Hundreds of members of Wright State’s faculty union walked off the job Tuesday. The university's chapter of the American Association of University Professors union announced its intent to strike earlier this month after contract talks stalled.
With temperatures hovering in the teens, about 100 students chanted as they marched across Wright State’s campus to join professors on the picket lines.
A newly formed pro-union student group called WSU Students for Faculty organized the march.
Some students on campus reported showing up to morning classes only to find out there was no one to fill in for their striking professors.
Student Elyse Angle was one of them.
“There was no one in my class, Marine Biology. No one could tell me if someone would be there on Thursday,” she says.
She says attendance was taken by staff members.
In earlier statements, Wright State administrators encouraged students to continue attending classes, and said substitutes would cover classes affected by the walkout. They also suggested some courses would be combined or taught online.
It’s unclear whether any classes were cancelled due to the strike.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon on Wright State's website, university officials said 80 percent of scheduled classes were held without issue during the first day of the strike.
The university is running a shuttle bus from a student parking lot to a building on the main campus. They say this is to prevent students from having to cross picket lines.
The university is expected to remain open. There’s no word yet on when a contract resolution will be reached, more than two years after negotiations began.
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