ALBANY, N.Y. March 25, 2020 — NYSUT President Andy Pallotta issued the following statement today regarding the passing of an adjunct professor who was a member of the United College Employees-Fashion Institute of Technology and New York State United Teachers. This is the first known death of a NYSUT member related to COVID-19:
“The entire NYSUT family mourns the passing of our UCE-FIT member, and we extend our deepest condolences to their family. As we have said from the very beginning of this crisis, our primary focus is on the health and safety of our members, their students and their families during this time. Dedicated NYSUT members in education, higher education and health care are continuing to report for duty day-in and day-out to ensure their students and patients can access the essential services they need Even as we mourn the first passing of a NYSUT colleague during this crisis, we remain committed to fighting however we can on behalf of those who fall ill. Our dedication to those we serve will not be broken.”
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.