After over 15 months of negotiations and several threats of a strike, Portland State administrators and faculty have reached an agreement on a new contract for faculty. The agreement is a two-year tentative contract that will award the faculty an across-the-board salary increase ranging from 8.75 percent to 9.75 percent over the two-year span of 2007-09.
Tentative agreement reached for faculty salaries
After over 15 months of negotiations and several threats of a strike, Portland State administrators and faculty have reached an agreement on a new contract for faculty.
The agreement is a two-year tentative contract that will award the faculty an across-the-board salary increase ranging from 8.75 percent to 9.75 percent over the two-year span of 2007-09.
Increases for academic professionals and research faculty are 5.25 percent for 2007-08, while ranked instructional faculty members will see a 4.25 percent raise in the same time period. All three classifications will receive a 4.5 percent salary increase for 2008.09.
“It’s not everything that everyone ever wanted, but that’s bargaining,” said Julia Getchell, executive director of AAUP’s Portland State chapter. “We would have liked more, but it was clear that the university was not going to be forthright.”
Portland State’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors represents roughly 1,200 faculty members employed by the university.
Added incentives within the new contract include an increase from $250,000 to $400,00 in faculty development funds, a faculty travel fund increase from $90,000 to $200,000, and health insurance for faculty will be fully paid until 2009.
In addition, labor-management task forces to monitor faculty’s workload and job security were also agreed upon. Gretchell said the findings of those task forces will be used to negotiate the next contract.
With the tentative contract completed, Getchell said it must be ratified by sending the contract details out in ballot form to all the members within AAUP’s Portland State chapter.
Once the results of the faculty member’s votes are tallied, and if the members are in favor of the contract’s terms, it must be signed by Oregon University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner to become official.
Getchell expects the contract to be finalized by either August or September.
For more information on the contract visit: http://www.pdx.edu/oaa.
