2008 Woodie Awards
APSCUF contract still under technical negotiation
Hannah Sutin and Rae Dunbar
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: News
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The Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and University Faculties (APSCUF) has signed a tentative agreement for a new contract to replace the contract that expired on June 30, 2007.
This agreement will be voted on by APSCUF representatives on Oct. 14. However, many issues within this agreement are currently being contested within the faculties of the 14 state colleges and universities required to co-sign the agreement, including West Chester University. If the tentative agreement is voted down in October as a result of these issues, "that could put us back at the bargaining table, or it could lead us to a job action," Jen Bacon, a state representative for APSCUF and professor at WCU said.
This may strike a nerve for some WCU students who were faced with a possible faculty strike during this past summer, after they had already paid for their summer session tuition.
A recent press release from APSCUF stated that "Our mission has always been to maintain quality education at WCU and the other 13 state system universities throughout Pennsylvania." The president of state APSCUF, Pat Heilman and a representative of the negotiations team, Burrell Brown met with WCU faculty members at Main Hall on Sept. 3 to answer questions about the current tentative agreement. Among the most highly discussed items by faculty at WCU is the rate of salary raises over the next four years and a 25 percent cap on temporary faculty.
"[The agreements surrounding raises are] a mixed bag," Bacon said. "The lump sum payment in year one means that any raise we get next year is based on last year's salary, and the raise in year four is deferred until October, so that is not really four percent, it's more like 3.4 percent."
This is an improvement over the original proposition by the state system, which, according to Bacon, included "no raises over four years."
She added that it would actually mean that faculty were taking a pay cut each year, as their salaries lost value against inflation.
This agreement will be voted on by APSCUF representatives on Oct. 14. However, many issues within this agreement are currently being contested within the faculties of the 14 state colleges and universities required to co-sign the agreement, including West Chester University. If the tentative agreement is voted down in October as a result of these issues, "that could put us back at the bargaining table, or it could lead us to a job action," Jen Bacon, a state representative for APSCUF and professor at WCU said.
This may strike a nerve for some WCU students who were faced with a possible faculty strike during this past summer, after they had already paid for their summer session tuition.
A recent press release from APSCUF stated that "Our mission has always been to maintain quality education at WCU and the other 13 state system universities throughout Pennsylvania." The president of state APSCUF, Pat Heilman and a representative of the negotiations team, Burrell Brown met with WCU faculty members at Main Hall on Sept. 3 to answer questions about the current tentative agreement. Among the most highly discussed items by faculty at WCU is the rate of salary raises over the next four years and a 25 percent cap on temporary faculty.
"[The agreements surrounding raises are] a mixed bag," Bacon said. "The lump sum payment in year one means that any raise we get next year is based on last year's salary, and the raise in year four is deferred until October, so that is not really four percent, it's more like 3.4 percent."
This is an improvement over the original proposition by the state system, which, according to Bacon, included "no raises over four years."
She added that it would actually mean that faculty were taking a pay cut each year, as their salaries lost value against inflation.
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