YSU, faculty reach contract

By Harold Gwin

Contract talks three years ago broke down, resulting in a strike by the faculty.

YOUNGSTOWN — Negotiations resulting in a new contract for Youngstown State University’s 380 faculty members were apparently far more amicable than bargaining that led to a faculty strike three years ago.

Both sides began talks last September with a determination to repair the climate of trust and collegiality that they felt should be the standard governing contract talks. They maintained that approach, the two sides said in a joint statement Friday from Dr. Cynthia Anderson and Dr. Stanley Guzell, chief negotiators for the university and the union, respectively.

The new three-year agreement will take effect in August.

Negotiators for the university and the Ohio Education Association finalized the pact earlier this week but won’t release any details until both sides ratify its terms. The sides agreed to a news blackout on the talks and adhered to that pledge for the duration of negotiations.

To the best recollection of anyone on either side, no previous round of negotiations has ever resulted in a tentative agreement so far in advance of the expiration of the previous agreement, the statement said.

“Both teams are to be congratulated. We think that major steps have been taken in improving faculty-administration interaction,” said Dr. David C. Sweet, university president.

“The degree of cooperation and mutual respect was probably unprecedented at Youngstown State,” said Robert Hogue, an OEA spokesman.

That’s a far cry from talks in 2005 which broke down and resulted in a faculty strike that was resolved by a last-minute settlement just before the start of fall classes.

YSU’s 400-member Association of Classified Employees was negotiating at the same time in 2005 and went on strike as well, also ending its work stoppage with a settlement just before the start of classes.

An ACE union official said Friday that current negotiations aren’t near an agreement yet. The ACE contract also ends in August.

The YSU Board of Trustees got an update on the negotiations Friday and was expected to further review the terms and vote on the package later this month.

Faculty members are to get a look at the details in a meeting set for March 26. A date for their vote hasn’t been set although it could come that same day, a union spokesman said.

University officials reported in 2005 that the three-year contract with the OEA would cost $3.92 million in salary and fringe benefit increases over the life of the agreement. Faculty members got annual pay increases of 3 percent, 3.5 percent and 3.5 percent.

However, that cost was expected to be reduced by $827,000 that the faculty, for the first time, paid in premium-sharing contributions for health insurance in the last two years of that contract.

gwin@vindy.com