This petition demands an immediate expansion of policies and procedures to protect the health and welfare of the entire SUNY community—faculty, staff, students and their families—during the COVID-19 crisis. To this end, Governor Cuomo, we, the undersigned, call on SUNY and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations to immediately implement the following demands:

We as a nation are facing an unprecedented health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11. This crisis has revealed the flaws in both our country’s healthcare system, which does not guarantee medical care to all, and our nation’s labor laws, which do not guarantee paid sick leave to all.

COVID-19 is testing the leadership of the federal government, local government, and every institution on which we rely. Medical agencies and researchers, despite being in preliminary stages of fully understanding the COVID-19 virus, broadly agree that COVID-19 is virulent, dangerous, and understated. The number of confirmed cases is rising at an alarming rate every day. Vaccines will not be available until next year at the earliest and hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with critical cases of COVID-19 infections that are very likely without immediate action.

We demand all SUNY campuses that are not hospitals or health science centers, close immediately until further notice for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. See here for our full list of demands.  

This is important not only to protect the students and employees, but also to help ‘flatten the curve’ with the hope that the rate at which patients are admitted to hospitals can be slowed, so that our healthcare system is not overwhelmed.

Historical analyses of other epidemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu have shown that such early efforts of containment save lives. The World Health Organization has called “for countries to take urgent and aggressive action”.

SUNY is an outstanding state university system with national and international influence and has the potential to lead our community and others by example. Sign this petition if you agree with our demands.

The Member Action Coalition (MAC) is a newly-organized caucus within United University Professions (UUP), advocating for greater union democracy, transparency, and building power through member-to-member organizing. To learn more about our comprehensive platform, visit https://uupmac.com, Twitter @UUPMAC, Facebook @UUPMAC, or contact us at uupmac@gmail.com