YSU Trustees OK Labor Agreement with Faculty

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The trustees of Youngstown State University today approved a three-year contract with the union that represents the full-time faculty.

The YSU chapter of the Ohio Education Association represents the faculty in collective bargaining. The union accepted the agreement by a 17-vote margin last week.

The contract, retroactive to last August, freezes the pay of the faculty the first year, grants a 1% raise the second and a 2% raise the third.

The contract also provides bonuses that range from $500 to $2,000, based on whether the faculty member is an assistant, associate or full professor, in the second and third years of the agreement.

The university said it could afford the raises and bonuses by ending its practice of extended teaching service. The practice had the university pay retired faculty who return to teach courses.

The university said such faculty were paid “a premium rate for up to five years.”

Under the new contract, the university is reducing the compensation paid faculty for teaching courses offered the summer semester, during their sabbaticals and for teaching Web-based courses.

YSU is also offering an incentive to faculty who retire before the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year.

“The elimination of ETS [extended teaching service] and the reductions in compensation for Web-based courses and summer pay will provide significant savings to the university during the term of this agreement and after,” the press release said.

In a prepared statement, the chairwoman of the trustees, Carol Weimer, said, “The contract strikes a balance between trying to provide modest increases in compensation and also allowing some avenues for long-term cost savings.”

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