2008 Woodie Awards
UUP protecting the rights of SUNY workers
James Crugnale
Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: News
Originally published: 4/12/07 at 4:40 PM EST
Last update: 4/12/07 at 4:40 PM EST
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United University Professions (UUP) Plattsburgh Chapter President Patricia Bentley wants to know, are Plattsburgh State workers getting a fair and equitable shake?
That's the question chapter leaders of the UUP deal with on a daily basis throughout the state as their union helps to represent 33,000 SUNY professional workers.
"If it's not fair (for workers) then we try to resolve things locally," Bentley said. The UUP is governed by one contract throughout the state
"We represent SUNY employers with a full range of salaries: workers who make between $22,000 and $200,000 - from a shepherd at Cobleskill to neurobiologists," Bentley said.
Bentley said UUP's main priority is fighting the decline in funding for SUNY which has resulted in a huge increase in part-time staff. The UUP has also been helping to negotiate the preservation of critical budgets and combating the attack on tenure and the academic bill of rights.
The UUP chapter at Plattsburgh represents 650 campus members. Bentley has remained active in the union's leadership position for over a decade and estimates that she spends about 40 percent of her release time working for the union, including three out of four weekends.
"I love union work because it is very direct," Bentley said. "It is work that has a positive affect on people. By and large, I look at the kinds of benefits that we offer and how we negotiate good salaries and most often, when I can do something to help. It's a sense of satisfaction."
According to an annual salary survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, "faculties at institutions with collective bargaining units make significantly higher salaries than peers who work at universities and colleges with no union contracts."
Besides the advantages her union gives to faculty and staff, Bentley also said the UUP improves the lives of students.
"Students benefit because as an independent political agent we advocate for funding," Bentley said. "We feel primarily responsible for the $119 million increase in the state operating budget of '06-'07."
That's the question chapter leaders of the UUP deal with on a daily basis throughout the state as their union helps to represent 33,000 SUNY professional workers.
"If it's not fair (for workers) then we try to resolve things locally," Bentley said. The UUP is governed by one contract throughout the state
"We represent SUNY employers with a full range of salaries: workers who make between $22,000 and $200,000 - from a shepherd at Cobleskill to neurobiologists," Bentley said.
Bentley said UUP's main priority is fighting the decline in funding for SUNY which has resulted in a huge increase in part-time staff. The UUP has also been helping to negotiate the preservation of critical budgets and combating the attack on tenure and the academic bill of rights.
The UUP chapter at Plattsburgh represents 650 campus members. Bentley has remained active in the union's leadership position for over a decade and estimates that she spends about 40 percent of her release time working for the union, including three out of four weekends.
"I love union work because it is very direct," Bentley said. "It is work that has a positive affect on people. By and large, I look at the kinds of benefits that we offer and how we negotiate good salaries and most often, when I can do something to help. It's a sense of satisfaction."
According to an annual salary survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, "faculties at institutions with collective bargaining units make significantly higher salaries than peers who work at universities and colleges with no union contracts."
Besides the advantages her union gives to faculty and staff, Bentley also said the UUP improves the lives of students.
"Students benefit because as an independent political agent we advocate for funding," Bentley said. "We feel primarily responsible for the $119 million increase in the state operating budget of '06-'07."
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