Amid ongoing concerns, the staff union and Keene State College university system have been in negotiations regarding the union contract for around a year and a half. With the union’s former contract expiring on June 30, 2025, their main concerns now include compensation and health insurance changes.
According to an article from InDepthNH, the main issues found by the American Association of University Professors for the University of New Hampshire (AAUP-UNH) against the university system were “rising living costs and the long-term health of the university.” An impasse was declared after 490 days of negotiations.
In the article, president of AAUP-UNH Julia E. Rodriguez said, “We have seen a very slow process in our contract negotiations, and after over a year the distance between our position and the university’s proposals is so far that we’re seeking outside mediation to try and speed the process along.”
On Sept. 17, the Graduate Employees United Organization for New Hampshire (GEU-UAW) held a protest near Thompson Hall. As detailed by an article from The New Hampshire, Thompson Hall serves as the meeting room for GEU-UAW President Elizabeth Chilton and Vice President Jen Riley.
Kim Schmidl-Gagne, president of the staff union, spoke on the potential ramifications of the changes being put forward. “The health changes, changes to healthcare, that are proposed for us feel catastrophic,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “If you don’t need to use healthcare, you may get a little money back in your paycheck. But if something happens, the out-of-pocket costs before healthcare truly kicks in are huge.”
Schmidl-Gagne also reflected on the lack of pay raises for the staff. She said, “Staff raises since 2020 have been minimal and inflation over that time is at about 24 or 25 percent. And staff, since I think 2020, have gotten a total of 4% increase. So there’s a huge gap between how our salaries are holding up against inflation.”
Schmidl-Gagne also pointed out other issues causing the delay in negotiations, such as questions over interpretations of certain terms and phrases. “We made as much progress with the university system as we could on the contract,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “And we literally have touched every single page of the contract. So this has been a big deal. And we have declared impasse. As have the faculty. The faculty have been negotiating for about as long as we have. And declared an impasse before we did.”
Schmidl-Gagne said that one goal right now is to find an outside mediator for the staff union. The role of the mediator would be to oversee the union’s progress, their stances and work towards a compromise that would satisfy both the university system and the union.
Additionally, Schmidl-Gagne reflected on adjunct faculty not receiving their first paycheck during the first few weeks of the semester, as covered in a previous article. “We’d love to make huge progress in salaries and compensation because we are so far behind after minimal gains,” she said. “And sometimes it feels like we’re trying to play defense so things don’t get worse with a very small increase to salary, but these medical things are kinda scary for how they could impact people.”
Another concern was day-to-day living changes and increased expenses, such as the increase of gas prices.
Schmidl-Gagne pointed out some of the complications regarding finding a compromise.
“I think the staff work really hard and I believe very much in sitting down and talking and trying to find a compromise,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “Sometimes it feels like, as opposed to ‘can we find win-win solutions,’ somebody has to come out. I’m trying to help the staff. I think everybody wants to.”
On behalf of the university system, a statement was sent in by Sarah Kossayda, director of marketing. The statement said, “Keene State College and the union continue to work through the collective bargaining process. The parties are currently finalizing tentative agreements on matters where agreement has been reached and are working to mutually agree upon the selection of a mediator to assist with the remaining issues.”
The statement also said, “KSC remains committed to the bargaining process and continues to work in good faith toward reaching a successor collective bargaining agreement.”
Sarah McGregor, union president for Keene State College Education Association, did not respond for comment.
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
cerno@kscequinox.com
