UUP reaches agreement on new parking rates at SUNY Upstate

Please Note: This announcement was sent as an "Upstate Announcement" to all GroupWise email accounts on July, 11th. Additional information/annotations are here in bracketed [ blue text.] A link to the actual Memorandum of Understanding is given at the end of this page.
 
United University Professions (UUP) has reached an agreement with SUNY Upstate Medical University that sets new monthly parking rates for parking garages and surface lots.  The new rate structure will be effective upon the opening of the Garage West, expected to be November 2008.   [Current rates continue until the first full month after Garage West opens. Anticipated date is Nov. '08.]

Under the agreement, UUP-represented employees who parked in the old garage prior to its demolition will be offered a parking assignment in either the East Garage or the West Garage, when it opens, tentatively set for November 2008.  The new rates will apply to these parking assignments. [UUP-represented employees who previously parked in the "Old Garage," will be assigned parking in either the new Garage West or Garage East. The current construction plan calls for both garages being connected by a covered sky-bridge, providing protection during inclimate weather.]

In addition, the agreement provides for a discretionary salary increase (DSI) allocation, effective July 1, 2007, for UUP-represented employees which was introduced by the union in an effort to mitigate the impact of the parking rate increase slated for 2008, going forward.   Previously, this annual DSI allocation was not automatically guaranteed for UUP-represented employees. [Approximately 1680 UUP-represented employees will benefit from the DSI allocation. DSI pay-outs will be made according to the routine SUNY schedule, which for this campus is usually in November or December. Payment will be retroactive to July 1, '07.]

“We’re pleased to be able to support management with this new rate agreement, while at the same time ensuring that rates remain affordable for our members,” said Phillip Smith, Ph.D., local chapter president of UUP. [Our new agreement meets the needs of our members in supporting an affordable and stable parking system. And it assists UMU management in meeting its financial obligations in providing a parking system for employees. We view this agreement as a "win" for all parties concerned.]

Dick O’ Shea, assistant vice president for management, credits UUP with forging a plan that looks broadly at helping the university maintain its parking facilities. “UUP has stepped forward to partner with the university on crafting a rate package that reflects the needs of its members, but also recognizes the financial support needed to maintain and invest in our parking facilities.”

“Anytime we can reach an agreement on an issue as significant as parking without protracted negotiations demonstrates that there is a common understanding of the issues and best course on which to move forward,” O’Shea added.

O’Shea said monthly parking rates paid by employees will help to retire the debt incurred through bonding for the new garage construction projects, maintenance and management.  He noted that employee parking continues to be subsidized by the university.

The new monthly parking fees, plus tax, outlined in the agreement for UUP-represented employees are below.

Full-time employees and part-time employees (.50 FTE or greater): $80 to park in the Garage East or Garage West (to open November 2008). [For most garage parkers, this represents a $55/mo. increase over the current rate of $25. However, the two (2) rounds of Discretionary Salary Increase (DSI) will provide an increase in base pay that will drastically reduce the financial impact of this increase -- see details below.]

Part-time employees (.49 FTE or less): $40 to park in the Garage East or the Garage West.

Residents who park in the Garage East or Garage West: $65

Employees assigned to surface lots on campus: $50

Employees assigned to surface lots off campus: $30 [Employees may seek assignment to park in off campus lots on a space available basis.]

[On the yearly anniversary of the parking rate change, fees will increase by 1%. Contractually negotiated across-the-board pay increases should minimize this increase. Further, this on-going agreement significantly reduces or eliminates the need to negotiate parking fees well into the future. This agreement provides management with a predictable income stream. Moreover, it protects our employees from rapidly escalating parking fees in the Syracuse market.]

Parking rates for Clinical Campus and Learning Network employees are not affected by this agreement, as they would regularly not utilize the parking in SUNY Upstate owned or leased facilities or lots.   

The rate agreement does not affect any off-campus surface lots where there is no fee charged for parking, such as Widewaters.

The rate agreement also contains a provision for guaranteed DSI allocation for employees. Specifics of that arrangement are outlined below. [The DSI allocations described below represent guaranteed minimum amounts. Management retains the right to provide higher DSI awards. DSI awards are NOT predicated on being a UMU parker.]

Full-time employees will receive a DSI allocation of at least $300, effective July 1, 2007, and a second DSI allocation, of at least $300.00, effective the next date that a DSI is negotiated and payable. [The first round of DSI ($300) will be paid out no later than Dec. 31st and will be retroactive to July 1, '07. This represents a $25/month increase of base pay. The second round of DSI (another $300) will be made according to the provisions of the next contract period. After both rounds of DSI, employees will have a $600 increase of base pay, or $50/month. This significantly mitigates the $55 increase in parking fee for garage parkers. There are currently 1517 eligible FT employees, of which 1257 park in the UMU system.]

Part-time employees (.50 FTE or greater) will receive a prorated amount of the $300 allocation of at least $200, effective July 1, 2007, and a second prorated amount of the $300 allocation, of at least $200.00, effective the next date that a DSI is negotiated and payable. [PT employees in this category will receive a pro-rata DSI, with a $400 minimum increase to base pay after both rounds of payouts. There are 111 employees in this group, 75 park at UMU.]

Part-time employees (.49 FTE or less) will receive a prorated amount of the $300 allocation, effective July 1, 2007, and a second prorated amount of the $300 allocation, effective the next date that a DSI is negotiated and payable. [PT employees in this group will receive a pro-rata DSI payment and will benefit from a reduced parking fee structure. There are 59 employees in this group, 10 park at UMU.]

[Significantly, future employees who join UMU and are on Payroll when the second DSI becomes available will receive payment according to the above described FTE status.]

The DSI portion of the agreement does not affect residents, Clinical Campus and Learning Network employees. [Because of the fixed salary scale, residents are not eligible for DSI. Clinical campus and SUNY Learning Network employees do not regularly use the UMU parking system.]

Click Here for the full text of the UMU/UUP Memorandum of Understanding on Parking for UUP-represented employees.