CHICAGO (AP) – The head of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s faculty union says a tentative contract agreement has been reached with the school administration.
Union president Joe Persky says details of the contracts for tenure-track and non-tenure track members won’t be revealed until they are voted on next week by union members. However, he said Wednesday faculty work life and professional conditions are dramatically improved under the new agreement.
The union and the university were in negotiations for more than two years over issues such as salaries and career opportunities for full-time faculty who lack tenure. Union members went on strike for two days in February over the issues.
University officials, who said setting a long-term increase in salary was impossible because of the state’s finances, expressed pleasure with the deal.