Upstate UUP

UUP received word on Friday, September 16, 2022, that the Division of Budget has released Budget Bulletin D-1200,  Budget Bulletin D-1200 (ny.gov), which contains directions to state agencies concerning how the health care retention bonuses will be paid to state employees. This covers SUNY employees who are performing qualifying service, in qualifying titles, who will be eligible for these bonuses. We are presently studying the documents to get as clear a picture as possible as to who is included.  

Having said that, those working in qualifying service in qualifying titles at the SUNY hospitals, at the UB Dental School, at Optometry, and in Student Health Clinics at all SUNY campuses will be eligible.  Individual employees will not be required to apply for or submit any individual documentation to qualify, SUNY management will be responsible for identifying all employees who qualify. 

Your UUP Chapter Leadership will be meeting with HR this week to discuss details of this Healthcare Worker Bonus Budget Bulleting for our members. We will share what information is made available to us next week. The list of Qualifying Titles can be found here. Please do not contact us asking if you qualify for this bonus, all the information we have is available online.

This is a big win for our members and is the result of lots of hard work in advocacy with the governor’s office. Stay tuned for more information. 

UUP has just entered an agreement with the State and SUNY to extend the 2.5 OT MOA once again.  This extension will apply to all overtime earned by eligible employees through November 30, 2022.

Other than the extension through November 30, 2022, there are no other changes. A PDF of the new agreement is attached.

UUP’s advocacy has led to the passage in the State Senate and State Assembly of S8389C & A9523B. This legislation will be an incredible benefit for our contingent and adjunct members.

This bill is an amendment to state labor law, giving full-time employment status to public employees who work at least 30 hours per week for the limited purpose of accessing the federal Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

The bill also applies a 3.35x multiplier to contingent faculty’s in-class hours so that hours worked outside of class are more accurately reflected.

Lastly, it will ensure that agencies and employers can transmit requisite paperwork on behalf of workers to the federal government which will help more New Yorkers get their loans forgiven faster.

I hope you can take a moment to send a digital letter to Governor Hochul by clicking HERE.

On Friday, October 22^nd, UUP once again reached agreement with the State to suspend the January 1 40-day vacation accrual cap contained in Article 23.2(d) of the 2016-2022 State/UUP Agreement. The new agreement with GOER mirrors the agreement UUP reached last year and provides that employees who have accrued vacation credits in excess of 40 days and have been unable to use that excess vacation leave due the ongoing impact of COVID will be given an additional year to close of business December 31, 2022 to exhaust that leave. 

For more information, please visit: Deal reached with state on vacation accrual extension (uupinfo.org).

You can read the MOU by clicking HERE.