For UUP, collective bargaining is not about squaring off in a battle to best the state at any cost. It’s about taking a realistic look at the University and its unionized workers, and finding the most fair and equitable deal for all concerned.

And it’s personal.

UUP’s 19-member Negotiations Team spent months blanketing the chapters with surveys, member suggestion forms, and conducting face-to-face focus groups. The goal was to put a “human face” on the union’s demands, to demonstrate to state negotiators that it’s not about greed but about need, according to UUP President William Scheuerman.

UUP Chief Negotiator and Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss said the union has taken members’ comments to heart, and is hoping to strike a similar chord with state negotiators and SUNY administrators.

“We’re not asking for the moon,” Floss said. “We’re letting the state know that our members need certain situations to improve; otherwise, students won’t get the high-quality education they’ve grown accustomed to, and businesses won’t get the educated workforce they need to compete in a global marketplace.”

“If SUNY can’t offer its employees a fair wage and decent benefits package, then the best and the brightest will be forced to work elsewhere,” he added. “And that’s not in anyone’s best interest.”

The union’s Negotiations Team put together a series of visual presentations that communicate the real-life accounts of members’ struggles on the job. The presentations focused on a range of issues, from family leave and part-time concerns to salary and health care benefits.

“We are looking for the best contract possible, and this was one more way to demonstrate what our members need and why,” Floss said. “We are grateful to all our members who responded to the survey and suggestion forms, and who shared their personal hardships so that we could make the case for our proposals.”

— Karen L. Mattison