OU and the faculty have one more day of negotiations before a possible professors’ strike

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Tuesday will be a pivotal day for contract negotiations between Oakland University and its faculty union.

Both sides say Sunday’s meeting ended in an impasse over pay increases, which threatens to delay the start of the fall semester on Wednesday.

Connor McGuffin said he wants life at Oakland University to get back to business. The sophomore biology major said the sooner classes start, the sooner students will be one step closer to fulfilling their career dreams. For him, that’s becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

“Overall, I hope classes start on time because the professors who are here to teach and love to teach have gone out of their way to make that happen,” he said.

However, the union and the university cannot reach an agreement on a new contract.

“In some ways, I see it going both ways because I understand that there’s more to meaningful teaching and education,” McGuffin said.

“But I also see how on a financial scale it makes sense… I don’t know if it might be difficult for the university to finance all of this,” he continued.

7 News Detroit has learned there was some movement on several issues at Sunday’s meeting. However, there is still no movement on pay raises.

Following Sunday’s meeting, Oakland University released a statement saying, among other things, that “the faculty union rejected the university’s economic package, which included a 21% increase over five years, including a 16% increase in base salary over five years and an additional 1% in one-time bonuses.”

The statement continued: “On the contrary, the lecturers’ union is insisting on an economic package including a total increase of 30% over five years, which is neither feasible nor sustainable.”

In response to the statement, Dr. Jennifer Lucarelli told 7 News Detroit, “I’m not sure that these numbers are an accurate representation of what the faculty union is asking for. I don’t think that they’re necessarily an accurate representation of what the university is offering.”

Lucarelli, an assistant professor of health sciences, said the crux of the matter is that the faculty union wants to keep pay levels in line with the current cost of living.

“The data shows that we earn on average about 25% less than other lecturers in the country in a similar position and at a similar institution,” she explained.

Lucarelli said the two sides aren’t that far apart in the negotiations. She said the union is asking for the following pay increases:

Year 1 – 4%
Year 2 – 3.75%
Year 3 – 3.5%
Years 4 – 3.25%
Year 5 – 3.25%

This represents an increase of 17.75% over 5 years.

“Our view is that the university could afford these faculty pay increases. They are simply choosing other priorities for their overall budget,” Lucarelli explained.

Following the meeting on Sunday, the university said it “remains committed to finalizing a new agreement in time for the fall semester to begin as scheduled on September 4.”

Today, interim vice-chancellor Kevin Corcoran added: “We look forward to tomorrow’s discussions to see if we can reach an agreement.”