In a major relief to thousands of students at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities, the Faculty Association declared Tuesday that they will not call for a strike until the next semester. The decision of the union comes weeks before the scheduled final exam for the fall term.
Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) represents more than 6,000 faculty members and coaches employed at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities.
President of APSCUF Steve Hicks wrote an open letter addressing more than 115,000 students, under the union's system, informing that the faculty will not restore to strike for this semester.
"Faculty know you are worried that your professors will go on strike. We know you are concerned about the impact a strike would have on your classes, your finals and your tuition dollars. After thoughtful deliberation and consideration about how a strike at this time would affect our students, we have decided to postpone consideration of a strike for the rest of this semester," read Hicks' letter to the students, which was released Tuesday afternoon, according to Post Gazette.
The website also quoted a State System spokesman expressing his appreciation over the decision of the faculty, in view of uninterrupted classes and upcoming finals in this semester.
"We hope that in the interim we can reach a settlement," Kenn Marshall, a State System spokesman, said. "We continue to believe that we can reach a settlement with APSCUF at the bargaining table. We look forward to continuing those discussions."
Earlier this month, the union went to the faculty strike authorization vote. About 95 percent of the faculty who participated in the voting supported a strike, if needed. A simple majority vote was enough to empower APSCUF's negotiations committee to announce a strike.
The contentious issues that APSCUF has been fighting for almost two years are; a fair contract for faculty members who have been working without a contract for 16 months, including pay for part-time temporary faculty members, health care for active members and retirees and distance education compensation.
"APSCUF has been working diligently to settle a contract with the State System. Will continue to do everything we can to reach an agreement. A strike is truly a last resort," Hicks said earlier in a statement, soon after the result of voting was announced.
