UConn-AAUP Update June 13, 2025
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- UConn Union Meeting with President Maric and the Administration
- Message from the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC): Labor Pushes Back on Lamont (plus quick contract update)
- Chief Negotiator Blog Post
- UConn-AAUP International Scholar Defense Fund
UConn Union Meeting with President Maric and the Administration
The Presidents and Executive Directors of the UConn unions met with President Maric and the administration this past Wednesday. The main two items we discussed were the fallout from the state budget and the President’s signature on the AAC&U’s “Call for Constructive Engagement.”
President Maric still has reservations about public acts of resistance given a number of very large federal grants that are in play right now — that the state may match given their impact on the state’s economy — and has been told by the Governor’s Office not to engage in protest while those applications are in play. By the end of the July, when the applications are decided, the conversation around signing onto petitions and joining compacts may be quite different, especially if the grants are rejected by the federal government.
As for the state budget, all union leaders stressed the need to avoid layoffs, and we did not hear from the administration that layoffs will be necessary.
Message from the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC): Labor Pushes Back on Lamont (plus quick contract update)
Dear SEBAC Members:
This session, Governor Lamont made a clear indication that his priorities will be to corporations and CEOs and not the working families of Connecticut. He did so most directly with his promise to veto SB8, unemployment insurance for striking workers. This bill passed both chambers with large majorities and was a priority for both the AFL-CIO and Senate President Looney, yet Lamont boldly declared he would veto the bill on multiple occasions. (We are public sector workers and do not have the right to strike and therefore this bill does not apply to UConn-AAUP members.)
This comes at a time when union bargaining committees at the 35 bargaining units across SEBAC – if they have received wage proposals at all –have been greeted with state proposals for hard zeros in terms of wages and steps, with very little movement on most other table issues. And with the legislative session over, we have lost any chance of getting an agreement to the General Assembly for approval before our contract expires.
That means effective July 1, 2025 we will be working under an expired contract without a raise. To make matters worse, because of nationwide increased costs in health care, our health insurance premiums will go up in July, resulting in an effective pay cut as many of us will see our take home pay decrease. Obviously, we will be fighting for a retroactive pay increase, but that doesn’t fix the pain and uncertainty members experience in the meantime.
This is a pivotal moment for labor. We must stand together with our private sector union siblings and make clear that Governor Lamont must listen to the working families of Connecticut.
Register for an informational picket at the Governor’s mansion on June 16th at 6 pm. We will be urging Governor Lamont to side with working families, not powerful corporations and wealthy CEOs, and sign SB 8.
After you register for the picket, contact the Governor!
Chief Negotiator Blog Post
The chief negotiator has posted an update on negotiations. Log in now to review: UConn AAUP Member Website | Membership Website
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UConn-AAUP International Scholar Defense Fund
The International Scholar Defense Fund was created to defray the cost of legal consultation and legal representation for students and AAUP bargaining unit members at UConn who have questions, concerns, or emergencies regarding their immigration and citizenship status. We have compiled a list of Legal Firms that are available for our Members and Students to reach out to. The application for this fund and list of legal offices can be found here.