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KSU Faculty Members Weigh Strike Possibility

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 12--Kent State University faculty members will meet Friday to discuss steps that could put them on the picket line.

"No one wants a strike and hopefully it won't come to that," said Cheryl Casper, president of the Kent chapter of the American Association of University Professors. "But we have to preserve our options."

This is the latest step in the troubled negotiations between Kent's tenured faculty and the university administration.

If the AAUP members agree to pursue a strike, they would vote in the next couple of weeks. If they OK'd a strike, union leaders could call a strike after a 10-day notice that is required by law.

Casper said members have been talking about striking at the start of the new academic year on Aug. 29.

University spokesman Ron Kirksey repeated that administrators are committed to bargaining and are open to genuine proposals.

He said that while the university made its "last, best and final" offer, that only refers to options that have been discussed so far. He said the AAUP is welcome to suggest new ones that could change the university's position.

"It may be premature to talk about it, but even a strike isn't a solution because the problems would still be there," he said.

Nor is striking common among faculty at colleges and universities, said organizer Julie Schmid of the national AAUP office in Washington, D.C.

She knew of only one AAUP chapter that struck last year -- Eastern Michigan University. None have so far this year. Nationwide, 74 public colleges or universities have collective bargaining agreements.

She said that while negotiations have gotten tougher in recent years, other chapters have been able to find solutions.

"There has been more of a struggle due to increased health care costs," she said. "It's taking longer for faculty unions to negotiate contracts. But in the 11th hour they're able to reach a compromise."

Kent State is unique, she said: "It indicates just how serious the situation is and how far apart the administration and faculty still are on key issues."

At Kent State, faculty last week rejected by 10-to-1 a contract proposal that would have increased salaries by 2 percent in the first year and 3 percent in each of the last two.

Salary and health-care benefits were key issues during the 14 months of negotiations, with the AAUP unwilling to shoulder as much of the financial burden of health care as administrators would like.

The average salary for a full professor on the main campus in 2003-2004 was $89,200; for an associate professor, $64,600; and for an assistant professor, $51,300, according to the AAUP.

The AAUP represents more than 500 faculty members on Kent's nine campuses with tenure or who are on a tenure track -- that means that have or can get lifetime appointments.

The AAUP also represents 250 nontenure-track faculty members who just started negotiations.

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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