They’re poised to help lead UUP into the future.

About 30 newly elected UUP delegates and 23 newly elected chapter leaders came to Albany in June for separate orientation sessions.

“We’re here to help you,” UUP President William Scheuerman said as he welcomed the new leaders. “We get a lot accomplished,”

he added, pointing to the union’s aggressive and successful effort to keep Upstate Medical University in Syracuse within SUNY. “UUP is the most effective statewide union in the political realm.”

Preparing new strategies

Several of the new leaders spoke of their plans to energize their respective chapters. As the new chapter president of Stony Brook HSC, Kathleen Southerton said her goal is to get more people involved, and she plans to do that by communicating with chapter members through more newsletters. She hopes that continuing biweekly orientations with recently hired employees will yield positive results.

“We’ll try to get new faculty to sign up with the union on their first day,” she said.

The Plattsburgh chapter’s new president, David Curry, will use his training to reach out to about 30 faculty members involved in satellite academic programs based at Adirondack Community College in Glens Falls, about 110 miles from Plattsburgh’s main campus.

“The leadership workshop was very helpful,” he said. “The overall advantage of collective bargaining representation is something I’ll want our new members working from Adirondack Community College to know about.”

The new leaders’ training provided an overview of the resources available through UUP, plus a workshop on problem solving.

Fresh faces

For most of the new delegates, the training session represented their first foray into union leadership. Many said their chapter presidents encouraged them to become delegates.

Diane Baldwin-Bello, a professional at SUNY Stony Brook, said she wanted to be more involved with her campus and UUP.

“The training gave me a better understanding of how things work and what UUP does to support its members,” she said.

Who’s the boss?

For both the new leaders and delegates, Scheuerman stressed that he and the union’s other leaders remember who they’re working for.

“We all work for you,” he said. “You guys are the bosses. We’re all here to serve the interests of our membership.”

The new leaders began their two-year terms June 1.

The new delegates will be seated beginning at the 2007 Fall Delegate Assembly, scheduled for Sept. 28-29 in Buffalo.

—Donald Feldstein