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Wright State Strike Day 11: Administration, Union Resume Contract Talks

Negotiations resumed Friday between the Wright State University administration and the faculty union, 11 days after the faculty strike began.

The walkout has now gone on longer than all but one higher-education strikes last year.

William Herbert, director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education, says that while most strikes are typically resolved within a week it’s not unheard of for them to last longer.

"Sometimes strikes will last for a couple of days and then lead to a resolution, other strikes may last for longer periods of time, but ultimately there is a resolution," says Herbert. "And so it's really a question about the importance of the issues that are at stake.”

University and union officials have said health care remains a major sticking point in contract talks.

As the strike drags on, student concerns are piling up.

On social media, some students have been weighing whether to transfer out of the university. More than 3,500 students withdrew from Temple University during and after a month-long strike in 1990.

Wright State has yet to report its most recent student withdrawal numbers.

The university has extended to next Friday the deadline for students to drop classes for a full refund. This is the second time the deadline has been extended during the faculty walkout.

Copyright 2019 WYSO

April Laissle is a graduate of Ohio University and comes to WYSO from WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio where she worked as a weekend host and reporter. There, she reported on everything from food insecurity to 4-H chicken competitions. April interned at KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, where she focused on health reporting. She also worked on The Broad Experience, a New-York based podcast about women and workplace issues. In her spare time, April loves traveling, trying new recipes and binge-listening to podcasts. April is a Florida native and has been adjusting to Ohio weather since 2011.