UUP Chief Negotiator Fred Floss discusses a proposal with state negotiator Jennine Morell.

UUP’s 19-member Negotiations Team and representatives from the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations continue to meet several times a week in an effort to reach a fair and equitable contract.

As The Voice went to press, UUP President William Scheuerman, who is constitutionally responsible for the union’s negotiations, said the two sides have met at least twice a week during the last month, and plan to continue or increase that pace until they come to terms on a new agreement to replace the one that expired July 1.

Health benefits have dominated recent rounds of negotiations, as the state in mid-November delivered its latest counterproposal on the issue. Earlier state proposals were dubbed as “draconian” by union negotiators, who have studied the state’s latest offer and were prepared to present the union’s counterproposal. The issue of salary was also unresolved at press time.

“Our Negotiations Team is taking a hard look at the state’s counterproposals and is prepared to answer their demands,” said Chief Negotiator and Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss.

UUP’s accelerated talks follow on the heels of a tentative four-year agreement between the state and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), which represents more than 70,000 state workers. If ratified by the CSEA membership, the new pact would run from April 2, 2007, through

April 1, 2011.

Floss stressed that UUP is communicating with the state’s other public employee unions still in negotiations, as they have done since the process began.

He also noted that UUP is not going to rush into a deal, stressing that “a fast contract is not necessarily a good contract.”

“We want to be sure we get the best possible deal for our members, who deserve nothing less than our very best efforts — no matter how long it takes,” Floss said.

— Karen L. Mattison