No more concessions,YSU faculty union says of contract negotiations

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University’s faculty union will make no more concessions when it comes to this year’s contract negotiations.

Faculty voted unanimously in a Tuesday afternoon meeting to authorize the union’s negotiating team to issue a 10-day strike notice.

The authorization gives the union the option to call for a 10-day strike notice. Union members would discuss and vote on a strike at a subsequent meeting.

The strike authorization vote does not mean a strike is immediate.

Members agreed that they had made concessions in 2011 and 2014, but believe if they let it happen in 2017, it will only continue in 2020.

The union’s negotiation team agreed that it doesn’t want to strike, but said it may be necessary to get the administration to give fair wages and what some called an equitable contract.

Members think proposed salaries and changes to course-load policies signal a lack of respect for faculty’s role in student success and would undermine the quality of programs offered at YSU, Linda Strom, Youngstown State University-Ohio Education Association faculty union spokesperson and YSU English Department associate professor, said in a statement.

The Vindicator reported on Aug. 19 that the administration’s proposed contract did not include increases in minimum salaries and included a 1 percent salary increase each year, based on an email sent by the union crisis and communications committees to union members.

An administration memo also obtained by The Vindicator and dated Aug. 21 states: “The administration’s wage proposal calls for a 1 percent salary increase in year one, and a 1.75 percent total increase in each of years two and three (which includes a merit and retention pool in years two and three). On [Aug. 18], however, the administration increased that offer, presenting a significant and meaningful additional wage proposal.”

Read more about the situation in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.