Dive Brief:

• Portland State University faculty union members have authorized a strike if union leaders can’t agree to a new contract with school administrators.
• Union leaders said that 94% voted in favor of the strike authorization, and they will now decide on whether to strike after mediated negotiating sessions.
• According to state rules, the university’s 1,200 full-time faculty members cannot strike before April 3.

Dive Insight:

The university president, Wim Wiewel, has said the school must trim $7.5 million from next year’s budget. The two sides are fighting over raises for tenure-track professors, with the union initially proposing 5.5% annual raises and the university proposing 1%. Those proposals have moved closer to a middle ground. Other issues of contention include giving faculty a say in tenure decisions and the timing of tenure. In February, the union informed the Oregon Employment Relations Board that the two sides had reached an impasse.