A period of uncertainty that ended with McCall's subsequent decision not to enter the contest presented UUP with a six-week "window of opportunity," William Scheuerman told more than 200 members-the largest turnout ever for a chapter meeting-in Pistachio's in the Student Union.

UUP negotiators endorsed the agreement, which is now being voted on by members statewide, even though it permits contracting out of union jobs.

"No one wanted contracting out or outsourcing in our contractÉ but there was no way we were going to beat the principle back," he said. The three other, larger state unions representing SUNY employees agreed to contracting out, setting what he called a "pattern" for bargaining for the UUP pact.

"We weren't going to bring the state to its knees by staying out and working without benefits or raises; it would more likely bring us to our knees," Scheuerman added.

He said the tentative agreement fulfills the goals for the contract set by the union, which were to maintain job security, hold the line on workload and restore fully the Benefit Trust Fund.

Scheuerman fielded criticism from several chapter officers and leaders, who questioned him strongly on a variety of issues, including outsourcing and what some alleged is the failure of most UUP members across the state to hear dissenting discussion about the tentative agreement.

He defended language in the proposed contract allowing the state to contract out jobs to external corporations, maintaining that the inclusion of numerous "fences" would make it extremely difficult and expensive for the state to do so.

He stressed that "contracting in," a version of contracting out in which jobs would be outsourced to internal corporations, such as the Research Foundation or the UB Foundation, is "particularly dangerous and totally unacceptable" and is not allowed under the proposed contract.

"I wouldn't have shook hands on a contract that had that in. If that were in our contract, every job in this unit would be up for grabs," he said.

Buffalo Center Chapter President Jean Dickson also urged members to ratify the contract "because of morale issues, because of stability and because there are a lot of positive aspects to this contract."

She stressed that the union must become more vigilant and organized.

"We need to be ready for 1999, when, if the contract is passed, we'll have to start negotiating againÉIt makes sense for us to have a more militant and a stronger UUP chapter" on each of the UB campuses, "so we can actually play a much more significant role in making sure we get a really strong contract in the next run."

Joel Rose, chapter vice president for professionals, repeatedly pressed Scheuerman to explain why "protections" against outsourcing are outlined in the memorandum of understanding, in letters attached to the MOU and in verbal understandings, rather than in the contract itself.

Scheuerman replied that the key protections are in the contract and the others are binding.

Harvey Axlerod, grievance chair for professionals, said he believes the proposed contract does not prevent outsourcing represented by the hiring of free-lancers to do the work of UUP members.

"I don't see where this contract presents any protections for that whatsoever," he said. He added that managers could elude any of the "fences" in the contract hiring all workers on a free-lance basis, as he said has been done for years in Millard Fillmore College.

John Boot, professor and chair of the Department of Management Science and Systems, commenting on an earlier charge by James Holstun, UUP vice president for academics, that the union leadership lied when it accepted contracting out in the proposed contract after two years of insisting it would not, pointed out that the union "functions in the real world."

The bargaining team made it very clear that contracting out was unacceptable, Boot said. "But in the end, we have come outÉand have thrown some water in the wine; we have relented. And you know what that is? That's just the way the world functions," he said.

Paul Zarembka, grievance chair for academics, asked Scheuerman to rescind the ratification process "because it was not a democratically run process."

"I know of only three chapters...that, within a close date of the time that ballots were received, had any kind of critical or negative commentary to all the membership at that time."

Even at UB, where he and others have worked hard to urge members to oppose the pact, he knows of members who received their ballots and voted before they got any recommendations to vote "no."

Scheuerman noted that UUP has given members a month-two weeks longer than usual-to make their decisions on the proposal. Votes will be counted on Sept. 19.

"We've done more than ever before," he said. "If people don't pay attention (to the contract and its specific language), it's not because we haven't helped them." He noted that once the bargaining team agrees to a proposed contract, it is legally bound to "sell the contract and not to undercut the contract."

Stacey Johnson, assistant to the chair of the Department of Anthropology, reminded members that everyone responds to ballots in their own way; while some respond immediately, many take the time to inform themselves before voting.

"It seems to me we're really making a lot of assumptions about people and about how stupid they are and ignorant that they sent in their ballots without the benefit of all this wonderful, intellectual discussion," Johnson said.

"If they sent their ballots in early, that was a decision they made."