Looking forward to celebrating our contract gains as we move into the winter months! Remember, you can always check out our full calendar on our Events page.
November
3rd – Remote Workshop – Contract Update Noon – 1pm – Virtual RSVP BELOW FOR THE ZOOM LINK:
The Human Education, Learning, & Labor Alliance (HELLA) is a budding coalition of students, faculty, staff, and community members associated with Higher Education in New York State committed to critical, multi-faceted discourse about Artificial Intelligence and automation technologies on our campuses and in our communities.
The coalition seeks to promote initiatives to bolster agency in AI and tech use, dialogue and education about the stakes and impacts of AI, and organize for inclusive decision-making around AI’s impacts on our campuses, economy, and environment.
HELLA supports technology that serves people rather than simply being imposed upon them. The coalition believes decisions about AI and automation should reflect the voices of students asked to learn with these systems, the workers asked to use them, and the communities that are asked to tolerate the broader social and environmental consequences.
HELLA seeks to advance human-centered education, dignified labor, democratic governance, and responsible technological development. The coalition resists the uncritical adoption of AI and automation when it undermines learning, deskills developing learners, displaces workers, or removes meaningful human judgment from decisions that affect people’s lives. Instead, it advocates for technologies and policies that expand human capacity and opportunity while keeping people meaningfully in control of the institutions and systems that shape their lives.
Blake Gendebien and Cait Conley, two of our endorsed candidates for Congress, are holding upcoming “Meet the Candidates” zoom sessions. They will discuss the cost of living, protecting good union jobs, and issues affecting working families this Election Day.
I will be joining the zoom session, and I hope you will too.
Election Day—Tuesday, November 3—is only 50 days away. That means we have just seven Saturdays left to shape the outcome of this election. We need to elect statewide leaders—including the Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller—along with members of Congress and the state legislature who will defend public higher education and stand with the labor movement. The 2024 elections showed us that elections have real consequences for our institutions, our values, and our work. After two years of sustained attacks from Washington, now is the time to fightback! We can help shift the balance of power in Congress and strengthen our allies in the state legislature—but only if we take action.
Below are Labor Walks taking place this Saturday, September 19th in the following four regions: Capital District, Long Island, Mid-Hudson/Westchester and Rochester.
Please sign up for one of these Labor Walks. A strong UUP presence at these events will make a meaningful difference, so be sure to wear your red UUP T-shirt. If you need a shirt, email Teresa Swartz at tswartz@uupmail.org with the quantity and sizes you need, and we will send them to you.
Also, be sure to take pictures of UUP members at these events. Send photos to Mike Lisi (mlisi@uupmail.org)and Amy Sheldon(asheldon@uupmail.org) for use in UUP publications, the UUP website, and on social media. Please include the name of the event and any details about the event, when possible.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th LABOR WALKS
CAPITAL DISTRICT
CDALF Labor Walk for Blake Gendebien & Carrie Woerner
Time: 11am – 1 pm Location: Glens Falls, NY Register HERE
UUP Susquehanna River Paddle-Saturday, September 26, 2026
Annual Paddle Event:
UUP Oneonta members and their guests are invited to participate in a Susquehanna River paddle on Saturday, September 26, 2026, launching at 1:00 PM and returning at 3:00 PM. This event is designed to strengthen chapter activism through a solidarity paddle and to deepen our community engagement by highlighting the importance of protecting the Susquehanna River.
Members who do not have a canoe or kayak, life jacket, or paddle may rent equipment at Canoe & Kayak Rentals and Sales in Portlandville, NY, located on NYS Highway 28 along the river. Rental policy information is available on their website: https://canoeandkayakrentals.com/
Both single and tandem canoes/kayaks are available for rental. Participants bringing their own equipment should meet at the NYS Highway 28 DEC canoe and fishing access pull-off, located a few hundred yards south of the rental business. Parking is free and plentiful at both locations.
This is a recreational, non‑competitive event. Paddlers will travel together at an easy pace. This stretch of the Susquehanna features still water with minimal current, making it an accessible paddle both upriver and downriver.
If weather conditions require rescheduling, all registered participants will be notified by email.
To sign up or ask questions, email UUP Oneonta Secretary and paddle coordinator Bill Simons at William.Simons@oneonta.edu.
Signup emails should include your name, email address, telephone number, the names of any guests, and whether you will bring your own canoe/kayak or rent one.
We are looking forward to another great academic year.
As a friendly reminder, we provide lunch at most (if not all) of our events! RSVPing at the Google Form links below helps us get an accurate count for lunch orders, so please fill them out if you intend to join us.
September
Chapter Meeting
September 9 || 12:00-1:00 pm Morris Conference Center, Le Café
You are eligible to join as long as you became a member prior to June 5, 2026. Your union membership must be confirmed before you receive the zoom link.
Don’t know your membership number? Call 518-640-6624
You can still register without the number, but you will not receive the link until your membership has been confirmed. Thank you.
This rally joins a coordinated national day of action, led by the May Day Strong coalition, bringing together workers, immigrants, students, and families in a growing list of thousands of rallies, marches, walkouts, town halls, and teach-ins.
Families across the country are facing rising costs of housing, healthcare, groceries, and child care while billionaires and corporations attack our neighbors, shred government budgets to fill their pockets, and reshape the rules to protect their power.
Tax the rich: Calling for a shift in fiscal priority so that families and public services come before the accumulation of corporate fortunes.
Fund Education, Not War and Deportation: A rejection of the diversion of public funds toward militarization and deportation efforts.
Freedom to Teach, Research, and Learn For All: A firm defense of academic freedom and free elections in a political climate increasingly hostile to intellectual autonomy.
Together, we will take action alongside workers, parents, students, and community members who are uniting to demand better, safer, and stronger communities — places that put the needs of working families first. We’re standing up for thriving neighborhood public schools, affordable housing, and access to high-quality healthcare, prioritizing people over the profits of billionaires and their corporations.
This May Day, we will reshape how our nation responds to the needs of working families by centering their lived experiences. We are building momentum toward a future that protects the rights, dignity, and well-being of everyone who works for a living.
A commitment to nonviolent action is a core principle behind all May Day events. All hosts and participants are expected to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who may disagree.
PLEASE NOTE: VISITOR PARKING PASS RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN WAIVED FOR THIS EVENT FROM 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM!YOU DO NOT NEED A VISITORS’ PASS TO PARK ON CAMPUS BETWEEN THIS TIME FRAME! Parking in pre-allocated visitor spaces is preferred but not required.
The campus has accessible parking, entry, and ramps. We will also have some tables and chairs for attendees. Please see the Accessible Campus Routes Map, and contact the Office of Facilities at 607-436-3224 or at facilities@oneonta.edu for more detailed information.
We have signs and posters available to pick up at our Chapter Office in IRC 105, and will have more to distribute to rally participants the day of the event!
Are you a student or community member who wants to connect with public higher education workers to learn about our concerns and priorities?Sign up to be a UUP Oneonta Rapid Responder and you’ll receive late-breaking opportunities to support the local fights that our members care about! We’ll alert you to calls for political advocacy, labor solidarity actions, ways to fight for a strong UUP contract and much more.
April 9 Professionals Luncheon Noon – 1:00 pm || Morris Hall – Le Cafe UUP Statewide Vice President for Professionals Carolyn Kube to give update on Professional Survey
May 17 UUP Oneonta Chapter Picnic 11:00 am – 4:00 pm || College Camp BBQ Chicken, Corn, Baked Potato, Vegetable Lasagna, and more! A family-friendly event – bring up to 3 guests.
Please join us for “The Latest on AI and Our Work: A UUP Virtual Forum.” We’ll hold sessions on March 9 and March 16 for UUP members to hear about major recent developments in AI that impact us. You can register here, and are invited to share the flyer below with UUP colleagues:
