Above, FA President Dante Morelli listens during a meeting at Higher Ed Advocacy Day in Albany on February 6, 2024. Below, Dante collaborates with members of CUNY Professional Staff Congress as they work with state Senate staffers on issues facing NYSUT community colleges. Dante attends Higher Ed Advocacy Day every spring to ensure our elected officials understand the issues we face at SCCC. (photos by El-Wise Noisette, NYSUT)

Strong contracts simply do not come from the negotiating table. While that’s part of the process, the work we do that directly and powerfully impacts our negotiating is a year-round effort.

Along with Executive Vice President Courtney Brewer and Grievance Officer Kevin McCoy, we attended nearly 40 fundraisers in 2024. We specifically attend fundraisers for Suffolk County legislators and New York State assembly members and senators.

We make a point at these fundraisers to thank our elected officials for their support of the college. The Suffolk County Legislature approves the college’s annual budget and our contracts. They are basically our local “school board,” so it is critical that they understand our issues.

VOTE-COPE is our voice

In order to continue our advocacy work with elected officials, we need to raise money through our VOTE-COPE fund. VOTE-COPE stands for Voice of Teachers for Education (VOTE) and Committee on Political Education (COPE), the two nonpartisan educational campaigns that were combined by NYSUT in 1973.

VOTE-COPE is supported entirely by voluntary member contributions (not member dues), and it is literally what gives us our voice when we meet with elected officials who decide how education is funded across the state. Since SCCC is funded both by the county and the state, a solid VOTE-COPE campaign is mission critical for us. VOTE-COPE is what allows us to attend various fundraisers held by our elected officials. It is imperative that we maintain a strong VOTE-COPE fund in order to fight for the two issues that matter most to us: union rights and public higher education.

County impacts

We have always advocated on these issues, and our past and current Suffolk County legislators have long supported these values, regardless of political affiliation.

The results of our advocacy work brought us a fair contract in October 2023, which passed the county Legislature 17-0. This vote of confidence in our members and the work we do for students is a testament to our year-round advocacy and the relationships we’ve built with our elected officials. Maintaining these important relationships has shown positive results, as our county legislators have continuously asked college leadership about filling full-time faculty lines in our campaign New Deal for Students. We will continue to advocate for full-time lines and are thrilled that a good number of recent positions have been filled by adjunct faculty members.

Additionally, our Employee Medical Healthcare Plan (EMHP) contract has been extended by the Romaine administration until 2028. The Suffolk County Legislature is not just a government entity that votes on items related to the college, they are strong, proud partners and stakeholders in the work we perform. Some legislators are in fact current students or alumni of SCCC.

State impacts

VOTE-COPE funds are also used to advocate for state worker protections and benefits such as pension reform. Last year NYSUT, along with other unions across the state, fixed a part of Tier 6. While the majority of our full-time members are in Tiers 1-4 of the New York State retirement systems, 124 colleagues are in Tiers 5 and 6, which had been created with diminished retiree benefits and higher contributions by members for the entirety of their career.

We have been working to address these inequities, and last year NYSUT achieved the first goal of lowering the final average salary calculation from five years to three years. This is a notable benefit for the 124 full-time FA members in Tiers 5 or 6, not to mention all of our other colleagues at SCCC—exempts, Guild, adjunct members and AME members—who also happen to be in Tiers 5 and 6. Therefore, we will continue to advocate for the Fix Tier 6 campaign in Albany during this legislative session when do our annual lobbying for community college funding.

Strength in numbers

	Your voluntary VOTE-COPE contributions enable the FA to meet with elected officials so they are familiar with the labor and education issues that impact the college. Please consider contributing or increasing your contribution!

In order to keep the momentum going with our advocacy work, we ask you to please consider starting a biweekly paycheck VOTE-COPE contribution or to increase your existing contribution. Our slogan is “Every dollar we pay makes us stronger each day.” If you do not already contribute to VOTE-COPE, consider starting with even just $1 a paycheck. If you do already contribute, thank you! Please consider increasing your contribution by $1 a paycheck. Or more if you can afford it. If everyone gives a little, it really adds up.

Here is why: While it seems like we just entered our current stipulation of agreement, it will expire on August 31, 2026, and that will be here before you know it. We need to be prepared and have a strong voice as a union so we can go to the negotiating table to fight for a fair contract for our members.

Over the next few weeks, you may be approached by one of the FA officers or a member of our political action committee (PAC) to start or increase your VOTE-COPE contribution. Any amount you can give per paycheck helps. We have had many retirements over the last few years, a good number of whom contributed significant amounts to VOTE-COPE over their careers, and we are tremendously grateful for their contributions.

I thank our political action team members for taking on this great work—Lisa Behnke, Ed Champ, Tim McHeffey and Bruce Seger—and for taking the time to reach out to members. You will also see our PAC team at Professional Development Day on Tuesday, February 11, at the Ammerman Campus.

I also thank the 80 adjunct faculty and 142 full-time members who currently contribute to VOTE-COPE, especially the officers who collectively contribute $127 per paycheck as well as our EC reps who collectively contribute $80 per paycheck. We are grateful to all who contribute and ask you to keep the momentum going so we continue to advocate for strong, fair contracts.

Finally, speaking of contracts, please express your support of our colleagues, friends and union siblings in the Guild of Administrative Officers as they are currently in the process of negotiating a fair contract for their members. Solidarity is not exclusive to our fellow FA members. The solidarity we convey with the Guild and AME also makes the college and our workplace stronger.

And that work too—standing strong in solidarity—is year round.