Decades after UUP first pressed the state and SUNY for policies that would give UUP members better leave time with their newborns and young children, UUP has achieved an almost-unheard-of expansion of paid leave for new parents.
The state’s new Paid Parental Leave policy is part of UUP’s tentative agreement for a new contract with the state, which both sides reached last week. The expanded leave would allow members up to 12 weeks of parental leave with pay, which can be taken consecutively with the union’s existing negotiated Paid Family Leave benefit.
The new benefit was announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul at a June 13 press conference at the Albany Labor Temple in Albany. UUP President Fred Kowal spoke at the event, as did leaders from CSEA and PEF; those unions also negotiated the policy into their contracts.
“We owe you a debt of gratitude,” Kowal said of the governor in his remarks at the press conference. “Programs and policies that value our families are good for all of New York state. We know [the governor] is committed to building a stronger SUNY for our students, our patients and the communities we serve.”
UUP has not yet announced a date for members to vote on the ratification of the tentative agreement. That date is expected to take place this summer.
Six months of parental leave
UUP was the first public employee union in New York to negotiate Paid Family Leave, which started with the 2016 contract that expired in July 2022. That benefit will remain in the proposed new contract, in addition to the newly added Paid Parental Leave.
If taken consecutively, the two benefits would provide up to six months of leave for new parents, with at least three months of that time providing partial pay, and the other three months providing full pay. The policy applies to adoptive and foster parents, as well.
Kowal said that having the Paid Parental Leave benefit would attract talented faculty, professionals and researchers to work at SUNY and help retain people already working in the system.
“And so, I issue a call to my higher education colleagues across this nation, especially in those states that are taking steps that strip away individual liberties that have been hard-fought for and won,” Kowal said. “I urge you, come to New York. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York stands strong for the rights of all. Come to New York. We will welcome you and together, we will make our state even better.”
Governor praises Kowal for hard work
Hochul recounted the many years she has worked with Kowal on labor issues, with last week’s announcement of a tentative contract deal the latest achievement to come out of their long and cooperative concern for advancing strong labor values in the state.
“Fred and I have worked together in his role as president of UUP for a long time,” Hochul told several hundred unionists in a standing-room-only crowd at the press conference, which drew nearly a half dozen news cameras and many area political and state reporters. “I thank him for everything he has done on behalf of this incredible union.”