Recordpub.com - KSU union turns down contract Faculty negotiations to begin this month

By Dave O'Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

The faculty union at Kent State University has rejected a contract extension that would have increased faculty salaries by 3 percent, extended domestic partner benefits to union members and left unchanged faculty contributions to healthcare costs.

The vote by the union's tenure-track faculty unit was 273-159 against the administration's offer, said Deborah Smith, associate professor of philosophy and grievance chairwoman for KSU's American Association of University Professors chapter, representing a 72 percent turnout.

Smith said the AAUP had approached the administration with a separate offer to separate out the domestic partner benefits resolution from the contract extension.

"Our president (Lee Fox) gave President Lefton a letter asking him to go ahead and extend domestic partner benefits quite independent of the contract proposal," she said.

Lefton rejected that suggestion, Smith said.

Other reasons for the union's rejection of the offer included the failure of the pay raise to keep pace with inflation and the union's contention that KSU faculty are paid less than faculty at other Ohio universities.

Smith said she believes the union is "preparing to go to the table" to negotiate a new contract before the current one expires in August.

"The traditional method is we begin negotiating in May with the hope of having a completed contract before the current one expires," she said.

Non-tenure track faculty were given "a similar or identical extension offer," Smith said, adding she did not believe their polling was closed as of Wednesday.