Tentative contract deal reached between Pa. higher education system and faculty union

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the union representing faculty at 10 universities have reached an “agreement in principle” on a new four-year labor contract, both sides announced Thursday.

Members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties have been working under the terms of an old contract that expired on June 30.

Both sides said details would not be released until after the contract language is finalized by lawyers and the proposed deal is ratified by union members and approved by the state system’s board of governors.

The union’s internal approval process for the new contract would take at least a month, said Kenneth M. Mash, president of the union.

“I think the earliest we could get it done is late February. It could even go into early March,” Mash said.

The state system and the union have been negotiating for at least 16 months, but the union was never close to a strike vote, Mash said.

The union on its website has been providing separate updates on negotiations for faculty and for athletic coaches. Mash said the coaches have a separate contract and those negotiations are ongoing. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Jan. 31.

Kevin Hensil, spokesperson for the universities, said that the updates provided by the union were essentially joint statements with the state system.

Hensil declined to discuss the details of the tentative agreement.

In periodic updates on negotiations, the union has stated that talks revolved around salary and benefits, with occasional mentions of more specific topics, such as parental leave, distance education, and class cancellation.

Mash declined to go into the details of the negotiations except to say that “the talks were wide-ranging.”

The union represents around 5,500 faculty and coaches.

The state system universities are Cheyney, Commonwealth, East Stroudsburg, Indiana, Kutztown, Millersville, PennWest, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester.