Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The faculty union at the University of Oregon has tentatively agreed to a three-year contract.
The Register-Guard reports (http://is.gd/GNOrXD ) the deal calls for a 3.5 percent total jump in cost-of-living raises over the next three years and a $650 lump sum payment to each full-time faculty member this November.
The university also will set aside additional money to be distributed in the form of merit raises.
A ratification vote is set for early October, shortly after the start of the school year.
This is the second contract negotiated by United Academics, the faculty union formed in 2013. It represents 1,800 workers with and without tenure.
"It takes away a potentially contentious issue as our new university president embarks on the important work of raising some big bucks to support our academic mission," union president Michael Dreiling said.
Michael Schill, who took over as UO president July 1, praised the agreement in a statement Wednesday.
"The collaborative and collegial process that led to this agreement is a model for other universities," he said. "It reflects the hunger of our faculty to move forward to a new era of cooperation as we seek to transform our great university's academic and research profile."
Meanwhile, negotiations involving the union that represents 1,700 classified workers have gone less swimmingly.
Those workers — such as secretaries, janitors and computer technicians — are in a bargaining unit comprised of similar workers at all seven public universities in Oregon.
The Service Employees International Union and the bargaining team for the universities are divided on wages. The union wants 3 percent raises for both years of the two-year contract. The universities have offered 1.25 percent the first year and 1.5 percent the second.
Bargaining sessions are scheduled for Sept. 8 and Sept. 9 at Portland State University and Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 at the University of Oregon.
___
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
