Oakland University educators strike, classes cancelled

A strike authorized by the union representing Oakland University’s professors has caused the Rochester school of 18,000 students to cancel classes indefinitely.

The strike was approved Wednesday by the union, and professors were on the picket line Thursday morning. The university’s website says classes are cancelled until further notice.

Officials at Oakland University have canceled classes effectively immediately and until further notice as a result of a strike called by the Oakland University chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Classes were scheduled to begin on Thursday, Sept. 3.

The university is working with a state appointed mediator who offered the faculty an option to continue teaching while negotiations proceed. The faculty rejected that option and chose to strike.

As a result, university administrators are canceling classes as a consideration to students who travel to campus and might otherwise find that their instructors are not present to conduct class. Students should be assured that they will receive a full course of instruction for the fall semester.

While students may not be in class, the university said Welcome Week Activities will continue as planned.

Mlive.com reports there are several issues holding up the negotiations:

“There are a number of issues that need to be resolved,” Professor Elizabeth Barclay told Fox 2 last night, including how the proposed medical school will figure into the contract, the use of fixed-term faculty, changes in summer staffing and changes to employee medical insurance plans.

Oakland University, like all Michigan public education programs, is feeling the pinch of a tight economy and a shrinking state budget.