Faculty begin strike at Cincinnati State
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Faculty at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College began picketing Friday after the college board and faculty union could not reach a settlement on contracts that faculty members say would have them working 20 percent more hours than their counterparts at other Ohio community colleges.
On the college's website Friday Cincinnati State Board of Trustees Michael Oestreicher expressed disappointment Friday that the union representing full-time faculty chose to begin the first strike in the history of the college, and said the administration’s offer concerning workload was reasonable.
Also Friday, Cincinnati State inaugurated its fifth college president Dr. O’dell Owens as the faculty members and some students picketed at the campus's main entrance.
“We’re not asking anybody to work any harder than they’re already working,’’ Oestreicher said. “We remain committed to our excellent faculty, but we simply cannot meet union demands to pay somebody more for significantly less work.’’
Negotiators from the College and the Cincinnati State Chapter of the American Association of University Professors held a bargaining session that began at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 and lasted until late that night but were unable to resolve the key remaining issue involving faculty workload.
“We have heard loud and clear the faculty’s concern about workload compared to their counterparts at other Ohio two-year colleges,’’ Oestreicher said.
“The current proposal would not add to their current workload. Cincinnati State’s impending conversion to semesters in 2012 makes this a complex issue and makes the issue of pay difficult to standardize,’’ he added. “Recognizing this, we have made a serious proposal to develop – jointly with them – new approaches to workload parity consistent with academic excellence, institutional integrity and fiscal responsibility.’’
Faculty Chief Negotiator Geoff Woolf said in a press release Friday that the strike is not about money, but rather having a manageable workload.
According to a chart on the local union's website, cinstateaaup.org, the proposed contract would have Cincinnati State faculty at a per-semester workload of 41 hours. The average, including a Southern State Community College, is 30 hours. According to the chart, Rio Grande has 24 hours, Sinclair Community College has 18-30 hours and Stark State has 28-32 hours.
“The final offer made by the Faculty team would have cost the Board significantly less to implement than the fact-finder’s report they accepted, while also maintaining faculty workloads that allow us to ensure
quality educational programs for our students,” Woolf said. “Yet the Board rejected our offer. This strike is not about money. The faculty were willing to offer major give-backs in raises and to bear large increases in health insurance costs in exchange for workload comparable to other two-year colleges. In our final offer, we even said we would accept a workload that would still be about 13 percent higher than our peers. Previously, the administration said a workload increase was necessary to preserve financial sustainability as the College transitions to semesters - but it’s clear this has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. This is about busting the faculty union at Cincinnati State."
Faculty at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College began picketing Friday after the college board and faculty union could not reach a settlement on contracts that faculty members say would have them working 20 percent more hours than their counterparts at other Ohio community colleges.
On the college's website Friday, Cincinnati State Board of Trustees Michael Oestreicher expressed disappointment Friday that the union representing full-time faculty chose to begin the first strike in the history of the college, and said the administration’s offer concerning workload was reasonable.
Also Friday, Cincinnati State inaugurated its fifth college president Dr. O’dell Owens as the faculty members and some students picketed at the campus's main entrance.
“We’re not asking anybody to work any harder than they’re already working,’’ Oestreicher said. “We remain committed to our excellent faculty, but we simply cannot meet union demands to pay somebody more for significantly less work.’’
Negotiators from the College and the Cincinnati State Chapter of the American Association of University Professors held a bargaining session that began at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 and lasted until late that night but were unable to resolve the key remaining issue involving faculty workload.
“We have heard loud and clear the faculty’s concern about workload compared to their counterparts at other Ohio two-year colleges,’’ Oestreicher said. “The current proposal would not add to their current workload. Cincinnati State’s impending conversion to semesters in 2012 makes this a complex issue and makes the issue of pay difficult to standardize,’’ he added. “Recognizing this, we have made a serious proposal to develop – jointly with them – new approaches to workload parity consistent with academic excellence, institutional integrity and fiscal responsibility.’’
Faculty Chief Negotiator Geoff Woolf said in a press release Friday that the strike is not about money, but rather having a manageable workload.
According to a chart on the local union's website, cinstateaaup.org, the proposed contract would have Cincinnati State faculty at a per-semester workload of 41 hours. The average, including a Southern State Community College, is 30 hours. According to the chart, Rio Grande has 24 hours, Sinclair Community College has 18-30 hours and Stark State has 28-32 hours.
“The final offer made by the Faculty team would have cost the Board significantly less to implement than the fact-finder’s report they accepted, while also maintaining faculty workloads that allow us to ensure
quality educational programs for our students,” Woolf said. “Yet the Board rejected our offer. This strike is not about money. The faculty were willing to offer major give-backs in raises and to bear large increases in health insurance costs in exchange for workload comparable to other two-year colleges. In our final offer, we even said we would accept a workload that would still be about 13 percent higher than our peers. Previously, the administration said a workload increase was necessary to preserve financial sustainability as the College transitions to semesters - but it’s clear this has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. This is about busting the faculty union at Cincinnati State."
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