OAKLAND COUNTY, Michigan. – The clock is ticking until the strike date on Oakland University.

Teachers and OU have been negotiating a new contract for weeks. Wages are one of the biggest issues, and the deadline is Tuesday (September 3).

The Oakland University campus was quiet, as expected for Labor Day, but a labor dispute between teachers and unions could delay the entire school year.

If no agreement is reached by Tuesday’s deadline, the faculty could go on strike

“I’m afraid it will set us back,” said student Madison Frescura.

Frescura is a freshman at OU, but a possible staff strike could delay the start of her classes.

“I have no contact with the teacher, no idea when it will start or if it will even take place,” said Frescura.

Teachers and the university are at odds over a new collective agreement. The union says they have reached agreement on most points, but two major points of contention remain: pension payments for visiting lecturers and wage increases for full-time employees.

“On Labor Day, it’s important that we remember all the work and struggles that have come before us, and in the last 15 years, we haven’t had a single raise that was higher than inflation,” said Jason Moore, an associate professor and union representative at OU. “So our real wages are going down every year, and at some point we have to commit to not losing out.”

According to Oakland University, the union has rejected a total wage increase of 21 percent over five years and its demand for a 30 percent increase is “neither feasible nor sustainable.”

“If they raise tuition by four and a half percent, but our increases are only one or two percent a year, that tells us we’re not as important as other things,” Moore said.

Time is running out, and Frescura hopes an agreement can be reached before her school year is affected.

“I don’t know what my class schedule will look like, and if it gets postponed or we don’t have classes, that will cause even more stress for me, especially when it comes to my future career,” Frescura said. “I hope we have enough time to study and maybe we can do it.”

The contract originally expired on August 14, but was extended until September 3.

Both sides will meet again with a mediator on Tuesday. If no agreement is reached, an attack could be authorized.