UUP’s constitution assigns responsibility for negotiations to the union’s president, as the officer designated to “represent the organization before the public or appropriate bodies.”

UUP President Phil Smith exercises that prerogative by soliciting input and then naming a diverse range of UUP members to three work groups: the Negotiations Team; the Negotiations Committee; and the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.

It is the Negotiations Team, headed by Jamie Dangler of Cortland, that will meet with the state’s negotiators at the bargaining table.

Smith chose Mike Smiles of Farmingdale to serve as associate chief negotiator and 14 others from various UUP chapters throughout the state to serve on the Negotiations Team.

The Negotiations Committee has a constitutional charge to prepare proposals for negotiations and submit the tentative agreement to the UUP membership for ratification. Dangler serves as chair of the Negotiations Committee, which is composed of one member from each chapter—often the chapter president—and reflects the approximate whole-number ratio of academic and professional members of UUP’s Delegate Assembly. The committee also includes one at-large part-time academic and one at-large part-time professional.

“I’m honored and humbled to be named as chief negotiator,” Dangler said. “I welcome the chance to work with the Negotiations Team and Committee to confront the challenges this round of negotiations will bring.”

The Negotiations Committee will work with the Negotiations Team to develop a package of proposals that incorporates a broad view of the membership at large.

The third group involved in the negotiations process is the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee. Each chapter nominates one professional employee and one academic employee to serve on this committee, which compiles and presents the concerns of the membership at each chapter for consideration as potential UUP proposals. Ad Hoc Advisory Committee members will present oral and written reports to the Negotiations Committee and Negotiations Team in December.

To ensure that every rank-and-file member has an opportunity to tell UUP negotiators what they want in a contract, the union has adopted a complete and thorough process of gathering member input, Smith said.

All members will have an opportunity to complete a member suggestion form, as well as a more in-depth survey. The Negotiations Team will visit every chapter; hearings will be held at upcoming Delegate Assemblies; and Team members will meet with chapter leaders and various UUP committee members.

The Negotiations Team and Negotiations Committee will meet in January to review the tabulated results of the negotiations survey, as well as member comments from the survey, member suggestion forms and other communications. They will also consider member input from Negotiations Team chapter visits and open hearings. The Team and Committee will analyze member input to develop negotiations proposals.

It is the responsibility of the Team to prepare the specific language for the package of proposals that will be presented to the state’s negotiators.

At the conclusion of negotiations with the state, the Negotiations Team presents a tentative agreement to the Negotiations Committee. The Committee then makes a recommendation to the membership regarding ratification. UUP will mail all bargaining unit members a copy of the proposed agreement for their review prior to the ratification vote, which is conducted by the American Arbitration Association.

“The talented people picked for this challenging task know that they will need to give it their full energy and enthusiasm,” Smith said. “All of our members should feel confident in their union negotiators, and in the fact that UUP member concerns form the foundation of our whole effort in this process.”