A strike by faculty members at Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities is over.
Officials from the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties and the State System of Higher Education said late Friday afternoon that negotiators had reached a tentative agreement.
The three-year deal, running until June 30, 2018, concludes a strike that began at 5 a.m. Wednesday at 14 state universities.
Once final language is agreed to, the new contract will go to the full APSCUF membership for a ratification vote, the state system said in a news release. If ratified, the tentative agreement then would be brought to the State System’s Board of Governors for final approval.
The nearly three-day strike was the first in APSCUF’s history, its leaders said.
“To preserve quality education, (APSCUF) accepted concessions to salary and benefits in exchange for eliminating most of the 249 changes the State System proposed in June,” an APSCUF statement Friday said.
The union also said it “agreed to a salary package that was significantly lower than that of the other unions,” and said it will release details about concessions and rescinded items in a future statement.
APSCUF represents about 5,500 faculty and coaches at the 14 universities.
“We are extremely grateful to Gov. Wolf for his outstanding leadership in helping us achieve a successful resolution to these long and difficult negotiations,” said State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan.
