Oct 18, 2016 4 min read

The union representing professors at 14 state-owned universities, including California University of Pennsylvania, said it would strike at 5 a.m. today after talks broke down in the final hours Tuesday evening.

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties said it would make its final decision on the strike at 4:59 a.m. after it said the State System of Higher Education walked out of negotiations after giving the union its final offer, APSCUF stated in a tweet after a media embargo was lifted.

“We are sticking by the deadline,” the union stated.

Students at California University of Pennsylvania said Tuesday afternoon they were already expecting professors to strike today even though the union and state System of Higher Education were still at the table.

A senior who declined to identify herself in the student union said some of her professors had already canceled their classes for the remainder of the week.

“I’m trying to graduate, and I’m just very worried about everything,” she said.

The union representing nearly 5,500 professors and coaches and the State System ended talks despite a request from Gov. Tom Wolf to stay in negotiations to avoid a strike, which the governor said would be devastating to the State System.

“Most seriously, a strike could drive a loss of students, which would further exacerbate an already precarious financial situation for the State System,” Wolf stated in a news release.

“We have to look no further than what happened to Temple University following the faculty strike in 1990. It took years for Temple to recover its student population.”

Wolf said students and professors needed to show up for classes today.

“There is enough common ground for the two sides to reach a final compromise,” Wolf said. “Both PASSHE and APSCUF should continue negotiations until a final agreement is reached.”

While APSCUF has threatened to strike during prior contract talk years, this would be the first strike in the union’s history.

The State System handed the union its final offer shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, saying it was done negotiating, according to APSCUF.

APSCUF President Kenneth M. Mash had harsh words for State System Chancellor Frank Brogan, posting on Facebook he was shocked Brogan “would spit in the governor’s eye like that.”

“The governor urged us to keep on negotiating,” Mash said. “He was very clear about that.”

The State System responded with a statement indicating it withdrew: “proposals that would have required full time temporary faculty to teach an additional class each semester; that would have reduced compensation rates for part-time, temporary faculty; and that would have increased the maximum number of temporary faculty the universities could employ.”

The union had previously objected to the State System proposal to cut costs by relying more on adjunct professors to teach classes. The State System had also proposed increasing the professors’ contributions to pay for their health insurance from $7 to about $14 every two weeks.

State System spokesman Kenn Marshall said the union rejected the State System’s salary offer and the proposed health care plan changes that are the same as the other employees at the universities receive.

As part of the latest offer, the State System proposed permanent faculty receive raises in each of the three remaining contract years, Marshall said. Those raises would have ranged between 7.25 percent to 17.25 percent for individual faculty members. All regular faculty also would have receive an additional cash payment of $1,000 in January 2017 as part of a new agreement.

Meanwhile, the State System said the professors are among the highest paid in the nation, ranking in the top 10 to 15 percent among their peers at similar public colleges and universities. The average total earnings of a full-time faculty member at a State System university last year was just under $100,000, not including benefits, system Marshall said.

APSCUF indicated late Tuesday it was still at the table reviewing the latest offer from the State System.

Several students approached Tuesday at Cal U. said a strike seemed inevitable.

One student said a professor told her he planned to be on strike at 4 a.m. Wednesday, that other unions on campus were supposed to support APSCUF by not crossing the picket line.

The more than 100,000 students have been instructed to attend classes Wednesday even if a professor isn’t there.

Cal U., in a statement on its website, advised students to check their university email accounts for updated information.

“Even if the faculty union chooses to strike, Cal U. will remain open,” the statement indicated.