A tentative agreement was reached late last night between state universities and their faculty members, preventing the first faculty strike in the history of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education.
An announcement posted around 11:20 p.m. on the Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties Web site read "Classes on as scheduled for tomorrow" in big bold letters.
Union members had authorized their leaders to call a strike yesterday. A state mediator asked the union on Sunday night to hold off on calling a strike until today.
State System of Higher Education spokesman Kenn Marshall said that there would be no strike and more details about the tentative agreement would be released by both parties at an 11 a.m. press conference today in Harrisburg.
Negotiators were haggling on issues including salaries and health care.
The system's four-year offer includes a $1,250 cash payment for full-time faculty the first year, followed by annual raises of 2 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent in successive years. The union says it is seeking raises of 4 percent, 5.5 percent, 5.5 percent and 5 percent.
The system's average faculty salaries ranged this past spring from $44,347 for an instructor to $93,646 for a full professor, according to union data.
The sides also have differed over a proposed increase in contributions toward health benefits, the use of temporary nonunion faculty members and distance education incentives.
The state system has 109,000 students at 14 universities. About 25,000 students take summer classes.
Students were told to report for classes even if faculty members had struck.
The two sides negotiated for more than 13 hours Saturday, past the midnight expiration of the old contract, in an effort to reach agreement on a new pact covering the 5,500 faculty members.
The state system schools are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities.
First Published: July 3, 2007, 3:00 a.m.
