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With no talks set, trustees to meet Tuesday
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
With no more talks scheduled between Youngstown State University and its faculty union, university trustees will meet Tuesday.
It’s the regular quarterly meeting of the board, but a university affairs committee meeting is set before the full board meeting.
No one would say if action regarding the faculty union contract is likely to occur.
“The board meets on Tuesday and will be updated on the situation,” said Ron Cole, university spokesman. “The board is ultimately in charge of what happens here.”
Late last month, the faculty rejected the university’s last, best offer calling for no raises in the first two years of the contract with a 2 percent raise in the third and final year. It also called for increased health-care contributions from the faculty and a decrease in summer-school pay.
Since then, the sides have met several times without reaching agreement. Several of those meetings have involved representatives of the Association of Classified Employees union along with faculty and administration to discuss health care.
The union issued a statement Friday saying it’s frustrated with what it calls a lack of progress with the talks that primarily focused on health care.
“Despite repeated efforts by union leaders to address several key remaining problems, the administration has refused nearly every recommendation, even though the proposals put forth by the two unions do not represent any increase in cost over the board of trustees’ stated limits,” the union said in a statement.
Stan Guzell, chief union negotiator, said in the statement that it looked like they were making progress last week, and the union developed specific proposals based on ideas offered by the administration.
“When we presented those this week, the administration’s representatives changed gears,” he said in the statement. “Either they don’t have agreement among themselves, or they’re not serious about these talks. It’s hard to negotiate when the other side keeps changing its mind.”
Julia Gergits, union president, said the union is willing to continue working, but she is concerned about the lack of progress.
“We need to reach a mutually agreeable solution soon,” she said. “The university community can only move forward if we can agree on a contract that is fair and reasonable for everyone.”
Earlier this month, union leaders said they believed the university will impose its last, best offer.
In a university statement issued Friday, Cole said the health-care subcommittee meetings among the representatives of the faculty and classified unions and the administration “have been productive and helpful in presenting new ideas and moving both parties closer to an agreement, but disagreements remain.”
The university faces financial difficulties including an estimated $7 million deficit.
“The board and the administration have been firm in its commitment to resolving these contracts in an expeditious manner,” the university’s statement said.
Part of the reductions the university wants to make includes a change in the health-care plan set to begin Jan. 1.
Cole said time is required to make that change, to inform employees and get them enrolled. He was uncertain how long that process would take.
“That’s why it’s imperative if we’re going to implement this in January that it gets done sooner rather than later,” he said. “There’s a certain amount of preparation that goes into doing that.”
While the YSU faculty decided not to strike after rejecting the university’s last, best offer, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College faculty members hit the picket line Friday. The dispute there centers on workload, according to the union’s website.
CSTCC faculty members are represented by the American Association of University Professors as are many other universities in Ohio and across the country. The Ohio Education Association represents the YSU faculty.