YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State University-Ohio Education Association and university officials met Wednesday but could not overcome differences toward a new three-year faculty contract.

The faculty union in a statement said “ongoing contract issues with YSU administration have stalled. The parties exchanged proposals but were too far apart to make meaningful progress.”

YSU-OEA will inform its membership of the status of negotiations and may ask members whether they want to authorize a strike that could begin as early as Monday.

The statement said YSU-OEA — critical of “a hasty reorganization of academic units this summer” during the COVID-19 pandemic — did bring a new proposal to the table with some terms designed to meet the union’s needs and some to meet those of the administration.

Even if the union members give authorization by Saturday for a strike, YSU-OEA may decide to delay its start until a later date.

The university’s board of trustees voted earlier to reject a fact-finding report written by Betty R. Widgeon, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based mediator and arbitrator.

YSU President Jim Tressel previously stated the university’s leadership has several objections to the recommendations included in the report in light of the financial challenges of the institution.

YSU experienced state funding cuts of $1.4 million and experienced a loss of tuition of approximately $3 million due to the pandemic, the administration has said. This, along with the increases in salaries over a three-year period (totaling 6 percent according to the report), would have a significant impact on the university.

The union in a near unanimous vote last week accepted the recommendations in the report.

The faculty union has 337 members. Its statement noted that YSU administration Wednesday presented a proposal that “clings to many of its initial positions based on faulty data and assumptions”

“This is tantamount to turning back the clock, scuttling months of negotiations and returning us to the very impasse that fact finding was meant to overcome,” said Mark Vopat, the union spokesman.

news@tribtoday.com