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Faculty agreement approved by YSU trustees
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State University trustees unanimously ratified a tentative agreement with the faculty union, but union approval is uncertain.
“Faculty see this as a second concessionary contract, and on account of that, ratification will be extremely difficult,” said Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, chief negotiator for the YSU-Ohio Education Association, the union representing the university’s nearly 400 faculty members.
He expects a union vote in “the near future.”
University trustees approved the tentative agreement at a special meeting Tuesday.
“This tentative agreement is the outcome of months of deliberate and thoughtful discussion that has resulted in a negotiated, accepted and recommended tentative agreement by both the faculty and administration bargaining teams,” said Carole Weimer, board chairwoman. “The board commends both teams for their long hours of hard work to find common ground and to sign off on all articles in the contract.”
Ron Cole, a university spokesman, said YSU hopes the union takes time to review the agreement and ratifies it “and we can move on with the university‘s business.”
Faculty members have been working without a contract since mid-August. If approved by the faculty union, the new pact would run through mid-August 2017.
A few days before the previous contract expired, the two sides announced that a tentative agreement had been reached. That agreement, however, didn’t address health insurance, which was to be determined by the Health Care Advisory Committee, a group that includes representatives of all university unions and the administration.
University officials have said that the HCAC made a recommendation, but the faculty union rejected it.
Last month, the two sides reached agreement on the health insurance provision.
The university didn’t release details of the tentative agreement pending a vote by the union.
But Palmer-Fernandez said last month that the health insurance agreement provides for a 15 percent employee health care contribution using a sliding-fee scale, rather than a flat rate.
Information previously obtained by The Vindicator shows that the tentative agreement also includes for a combination of pay increases and bonuses. It also calls for a reduction in summer pay and elimination of extended teaching service.
The amount of the bonus would be $1,000 for full professors, $750 for associate professors, $650 for assistant professors and $500 for instructors the first year, according to information obtained by the newspaper.
In the second year, there’s also a bonus based on academic rank and a 0.5 percent increase to base pay for all members. The bonuses are $1,200 for full professors, $950 for associate professors, $850 for assistant professors and $700 for instructors.
In the third year, there would be a 2 percent pay increase but no bonus.
There’s also a reduction in the cap for summer. Faculty members who teach during the summer are paid 3.25 percent of their salary per credit hour. Under the current pact, the amount upon which that calculation is based is capped at $80,000. The two sides have agreed to lowering that cap to $65,000, according to information the newspaper obtained.
Extended teaching service would be abolished under what’s being considered. This year, those eligible for retirement would receive a $40,000 buyout paid over five years in place of ETS. That option, however, would be available only this year.
The average faculty salary is $72,657. With benefits, that average increases to $95,907, university officials have said.
The university’s contract with the Association of Classified Employees, the union that represents classified employees, expired Aug. 15. University trustees took no action regarding that union.