Strike threat looms at state-owned universities, including Cal U.
The state System of Higher Education and the union representing professors at 14 state-owned universities, including California University of Pennsylvania, will return to the table this weekend in a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike next week.
The talks, which begin Friday, will come at a time when the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties moved union offices off of the campuses and urged adjunct professors to join APSCUF and not to cross picket lines if they form Wednesday, records show.
“If there is no agreement (by Sunday) we think we should stay at the table until we do have one,” State System spokesman Kenn Marshall said Thursday. “It’s too important not to spend every possible minute to reach a settlement.”
He said APSCUF has not responded to the State System’s request to stay at the table beyond Sunday.
When contacted Thursday afternoon, APSCUF President Kenneth M. Mash said the union was unclear why the State System didn’t plan to finish negotiations by Sunday.
“If we don’t have an agreement and we are making progress, we certainly won’t walk away,” Mash said.
The union representing nearly 5,500 professors and coaches has put the State System on notice it will strike at 5 a.m. Wednesday if a contract is not reached.
“We are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best,” Mash stated in a Tuesday news release. Chapter offices were instructed to relocate off campus at 10 a.m. Thursday. Cal U.’s APSCUF office relocated to 324 Wood St., local union spokesman Swarn Gill said.
“We will be going to the negotiations table Friday with every intention of trying to reach an agreement, but we will be ready for every contingency,” Mash said.
APSCUF objects to State System proposals that would affect the quality of education faculty members could provide to their students, including a proposal to rely more on adjunct professors to teach classes.
Marshall said the State System has made a number of revisions to the proposal it gave to APSCUF in June, withdrawing some provisions that the union opposed. The two sides have reached a tentative agreement on a variety of issues related to performance reviews and evaluation of faculty, workload and workload equivalents, unpaid educational leaves and teaching at locations off campus, Marshall said.
The health care increase on the table raises the premium professors pay from about $7 to $14 every two weeks, Marshall said.