{"id":339,"date":"2017-03-03T14:50:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T19:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/?p=339"},"modified":"2017-03-03T14:50:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T19:50:47","slug":"ucu-member-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/?p=339","title":{"rendered":"UCU Member Layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear fellow UCU members,<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you may already be aware, six members of our unit were laid off today, as well as a number of managers and administrators.\u00a0 These layoffs were in response to budget cuts imposed by Cooper Union\u2019s Board of Trustees. The decisions were made in consultation with Deans and Heads of Departments.\u00a0 The loss of these longtime employees is a horrible shock to our community and we did everything in our power to resist these layoffs and respond to this crisis. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The unfortunate reality is that the administration is within their rights to lay off workers in times of fiscal hardship, so long as they do not recreate the eliminated position within a one year time frame. A layoff, as opposed to a firing, does not need to be \u201cfor cause.\u201d Given this, our strategy was to try to reduce the total number of people laid off, secure as many benefits as possible for those people, and make sure that the layoffs happened in a way that was respectful and responsible.\u00a0 We made a special urgent request for the administration to avoid the past practice whereby employees were summarily dismissed and then escorted out of the building.\u00a0 We firmly believe that that kind of callous treatment of loyal, longtime employees has no place at Cooper Union. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, February 15, members of the UCU Executive Committee and David Eng Wong, our Labor Relations Specialist, met with Bill Mea and Cooper Union\u2019s lawyers to negotiate the impact of these layoffs on all of our membership: those getting laid off, as well as those left with potentially increased workloads.\u00a0 We were not satisfied with the results of this meeting and appealed directly to President Sparks. On Wednesday, February 22, Laura Sparks joined the Executive Committee in our standing meeting with Bill Mea. Laura was sensitive to our concerns and listened to the UCU requests about lack of notice.\u00a0 In response, she offered \u00a0to provide counseling and job placement services for those laid off, as well as some reassurance that the layoff meetings would be conducted responsibly and with sensitivity. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have guidelines and provisions in our contract that help and protect employees that are laid off.* In addition, we forcefully argued for more than the administration has offered in the past. This included more compassionate care, benefits, protections, and crucially, we asked for the fair and equitable treatment of all employees at Cooper, whether they be staff or management. In the past, managers have been given notice of impending layoffs far in advance (giving them time to wind up their affairs and in some cases find new work), while UCU staff were given no notice at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of these discussions, we were able to secure some key additional protections on such a short timetable: <\/span><\/p>\n