The Cranberry Eagle
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 Article published February 7, 2013

State system contract dispute nearing end



HARRISBURG — Students at the 14 State System of Higher Education universities, including Slippery Rock, may be breathing a sigh of relief at the tentative contract agreement between the system and its faculty union, but the deal is not official yet.
The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty’s negotiations committee voted Monday afternoon to accept an offer by the state system.
“The union is pleased that they were able to make an agreement that is fair to both faculty and students,” said APSCUF spokeswoman Lauren Gutshall.
The union represents more than 6,000 faculty, including about 475 at SRU.
However, there are a few more steps until it is fully ratified.
Next, APSCUF’s legislative assembly has to vote on the agreement. Then, union members at the individual universities will vote on it.
The union has to send paper ballots to each university for the vote. Union members on each campus will have three days to vote. Then, the ballots will be sent back to the union’s headquarters in Harrisburg, where a committee will count the votes.
Gutshall said that the vote likely will take place at the end of February or the beginning of March.
If it is approved, then the state system board of governors will take a final vote to ratify the contract.
APSCUF’s contract expired June 30, 2011, along with the contracts for the other six unions in the state system. APSCUF was the last union that settled with the state system.