Police Union Files Charges Against University at Buffalo
Thursday, March 21, 2013UB Police Union demands adequate police coverage at Downtown Medical Campus
For Immediate Release: Contact: Dan DeFedericis
March 21, 2013 518.433.5472
The Police Benevolent Association of New York State (PBA of New York State), the labor organization representing University Police Officers at 28 SUNY campuses, including the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), today announced that it is taking legal action to ensure that adequate police coverage is provided on UB’s Downtown Medical Campus, and other university-owned property.
The Union recently filed an Improper Labor Practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) regarding UB’s recruitment and subcontracting of services from the Roswell Park Public Security forces. This action is the first step in a process that could result in an administrative hearing at PERB to determine whether the University’s actions violated the State’s Taylor Law which provides exclusive bargaining representation for police and security services on its campuses.
In recent months, there have been a number of incidents on the UB downtown medical campus and its adjacent neighborhoods, impacting the safety and well-being of the UB employees, students and visitors.
“University Police Officers provide protection to the UB community on the Amherst and Main Street campuses,” said James McCartney, the University Police Officers’ Director for the PBA, “At time the medical campus is poised for growth, the UB administration has not made safety on the urban campus a priority.”
The PBA has communicated with a number of officials at the University, including a Vice President and the Provost, expressing the union’s belief that University Police Officers are best trained and equipped to protect the campus community. To date the union has not received any reply on its inquiries and knows of no plans for the assigning of University Police Officers to the downtown campus.
“It’s a wake up call,” McCartney noted. “A parking lot attendant was recently robbed at gunpoint on the campus, and employees have indicated that there are times that they do not feel safe. If the downtown medical campus is to be one of Buffalo’s premier assets, UB and its leadership must be committed to ensuring that staff, students and visitors have appropriate police protection.”
