“The state of our union is strong,” UUP President Phillip Smith exclaimed as he began his hour-long address at the opening plenary session of the 2010 Winter Delegate Assembly. He pointed to the largest rally UUP had ever held (see related story, page 4), to the biggest turnout of members for a union advocacy day (Jan. 26 in Albany), and to chapters conducting meetings with state lawmakers in their home districts.

But Smith indicated UUP will need to muster every ounce of that strength to meet the challenges it faces.

“Our University is on the critical list,” Smith warned the nearly 400 delegates, observers and committee members attending the Winter DA, held Feb. 5-6 in Albany. He said the nearly $153 million cut for SUNY called for in the governor’s proposed budget represents 25 percent of the total amount of state agency reductions. But Smith cautioned that the hit to SUNY could directly impact members’ wallets.

The governor is looking to save $250 million through contract renegotiations, and SUNY’s share of that amount is $34.4 million. What does that mean for UUP?

“We don’t know what the governor has in mind,” Smith said, suggesting the administration may want to cancel the 4 percent contractual salary increases for this year or impose a pay lag. But Smith pledged the union will remain firm. “We will not negotiate on any of this,” he said.

Smith saved his strongest criticism for the governor’s proposed Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, which he said could more accurately be referred to as the “Endangerment and Injury Act.”

“This bill is nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse for the state to walk away from funding public higher education,” he said, leaving SUNY to rely more heavily on tuition for revenue. The proposal would allow SUNY to raise tuition without legislative approval and permit campuses to set their own, varying tuition rates.

Smith took aim at the bill’s provisions to allow campuses to lease land and negotiate public/private partnerships with minimal oversight. Smith warned that no money would be generated by such deals, and that the staff working in new buildings resulting from such deals may not be UUP members.

“This bill is anti-labor. It will cut our throats. We can’t let it happen,” he said.

In an earlier address to chapter presidents and vice presidents, Smith took issue with the grandiose claims SUNY is making, such as the promise of 10,000 new faculty jobs.

“The stuff SUNY is putting out is just incredible,” he said. “People must understand that this proposal is not a panacea. We’re concerned about students who are trying to get their foot in the door to higher education.”

Smith told delegates that UUP is preparing a public awareness campaign to defeat the proposal.

The delegates gave a standing ovation to state Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair Deborah Glick, who has supported the union in its fight against A./S. 2020, a similar “flexibility” bill, last year. On hand to accept UUP’s Friend of SUNY Award, Glick pledged her opposition to the governor’s proposal.

“SUNY is a state university and it will remain a state university,” she said. “I pledge to you to do everything I can to minimize the damage. They will not stampede us into a wholesale privatization.”

Another long-time ally of UUP, AFT President Randi Weingarten, delivered an impassioned speech to the delegates. In her Friday dinner address, she saluted UUP as “a bastion of higher education organizing,” citing its growth from 3,500 members at its inception to 35,000 today.

Weingarten cautioned the delegates about a political backlash building against unions in the wake of high unemployment. She said that, more and more, the labor movement is being portrayed as a special interest because it protects its members’ jobs.

“If we don’t get out of this recession, think about what some of these folks will say about college professors. What do they do? How long do they teach?” she said.

Weingarten advised the delegates to take action before this happens.

“Say that students matter and students count. Do it more and more,” she recommended. “We’re successful because people know we care about the people we serve, not just the people we represent.”

Delegates also had a full menu of committee meetings during the two-day convention and took action on a number of resolutions.

More than 75 academics packed the Academics Delegates Meeting to hear from three Oneonta faculty members. Robert Compton, Hanfu Mi and Ho Hon Leung explained how faculty from different academic disciplines collaborated to put together a book titled, Imagining Globalization: Languages, Identities and Boundaries that explores the various aspects of globalization. Nine of the 12 authors of the book are from SUNY Oneonta. The discussion was moderated by Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss.

“This was a wonderful project done by wonderful colleagues,” said Leung, the book’s principal editor.

Meanwhile, the union’s new guide for professional employees was the main topic of discussion during the Professional Delegates Meeting. More than 75 professionals attended the meeting and took the opportunity to get answers on the handbook and issues such as permanent appointment from statewide Vice President for Professionals John Marino.

UUP also collected $1,920 through a silent auction to benefit the UUP College Scholarship Fund, which awards annual scholarships to SUNY?undergraduates.

— Donald Feldstein