Teachers Strike at Western Oregon Closer to Becoming a Reality

Talks break-off Friday after five hours; Governor plans to meet with both sides on Wednesday

(MONMOUTH) - Contract talks between Western Oregon administrators and faculty broke down on Friday, meaning the union set strike date of April 5th appears to soon become a reality.

WOU President John Minahan said the university has made every effort to bring the last bit of additional money it could find to this table. Apparently, it was not enough. The union is holding to its most recent verbal offer of 12 percent. We cannot increase our offer. Our final offer remains at 9.7 percent including full fringes and all benefits. Unfortunately, these talks appear to be closed. I regret this very much Minahan said.

Union leaders and administrators said they are hopeful that a scheduled meeting with Governor Kulongoski on Wednesday will facilitate an agreement.

They also remain open to negotiating through spring break

Democratic candidates for Governor Pete Sorenson and Jim Hill, and Independent candidate Ben Westlund all pledged to walk the picket line with WOU faculty in the event of a strike union leader siad.

WOU faculty have also received letters of support from faculty at Portland State University, Southern Oregon University, and Eastern Oregon University, as well as from the Association of Oregon Faculties.

A student group calling itself "Students for Faculty" is forming, and they have a planning meeting Tuesday at 1:00 PM at WOUFT Strike HQ. Interested students are welcome to