Tentative deals are reached at YSU

Both unions are expected to ratify their pacts next week.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University has reached tentative contract agreements with both its Association of Professional Administrative Staff and its Fraternal Order of Police.
The 20-member FOP unit reached accord during talks last week, and spokesman Sgt. John R. Spencer said the union is trying to schedule a membership meeting for early next week to vote on the terms.
Sally Kenney, APAS union president, said negotiators reached a tentative deal Tuesday with the two sides slated to sign off on the entire agreement today.
An APAS membership meeting to vote on the terms is set for 5:15 p.m. next Thursday, she said.
APAS represents about 130 librarians, counselors, academic advisers, athletic trainers, recruiters and marketing and communications staff.
Both unions are coming off three-year agreements. The old police contract ended March 31 while the APAS pact expires June 30.
No terms revealed yet
Spencer and Kenney said terms of the new agreements won't be revealed until the contracts are ratified.
Unlike negotiations last summer that became acrimonious and resulted in short-lived strikes by YSU's two largest labor unions (the faculty and classified employee staff), talks between the university and FOP and APAS unions were conducted quietly with no fanfare.
Kenney said her team worked hard at keeping it that way, beginning preparations for negotiations back in December.
Actual bargaining sessions didn't begin until April, she said.
Spencer said the university and the FOP exchanged initial proposals in early March.
After the strikes, Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president, appointed a labor management review panel to examine campus labor relations, which resulted in a list of two dozen recommendations for improving the labor climate.
Two top administrators essentially lost their posts as a result of the panel's report.
John L. Habat, vice president for administration and finance, no longer works on campus but works from home. His title changes to vice president for special projects effective July 1.
Hugh Chatman, executive director of human resources and labor relations, was reassigned to a new post of executive director of regulatory compliance.
The panel mostly blamed the two administrators for the campus hostile labor environment, suggesting they had outlived their usefulness to the university.
gwin@vindy.com