YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University trustees on Tuesday finalized a three-year contract with one of its two staff unions.

The university will not have to negotiate another labor agreement for at least a year.

The university’s board of trustees held a special meeting Tuesday to approve the contract with the Professional and Administrative Staff (APAS) union.

“We are grateful to the APAS union for their collaboration and commitment throughout the negotiation process. This new contract reflects our shared dedication to enhancing the educational experience for our students and supporting our dedicated staff,” board Chairman Mike Peterson said.

“By investing in our employees, we are ultimately investing in the success of our students and the future of YSU.”

The union represents 186 employees — 108 voting members — including assistant directors, coordinators, web and IT staff, student activity coordinators and others. The union is similar to the Associated Classified Employees (ACE) union, said YSU spokeswoman Becky Rose, and the differences come down to which job code applies to an employee.

The union’s last contract expired on June 30, but the new contract was only ratified by union members last week.

According to a press release from the university, the contract includes a 1.75% base salary pay raise and a $300 flat increase to the employee’s base salary in the first year. Employees also will receive a 1% base salary raise in the second and third years, with $550 and $825 flat increases to base salary respectively. Salary increases are not retroactive.

In the third year, employees also will have the option to voluntarily cash out 40 hours of accrued vacation.

Effective Aug. 1, APAS employees will begin to pay a 19% contribution for health care, which the press release states is consistent with all other YSU employees. David Mouse, chief negotiator for the union, said the union’s vote July 23 was overwhelmingly in favor of the contract.

“I believe we all felt great about the resolution we came to, coming out of the meeting room,” he said. “We felt that we accomplished a lot of goals, both economic and noneconomic, and we came out of the room feeling like this will serve our members the best.”

Mouse said the focus during negotiations was just as much on the intangibles as it was on the financial concerns.

“As we go into a more modern workforce, there’s greater need for work-life balance and we hit a lot of points that we feel set us in the right direction,” he said “The work environment, the work location. With some of the recent changes to YSU, in terms of organization and structure, we’re making sure that our employees are well-situated for some of the things YSU is going to be taking on.”

He said the union’s financial concerns focused on ensuring that nobody would make less money, and that health care costs would not be a substantial burden for families.

The university’s other staff union, Associated Classified Employees (ACE) and its faculty union, a local chapter of the Ohio Education Association, both entered the second year of their three-year contracts on July 1. At the March trustees meeting, YSU approved a new three-year contract with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association for officers serving in the YSU Police Department.

The APAS contract will run through June 30, 2027.

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