C.W. Post faculty go out on strike

Full-time faculty at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville went on strike Wednesday during the first day of classes -- the third walkout there in the past 10 years.

Professors began picketing at the campus gates off Route 25A in the morning, after negotiations broke off Tuesday night. Strikers belong to the C.W. Post Collegial Federation, representing about 325 permanent faculty members.

However, about 500 part-time adjunct faculty remained on the job, because they belong to a separate union with a contract that bans sympathy strikes.

Campus provost Paul Forestell said, "I'm delighted to report that two-thirds of our classes met today."

Both sides voiced hope of avoiding a long strike.

Harvey Kushner, president of the striking union, said his group rejected a five-year contract offer that included a salary freeze the first year, followed by a one-time payment equivalent to 3 percent of pay in year two. He contended this would mean economic hardship for junior faculty earning as little as $60,000 annually.

The third year of the offer would provide either a one-time payment of 2 percent, or possibly a 2-percent increase in base pay, depending on growth in college revenues. Years four and five would provide a minimum 2-percent increase in base pay, with possible 4-percent increases, again depending on revenue growth.

"It doesn't address one-third of the faculty who make way under a living wage for the region where they live," said Kushner, a professor of criminal justice and department chairman.

He added that other issues in dispute include employee health-insurance contributions and academic improvements, and blamed college officials for breaking off talks. The union wants a three-year contract.

C.W. Post officials say, on the other hand, that full-time faculty receive salaries averaging $95,000 for 10 months' work, along with "generous" fringe benefits that bring total average compensation to $133,000. Their statement Wednesday added that the contract offer was "designed to minimize tuition increases, to preserve student scholarships, to improve facilities" in addition to providing fair remuneration.