David Obringer
The strike date is October 19. It has been 430 days without a contract (as of 10/12/16). Some negotiations will take place beginning October 14 but considering the offers presented thus far and the space separating bargaining positions, it is just too daunting to be optimistic.
Among other things, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), is fighting against a 20% reduction in pay for temporary faculty. These are faculty the State System negotiators refer to as “teaching machines.” At the same time, they want to increase their workload beyond what tenured and tenure track faculty have. Essentially this establishes two unequal branches of faculty.
This is among the numerous offensive cuts and concessions being offered. You can add your voice of support by emailing [email protected]. You can offer your criticism by writing to the Chancellor’s blog.
Temporary and contingent faculty are a target for cost cutting.
This is a national trend and APSCUF is fighting hard to halt it. Find the latest news at APSCUF.org.
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The strike by the Association of State College and
University Faculties has ended after three days. It is not yet announced to the members what
the settlement entails, but we trust it was better than when they left the
table.
Picketing was not such a bad experience. We got to see colleagues we don’t see on a
regular basis and the atmosphere was quite upbeat. But the best part of walking the line was the
support of our students. Around 7:00
a.m. with dawn about to break and the fog laying low, we heard bagpipes. Around a campus building came our piper band
marching toward the line. A cheer went
up and spirits rose as the pipers made their way across campus.
Many students joined the picket line, others brought coffee
and cookies. There was spontaneous picketing
on campus by the students. The marching
band came over to play the school fight song.
Through it all the relationship between students and faculty
only improved and the faculty are grateful for their efforts.