Faculty at 2 Michigan universities set for potential strike as fall classes start

Over 680 faculty members at Oakland University (OU) in Detroit’s northern suburbs could strike Tuesday, following a unanimous strike vote over the weekend. Classes are scheduled to start September 4.

The last pay offer by the OU administration was an insulting 16 percent increase over five years. The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is publicly calling for a 30 percent package. Talks began in June, and the previous contract expired August 14 but was extended to September 3.

Oakland University faculty may soon be joined on the picket lines by 900 faculty at Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo who are starting the school year without a contract. The instructors want raises of 8.5 percent and 8.75 percent over the next two years. The school administration has offered 3 percent or a $2,500 base salary increase, whichever is greater.

WMU instructors last staged a strike in 1977.

Staff at universities both are seeking to offset the sharp rise in the cost of living by asking for significant pay increases. Faculty at Oakland University, an independent public university that receives state funding, earn about 25 percent less than college staff at other universities nationwide, according to the AAUP-AFT.

Local AAUP officials have made it clear they are seeking to lower faculty expectations in the talks. Michael Latcha, an OU associate professor and president of the AAUP at OU, told WXYZ news: “The sides are really not all that far apart. We are confident and hopeful that the university can put something on the table we can agree to and we can be in class Wednesday morning when students show up.”