The union representing Youngstown State University's faculty has voted in favor of a strike amid a contract dispute.

YSU-OEA's official strike vote ended Saturday at 5 p.m. Around 96 percent of union members took part in the vote with 86 percent voting in favor of a strike, and nine percent voting against it. Six percent voted to abstain. 

The strike will begin Monday if the state chapter of the OEA officially sanctions the strike. Fall break will begin for students on Monday as well. YSU-OEA union spokesperson Dr. Mark Vopat said the strike would not impact students unless it lasts longer than Tuesday since students would be back in class on Wednesday after the break. 

"The only way this becomes disruptive is if the strike lasts longer than Tuesday. At that point, the students will find their professors are cut off. We will lose our access to email. We won't have access to Blackboard, our learning management system. So we will be cut off from students, so they cant email us to our YSU accounts," Vopat said. 

Youngstown State University emphasized that the strike vote only gives union leadership the authority to take the union out on strike if it so chooses. The union leadership can still decide not to strike on Oct. 12. YSU President Jim Tressel emailed students and other employees a link to a new webpage that has the latest information on negotiations, including a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

"Let's remain optimistic," Tressel said in the email. "You have shown great perseverance through this difficult year and worked hard to overcome many obstacles. We are committed to ensuring that you'll be able to successfully complete this semester without disruption."

The university is calling on the faculty union to continue negotiations as soon as possible -- and to present a counterproposal to the university's latest offer in hopes of reaching an agreement on a new three-year contract.

The negotiating team last met Friday afternoon, when the university administration proposed an enhanced economics package that included pay raises of zero, one and two percent over three years, according to a statement from YSU. The university said these negotiations are taking place in the midst of a global pandemic and financial crisis that has resulted in cuts in state funding and a decrease in enrollment at YSU. University officials said they're projecting a $3.7 million drop in revenue this fiscal year. They add nearly 500 YSU non-faculty employees have accepted furloughs and salary reductions of up to 15 percent, in addition to 31 layoffs.

Meanwhile, the union claims the university is sitting on a $7.3 million surplus but YSU says that claim is "absurd." At this point, Vopat said the administration and union are in a "stalemate." He told 21 News the union is concerned about key issues such as transparency in finances, vulnerable faculty protections, shared governance and intellectual property.

At this point, there are no new negotiation sessions scheduled.

On Friday, the university did announce a tentative contract deal with its classified staff union. 

The tentative agreement with the YSU Association for Classified Employees will now go before the ACE membership and the YSU Board of Trustees for formal ratification.