{"id":447,"date":"2020-06-22T20:15:48","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T00:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/?p=447"},"modified":"2020-06-24T18:04:55","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T22:04:55","slug":"updates-on-staff-and-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/?p=447","title":{"rendered":"Updates on Staff and Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear UCU Members,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We encourage all members to review <a href=\"http:\/\/cooper.edu\/about\/president\/sparks\/messages\/faculty-staff-fall-2020\">Laura&#8217;s email to the community<\/a>, as it outlines significant changes to Cooper Union&#8217;s operations. Notably, all instruction will continue online through the Fall semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such a large change to the institution&#8217;s operations will affect our members, though after engaging with the administration over these plans, the UCU would like you to know that there have been no lay-offs. Furloughs are occurring solely for positions where there is a lack of work due to the coronavirus, and all members that are being furloughed at this time have already been contacted by both HR and the UCU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We ask again that if your working conditions are impacted by these changes, please reach out to the UCU. As new developments may impact the Fall further, we are continuing to meet regularly to determine how best to support the membership through this crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In solidarity,<br>UCU Executive Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>June 24 Update:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear UCU Members,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve been \nresponding individually to members to address concerns about the \nfurloughs, but we&#8217;d like to provide additional information to the \nmembership as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration&#8217;s\n decisions to furlough staff was based on lack of work, with no \nspecified end date for the furloughs. For affected members, this means \nthat the individual circumstances of your job will determine when you \nwill be called back to work. Given the continued uncertainty over the \nextent to which Cooper will be physically open in the fall, this could \nbe before, during, or after the Fall semester. The administration has \nsaid that they will give you two weeks notice for your return to work, \nand we will continue to stress the importance of giving members advance \nnotice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The operational changes required by\n the pandemic&nbsp;disproportionately&nbsp;affect certain workers. While 37 of our\n 144 members have been furloughed, 78% of those members are either \ntechnical staff or members of the Facilities team. We hope that \nrestrictions can be loosened safely to provide greater access to shops, labs, \nand buildings and to allow these members to return to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While\n we were informed by the administration that decisions were made in \nconsultation with faculty and staff, we are aware from some members that\n department chairs and\/or faculty were unaware that members critical to \ntheir work were being furloughed. We advise members to continue \ninforming us in these situations, as we may come to find out there was \nno lack of work, and will contest those furloughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For\n part-time and seasonal staff, the administration is again delaying a \ndetermination based on the uncertainty over the Fall. We were informed \nthat a decision would be made by the end of July. We will push the \nadministration to meet that deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For  any members not currently working through no fault of their own  (including any part-time summer workers who did not receive appointment  letters for the summer), we advise that you consider <a href=\"https:\/\/dol.ny.gov\/unemployment\/file-your-first-claim-benefits\">filing for unemployment<\/a>. Eligibility has been expanded, and we would not want  anyone who is eligible to be deprived of these benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re  working to update members with information as soon as it&#8217;s confirmed.  If you have concerns about anything not addressed directly, contact us  directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In solidarity,<br>UCU Executive Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear UCU Members, We encourage all members to review Laura&#8217;s email to the community, as it outlines significant changes to Cooper Union&#8217;s operations. Notably, all instruction will continue online through the Fall semester. Such a large change to the institution&#8217;s operations will affect our members, though after engaging with the administration over these plans, the &#8230; <a title=\"Updates on Staff and Operations\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/?p=447\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Updates on Staff and Operations<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,4],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","tag-8","tag-ucu-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.memberucu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}