Upstate UUP

UUP has launched a letter-writing campaign focused on advocating for key provisions to be included in the American Families Plan. This work is part of the ongoing joint efforts with our coalition partners that we met with last week during the Higher Education Labor Summit. If you haven’t already, please send a letter to New York’s congressional representatives here.   

To increase awareness, UUP has developed a social media toolkit with graphics and sample posts that can be used to easily share the letter via personal and chapter social media pages. You can view that toolkit here.   

Thank you for your continued support as we advocate for SUNY and public higher education at the federal level.

Need Help Managing Your Student Loan Debt?  

Over 12 million people in the United States are struggling to make their monthly student loan payments, and millions more see economic and personal opportunities pass as they prioritize paying down their debt. Does this sound like you or someone you know?  

Many of these people may qualify for free federal programs that can help reduce their monthly payments and eventually lead to student loan forgiveness, but these lifeline programs are significantly under-enrolled. In an effort to help our members get access to these programs, United University Professions and the American Federation of Teachers are proud to host a Student Debt Clinic which will provide information on how to enroll in Income-Driven Repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.   

 We will be offering virtual Members Only Student Debt Clinics on the following dates:    

Wednesday, August 4, 2021 from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM via webinar.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021 from 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM via webinar. 

To attend one of the virtual Members Only Student Debt Clinics, you must pre-register here: http://go.aft.org/StudentDebtClinicRSVP. From the “student debt clinic” drop down menu, please select the UUP clinic that you are interested in attending – they are labeled “UUP [Virtual Student Debt Clinic] [date] [time].” In the affiliate field, type in the full name of our local (United University Professions), and it will autofill after a few keystrokes.  

Registration is first come, first serve, and we must cap attendance for a single clinic at 75 participants in order to ensure that we are able to provide maximum assistance to attendees. Registration will close 48 hours prior to the virtual clinic. Webinar login information will be provided prior to the clinic to all who register. [If you can’t make one of these virtual clinics, don’t worry – we’re planning on offering them every payday. If you want to help host a chapter-specific virtual clinic, please let us know!]  

Managing your student loan debt is the first step in taking on the inequities which plague our system of higher education, and we look forward to seeing you at the virtual Student Debt Clinic and working together to find a collective solution to the problems of student debt and college affordability!  

Register now!

Join UUP and our coalition partners, the New York Youth Climate Leaders, in Albany, on August 6th, at 1:30 PM in West Capitol Park (across from 89 Washington Ave) to participate in a rally to protest the inaction on climate change and demand that the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System divest from fossil fuel stocks. 

With the legislature passing ZERO ambitious climate bills this year, UUP has stepped up and joined our coalition partners as a co-sponsor for the August 6, “Fossil Free Education, Fossil Free Future” rally to demand change now. We cannot allow the legislature to hide behind the CLCPA, claiming that they cannot pass additional climate legislation until the Climate Action Council releases its recommendations. These excuses are merely delay tactics, and they threaten the livelihoods of our generation and future generations. Additionally, with an estimated $4.5 billion invested in the fossil fuel industry, NYSTRS is doing their pensioners and the planet a disservice by continuing to invest in fossil fuels.   

You can check out bus availability, find more information about the rally, and register here.   We will be sure to have signs and t-shirts on hand to distribute to all UUP members. So, after you register, please send Danielle Judge, djudge@uupmail.org an email and let her know that you will be joining. We will pick a UUP member rally meet-up location (and time) as we get closer to the event. That information will be shared with all who let Danielle know that you will be joining us on August 6 at 1:30 PM.

UUP WORTHY WEDNESDAY – WEEKLY ADVOCACY ACTIONS, a weekly update on opportunities to join together and fight for causes that benefit our members, families, and the communities where we work and live. 

WORTHY WEDNESDAY ACTIONS – Time to ACT!  

The Americans Family Plan: Last week UUP members and staff joined hundreds of higher education coalition partners from around the country to discuss, strategize and mobilize for the federal advocacy work that lies ahead. That work starts today! We must carry our message to our communities, to state houses and especially to Washington DC, that higher education must be a national priority.  

Higher education can be at the heart of the solutions to so many of our national crises. From racism to climate change, from the assault on democracy to income inequality, investing in higher education will foster a more just economy and society. So, I ask you to participate in our first action. Send a letter to New York’s members of the House of Representatives and our US Senators and tell them that federal legislation must include funding for 2-year & 4-year public institutions, labor provisions that mandate pathways to tenure protection, and the means to tear down barriers to access for students from every community. 

Green New Deal Network: Our coalition partners in the Green New Deal Network are hosting a major Twitter Storm & Day of Action tomorrow, July 15. Join us by posting on social media and tagging your members of Congress to ask them to support the THRIVE Priorities in the budget reconciliation package! You can find sample posts and graphics HERE. 

Send a tweet to your members of Congress demanding they publicly support these THRIVE Agenda priorities in the budget reconciliation package. 

• $1 Trillion for renewable energy. 
• $600 Billion for expanding and electrifying public transit. 
• $600 Billion for retrofitting public buildings, including low-income housing and schools. 
• $132 Billion to fully fund the Civilian Climate Corps. 
• $625 Billion for the care economy. 
• Labor and equity standards throughout all investments. 

You can also click HERE, to click-to-tweet this message directly at your members of Congress.