UUP members overwhelmingly ratify 4-year agreement

Members of United University Professions, the nation’s largest higher-education union, have overwhelmingly approved a four-year labor agreement with the state that will bring across-the-board raises for more than 37,000 faculty and staff of the SUNY system. 

The deal, retroactive to July 2, 2022, calls for salary bumps of 2 percent for 2022 and of 3 percent for this year, 2024 and 2025.

It also includes per-course minimum increases for adjunct and part-time faculty, retention awards for seven and 12-year employees, and living-wage increases for the lowest-paid academic ranks and professional grades, the union said. 

Similar to other recently negotiated state contracts, the UUP deal, which was ratified by more than 96 percent of the members who voted, provides 12 weeks of leave at full pay for birth, adoption or foster placement. It contains no increases in basic health insurance costs, the union said. 

UUP’s president, Frederick E. Kowal, thanked Governor Hochul for “a fair, equitable agreement.” 

“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this ratification vote, which saw an overwhelming majority of members who voted cast ballots in favor of the agreement,” Kowal said in a statement. “This is a contract rich with gains for all members, including our lowest-paid members, working parents and faculty and staff at our public teaching hospitals who risked their lives during the pandemic.” 

Following the UUP board’s approval of the deal in May, Kowal and negotiators visited every SUNY campus and held virtual town hall-style meetings in support of the deal, the union said. 

“SUNY students and the communities we serve greatly benefit from the expertise and dedication of our faculty and professionals at SUNY’s campuses and hospitals,” SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said. “These individuals are committed to the success of our students and furthering their fields of study, while others are researchers and specialists devoted to addressing societal challenges or caring for patients — all with the common goal to make a difference in service to New York State.”

Hochul also said she was pleased with the deal. "This contract fairly compensates the hard-working members of the United University Professions who provide critical expertise to benefit New York’s college students each day," she said.  

The UUP’s approval follows by a few weeks ratification by the Public Employees Federation’s rank and file of a three-year deal with similar provisions. 

The federation, with about 51,000 members, is the state’s second-largest employee union after the Civil Service Employees Association. The union represents more than 3,000 titles in every state agency, among them nurses, teachers, social workers, doctors, engineers, counselors, parole officers, lawyers and IT specialists.

Members of the Civil Service Employees Association, the state’s largest public-sector union, ratified a five-year deal last year. That multi-year pact, retroactive to April 2021 and running through April 2026, brought with it 13 percent raises through the life of the agreement.