Ohio State reached an agreement with members of Communication Workers of America last week, keeping many of the university’s service employees on the job. Union turnout was around 50 to 60 percent, lower because of the non-strike situation.

Larry Lewellen, the university’s associate vice president for human resources, said he hopes the wage increases will help to reduce the difficult problem of job-turnover.

“When we hire people in, they are coming in at higher pay,” Lewellen said. The contract will allow the university the enhanced ability to retain employees, keep skilled staff and the ability to hire more qualified people.

He also said the agreement “is critical to our students,” alluding to the CWA strike of 2000 which affected student services from garbage collection to bus services. Lewellen was also involved in those contract discussions.

“It seemed like the previous leadership, under Gary Josephson, maybe had its own agenda,” Lewellen said.

The university said the economy was a major contributor to the details of the contract. “We are in much more difficult budget times,” Lewellen said.

The union agreed.

“There is no doubt its been a hard budget,” said Richard Murray, president of CWA Local 4501. “Its a tough year to negotiate public wages. People always seem to look past public employees.”

Murray said the plan will help more tenured employees, pay attention to the present employees and positively affect future CWA members.

Both sides began deliberating the contract about three months ago in hopes of avoiding another strike. The deal will last until March 2006, providing annual raises for members of the CWA union. The contract will increase base pay for some jobs, and maximum pay for others.

Speaking to several rank-and-file members of the CWA, the benefits and even voting rights seemed to be unclear, as ongoing communication problems within the organization persist.

The CWA is made up of 2,000 employees who are primarily employed in the departments of Student Affairs, Physical Facilities and University Hospitals.