Labor tension at YSU sends wrong message to the public

In rejecting the tentative agree- ment with Youngstown State University, secretaries, administrative assistants and others represented by the Association of Classified Employees expressed concern about job security.

May we suggest that labor tension on the campus of a public university that has experienced a decline in enrollment for the past several years and is having to deal with major fiscal challenges is not the way to secure one’s job.

In response to the rejection by ACE, members of YSU’s board of trustees met Monday evening to discuss their options. Details of the session were not available at the time of this writing.

However, it would be a mistake for ACE or any of the other unions at YSU to assume that the trustees and President James P. Tressel have control over the urban institution’s future.

When we saw the front page story last week about the classified employees turning down the tentative agreement negotiated with YSU, we were reminded of a comment made by Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich in a speech to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce:

“The cost of higher education is the fastest-rising cost in America today. You know what it is? Lack of leadership — an unwillingness to confront the cost challenges that we have at our schools.”

And later in the speech, the governor, who won re-election last November in a landslide victory over Democrat Ed FitzGerald, offered this unvarnished assessment of the state’s public universities and colleges:

“We have a long way to go on higher education. They’re going to have to change, if they’re going to survive, in my opinion.”

Kasich’s opinion does count for a lot. The Republican governor is working with the Republican-controlled General Assembly on the state’s biennium budget, and while the executive and legislative branches may disagree on such issues as taxes, they are on the same page when it comes to higher education.

Indeed, Kasich has formed a nine-member task force to develop ways to reduce the operating costs of two-year and four-year institutions. The chairman of the panel is Geoff Chatas, chief financial officer of Ohio State University. The governor will appoint five members, while the Ohio House and Senate will name two.

TUITION FREEZE AT OSU

It may just be a coincidence, but last week Ohio State announced that it intends to freeze all tuition, fees, room and board costs for in-state, undergraduate students.

“With this step, we can offer some financial relief for the nearly 80 percent of our students who are from Ohio,” OSU President Michael V. Drake said in a statement. “Ohio State is proud to be a national leader on college affordability, but we can do even more.”

When the state’s flagship institution takes such a crucial step, it puts pressure on other colleges and universities to follow suit.

While the governor has proposed a slight increase in higher education funding, it won’t make up for the cuts imposed over the past several years.

It should be clear by now that Youngstown State University is in no position to make any guarantees when it comes to its employees.

The university has approved a new three-year contract with the faculty union that provides bonuses and salary increases but eliminates or reduces other faculty compensation. But last December trustees rejected a fact-finder’s report for a new ACE contract. At issue was a “me-too” clause that would have given union members the same wage increase as any other bargaining unit.

Now, with ACE’s rejection of the tentative agreement, the trustees and President Tressel, who has been at the helm since last July, are between a rock and a hard place.