April 21, 2023
View photos from the rally on UUP's official Flickr page HERE.
More than 700 UUP members marched, chanted and cheered their way into a week of campus actions for a fair contract, with a rousing April 21 rally on the University at Albany campus as the headline opener for the UUP Spring 2023 Delegate Assembly.
The Albany rally was the first of more than two dozen planned actions for a contract by UUP chapters around the state in the coming week, as the UUP Negotiations Team works hard to achieve a tentative agreement.
UUP President Fred Kowal set a tone of activism and urgency at the rally, which drew busloads of elected chapter delegates and hundreds of Albany Chapter members.
“We do not ask, we do not plead; we demand,” Kowal said as the crowd cheered and waved signs calling for a fair contract now. “We demand it and we earn it, because we do the work of the State University system.”
Working hard toward a tentative agreement
Several members of the UUP Negotiations Team joined Kowal as speakers, including Chief Negotiator Bret Benjamin; Albany Chapter President Aaron Major; Downstate Chapter President Redetha Abrahams-Nichols and Cortland Chapter President Jaclyn Pittsley.
Collectively, they represent the diversity to be found in the SUNY system, both in terms of campus type and job category. UUP’s 32 chapters include university centers, four-year comprehensive campuses, technology campuses, specialized campuses and health sciences centers, with faculty and staff who work as tenured faculty and permanently appointed professionals, but also as contingents.
Abrahams-Nichols spoke about the urgent needs of SUNY hospital workers, and Pittsley emphasized the working conditions for contingent employees. Benjamin summed up the broader importance of the contractual demands, stating “When we fight for a fair contract, we fight for students, patients, SUNY, public higher education and public health care.”
UUP President Fred Kowal set a tone of activism and urgency at the rally, which drew busloads of elected chapter delegates and hundreds of Albany Chapter members.
Member support, action, encouragement vital
Back at the DA, held a few miles away, Benjamin also said that the rally highlighted the hard work of members who have contributed to the Negotiations Team’s effort with consistent feedback about the issues that most affect their work lives.
“We think we are poised to make some important gains, but we are still negotiating over key demands in compensation, job security and telecommuting,” he said.
Reflecting on the rally Benjamin said, “What we saw was an expression of real solidarity across the different sectors of our bargaining unit.” He said he was heartened to see tenure-line faculty supporting contingents, non-HSC members supporting health care workers, and unified support for all of UUP’s priority concerns.
Chapter rallies in the coming week give all members a voice in this process. “We’re eager to see UUP members at chapters across the state rally in support of the contract we deserve,” he said.
To find out what’s happening at your campus this week, click HERE. For more information on events, contact your chapter leadership or email Mary Becker, the Organizing and Outreach Assistant at the UUP central office, at mbecker@uupmail.org.
To find out how to contact your campus chapter office and chapter leaders, click HERE.