APSCUF and PASSHE negotiators met for six hours on Friday, January 4, 2013. The meeting was marked by several long breaks as the APSCUF team waited for the Chancellor’s representatives to present counter proposals. There was some important progress; most notably PASSHE took its proposal for a temporary faculty salary freeze off the table. Active and retiree health care and distance education remain topics where there are still significant divides. PASSHE has not yet negotiated a health care package design with any of its employees not in the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund, and it falls to APSCUF to negotiate this benefit. The parties meet again January 11. Meanwhile, the faculty continue to prepare for collective action should it be necessary to obtain a fair contract.
