Have you seen the acronym UCPEA or UCHCPEA? If you have heard those terms and know what they mean, then you are a union member and probably have been one for a while.
UCPEA stands for the University of Connecticut Public Employees Association. That term is the name of the non-teaching professional employees union at the Storrs campus. They are considered the “sister” union to UHP and fall under the same umbrella of AFT CT and AFT.
When the employees at UConn formed a union, UCPEA was already a chartered local of the AFT. The employees at what was then known as the UConn Health Center decided their local union name should mirror their sister union. That is how UCHCPEA was born. It stood for The University of Connecticut Health Center Professional Employees Association.
Members referred to it as “Uck-A-Huc-Pea.” What a cumbersome and unwieldly name!
As the clinical enterprise grew and members became more and more diversified in terms of job function, it became clear that a name change was in order. Hence, the name UHP was born through a member contest. University Health Professionals was the clear winner and encompasses the functions and description of our members much better.
—In Solidarity, Jean Morningstar, Chief Steward