State faculty authorize negotiating committee to call a strike
An overwhelming majority of faculty in Pennsylvania's state university system voted to authorize their faculty union to call a strike when leadership deems one necessary, the union said Monday.
An overwhelming majority of faculty in Pennsylvania's state university system voted to authorize their faculty union to call a strike when leadership deems one necessary, the union said Monday.
Faculty at the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education cast their votes last week, with 82 percent of eligible faculty voting. Of those, 93 percent voted to give the leadership of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties the authority to call a strike, the union said.
The union did not set a strike date, but Kenneth M. Mash, union president, said leadership would not wait too long if no discernible progress is being made in negotiations.
Coaches, which are in a separate bargaining unit, will vote this week.
"I have told people it will not be long after this that we will set a date," said Mash, a political science professor at East Stroudsburg. "But we certainly want to return to the table because a strike is the last resort and we want to be sure we do everything possible to avoid that."
If a strike is called, it would be the first in the 105,000-student system's history.
The administration and faculty are scheduled to bargain again on Friday. Several other sessions are set for September. The sides remain divided on health insurance and salary costs, but also on work rules involving adjunct faculty, research, distance education and other issues.
"I know the media likes to skip to salary and benefits, but those issues that affect academic quality are every bit as important to us," Mash said. "We're not going to let that be eroded."
Kenn Marshall, a spokesman for the state system, said the system is committed to continuing negotiations.
"While we understand the latest APSCUF vote moves the faculty union one step closer to being able to call a potential strike, we remain committed to bargaining with APSCUF to achieve an agreement that is fair to everyone," he said.
Mash said the union does not intend to close out the first semester without having a contract completed or near completion.
"It's not going to be a month from now before we announce a [strike] date unless we are making real progress," he said.
The union represents about 5,500 faculty and coaches at Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities.
The union's previous pact expired June 30, 2015. The system last month said it had offered faculty cash payments of $600 this year and raises in the next two in exchange for givebacks in health insurance and an increase in the teaching load for temporary faculty. The raise would amount to 1 percent in January 2018 and 1 percent in January 2019, plus a step increase on the salary schedule equivalent to 2.5 percent to 5 percent.
The starting salary for a full-time instructor is $46,609, with the top of scale at $112,238 for an experienced full professor.
The system has seen an overall enrollment drop of more than 14,000 students since 2010. This fiscal year, the system anticipates a $10 million deficit even before any salary increases or new benefit costs would be added for faculty, Marshall said.
The average cost of tuition, fees, and room and board at state system universities for 2016-17 is about $21,000.
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