Excerpt from WDTN
The WSU faculty union is digging in their heels after the latest contract offer from the university, saying that just because there is an offer, it does not mean they have to vote on it.
Monday, the union got a lot of external support on the picket lines.
Former Wright State Professor Mary Beth Pringle says all eyes are on the Miami Valley as the faculty union strike wears on, and other unions in the area are offering their support.
"Universities across the country are watching the strike, are supporting with the faculty are doing here," she said.
Former ironworker David Cox helped build the engineering building and feels a connection to the cause.
"Educators across the country or on the leading edge of the labor movement for the last year, and were out here supporting them and their courage," he said.
Carpenter Kay Schaffer feels the same, saying, "For me it was a thrill to come back to my home university, to help build it, and now I'm out here still supporting my professors."
The union said the university's latest offer Sunday night was essentially dead on arrival, but President Cheryl Schrader still thinks union members should vote on it.
"There was a call from one of our student trustees and others today to really take this offer to the full membership in a very transparent way and asked for them to respond," she said.
But the union says that won't happen, prolonging the strike.
Dr. Karim Tiro teaches history at Xavier University while his wife teaches at Wright State.
"So this isn't for us a financial issue so much as it is one about principal and, in a larger sense, everything that is going on with higher education today," he said.
The union says the most objectionable part of the university’s offer is the healthcare plan.
The university has said one plan for all is the fiscally responsible way forward, while the union says that condition would allow the university to change the plan every 60 days if they wanted to.
