(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - Members of United University Professions (UUP), which represents more than 37,000 Academic and Professional Faculty at State University of New York (SUNY) State-operated campuses, have overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year contract with New York State, Union Officials announced.

The pact was approved by 96.4% of eligible voters that cast ballots, one of UUP’s largest contract ratification percentages - ever.

It is also one of the largest vote totals tallied for a UUP contract ratification, the Union added.

More than 15,400 UUP Members voted, with 14,900 voting for the new contract and 556 voting against.

MK Election Services, which conducted the ratification vote, tallied the votes.

This was the first time that UUP Members voted electronically to ratify a contract.

Members cast votes between August 10th and August 24th.

UUP President Frederick Kowal said: “This contract contains historic gains for our Members and builds on advances made in our last contract.  It rewards our Members at SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals - who were on the front lines of the pandemic - raises minimum salaries for our lowest-paid members and provides twelve weeks of parental leave with pay.  We won this agreement because we are a Union.  We speak with one loud, strong voice, which is why Chief Negotiator Bret Benjamin and our Negotiations Team were able to deliver a contract that was emphatically ratified by our Members.”

The contract is retroactive to July 2nd, 2022, and runs through July 1st, 2026.

UUP and State Negotiators tentatively agreed on the new contract June 6th.

Highlights of the contract include: Across-the-board raises, with a 2% raise for 2022 and 3% raises for 2023, 2024 and 2025; Retention awards that bring on-base salary increases based on length of service to Full-Time Employees who work seven years, and then 12 years; Per-course minimum increases for Adjunct and Part-Time Faculty.  Contingents at University Centers and Health Sciences Centers will be paid $6,000 per three-credit course by 2026; Contingents at Comprehensive and Technical Campuses will receive $5,500; Living wage increases which raise minimum salaries for UUP’s lowest-paid Academic Ranks and Professional Grades; No increases in basic health insurance costs, including Employee premium shares, co-payments, annual deductibles or co-insurance maximums; Improved job security for Contingent Employees; Increased location adjustment pay for Members on Long Island and in New York City; and for Members at SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals, Holiday pay (or comp time) for all State Holidays.

"I’d like to thank Governor (Kathy) Hochul for her willingness to collaborate with us to achieve a fair and equitable contract that our Members ratified in large numbers,” Kowal said.

Before the vote, Kowal, Benjamin, UUP Counsel to the President Elizabeth Hough and Negotiations Team Members spent two months traveling to UUP Chapters across the State and holding virtual town hall sessions to explain the agreement to Members.

"Our Negotiations Team did an incredible job of negotiating a superb contract that our Members embraced,” Kowal said. “Thank you to Bret, Elizabeth, the Negotiations Team and UUP Staff, who spent countless hours bringing this to fruition.”

UUP is the Nation’s largest Higher Education Union, with more than 42,000 Academic And Professional Faculty and Retirees.

UUP Members work at 29 New York State-operated campuses, including SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals and Health Science Centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse.

UUP is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO.