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Harrisburg - The negotiations teams met all evening. Talks will resume tomorrow morning.

APSCUF/PASSHE BEGIN FINAL DAY OF BARGAINING; SIDES STILL FAR APART

HARRISBURG – With one day of talks remaining, the APSCUF and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) bargaining teams have a lot of ground to cover in order to reach a new agreement for the 5,500 faculty members at the state’s 14 state-owned universities.

Should the two sides fail to reach a settlement, the first faculty strike in the history of the PASSHE is very likely to occur.  The State APSCUF Executive Council will ultimately make the decision following a status report from the faculty bargaining team.

“Since February of 2006, when we notified the PASSHE that we were interested in negotiating a new deal a year in advance of the expiration of this contract, we have been interested in negotiating a fair settlement,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said.

“Over the past several years, the faculty in our system have had to swallow hard and accept substandard contracts.  Very good educators have left our system, and countless others have politely declined offers to teach here because our package just doesn’t measure up to other offers,” Heilman noted.

“It is time that our faculty are recognized for the fine job they do educating our Pennsylvania students.  We need a contract that stops the exodus of quality faculty and enables us to recruit outstanding candidates.  We are Pennsylvania’s own institutions educating Pennsylvania children – our kids deserve the best instruction.  They are Pennsylvania’s future!”

PASSHE faculty members have earned doctorates, and it takes many years to amass the necessary credentials to teach college students.  Along the way, faculty incur a lot of debt while sacrificing years of possible earnings.

The ‘Managerial Advantage’

Managers in the PASSHE do not have to worry about terms of a collective bargaining agreement, and they have not experienced the sheer loss of purchasing power like their faculty counterparts.

For instance, from 2002-2007, the average raise for a manager earning a promotion was 23.4%.  When a faculty member is promoted, the increase for that new rank is capped at 10%.

The amount of the increase isn’t the only place where a large disparity in promotion data.  The pure amount of promotions is also way out of balance.

The most recent data show that 222 (of over 5,000) faculty members received promotions last year.  This computes to about 4%.  On the management side, 113 managers out of just 1300 were granted promotions – about 8.6%.

“Good managers are certainly important for a system to function effectively,” Heilman said.  “But it’s the professors who guide students toward their degrees and their careers.”

Heilman noted the tough job facing faculty today, and urged the PASSHE to do what is right for quality.

“Overall workloads have increased and we are instructing more students than ever before.  It is time for the PASSHE to step up to the plate and deliver for its faculty.  Act 188 of 1982 created an autonomous university system, and the Board of Governors has the authority to negotiate its own contract with its faculty.”

FIRST DAY OF THREE-DAY BARGAINING SESSION YIELDS NO TANGIBLE RESULTS; APSCUF ISSUES FULL PROPOSAL
 

HARRISBURG – If the rate of progress achieved in the first day of this week’s bargaining sessions between APSCUF and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) does not markedly improve today and Saturday, prospects for a new collective bargaining agreement do not look very favorable.

On Thursday, APSCUF presented a complete package proposal to the PASSHE.  APSCUF’s document covered all articles of the contract under discussion in an attempt to stimulate meaningful dialogue in a number of areas.  The APSCUF negotiators ended the day disappointed with the results.

“Our team is interested in having intensive discussions on the elements that will bring this contract process to a positive conclusion.  On Thursday, the PASSHE accepted our contract document but was only willing to discuss non-economic, peripheral issues that certainly have value but are secondary in nature when one looks at the total scope of the talks,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said.

“The items the PASSHE selected were those of interest to Management, indicating again, how one-sided these negotiations have been,” Heilman noted.  “It’s always about them, which explains why they have the students in such a vise this summer.”

“The faculty are doing everything possible to reach a settlement.  If the PASSHE team is willing to adopt the same attitude, we can achieve a fair contract.  We have two full days remaining to accomplish that goal.”

The current pact expires at midnight on Saturday.  Failure to reach a new deal for the 5,500 faculty members at the state’s 14 state-owned universities could lead to the first faculty strike in the history of the PASSHE.

“That distinction (the first to strike) certainly is not what the faculty wants, but the PASSHE’s mission is to provide a high quality education to the citizens of this Commonwealth.  We believe that quality is at risk, and we owe it to our students to achieve a contract that will enable us to attract and retain top-notch faculty members,” Heilman said.

“Our students pay good money for their education, and Pennsylvania needs to put its best foot forward.  Our universities have experienced a surge in stature since the PASSHE was born in 1983.  The faculty believes in offering our students the best education possible, and that means securing a contract that enables the PASSHE to bring in that first choice in a faculty search.  We should be competing for the best minds because our students deserve just that.”

Heilman indicated that students, particularly those taking summer classes, should contact the PASSHE at feedback@passhe.edu, or the governor at governor@state.pa.us if they would like to have their voices heard.  Students are also welcome to email APSCUF at kkodish@apscuf.org.

PASSHE, APSCUF reach tentative agreement on new contract with coaches
New pact would run through June 30, 2011

Harrisburg - The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with the approximately 350 athletic coaches at the 14 state-owned universities.

Although several elements of the final deal will not be addressed until the current PASSHE/APSCUF faculty contract negotiations are concluded, the tentative agreement with APSCUF would provide all full-time coaches with a one-time cash payment of $1,250 at the beginning of the 2007-08 academic year, as well as annual increases of 2.25 percent in January of each of the four years covered by the pact. It also would provide for additional increases based on merit in the second, third and fourth years of the agreement, and would increase the minimum salary for head coaches from $35,000 to $37,500 and for assistant coaches from $30,000 to $32,500 beginning in July 2009.
Coaches would continue to pay an amount equal to 1 percent of their annual salary for healthcare coverage in the first year of the new agreement. That amount would increase to 1.5 percent in 2008-09, to 2 percent in 2009-10 and to 3 percent in 2010-11, although the amount could be reduced each year for those who participate in a wellness program, if such a program is created.

The tentative agreement with the coaches must be ratified by both the union membership and the PASSHE Board of Governors before taking effect.

With more than 109,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Approximately 405,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.

Contact: Kenn Marshall, (717) 720-4054 or (717) 329-0809 and Kevin Kodish, 1-800-932-0587, ext. 6

PASSHE’S CURRENT PROPOSAL WOULD SERIOUSLY DAMAGE FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS

HARRISBURG - Many uncertainties must be ironed out as both sides prepare for the resumption of contract talks for 5,500 faculty members at Pennsylvania 14 State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities. Bargaining resumed Thursday morning in Harrisburg.

No individual contract articles have been approved to date, and the PASSHE’s description of their salary proposal is not being met with smiles at APSCUF headquarters.

“Last Saturday, the PASSHE issued a news release claiming that faculty salaries would be ‘extremely competitive’ under the system’s latest proposal. In reality, the faculty would lose money and faculty members would be leaving in droves if we accepted that proposal,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said.

The PASSHE is proposing the following:

2007-08: $1,250 bonus payment in the fall, and a step increment in the spring.
2008-09: 2% general pay increase in the fall, and a step increment in the spring.
2009-10: 2% general pay increase in the fall, and a step increment in the spring.
2010-11: 3% general pay increase in the fall, and a step increment in the spring.

Along with those figures, the PASSHE is also proposing an increase in the health benefit premium payment percentage in the final three years of the four-year pact, from 10% of premium costs to 30% in the final year of the contract.

“You have to remember that those health benefit premiums are going to rise each year and would cost the faculty more money. In fact, our health care consultant estimates a 10% increase in the premium cost in 2008-09, 8.5% in 2009-10, and 10.5% in 2010-11. That would dilute salary increases for faculty.”

A faculty member currently paying $1,200 in annual premium payments (10% of $12,000) would see that cost balloon to $4,747 (30% of estimated $15,825) by the end of the contract.

Heilman also criticized the delaying of the step increments each year.

“The annual step increments have existed for faculty at our institutions for many, many years - even before the advent of collective bargaining in 1971,” Heilman noted. “Faculty members who were below the maximum always received an annual increment. Those at the top of the scale only received the across-the-board general pay increases. We operate on academic years, and the steps were always awarded at the beginning of the year (fall semester). The move to January makes no sense for an employee group where 98.9% begin their employment in the fall.”

The current collective bargaining agreement broke with the step tradition, as no faculty members received steps in the first year or third years of the pact. Now, the PASSHE is proposing that the step increments are granted in the spring of each year rather than the fall.

“On the average, faculty salaries will increase only 11.7% under the PASSHE’s proposal,” Heilman observed. “However, 3.3% of that increase would be offset by increased health care costs, resulting in an 8.4% increase over four years.

Then, Heilman said, inflation would take its bite of the increase.

“During the same time period, we expect to see inflation rates of 4.6%, 3.5%, 3.5%, and 3.5%. Thus, adjusting for inflation, the faculty salaries would be MINUS 6.7% of purchasing power over the contract period. Please forgive us for not greeting this proposal with open arms.”

“There’s lots of room for improvement in the PASSHE’s proposal. The future quality of the PASSHE hangs in the balance,” Heilman concluded.

AAUP DATA SHOWS PASSHE FACULTY SALARIES WELL BELOW 90TH PERCENTILE OF SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS

Salary Chart

HARRISBURG - Each spring, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) releases a report on faculty salaries nationwide. One measuring method employed by the AAUP salary survey categorizes institutions as Category I (Doctoral institutions), Category IIA (Masters Degree institutions) and Category IIB (Baccalaureate institutions).

The majority (10 of 14) of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities fall squarely into the IIA category. Indiana University of PA confers some doctoral degrees, while Cheyney, Lock Haven and Mansfield are assigned to the Category IIB designation.

When compared with Category IIA institutions on a national basis, the PASSHE schools check in at the 73rd percentile when assigning the weighted average salary ($67,820) across all ranks of professors (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Full Professor). The weighted average is computed by taking the average salaries reported by the PASSHE to the AAUP and weighting each rank according to the current Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of faculty at each rank.

The PASSHE’s Full Professors and Associate Professors fare the best among the four classifications nationally. Full Professors’ salaries rank in the 80th percentile, while the Associate Professors place in the 83rd percentile. The Assistant Professors and Instructors are not as fortunate, ranking at the 69th and 52nd percentiles nationally.

“As anyone can see, our faculty salaries are not at the 90th percentile nationally, and these national figures only tell part of the story,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said. “Pennsylvania is located in a region where education salaries are normally much higher than the national averages. For us to compete in a regional market for talented teachers, we should be over the 90th percentile nationally.”

Heilman pointed out that if the PASSHE is hand-picking various public institutions across the country and using that limited group for a salary comparison, they could make a case for themselves with the data. Such comparisons, however, are not realistic and do not reflect the challenges being faced by our PASSHE universities.

Close to home, a comparative look at Penn State University’s Category IIA branch campuses finds salary percentile rankings of 92% (Full Professor), 95% (Associate Professor and Assistant Professor), and 84% (Instructor).

“Our location places us in a hotbed of competition for faculty recruits,” Heilman stressed. “Our workloads are high in comparison to many schools, and other parts of our total package, which were strengths in the past, are now severely diluted.

“We used to be able to overcome the workload issues with new recruits by noting the 100% employer-paid health benefits and our competitive regional salaries. My, how times have changed!”

Indeed, adjusting for inflation since fall of 2002, PASSHE faculty members have improved their financial position by only 2.8%. Also, faculty members are currently paying 10% of their health insurance premium costs, and those premiums are rising each year.

“The PASSHE just isn’t as attractive as it used to be,” Heilman remarked. “We need to turn the tide and position the PASSHE more favorably so that we can once again win the faculty recruiting wars.”

APSCUF’s current contract with the PASSHE expires on Saturday, June 30. A first-ever strike is possible if a new pact cannot be achieved.

Despite many scheduled sessions, precious little progress has been made thus far.  That needs to change this week, as both contracts expire on June 30, and APSCUF’s executive council has the green light to call the first strike in the history of the organization if talks fail to secure new pacts.

“This has been a long, frustrating process for our negotiating team members, our leadership, and our members at large,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said.  “We tried to advance an agenda that would have featured intensive bargaining last summer and a new agreement nearly a year in advance of the expiration of these contracts.  The PASSHE was not interested in that agenda.”
Instead, Heilman noted, the last year has been an exercise in futility for the most part.

“Some sessions produced meaningful dialogue, but there were a lot of trips to Harrisburg that featured a lot of sitting around without any bargaining activity at all.  That’s extremely disappointing.”
Heilman believes if the PASSHE was not ready to advance new proposals on the major issues, then everyone would have been better off staying away from the bargaining table and formulating proposals.

“Looking back, less sessions and more productive meetings could have placed us at a better position right now,” Heilman observed.  “There is a lot of ground to cover here in the last week.  Our team is ready to negotiate.  I hope their side is as well.  We owe it to our members and to our students and their families to do everything we can to secure a fair settlement that maintains quality and helps us to secure and maintain the best professors.”
Especially troubling about the amount of ineffective bargaining sessions is the drain on PASSHE funds that each session produces.

“When you take into account the daily salary rate for the PASSHE negotiators, hotel costs, and approximate food charges, over $12,000 per day is the tab.  That’s a lot of money for not a lot of results,” Heilman said.
“Between the faculty and coaches we have conducted at least 20 days of sessions.  Right there is $240,000 in expenses for the PASSHE.  APSCUF’s daily expenses are approximately $9,000.”

Heilman stressed the biggest difference between the two sides is that APSCUF’s “daily tab” comes out of union funds, while the PASSHE’s expenses are out of the PASSHE’s operating funds (taxpayer dollars).
The coaches will talk with the PASSHE beginning Wednesday afternoon, while the faculty negotiators have sessions scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

PASSHE’S LATEST OFFER TO FACULTY FALLS WOEFULLY SHORT; FINAL TALKS SET FOR THIS WEEK

HARRISBURG - Though the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSH) finally submitted a salary contract proposal above 0% to its faculty, a lot of ground needs to be covered this week if the two sides are to achieve a new collective bargaining agreement.

APSCUF’s current pact with the PASSHE expires on June 30, and recent discussions have yielded only slight progress in non-economic areas. The two sides have three days of bargaining remaining - June 28, 29 and 30.

If the PASSHE does not significantly improve its offer, the first strike in the history of APSCUF and the PASSHE appears likely.

“The PASSHE has made an offer which contains no across-the-board increase in the first year and minor increases in the other three years. The percentage offered doesn’t even meet the inflation rate,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said, “and most faculty fell below the inflation rate in the current contract.”

Faculty members currently contribute 10% of the cost of their health benefits, and the PASSHE proposal increases that amount progressively (to 30% in the fourth year). “Factoring in the premium costs with the System’s meager offer means faculty will LOSE money in each year of the next contract,” Heilman said. “Is that their plan to stem the tide of PASSHE faculty leaving the System?”

“Everyone needs to keep in mind that faculty members are paying a percentage of the premium, and those premiums keep going up every year. Accepting this contract proposal would lead to an increased exodus of faculty from our universities,” Heilman added.

Over 1,000 faculty members have departed the PASSHE in the last five years and, to date, more than 200 more have signed papers to leave at the end of this month, Heilman expects that number to swell further, considering the status of the contract talks.

“Look at where inflation is going, and they want us to accept an increase in health premium co-share and substandard increases. Our faculty have suffered enough and are reaching the boiling point. It’s doubly insulting when you add in that Management gave themselves a 6% salary increase this year retroactive to last July.”

APSCUF’s salary proposals (4% in 2007-08, 5.5% in 2008-09 and 2009-10, and 5% in 2010-11) would enable faculty to realize a modest salary increase above inflation, which is running, at this time, at 4.6%.

Heilman noted that the universities are having problems filling some positions now, and acceptance of the current PASSHE proposal would only worsen the problem.

“Tenure-line faculty are shouldering more and more of the university’s committee work while advising larger and larger numbers of students and teaching a heavier workload than some two-year colleges,” Heilman said.

“Do you expect that highly-sought-after university faculty will stay in a system where the salary and benefits are non-competitive, the workload is atrocious, and there is enormous pressure for research and publication with little or no commitment of professional development funds?”

Reports that PASSHE faculty pay ranks in the 90th percentile are not current and a deliberate attempt to deflect attention away from the poor offers being made. “It’s been a long time since our salaries were that competitive,” Heilman said. “We are below the 50th percentile in salary in our region comparing our categories of institutions with similar institutions.”

“This week it’s make-or-break time,” Heilman remarked. “Contracts for both our faculty and coaches are unresolved at this point, and we are down to a precious few days remaining.”

HARRISBURG – In an era of increasing workloads, poor salary increases from contracts, and payments for health care premiums, academic departments at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities are struggling to complete successful searches for new candidates.

Once a prime destination, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has lost some of its appeal in the eyes of faculty recruits. Since 1995, the number of students in the PASSHE has increased 15.59% — from 96,275 to 109,088. The faculty complement has not kept pace with that surge, with only a 4.45% hike over that span. Management has tallied the biggest increase, as the management roster is total up 16.77%.

“We are having terrible problems recruiting and retaining quality faculty,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said. “The number and frequency of failed searches continues to escalate, along with the number of resignations and ‘early’ retirements.”

In order to achieve a fair comparison model for faculty and management salary increases in the PASSHE, APSCUF researched salary hikes since Fall, 2002 for both classes. APSCUF discovered 3,383 faculty members and 819 managers who were PASSHE employees both in Fall, 2002 and Spring, 2007.

Taking into account national inflation for the same time period, faculty members improved their financial positions by just 2.8%. Managers, on the other hand, beat inflation by more than 10%.

“We are not insinuating that the raises provided to managers were not justified or earned,” Heilman noted. “What we are saying is that our faculty members have been forced to endure subpar contracts at a time when the competition for new faculty hires is most critical. And, students choose a university based on the academic reputations of its faculty, not its managers.”

Projections for faculty openings nationwide from 2004 to 2014 will reach incredible levels. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2014 the number one most sought after employee will be the university professor. Demand for professors will be up 32%.

“We face fierce competition from private schools, state-related institutions, and colleges in border states,” Heilman said. “We must be successful in recruiting and retaining quality faculty members to ensure that the PASSHE fulfills its mission – providing a high quality public education.”

High student advising loads, directly related to the failed searches and the problems with recruiting and retaining faculty, are big reasons why the current contract being negotiated with the PASSHE is of critical importance.

“We are interested in securing a fair settlement that helps faculty and boosts the PASSHE’s viability as a real ‘player’ when it comes to the brightest minds coming out of the country’s graduate schools,” Heilman said.

The current contracts for professors and coaches expire on June 30. The first strike in the history of the PASSHE could occur anytime thereafter.

END

Kevin P. Kodish
Director of Communications
APSCUF
319 North Front Street
PO Box 11995
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1995
Phone: 800-932-0587, ext. 3020
Fax: 717-236-1883
email: kkodish@apscuf.org

HARRISBURG – Contract talks aimed at achieving a new collective bargaining agreement for approximately 350 coaches in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) are set to resume on June 18. The current pact for the coaches, who are represented by APSCUF, expires on June 30. Athletic directors and athletic trainers fall under the APSCUF Faculty Agreement which also is set to expire on June 30.

Failure to arrive at a new deal on time could result in a strike and the cancellation of many popular and lucrative summer camps. Lucrative because many of the summer camps generate the necessary income to sustain various athletic programs for the subsequent school year, including student-athlete scholarship money, a primary recruitment tool. APSCUF questions whether a ‘snowball affect’ would occur if summer athletic camps are affected by a strike: Recruitment of top student-athletes and even gender equity issues could arise later on if athletic department income is affected.

APSCUF also questions the safety and the liability issues that could arise if the Universities host summer camps without the professional direction of the athletic directors, athletic trainers, and coaches.

“As is the case with the faculty bargaining, APSCUF is doing everything possible to try and achieve a settlement,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said. “Our coaches value their student-athletes and the young athletes who visit our campuses every summer. They want only the best for the kids, but they also must look out for the interests of their own families as well.”

To use a sports analogy, the coaches’ contract talks are coming to the two-minute warning,” Heilman said. “It’s time to get serious and negotiate a settlement.”

Kevin P. Kodish
Director of Communications
APSCUF
319 North Front Street
PO Box 11995
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1995
Phone: 800-932-0587, ext. 3020
Fax: 717-236-1883
email: kkodish@apscuf.org

With Contract Expirations Looming - APSCUF Faculty, Coaches Desire Meaningful, Progressive Offers

With June 30 now less than four weeks away, time is of the essence as collective bargaining agreements for the nearly 6,000 professors and coaches at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will expire and could lead to the first strike in the history of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

“APSCUF’s key objective remains the same – achieving fair, equitable settlements that enable the State System universities to recruit and retain high quality professors and coaches,” State APSCUF President Pat Heilman said. “If the State System comes to the table this month with a strong intent to negotiate, we still have time to reach a positive conclusion.”

In the faculty talks, APSCUF is baffled with the PASSHE’s failure to come forward with a credible offer to date. Considering the huge raises members of the PASSHE negotiations team received between spring 2006 and spring 2007, one would think they would want to share the wealth. Eight PASSHE negotiators received cumulative raises totaling $79,571 in one year. That figure exceeds the average salary of a PASSHE professor by more than $10,000.

Indeed, three members of the PASSHE bargaining team – one from a campus and two from the Office of the Chancellor — enjoyed double-digit salary hikes since October, 2006. One negotiator amassed a 18% salary hike (worth $12,641), while another garnered a 13.65% ($18,874) increase. The third member of the double-digit club was awarded a 10.04% hike ($10,490). The latter of the situations cited was not a “junior” employee, either, as the individual has 15 years of PASSHE service time. Another negotiator, with 33 years of service, received a 9.04% salary increase which was worth $9,758.

“Funding for salary hikes appears to be plentiful until it is time to negotiate salaries for the faculty and coaches,” Heilman observed. “The PASSHE’s primary mission is to offer Pennsylvania’s citizens a high quality education at the lowest possible cost. The cost, while it has been increasing, remains a bargain in comparison to other schools in the region. The quality is in serious danger of erosion, and our students do not deserve that. We should be attracting the top professors; our current offers just don’t stack up. Our raises don’t even stack up with management raises within PASSHE!”

Once considered a prime destination for young professorial candidates, the PASSHE’s academic departments now struggle mightily to convince potential professors to accept offers.

In the current faculty four-year deal, faculty members received no general pay increases in the first two years, as well as no step increments in the first and third years. The result was a total wage freeze in the first year for all faculty, and a two-year salary freeze for senior faculty at the top of the scale. Another negative factor of that contract was the fact that faculty members began paying a premium co-share for their medical benefits – further eroding faculty purchasing power.

While the final year of the pact was easily the most attractive from the financial side – containing a 3% general pay hike and step increments in the fall and spring semesters – the highest paid professors in the PASSHE received just a 4.25% raise for the academic year, or $3,970.

“Our two sides need to get together and seriously work toward a fair settlement,” Heilman remarked. “It’s time for the PASSHE to take its only formal offer – general pay increases of 0, 0, 0, and 0 – off the table and begin to respect the faculty and commence with serious offers. We are prepared to work hard with the State System this month in order to reach settlements for our faculty and coaches, but we also have to address the potential reality of a strike.

“It is time that both sides just roll up their sleeves and work with each other. If the PASSHE is serious about its students and the health and welfare of the entire PASSHE, the bargaining process will produce agreements this month,” Heilman added.

The faculty negotiations are scheduled to resume on June 15, while the coaches return to the bargaining table on June 18.

END

For further information

Contact: Kevin P. Kodish

(800-932-0587, ext. 6)

For immediate release

Monday, June 4, 2007