Classrooms to remain open if state faculty union calls a strike
Students at the 14 state-owned universities will be expected to attend classes if the faculty union walks off the job this month, even if a professor is not in the room.
The announcement was made Tuesday when the chancellor of the State System of Higher Education took to Facebook Live streaming to answer student questions as the Oct. 19 strike date set by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties approaches.
“We are committed to keeping our universities open,” state system Chancellor Frank T. Brogan said on the social media platform while it was flooded with questions, comments and angry emojis posted by those who tuned in to the nearly 45-minute video.
The union members have been working for 462 days without out a contract as negotiations stalled on proposed cuts in health care, an increased reliance on adjunct professors and the use of certain graduate students to teach clinics and laboratories. The union representing nearly 5,500 professors and coaches said a strike would be a “last resort” in the state system, which has never been forced to deal with a faculty walkout.
“We want to get back to the table and urge the faculty to return to the table,” Brogan said. “We don’t want a strike to become a reality.”
He said both sides are expected to return to the bargaining table before the strike date.
The state system offered the union $159 million in increases over 3 1/2 years.
He said a strike could delay grades this semester, and students attending classes during a strike would help the state system determine how many professors would refuse to participate in a walkout. Brogan added there is a contingency plan to finish the semester uninterrupted but he did not provide details.
Meanwhile, the union said progress was made Monday in negotiations involving the coaches.
The sides agreed on a process for communication about potential elimination of sports. They also settled on a protocol for coaches who take over vacated positions or for colleagues on a leave of absence. A health care agreement remains in the works, APSCUF stated in a news release.
The union also announced it will rally from 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday outside of Dixon University Center in Harrisburg, where the state system’s board of governors is scheduled to meet.
“We hope the board of governors seeing our members in person will help them realize the contract we negotiate affects real people who teach real students,” APSCUF President Kenneth M. Mash said.