Correspondence at statewide and chapter levels; meeting minutes, both for statewide and Buffalo chapter; bargaining unit mailings; newsletters; and financial records maintained by Joseph Drew, UUP's first statewide treasurer, who was active both in the statewide SPA and the SPA chapter in Buffalo prior to UUP's creation.
The records in this series relate mainly to the Senate Professional Association, although some materials are included relating to the State University Federation of Teachers and other contenders for bargaining agent before the creation of UUP. The organization to which the records in each folder primarily relate is indicated in parenthesis in the folder title. The records in this series provide the most information available regarding the financial condition of SPA and UUP at its formation-the state of which was an issue for the union, particularly given its financial reliance at times on NYSTA. (Additional early UUP financial records are located in Series 1 of Subgroup V, Office of the Treasurer.) The records in this series also reflect the differing concerns of professional and academic employees in their selection of a bargaining agent and in negotiations. Also discussed are the cost of the various organizations competing to be bargaining agent in terms of dues versus what they offered their members, and the issue of affiliation with larger organizations such as AFT, NYEA, and NEA and the implication that affiliation with each would have on the bargaining unit. The mailings made by the various contenders for bargaining agent reflect their positions on these and other issues.