Faculty Parking | Photo by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
UPDATED 2/17: The teamsters have developed some new proposals that they believe will benefit both the Teamster bargaining group and the university, according to Tom Bellew, facilities operations employee.
The next meeting between the university and the Teamsters is set for Feb. 25.
“The university has no public update on the status of negotiations and the potential Teamsters strike at this time, according to Seth Bauguess, the director of the Department of Communications.”
The Teamsters Local 957 has filed a 10-day strike notice with the State Employment Relations Board and will begin striking on Feb. 3. The union and university have been trying to mediate contractual disagreements for several weeks now.
The Teamsters are comprised of facilities and maintenance employees. This includes HVAC, plumbers, electricians, MNRs, custodial, floor-care, bus drivers, grounds department, parking and water treatment, according to Tom Bellew, facilities operations employee.
The university made their last best and final offer after the strike notice was received. The Teamsters did not accept but are hoping to make progress with future negotiations.
“The health insurance, there’s a lot more to it than what the university is letting out on it. It’s a totally different program than what they have now. So, they’re not letting all the true information out on the insurance,” said Bellew.
Last best final offer
Article 9 is miscellaneous and Section 8 covers parking.
Article 14 covers seniority, layoff, and recall.
Article 17 covers wages and Article 25 outlines employee benefits.
Wages will see an increase over the next few years starting in July 2021 a 2.5 percent increase and then an additional increase in July 2022 at 2.5 percent.
The university also opted to withdraw furlough language that was written into the previous offer of the contract.
How we got here:
The university and the Teamsters have been having off-and-on discussions and disagreements regarding health insurance and wages for roughly a year and a half, according to Bellew.
According to the last best and final offer given by the university to the Teamsters on Jan. 23, the university will accept the fact-finder’s recommendations on Article 9 and Article 14.
The university and the Teamsters have reached a tentative agreement on Sections 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 17.
