Contract negotiations are still underway for Commonwealth University faculty and will continue until further notice.

Meetings have taken place on Monday and Tuesday this week in hopes of a wrap-up but a final agreement has not been officially announced.

This is the process where the state and faculty come to an agreement on a set of legally binding terms. Offers are passed back and forth until a tentative agreement is made. Contract Negotiations began earlier this summer.

If an agreement is not made, Commonwealth University faculty, APSCUF members, will take to the picket line until they receive what they need to fulfill their duties. In order for a strike to happen, there needs to be a strike authorization vote. The authorization vote is sent out to all faculty members and if the authority is given for a strike, it is a positive note and a date will be set to begin striking. This meeting will take place early to mid February with anticipation of discussing a strike vote.

Eric Hawrelak, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Commonwealth University, Bloomsburg Campus, is the APSCUF chapter president.

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, also known as APSCUF, is the union in which Commonwealth University and 13 other state chapters are members of. All 14 state chapters will undergo the same process.

“We want people to understand that we are here to protect you and your education,” Hawrelak said. “This consolidation ‘for the students’ was all the Chancellor’s idea, not ours. They did not give us a plan and it was forced upon us and now we are all living it.”

APSCUF’s mission is “being the voice for a quality public higher education – by working to ensure students receive all the educational benefits and opportunities possible from our state universities,” according to their website.

“It is tough to handle,” Hawrelak said. “Our working conditions are your learning conditions. If it’s going well for you, great but, I doubt it is.”

Hawerlak takes the voice and charge of just under 400 faculty members, making sure all policies are followed. He is in the process of possibly starting a mobilization committee, for students to attend meetings to support and understand the idea of a possible strike.