April 5, 2019
In 2018, UUP became the first union in the state to negotiate the state's Paid Family Leave policy into its contract.
Now, members are working to figure out the best ways to implement the new benefit at their chapters.
Statewide VPA Jamie Dangler and statewide Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O'Bryan-Losee took the conversation to SUNY Old Westbury April 3. They met with Old Westbury Chapter members, who discussed forming a paid family leave committee. Statewide officers will be traveling to chapters over the next few months to hold informational meetings about the paid family leave provision.
Several Old Westbury Chapter members said that they hope the new benefit will be an important step in providing uniformity to maternity leave, which right now is handled in different ways for different departments and jobs on the campus.
“One thing I hope this committee can give some attention to is support for new moms when they come back,” said Jessica Williams-DeLuca, above, right. “You’re exhausted – teaching three classes, fulfilling service.”
Above, Williams-DeLuca listens as Dangler, left, makes a point. Also pictured are Old Westbury Chapter members Ashlee Lien holding her 10-month-old daughter, River, and chapter member Jillian Nissen. Old Westbury Chapter President Martha Livingston was also at the meeting.
The committee’s membership will be open to all UUP chapter members, not just parents. The Paid Family Leave benefit in the contract covers several situations other than the birth of a child, including adoption, placement of a foster child in the home, support for a close family member called into active military service, or assistance with the care of a family member with a serious health condition.
The governor signed the state’s paid family leave into law three years ago, but union members were not able to use the new benefit because it had to be negotiated into their contracts as a condition of employment. UUP is the first union in New York to do that, under the contract with the state that union members overwhelmingly ratified in September 2018.