After months of negotiating, the tentative agreement for a two-year contract for the Eastern Michigan University chapter of the American Association of University Professors was ratified on Monday.
The faculty voted to approve the contract agreement with the EMU administration 265 to 18, or 94 percent to 6 percent, according to a statement released by the EMU-AAUP.
The agreement will give faculty a pay raise of 3 percent in two years.
Since the professors voted in favor of the contract, the EMU Board of Regents must now approve it. After the regents vote, the contract will be official. The vote is scheduled to take place at the next meeting, this upcming Tuesday.
Susan Moeller, president of the EMU-AAUP, said in a statement the union is “extremely pleased” that its members voted to ratify the agreement.
“We hope the Board of Regents will also approve this agreement so that we can concentrate on what is most important to the faculty — educating our students,” she said. “I am very proud of the strength and solidarity that our members have demonstrated. Throughout this process, EMU professors bargained in good faith and put EMU’s students first, and that is why we were able to reach this agreement.”
Jack Kay, provost and executive vice president, thanked the AAUP bargaining team and the faculty for their dedication.
“I appreciate all the hard work by the EMU bargaining team, and the many others who assisted with this contract negotiation,” he said.
The agreement would give the faculty a pay raise of 1 percent in the first year and a 2 percent increase in the second.
An increase in the amount of money the faculty pays for health insurance was also included in the agreement. A $1,000 flat raise in January 2011 will be given to help cover the rising costs of their health insurance. The health premiums are definitive in each year of the contract.
The agreement also said there will be no increase in dental coverage, and it will stay the same at $1,000. Vision coverage will stay the same at one exam every 24 months, but the union said EMU administration has promised to look into a new vision carrier.
