When we work without a contract, management will make unilateral decisions. For example, in 2003, management withheld all step increases in pay, including even those for faculty who had been promoted and were entitled to promotion increases. The 2003 promotees have still not received the promotion-related pay increases they earned. Another example: the Governor’s representative in 2003 said that domestic partner benefits would be forthcoming by 2004 if APSCUF agreed to the Governor’s terms. APSCUF agreed, but the domestic partner benefits were forgotten. There are other examples involving class sizes and APSCUF’s input on appointees to the Board of Governors. In short, APSCUF has been patient and collegial with PASSHE, and it doesn’t work.

Also, PASSHE has badly damaged the negotiations process over the past several years by simply refusing to negotiate. Unless we stand strongly behind our negotiation team, they will have little power. Clearly, we must force PASSHE to negotiate.

The contract with SCUPA expires when ours expires on June 30, 2007. While different unions cannot legally participate in each others’ strikes, the threat of two unions striking simultaneously may stimulate the State to bargain with all more fairly.

Finally, starting a strike during the summer minimizes the impact of a strike on our students’ lives and plans. If a summer strike were to continue into the fall semester, the blame would fall more clearly on PASSHE’s intransigence.

Yes. Under the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act (also know as "Act 195"), a strike by APSCUF may occur at any time after its collective bargaining agreement with the PASSHE has expired, provided that several dispute-resolution procedures have been exhausted. APSCUF will more than fulfill all such requirements. (For example, although it is not required, APSCUF has usually offered to settle negotiations through binding arbitration. PASSHE has always refused.) Therefore, if the membership authorizes a strike through a strike authorization vote, a strike can be held and will be legal. At that point, the State APSCUF Executive Council would choose the exact date and time.

No. We believe this would be illegal. But will management attempt—illegally—to fire striking members? Possibly, in which case APSCUF would be there to vigorously defend all faculty members.

In any case, we can certainly expect PASSHE to attempt to replace striking faculty members. This is a standard intimidation tactic used by corporate managers everywhere to try to coerce employees into accepting their offers. In this regard, it would be illegal (as an unfair labor practice) for PASSHE to offer anyone additional material compensation in return for crossing the picket line.

Yes. There is no difference between the rights of union members and non-members in the event of a strike, and APSCUF expects that ALL faculty members will strike should a strike be called. If we lack solidarity, a strike could become prolonged, and PASSHE’s ongoing assault on our contract will cause grave losses for all of us and for our students. Our solidarity is the key to a swift and fair contract settlement.

No—at least not because of a strike. Untenured and temporary faculty members are full members of a bargaining unit participating in a legal job action, and they cannot be legally fired for such participation. Any attempt by PASSHE to do so would be dealt with swiftly in court.

The positions of untenured and temporary faculty are less secure for reasons having nothing to do with a strike, of course, and a strike does not affect that—except, of course, that our goals in a strike would be to improve working conditions for all of us, including those in untenured and temporary positions.

Yes. Temporary faculty members who are members of APSCUF during the Spring 2007 semester will be eligible to vote in any strike authorization vote held over the summer, pending approval of our voting procedures at the February 2007 Assembly.

No. Act 195 forbids pay to striking employees. However, faculty members are entitled to be paid for all work performed before a strike begins and also after it ends. Should we go on strike in July, faculty members on the 26 pay schedule must be paid as usual in the summer, as that pay is for work already completed. Moreover, if we strike and an agreement is eventually reached to make up the work missed, faculty members would be compensated for the make-up work.

For faculty who are in desperate financial need during a strike, we have established an APSCUF-KU Solidarity Fund, which will be able to grant short-term, no-interest, emergency loans.

Paul Quinn is the Solidarity Fund Accountant and he is happy to answer any questions about either donating or drawing upon the fund you might have. Paul can be reached at quinn@kutztown.edu.

Yes. Dr. Jonathan Kramer of KU’s Department of Accounting and Finance has prepared a presentation entitled Establishing an Emergency Fund for faculty.

A federal law commonly known as "COBRA" entitles employees to continue their group health plan coverage for up to 18 months after loss of coverage due to a "qualifying event" such as a strike. This means that you would be entitled to continue your group health plan coverage, although you would have to pay the monthly premium.

Here’s how it works: Within 14 days after you go on strike, a company named Ceridian will mail a COBRA notification form to your home address of record. You will be notified of the rates for the coverage (which are not inflated; they cannot legally exceed the actual cost of the coverage plus 2% for processing). You will have a certain period of time (45-60 days) to enroll, and the coverage would be retroactive to the day coverage ended (so you would have no gap in coverage), provided you pay the premiums monthly. Should you elect not to continue coverage at your own expense by the end of the option period, then your coverage would be terminated retroactively to the beginning of the strike.

Should members need to buy COBRA coverage during a prolonged strike, APSCUF would intend to make reimbursement of faculty members for the COBRA payments a condition for ending the strike.

All leaves are cancelled during a strike. A leave is a paid benefit, and you cannot be paid during a strike.

Not likely. Faculty who participate in TIAA-CREF could lose contributions to their retirement fund for a period of time only in the highly unlikely event that work is not made up after a strike. Faculty who participate in SERS and PSERS would probably not be affected at all if work is made up, as retirement benefits depend on total years of service and the final average salary over the last three years of employment.

The terms of our old contract would remain in place until APSCUF goes on strike, at which point PASSHE could legally implement its “last best offer.” This might seem as though we would be going from bad (the old contract, with no pay increases) to worse (PASSHE’s “last best offer”). But this is actually irrelevant. The whole purpose of a strike is to force PASSHE to bargain reasonably with our representatives and to produce a settlement that compensates us fairly and maintains the quality of what we do. Our leadership will call for a strike only if a strike seems likely to produce the desired outcome, which will be nothing like PASSHE’s “last best offer.”

Yes, public employees in Pennsylvania have rights under the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act ("Act 195") that private sector employees—e.g., truck drivers, baseball players, or airline pilots—do not have.

No. AFSCME and SCUPA are separate bargaining units, and their members may not participate in a strike by APSCUF (under Act 195). Thus AFSCME and SCUPA members would have to be allowed to cross APSCUF picket lines freely. SCUPA’s current contract expires with APSCUF’s on June 30, 2007, however, so there remains the possibility of separate but simultaneous strikes by the different unions.

While they are represented by APSCUF, coaches belong to a separate bargaining unit. Thus, like AFSCME and SCUPA members, they cannot legally participate in a faculty strike. Faculty members who are also coaches may participate in a faculty strike, however. And all coaches can participate in strike activities before and after work. However, the non-faculty coaches’ contract also expires June 30, 2007. There is the possibility that a simultaneous strike by coaches can occur.

No. Although we cannot say much about the likelihood of a strike in July, 2007, the purpose of strike preparation is to decrease the likelihood of a strike needing to occur. APSCUF does not intend to strike no matter what; we hope very much that a strike will not be necessary. But given PASSHE’s past and current behavior in negotiations, we clearly need to be ready.

No. Like AFSCME and SCUPA members, they are not part of the APSCUF bargaining unit and could face disciplinary action if they do not perform their contractual duties. However, no TA or GA can be compelled to perform any work beyond the scope of their existing contract, and in the event of a strike, APSCUF would like to see TAs and GAs work to the letter of their contracts, no less and no more.

As long as they are at sites such as schools that aren’t on strike, they should continue at the sites. KU faculty would not participate in these experiences during a strike, however, so no supervisory visits by faculty to the off-campus sites would occur. Students would have to direct all other concerns to the administration.

They should tell their clients to contact the administration. They should also have a list of alternative sources of help for the short term.

No. Unless a faculty member can show that an illness occurred before the strike, the excuse would not succeed. Management would have the right to a doctor's note after three days of sick leave.

No. This would present liability issues for you and for the University.

There will be multiple channels of communication, and it is essential that you keep the APSCUF office informed of your current address, home phone number, and off-campus e-mail address. Once a job action is called, we will activate our phone tree, send e-mail, post the announcement on our website, and post notices in local media.

Even a single person crossing the line would be viewed by management as a lack of solidarity and could increase the length of the strike and damage our power to insist on a reasonable settlement. DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE.

No, this would constitute crossing the picket line. When notified of a strike, faculty members should purge their offices and computers of sensitive materials (e.g., student grades) and take home everything they might need or want for the length of the strike.

No, but they can support us in other ways.