The Wright State faculty union strike is in its fourteenth day. And while negotiations resumed over the weekend between the administration and the union, no agreement was reached.
So, Monday afternoon union members returned to the picket lines, joined by dozens of students and community members.
The picket line stretched for almost an entire block near the entrance to Wright State’s Fairborn campus.
Lining the curb were more than 100 people cheering in support of striking faculty members.
Among them was Dayton resident Ray Landis, who says he told his wife he’d join the picket lines only if the strike was still happening on Monday.
"And I was very unhappy and a little bit surprised to see that there'd been virtually no progress made by today. That's why I'm here," he says.
Wright State Earth Sciences Professor Rebecca Teed says she intends to strike for as long as it takes for a contract agreement to be reached.
In the meantime, she says she’s been going through her textbooks, trying to figure out how to adjust her courses as the strike continues.
“I'm figuring out which chapters I'm going to have to cut from the curriculum, but I’m like, they [the students] need to know this and they need to know that. And it's really hard. But I've got the book at home and I'm going through it. Every two days we’re on strike I have to find another half a chapter we can do without," she says.
Administration and union negotiators failed to reach a deal, even after hours of talks on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday, Wright State’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the administration’s latest contract offer, and asked the union to do the same.
But union leaders have said no vote will be held unless a tentative agreement is reached.
There’s no word on when WSU contract negotiations will resume.
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