliates (New York State United Teachers, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association).

UUP has begun conducting Family Leave Workshops at our chapters and will continue to work with chapter leaders to provide information and assistance to our members across the state. Please contact your LRS to schedule a workshop for your chapter’s members.

In Solidarity,

Fred

Colleagues,

UUP President Fred Kowal has recorded a commentary that is set to air on WAMC tomorrow, May 16, at approximately 12:50 p.m. In this commentary, Fred shares how personal loss led him to commit himself and our union to make public higher education a priority for New York like never before.

You can listen live as it airs at https://www.wamc.org/, or find a list of stations that carry WAMC at https://www.wamc.org/coverage-map.

I encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. You can find a link to the commentary after it airs here: https://www.wamc.org/term/fred-kowal.

Please also share this information via your social media pages. I have posted to the UUP statewide pages; please feel free to share that post to your chapter pages.

Thank you,
Amy Sheldon
Member Communications and Policy Associate

United University Professions

518-640-6627

Follow UUP:

Twitter: @uupinfo
Facebook: United University Professions

uupinfo.org

Subject: Need Help Managing Your Student Loan Debt?

Dear Colleagues,

Over 12 million people in the United States are struggling to make their monthly student loan payments, and millions more see economic and personal opportunities pass as they prioritize paying down their debt. Does this sound like you or someone you know?

Many of these people may qualify for free federal programs that can help reduce their monthly payments and eventually lead to student loan forgiveness, but these lifeline programs are significantly under-enrolled. In an effort to help our members get access to these programs, United University Professions and the American Federation of Teachers are proud to host a Student Debt Clinic which will provide information on how to enroll in Income-Driven Repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

We will be offering a Student Debt Clinic on Thursday, May 23, 2019, at SUNY Cobleskill in Warner Hall room 117, from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.

To attend a Student Debt Clinic, you must pre-register here: http://aft.to/StudentDebtClinicRSVP. From the “student debt clinic” drop down menu, please select the UUP clinic that you are interested in attending – they are labeled “UUP [Campus Name] [time] [date].” In the affiliate field, type in the full name of our local (United University Professions), and it will autofill after a few keystrokes.

Registration is first come, first serve, and we must cap attendance for a single clinic at 50 participants in order to ensure that we are able to provide maximum assistance to attendees. [If you can’t make one of these clinics, don’t worry – we’re planning on offering them again./If you want to help host a clinic at your worksite, please let us know!]

Managing your student loan debt is the first step in taking on the inequities which plague our system of higher education, and we look forward to seeing you at the Student Debt Clinic and working together to find a collective solution to the problems of student debt and college affordability!

Register now!

In solidarity,

Message from UUP President Fred Kowal
To UUP Members
April 25, 2019

The 2016-2022 State/UUP Agreement earmarks one-half of the discretionary salary pools (or 0.5% of total UUP bargaining unit basic annual salaries at each campus) in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 for distribution to address salary compression and inversion.  The first of these distributions must occur by December 31, 2019.  (Article 20.8, 20.10, 20.12 and 20.13) 

 Appendix A-41 to the 2016-22 Agreement provides that the guidelines and methodology for analyzing the extent of salary compression and inversion at each campus will be developed in executive-level discussions between UUP, SUNY and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER). The results of these analyses will be utilized in distributing these funds to address identified compression and inversion.

 Since October 2018, UUP has met steadily with SUNY and GOER to develop these guidelines and methodologies. We have made significant progress, but more work remains to be done.

To assure that campuses will not be overwhelmed by the work necessary to complete the salary analyses, SUNY officials recently met with HR representatives from all campuses to brief them on some of the data that must be collected to prepare for the analyses.  Campuses were directed to begin collecting this data.  If you hear about these efforts at your campus, please understand that this data collection effort is the beginning, not the end, of the process, and that statewide executive-level discussions continue.    

We will inform the UUP membership when we reach final agreement on the guidelines and methodology for the salary analyses. We expect work to continue through the spring and summer months, with more details available at the start of the fall 2019 semester.

Salary compression occurs when there is little or no difference in pay – but significant differences in skill level, responsibility, qualifications, or seniority.  Salary inversion occurs when salary compression, left unadjusted, results in new hires and less senior employees receiving salaries that are greater than more senior co-workers. Salary compression arises generally from a combination of factors including market forces disproportionately impacting starting salaries and insufficient pay increases tied to promotion and years of service

2019 Chapter Election Results