YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Eastern Michigan University students are sounding off on faculty considering whether or not to strike with a vote coming up on Tuesday. It’s a part of an ongoing battle over pay & health benefits.
Illegal and unfortunate are some of the strong words EMU is using to describe a possible strike by faculty. So far, it’s unknown how a vote will play out.
“They haven’t been getting paid well. They’ve been trying to negotiate for years and get better pay. I don’t think it’s an EMU problem. All educators need to be compensated a lot better.” says EMU Junior Kendall Nelson.
We asked her, “Are you concerned a strike could actually happen this week?”
She replied, "Yes.”
A graduate student also added, “Some of my professors talk about how it’s stressful and they don’t actually want to strike, but if they have to they have to.”
Another student also told us, “Our professors really do think about their students, but I also know they really need to think about their families.”
The contract being negotiated impacts 500 faculty members at the school. After just a week of a new semester as negotiations continue, the union is so far rejecting a total of 15.2% increase over five years.
“We’ve offered 6.2% in the first year. We’ve looked at other universities and are in a really good position,” says university spokesman Walter Kraft.
However, in response, lead negotiator for faculty Professor Matt Kirkpatrick says, “That raise comes with significant cuts to our health care benefits. They are benefits that a great majority of our faculty and union rely on.”
He says he is still hopeful a deal can be reached prior to any strike taking place.
“We don’t think now would be the right time, if there ever is a right time, for the union to ask members to take a strike vote,” says Kraft.
At the same time, Kirkpatrick tells us, “Our livelihoods and our families are really important. We just want to make sure our members are taken care of. We have very little tools at this point at our disposal to get them to move.”
The university says they want to limit increased cost to students. They insist classes will take place the rest of the week, despite what’s been happening.
Another negotiation meeting is set for Wednesday at 10 am with a state-appointed mediator.
