UCU Newsletter Spring 2018: Elections, membership meeting, and more!

04/2018

The UCU Executive Committee has been busy on your behalf! Here’s a what we’ve been working on:

Regular meetings with HR to resolve issues
Conducted regular, bi-weekly Executive Committee meetings
Negotiated grievance settlements for several members
Averted a number of work-related grievance and disciplinary issues by facilitating conversations between members and administration
Secured increased compensation and improved working conditions for several members
Ongoing negotiations for a new UCU contract
Designated lactation rooms are being planned
Holding CU admin to their commitments to our members and the UCU contract
Preparing to hold UCU Executive Committee elections (IMPORTANT!)

UCU General Meeting: April 24, 2018 from 12-2p in LL101

Mark your calendars! Save the date! Our next general meeting will be an opportunity to learn more about the current and ongoing work the UCU is doing. The meeting is also an opportunity to nominate colleagues and self-nominate for open positions on the UCU Executive Committee. If you are curious, interested and/or willing to join the UCU leadership as an officer or area rep, we will provide you with the support and information you need to participate and help your fellow co-workers. Please consider joining the team today!

UCU Elections

Time to step up!

In December 2016, the UCU Membership voted to approve an amended constitution which adopted five officer positions to share the work of running the union, with each officer working to address their specific areas of concern. Since adopting this governance in 2016, we feel that UCU has grown as a strong and capable bargaining unit. Attached to the nominations form is a document which details the responsibilities associated with each position, also described below.

UCU will hold elections for all officer and area rep positions in the first week of May. Please consider nominating yourself or your colleagues for one of the Executive Committee positions, and please reach out to current or recent committee members with any inquiries. Attached to this newsletter is a nominations form which should be filled out and returned to the chair of the ad hoc Election Committee chair, Zach Poff, via:

inter-office mail to Zach Poff in the School of Art office,
OR dropped off with Zach in the Film/Video checkout office on the 5th floor of Foundation BUilding (7 E 7th St)
OR via email to z@zachpoff.com.

Zach will contact each nominee following the nomination period. The nomination period will end on April 29, 2018 so please get your nominations in to Zach by then.

Voting will occur in early May. The Elections Committee will announce the voting date(s) and procedures.

Given the recent departures of three officers, we urgently need members to step up and fill the following Executive Committee roles. It is essential to fill these roles to keep our unit strong!

Treasurer: Handles internal union finances, prepares external reporting, manages the UCU member list

Secretary: Manages communication with membership, schedules all UCU meetings, takes minutes at management and membership meetings

Discipline Officer: Primary point of contact for all disciplinary matters involving members, attends disciplinary meetings, coordinates closely with HR and Grievance Officer, guides the work of Area Reps

Grievance Officer: Primary point of contact for all grievances, researches contract violations, writes grievances in consultation with LRS, organizes Grievance Committee.

Outreach Officer: Manages intra-union organizing efforts, helps connect interested members to necessary work on an ad hoc basis, organizes member training and recreational events

Benefits Officer: Researches Cooper’s finances (departmental spending & budgets, unit salaries, benefit costs), tracks implementation of policies and benefits, works with Outreach Officer to inform members about the benefits available to members of the unit.

Negotiation Officer: Builds negotiating platform, plans long-term strategic response to ongoing issues, surveys our membership to gauge concerns, experiences, and interests.

Area Reps: Communicate directly with members in their respective areas, organize and attend meetings with members in their respective areas, attend meetings between management and UCU members in their area as needed, work alongside other Exec Committee officers to advocate on behalf of member.

UCU would like to extend sincere thanks to Marget Long, Kimberly Bowers, and Cynthia Hartling.

Marget has stepped down from the Grievance Officer position after three+ years of invaluable service to our unit and numerous instances of advocacy on behalf of UCU members with grievance claims. Marget was also pivotal in the re-organizing of the UCU Executive Committee. Thank you Marget for your generous, strategic and thoughtful work!

Kimberly has served in the vital role of UCU Treasurer for the past two years and has consistently and reliably managed our unit’s finances and accounting. Kimberly was critical to resolving several issues of accounting coordination with NYSUT, and leaves the treasurer position with our unit’s finances in better shape than ever. Thank you Kimberly for making our numbers make sense with your level of care!

Cynthia transitioned out of her position as Benefits Officer following a change to her role. Among other things, Cynthia composed documents to improve new employee welcoming protocols, thus ensuring our members start their work at Cooper properly. We are grateful to Cynthia for the oversight to UCU member benefits which she provided as an officer and wish to extend our congratulations for her new role in the Cooper community. Thank you Cynthia for being so beneficial to us!

UCU Contract Negotiations

Over the past five months UCU has been negotiating a new contract with the Cooper Union administration. These negotiations are ongoing and we expect the process will continue into the summer. There have been several delays from the administration, which we are scheduling around to move the negotiation along as quickly as possible. The Negotiations Committee representatives for UCU are Cara DiEdwardo, Liz Leon, Ian Hochstead, and Amy Westpfahl.

FEC Report

The FEC “Recommended Plan to Return to Full-Tuition Scholarships” was released on January 15, 2018 and ratified by the Board of Trustees in March. The plan contains several items that will likely impact our membership. Members of our unit have already experienced the effects of fiscal austerity measures like the those outlined in the plan. Departmental budgets are tighter, and the administration has moved to restructure several departments in order to meet their new strategic goals. These changes have impacted our members’ work loads and compensation levels, and eliminated several UCU positions. The UCU executive committee has analyzed the final report and is actively negotiating the parts of the plan that overlap with both our contract and concerns the membership has raised. Our Negotiations Committee is working on many of these issues now, and we will be addressing as much of the report as we can in our upcoming contract. The work of our union has always supported The Cooper Union’s vision for free education, which we feel is synchronous with the efforts to uphold and maintain fair working conditions at the institution. We will continue to foster a fair and fulfilling workplace while Cooper makes this transition.

If you have any concerns or questions, please email them to the UCU Executive Committee.

NY Family Leave Act

You may have noticed Cooper Union’s recent communications about the New York State’s Paid Family Leave Act. New York’s Paid Family Leave provides job protected, paid time off so employees can:

Bond with a newly born, adopted or foster child;

Care for a close relative with a serious health condition; or

Assist loved ones when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ketsia Montrose in the Human Resources Department at monteros@cooper.edu or 212 353-4148.

Welcome to Newest UCU Family Members!

UCU member and Area 400 Rep, Brian Murrell had a baby daughter 3 weeks ago! Finnoula Murrell was born March 16th, 2018.

We also wish to extend a big UCU welcome to the newest members of our unit! Welcome aboard:

Sam Draxler, Administrative Assistant, School of Art
Morrell McClurkin, Part-time Clerk
Jaya Patel, Financial Aid Specialist
Whitney Oldenburg, Career Counselor

Labor Organizing News

Read the latest news from our parent union NYSUT here.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, hinges on a 40-year-old precedent allowing public sector unions to charge non-members who benefit from collective bargaining. The outcome could affect the operations of public unions, which represent state and government employees and function as one of the strongest parts of the union movement. Read more about the Janus case here, and learn more about taking action with NYSUT here.

The recent West Virginia Teacher Strikes led to a victory for teachers in that state, and there could be more mobilization to come in other states, such as Oklahoma and Arizona.