The UUP Negotiations Team spent March immersed in the third phase of preparations for negotiations: turning the list of contract priorities identified by the membership into a package of written proposals to be presented to the state.

UUP Chief Negotiator Jamie Dangler of Cortland said a formal start date for negotiations has not been set. UUP’s contract expires July 2.

“Our Negotiations Team has been working very hard. We’ve been drafting proposal language and assembling data and other information needed for negotiations,” Dangler said. “Over the last few months, the Negotiations Team has had a series of work sessions, as well as scheduled meetings with UUP officers, our labor relations specialists, and others we’re calling on for assistance and expertise.”

Preparing the union’s contract proposals comes after months of asking members to comment on their terms and conditions of employment. The first phase, conducted during the fall semester, involved collecting input from members through chapter visits, a negotiations survey, member suggestion forms, chapter and statewide committee reports, and various face-to-face meetings with members across the state.

During the second phase, the Team met with the Negotiations Committee to review and assess all of the member input and to identify contract priorities. The Negotiations Committee—which consists of one representative from every chapter, plus one part-time academic and one part-time professional—completed this task in January.

“Preparing UUP’s negotiations proposals requires a keen attention to detail in order to make sure the contract priorities identified by the membership can be addressed at the negotiations table,” Dangler said. “The Team must decide which contract articles should be opened for negotiations before writing the proposal language.”

Dangler added that the proposal language is “conceptual in nature, but incorporates all contract items UUP wants to discuss with the state.”

The Negotiations Committee will reconvene April 29 to review the contract proposals written by the Negotiations Team. According to the UUP Constitution, the Negotiations Committee must approve UUP’s package of proposals before it is presented to state negotiators.

As The Voice went to press, there were reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo named two of his top negotiators—Joseph Bress and Todd Snyder.

Bress is no stranger to collective bargaining in New York or to UUP. He was director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations under Gov. Mario Cuomo and negotiated the 1991-1995 contract with UUP.

Snyder is a senior managing director of Rothschild Inc., and is an advisor at Rothchild companies in restructurings and reorganizations. He advised the George W. Bush and Obama admin-istrations on the restructuring of the auto industry.

“UUP’s is a very democratic process,” said UUP President Phil Smith. “We have listened to our members from around the state and heard their concerns and priorities. UUP will do everything in its power to convince the state that our members make SUNY work, and that we are worth the investment.”

— Karen L. Mattison