The Board of Trustees voted 7 – 1 to enact a mandatory furlough policy. By definition a furlough means that employees would be on temporary leave of absence without pay.
Although there have been no furloughs at this point, passing the policy allows the university to impose unpaid days off work for non-union employees if it is deemed necessary.
The policy cannot be imposed on faculty unless it were to be included as part of their contracts, which are still being negotiated, according to Martin Kich, president of the Wright State chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-WSU).
In response to a news release from University President Cheryl Schrader, AAUP-WSU released a response, holding firm that the administration’s proposed furlough is misleading, and that faculty would continue to do the same amount of work, but for less money. “That’s not a furlough – it is simply a wage reduction and is unacceptable to the AAUP, especially in light of the fact that the administration continues to be unwilling to make necessary cuts in non-educational programs,” the statement reads.
Contract negotiations have taken place in the context of the university’s attempts at budget remediation via cuts, which have been described as “draconian” by members of AAUP-WSU.
Currently the administration is offering a three-year contract that includes no raises and reduces health benefits with higher premiums. The union has rallied against for better contracts.
The fact-finding stage of the negotiation process will begin in April. In this stage, an impartial third party, the fact finder, searches for the actualities of the situation. The fact-finder’s report will be issued no later than April 19, according to Kich.
“In the event that one or both of the parties reject the fact-finder’s report, it is possible that they will return to negotiations; however, it is also possible that faculty would strike,” reads the AAUP-WSU statement.
In the meantime, tensions between the union and administration continue. No negotiations or other meetings have been scheduled since March of 2017, according to the AAUP-WSU statement.
In November of 2017, AAUP-WSU members created procedure for authorizing a strike, should a deal not be reached over the course of negotiations. Once voting on strike authorization ends, a strike still cannot take place until the fact finder issues his report.
AAUP-WSU members would also have to reject the report by a 60 percent majority and vote to initiate a strike by the same majority, according to the union’s statement.
The university made a $30.8 million cut to its budget in June of 2017, and it still has further to go. In order to reach its goal of boosting its reserve fund by $6 million, the university will have to cut another $10.5 million, according to a report from Dayton Daily News.
