Matt Steecker

ithacajournal.com | @MSteecker

Ithaca College and the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty Union reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract after marathon negotiations on Sunday.

Because of the agreement the union canceled a strike originally scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Terms of the contract include immediate raises for part-time faculty, as well as annual raises totaling $1,025 per three credit course over the life of the contract, according to details released bu SEIU Local 200United contingent faculty bargaining committee. Full-time contingent faculty will be eligible for two-year appointments after three years of teaching at Ithaca College and three-year appointments after five years of teaching at the college.

Part-time contingent faculty will be eligible for two-year appointments after three years of teaching at Ithaca College, the union said. If classes are cut at the last minute, part-time contingent faculty will receive a $1,300 kill fee.

Contract terms also provide for faculty's right to form a union, provisions for earlier notice of appointment, guaranteed interviews and consideration for any full-time faculty position, access to professional development funding, a grievance procedure and just cause provision. Also provided in the contract is a labor management committee, and ability for contingent faculty members to qualify for the same teaching excellence awards as tenured and tenured track faculty.

"We are confident that this new contract is fair, that it addresses the concerns of our valued faculty members, and that it enables the college to maintain excellence in a fiscally responsive manner," Ithaca College Senior Vice President Nancy Pringle, Provost Linda Petrosino and Professor Gwen Seaquist said in a joint statement.

The SEIU Local 200United contingent faculty bargaining committee were pleased with the outcome.

"We're all very happy and excited that we came to such a terrific agreement," said Tom Schneller, a SEIU Local 200United bargaining committee member. "As we have learned from this process, anything is possible when we stop being afraid, reach out to others in sympathy and solidarity, and are tenacious in the pursuit of justice."

A union ratification vote is the next step in process.

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