Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for making your voice heard over the past few months. Whether you signed a petition, committed to action, participated in legislative tele-town halls, membership tele-town halls, or wrote a letter to your legislator – you have helped make our concerns for protecting each other and our community’s health and safety known.
Over the last few weeks, SUNY’s campuses have individually released their reopening plans. Unfortunately, SUNY’s plans do not go far enough to promote safety on campus. To safely reopen campuses, to ensure that our communities do not become new hotspots in the pandemic, we need four basic systems in place: baseline and surveillance testing, contact tracing, mask-wearing and social distancing, and telecommuting.
We have made our position clear: Resources must be found to allow for a safe SUNY reopening.
Our actions must continue and escalate. So, I invite you to join your colleagues, students, community groups, and legislators, August 5 at 12PM, on a Virtual Rally for a Safe SUNY Reopening. We are fighting to protect our communities. You can register for the rally here.
After you register to join the rally, invite a friend, colleague, or member of the community. You can add a selfie to the Safe SUNY Reopening campaign webpage and let everyone know why this rally is important to you. You can also submit a testimonial video and share your campus reopening story. Our concerns and demands must be heard.
To learn more about the Safe SUNY Reopening campaign and how you can be part of the fight for the health and safety of our colleagues, our students, and our communities, visit the campaign page here.
I also invite you to be part of the social media call for a safe reopening of SUNY. Use our social media toolkit, which includes graphics and sample posts as starting points to invite your social media network to join our fight.
The August 5th actions may be followed by regional and chapter rallies over the next few weeks. Stay in touch with your UUP chapter leadership to help plan and take part in any local actions as well. Your voice can and will make a difference. We all need to be heard NOW!
In solidarity,
Fred Kowl — UUP President
