YSU, union reach 3-year contract agreement

YOUNGSTOWN -- Representatives of Youngstown State University's administration and the YSU Association of Professional/Administrative Staff signed a new three-year contract Wednesday that they say is a sign of improved labor-management relations on campus.
The university was hit by strikes by both the faculty and classified employee unions last summer when contract talks with those groups broke down.
Negotiations with the APAS union were cordial and professional and show how labor and management are working together for the common good, the university said. The contract, which takes effect Saturday, provides annual wage increases of 3.5 percent in each of the first two years and 3 percent in the third.
For the first time, union members will pick up a share of their health-care costs at the rate of 1.5 percent of base pay for family coverage and 0.75 percent for single coverage.