If not now, when?

If not you, who?

These simple phrases have become the mantras of union officers and UUP Outreach Committee members, who are calling on all of their colleagues to stand up and speak out for SUNY.

“The governor’s midyear cuts are bleeding SUNY dry,” said UUP President Phillip Smith. “This isn’t just my fight. This is our fight, and everyone has a stake in it. We have to act like it’s our own job, our own students, that we’re fighting for—because it is.”

UUP has placed extra emphasis on meeting with lawmakers in their home districts—and it’s beginning to pay off. In recent weeks, UUPers from a handful of chapters around the state have taken time out of their busy schedules to talk with legislators about SUNY’s role in the state’s economic recovery, and the devastation further cuts would have on the University and its students.

Several chapters are leading the way by scheduling multiple meetings with lawmakers. For instance, the Upstate Medical University Chapter sent representatives to lawmakers’ offices on five separate occasions since October—and walked away feeling better about the support Upstate and SUNY have on both sides of the political aisle.

In a meeting with Assemblyman Albert Stirpe (D-North Syracuse), UUPers David Peckham, Brian Tappen and Carol Braund stressed the need to keep SUNY and its hospitals intact.

“We recognize that New York state is money-starved and every program and agency will face cuts,” said Tappen, a member of the statewide UUP Executive Board. “But it was good to hear firsthand that Assemblyman Stirpe agrees with UUP when we say that education and health care cuts should be ‘least and last, not first and most.’”

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R-Fulton) saw eye to eye with UUP about the damaging cuts SUNY has faced, as well as on the dangers of proposed flexibility legislation. Barclay agrees that SUNY should have some flexibility to improve efficiency, but rejects the idea of full autonomy. Barclay told the UUPers he opposes A./S.2020 and similar legislation that runs counter to SUNY’s mission of providing an affordable, accessible, quality public higher education.

Dozens of the rank-and-file unionists who have met with lawmakers had earlier taken part in one of several regional training sessions. The training is designed to educate UUPers on the union’s key issues and to supply them with the tools they need to make the case for SUNY.

The UUP Outreach Committee has been conducting training sessions around the state on how to advocate for the union and University. People who take part in the training are provided with talking points on the union’s priority issues, as well as a complete contact list for state senators and assemblymembers. Trainees also take part in role-playing activities and learn successful advocacy practices.

“In order to advocate on behalf of UUP and SUNY, we must engage in local advocacy,” Outreach Committee Co-chair Glenn McNitt told participants during an Oct. 28 training session in Albany. “Representatives often have more time to spend talking with us, and legislators pay special attention to constituents who visit their district office.”

— Karen L. Mattison