UUP President William Scheuerman pulled no punches when he told chapter presidents and vice presidents that the union and University are up against the ropes — and that their assistance and advice are needed in the arena now more than ever.
Jim Dix of Binghamton dicusses salary compression during the two-day meeting.
Scheuerman laid out the challenges to the more than 50 chapter leaders from around the state who convened last month in the snow-covered mountains of New Paltz. He said the threats to SUNY-operated hospitals, contract negotiations with a new administration, a looming state budget deficit, and the chancellor’s resignation are among the most urgent challenges confronting UUP and SUNY.
The charge to chapter leaders during the two-day session: to brainstorm on the issues and offer up strategies to meet the challenges head on.
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| UUP Member Chuck Spector of Oswego brainstroms on the issues affecting the union and SUNY, while fellow unionists Dennis Coony of Maritime and Kim Olvier of Optomerty listen in. |
Scheuerman said the most immediate threat is the Berger Commission recommendation to privatize the hospital at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He stressed that the commission’s recommendations became law Jan. 1, and that the union must do whatever it takes to convince the governor to amend the changes. (See related stories on the threats to SUNY hospitals and UUP’s advocacy efforts, page 6.)
As if that isn’t trying enough, Scheuerman noted that the chancellor’s sudden resignation, a projected state budget deficit of $2.5 billion and a proposed SUNY spending plan that fails to provide for additional full-time faculty will challenge a University already forced to do more with less.
Complicating matters further, leaders were reminded that the governor has yet to name a director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. UUP stands ready to exchange proposals and begin bargaining with the state.
As The Voice went to press, the state advised UUP it would be willing to begin negotiations during the first week of April.
To position itself to deal with these challenges, UUP must strengthen its membership-building and political-action activities.
“We need to get more active and to get more of our members involved,” Scheuerman said. “We can’t fall victim to our own past successes.”
Activating members
Chapter leaders discussed strategies to identify, recruit and sign up new members, and to activate those already in the union.
“The obstacles we face are staggering,” said Membership Development Officer Edward Quinn. “It’s not easy to mobilize our newer colleagues, especially those without continuing or permanent appointment.”
Slightly more than 55 percent of UUP’s membership has worked at SUNY for fewer than 10 years and many of them, Scheuerman speculated, were not raised in traditional union households.
“Everyone in this room remembers hearing stories of unions around the kitchen table,” Scheuerman said. “Our newer members don’t have that history.” Instead, he said, they have come of age in an era of union-busting and assaults on collective bargaining and workers’ rights.
Other leaders noted their members are reporting that they are unable to participate in union activities because of SUNY’s growing enrollment and the increased workload it produces.
Despite the obstacles, many chapters have had success in recruiting and mobilizing members. The chapter presidents will discuss successful strategies at this month’s Spring Delegate Assembly in Albany.
Up for discussion
In other business, UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud told chapter leaders that the Finance Committee is putting together the union’s 2007-2008 spending plan.
The UUP budget will come up for a vote during the Spring DA.
Chapter leaders also discussed UUP-endorsed resolutions on the agenda of the NYSUT Representative Assembly this month. Among the proposals the union is advancing are resolutions to:
- oppose the privatization of SUNY hospitals;
- protest H.R. 5825, which would allow the National Security Administration to conduct wiretaps without warrants;
- oppose U.S. Senate action on definitions of rape and sexual abuse; and,
- oppose static reimbursement rates for medical insurance costs.
The leaders also identified a number of issues that affect members, including diversity, external review, salary compression, and campus joint labor/management relationships.
— Karen L. Mattison