Cedars, February 2019

February 2019 9 OFF CAMPUS He also said that the imposed contract did not constrain the university’s ability to place faculty on furlough. The striking faculty were protesting the terms, but they were also protesting the administration instituting a con- tract before negotiations, which began in 2017, were com- plete. The university administration and the faculty union renegotiate their contract regularly. But when it came time for the January 2017 negotiation, the trustees had more on their minds than just a contract — they had money issues to wrangle with. The financial crisis is the consequence years of spend- ing. By 2016, the university had spent $130 billion dollars in reserve cash, and had run negative numbers for five years. According to Kich, none of that spending was on aca- demics, though academics are what make the university the most money. The university has been making budget cuts in order to remedy the dire financial situation, and from its point of view, the imposed contract was another way to rescue the university from drowning in the waters of a budget crisis. When it was time, in January 2017, for the regularly scheduled negotiating of the contract to begin, the admin- istration and the union had 36 articles to get through. By March, they had moved through 30 of them, even if they hadn’t solidly agreed on all of them. Then, Kich said, “The university pulled the plug.” The president at the time, David Hopkins, was forced out of his office and replaced by an interim president. Noth- ing was done about the contract until the current president, Cheryl B. Schrader, took office. Then the trustees wanted to start negotiations from scratch, instead of working with proposals that had already been laid out. According to Kich, this type of bargaining decelerates negotiation, which takes more time. In winter 2018, the university and the union began a fact-finding investigation. The trustees accepted the find- ings — the union rejected them. The year carried on with interspersed meetings that made very little progress. Kich said that though the administration met with the union, they did not make an effort to truly negotiate. How- ever, in a statement from Schrader, she maintained that the university negotiated “in good faith” with the union. In the same statement, released by the Wright State Media Team, Schrader said, “The employment terms [in the imposed contract] are fair in light of our unprecedented fi- nancial crisis.” However, Kich said that even if the school cut academic spending by 20 percent, it would only save the university 3.5 percent of the university’s budget. “And it would have a devastating impact on our aca- demic offerings,” he said. On Wright State’s website the university stated that, during the university’s financial crisis, university employees have made concessions on the terms and conditions of their employment. According to the Labor Relations division, the contract with the AAUP members has not changed through- out the crisis. Kich countered this statement, saying that those em- ployees not represented by the union didn’t have a choice but to accept changes to their employment terms and con- ditions. The faculty did not accept these terms and conditions, so they went on strike. At the strike, senior English professor Michelle Metzner said that the strikers were fighting for Wright State students. In between slipping her tablet out of her coat to skip or choose a song playing through the speaker, Metzner ex- plained that if the university’s faculty contract isn’t attrac- tive, then it won’t be able to bring on the professors that are good for the school. And if it doesn’t hire good professors, the academic prowess of the school will diminish, and that will be unfair to the students and the community, according to Metzner. The faculty began strike demonstrations at 7:30 every morning, and took shifts until 6 p.m. Though Kich said that the strike would be disruptive and cause complications on campus, a release from the Wright State Media team said that 80 percent of classes were still held despite the strike, using graduate students, substitutes, or regular professors who did not participate in the strike, implying less impact than may have been desired. The strike achieved enough impact for the union, how- ever, because it and the board of trustees have tentatively agreed on a contract, thus ending the strike. The contract makes all health care provisions negotiable and caps in- creases on premiums and out-of-pocket expenses at 35 per- cent. It also only allows the university to furlough faculty members once a semester. The board of trustees voted in the contract, but the union members still have to make their final decision, which could take two or three weeks. Kich said he thinks they will approve it, though he doesn’t know for sure. Madeleine Mosher is a sophomore journalism major and a Campus News Co-editor for Cedars. When she’s not com- plaining about homework or having a snack, she enjoys coffee, words, and rock ‘n’ roll. Photo by Paolo Carrion Teachers and supporters stand on street corners while on strike against Wright State.