The Voice

Presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks out during a recent rally in Illinois

Everybody figured it would be Hillary.

Last year at this time, the pundits, the pollsters, the politicians and the television talking heads all placed U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton at the head of the pack for the Democratic presidential nomination. And with the polls continually saddling Republican President George W. Bush with some of the lowest approval ratings of any president in history and no Democratic candidate showing signs of posing a threat, there was lots of talk about a second Clinton administration.

Then a young U.S. senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, entered the spotlight and surprised everyone — Clinton included — with a January victory in the Iowa Democrat caucus. Five months and 54 primaries later, the longest Democratic primary in party history, Obama won enough delegates to snare the nomination.

Obama’s victory was embraced by the American Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers and UUP, which closed ranks at the urging of Clinton, who unequivocally supported Obama in a convincing speech to AFT members at the federation’s annual convention in Chicago.

“The only way we can realize the promise of (the American dream) is to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States of America,” Clinton told convention delegates.

“Now, let’s roll up our sleeves. Let’s get to work. Let’s do everything we can to make this election the watershed it deserves to be.”

With the Nov. 4 election just weeks away, thousands of union members from UUP, NYSUT, the AFT and the AFL-CIO have heeded the call. The unions have rallied their forces and launched numerous campaign efforts to reach out to members to get out and vote for union-supported candidates.

From UUPers passionately working with students to sign up new voters on SUNY campuses statewide through a “Rock the Vote” initiative, to setting up NYSUT phone banks, to wearing out shoe leather with AFT and AFL-CIO members meeting face-to-face with undecided voters in “battleground” states, union activists are aggressively working to get their message heard.

NYSUT Executive VP Alan Lubin, left and NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi express their thanks to former Sen. Joe Bruno, right.

To say that 2008 is a key election year is an understatement. Beyond voting for a new president, New Yorkers will determine which political party controls the state Senate, and will influence the battle for control of the U.S. House.

Amid that political scenario, more than two dozen UUP members gathered in mid-August in Albany with hundreds of Political Action Committee members of NYSUT — UUP’s statewide affiliate — at NYSUT’s 2008 Presidents’ Conference on Endorsements. The unionists got together to recommend candidates to endorse for the state Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives. NYSUT’s Board of Directors selected the final list of endorsed candidates based on the recommendations of the members.

Tax cap flap

“It’s time to take the gloves off,” UUP President Phillip Smith told UUPers during a meeting prior to the conference. He said that SUNY is already under the gun because of the state budget cut of $148 million, and the prospect of a school property tax cap carries negative consequences for UUP, SUNY and NYSUT.

(Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles exploring some of the benefits for UUP members contained in UUP’s new four-year contract with New York state.)

Did you know that you can use accrued sick leave for death or illness in the family? Or that the number of sick leave days you may use for family leave increased from 15 to 30 per year? Are you aware that the state will pay some of your dependent care expenses? Did you know your dependent children can get a scholarship to attend SUNY state-operated colleges and universities? These are just some of the benefits included in the latest contract UUP successfully negotiated with the state.

Expanding family sick leave

One of the major concerns UUPers expressed during campus visits and in suggestion forms was the need for more flexibility from SUNY management to allow members to take care of their spouses, children or aging parents in times of illness. The negotiations team responded to that concern by doubling the number of accrued sick days per year that members of the bargaining unit can use.

UUP member Michelle Collins, a business advisor at SUNY Canton's Small Business Development Center, reviews business plans with Lucas and Sarah Manning, co-owners of the Partridge Cafe in Canton

As he surveys the guitars, sheet music, home entertainment systems, digital cameras, LCD TVs and other stock in his thriving business in Potsdam, Jeremy Carney fully realizes how the SUNY campus one mile down the road makes his business a success.

“They are a major source of income,” said Carney, the co-owner of Northern Music & Video, a two-storefront enterprise in downtown Potsdam.
Carney reports during their last fiscal year, sales to SUNY Potsdam totaled $160,000. When you add sales to students — including those attending the Crane School of Music — sales total $200,000. “That’s a big chunk of our revenue,” he said.

Northern Music & Video is but one example of the economic clout that SUNY campuses bring to their respective communities across the state. It’s the multiplier effect in action. Every dollar of state support that goes to SUNY returns at least six dollars to invigorate the local economy. In many areas of the state, such as Potsdam — where there are few major employers — SUNY is a key supporter of the local economy.

In their capacities with SUNY, UUP members support the local economy by doing business with local companies.

“I feel a fiduciary responsibility to spend money in the local economy and foster good working relationships,” said UUPer Jeff Reeder, the technical director for the theater, dance and opera programs at Potsdam. “By keeping dollars I spend in the area, the money circulates.”

Reeder patronizes several local businesses, including Northern Music & Video, where he purchases such items as sound equipment, cameras, recorders and cable.
“The local economy is small,” Reeder explains. “SUNY is a big chunk of that small pie. The local economy would suffer if SUNY wasn’t here.”

Reeder also does business with Bill Evans, a co-owner of Evans & White Hardware, who is even more emphatic about SUNY’s economic contribution.
“Without them (SUNY), there’s nothing here,” Evans said. Reeder purchases paint, glass, nuts and bolts, tools and replacement blades from the family retailer that’s been around since 1922.