Cedars, February 2019

by Madeleine Mosher O n Tuesday, Jan. 22, it was below 10 degrees at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Snow covered the sidewalks, and the wind speeds were somewhere in the 3-to-5 mph range. Justice could not wait for warmer temperatures, however — a strike had just be- gun. A handful of determined Wright State faculty stood on the street corners outside the entrance to the university, bearing red signs that read “Strike for Wright.” They were prepared for the cold with hats, coats and gloves, and had camping chairs piled with water bottles and hand and foot warmers. Some strikers danced, maybe to stay warm, as Billboard Top 100 music played from a speaker. Cars driv- ing by honked at the demonstration. This scene was the next battle in a two-year-long fight over the faculty contract with Wright State University. The fight finally came to a tentative truce on Sunday, Feb. 10, when the union and board of trustees came to an agreement. Wright State’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the university adminis- tration have been attempting to negotiate a new contract since January of 2017. On Jan. 4 of this year, the university imposed a contract without negotiation. It included chang- es to health care and furlough terms, but it did not change the salaries for professors. Although state law requires health care to be one part of a contract that is negotiated, the imposed contract stated that the administration could make any changes to health care as long as it gave the faculty and staff 60 days notice, according to Dr. Martin Kich, a Wright State English profes- sor and president of the Wright State Chapter of the AAUP. February 2019 8 OFF CAMPUS Wright to Strike Wright State faculty union and university finally agree on a new contract Photo by Paolo Carrion Wright State faculty picket while on strike Tuesday, Jan. 22. The strike was due to the university imposing a contract after negotiations that started in January 2017 stalled out.