97-07-08 OSU Has Issues with Union

OHIO STATE HAS OUTSTANDING ISSUES WITH UNION

     COLUMBUS -- Officials at The Ohio State University are
disappointed that leaders of Communication Workers of America
Local 4501 recommended that union members reject the university’s
latest offer to resolve their labor disputes.

     After months of negotiations to replace three contracts,
which expired March 31, the union has continued to maintain
unrealistic expectations on some outstanding contract issues,
said Mark Ringer, Ohio State’s director of employee relations.

     Although the union rejected the offer, it still has not
indicated to the university specific reasons why, Ringer said.
That leaves the university and union far apart on several issues,
including:

Wages

     The university provided a 3 percent salary package this year
for nonunion staff, and offered the same percentage increase to
the union. The union proposed a 6 percent increase this year and
sought 8 percent increases during each of the second and third
years of the contracts. The university offered second- and third-
year wage increases of 2.5 percent and 2 percent, but agreed that
if nonunion staff received higher percentage increases those
years, they would match the higher percentage for union members
as well.

     “A continuing goal of the university has been to maintain
approximate parity among union and nonunion classified staff with
regard to compensation and benefits,” Ringer said.

Education and training

     CWA proposes that the university establish a new training
fund with more than $1 million solely for union employees, to be
jointly administered by the union and the university.

     But there already are training opportunities available for
CWA members, including departmental training targeted toward
balancing operational need and employee development. The
university also has a program for staff to earn their G.E.D. if
they have not completed high school. And the university provides
tuition waivers so that staff can pursue continuing development
or earn undergraduate and graduate degrees.

     Other issues include shift differentials, which the
university pays when it is necessary for market competitiveness;
medical insurance, where the university proposes that union
members pay the same rates as all other faculty and staff; and
job security, where union members already have protection from
layoffs in the event of contracting for work.

     The CWA contracts govern the employment of the almost 2,200
service and skilled trades employees who are among the
university’s 18,000 faculty and staff. About a third of the union
employees work at University Hospitals. Service employees include
custodial and food-service workers, and skilled trades include
electricians, carpenters, plumbers and the like. A third
agreement between the CWA and university is a so-called “members-
only” contract for approximately 300 employees in various
classifications campuswide who elect to be members of the union.
That contract covers work rules but not wages.

                          #

Contact: Mark Ringer, director of employee relations, 614-
292-8383

Written by David Bhaerman, University Communications, 614-
292-8422


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:29:10 -0400 (EDT)]
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