Free Republic

Faculty at 14 Pennsylvania state universities went on strike Wednesday morning, affecting more than 100,000 students, after contract negotiations between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the faculty union hit an impasse. The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties announced on its website that its members went on strike at 5 a.m. because no agreement could be reached. The union represents more than 5,000 faculty and coaches across the state, and a walkout was expected to halt classes midsemester. […] This is the first strike in the system’s 34-year history. The union includes faculty from Bloomsburg,...

Here’s how the scam works: Near the end of each academic year, APSCUF informs their members that it miraculously found an extra $25 per person in dues that it doesn’t need. The union then portrays itself as an honest broker and offers the money back as a “rebate.” The rebate form gives members three options for their $25: 1. Let the union keep it; 2. Donate it to APSCUF’s political action committee; or 3. Have it sent back to them. Presenting this “found” money with these options and urging members to donate to APSCUF’s PAC has proven extraordinarily effective —...

Union that represents Pa. university faculty wants indoor/outdoor ban rescinded. HARRISBURG — Grabbing a quick smoke between classes has become impossible for Lock Haven University political science professor Robert Storch. An indoor and outdoor smoking ban imposed at Pennsylvania’s state university system in September means Storch must walk off campus whenever he craves nicotine — a 20-minute roundtrip excursion that he cannot cram into a 15-minute break between classes. “I find it ridiculous,” Storch told a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing examiner Tuesday. “You feel like a leper anyway. It’s really very demeaning.” Storch was among a handful of professors...