Non-tenured NYU professors reach tentative agreement to end strike

After being on the picket line since Monday, nearly 1,000 non-tenured NYU professors and staff and the university have reached a tentative agreement.

The NYU professors and staff went on strike Monday, demanding fair contracts from the university.

The non-tenure professors teach a quarter of the university’s classes, teach full-time and are represented by CFU-UAW.

The strike involves professors of subjects like the arts, music, language, public health, nursing, biology, hospitality, psychology, math, technology, culture and society.

They say they are fighting for improved:

compensation
job security
academic freedom
creative mission protection
support for careers and families

Announcing the tentative agreement, the university issued a statement, which said in part: “The agreement recognizes the vital contributions our unionized contract faculty make to our students and our academic life, and it is sustainable for the University. It includes meaningful raises and comprehensive benefits that will improve the lives of every member.”

Meanwhile, the CFU-UAW also referenced the tentative agreement in an Instagram post, which read: “BREAKING: we have a tentative agreement, and we’ve won most of the things we’ve been fighting for. Bad news: our strike is paused while we review and vote on the full tentative agreement, which means we have to return to work today, even though for many it has been a late one prepping to be back on the picket!”

The professors and administrators of the institution that educates about 60,000 students began talks 18 months ago.

On Friday, the NYU offered them new proposal that includes an increase in pay that amounts to close to $10,000 per professor.

“We sincerely hope that they respond to that offer. You know, it’s baffling why the union would be considering a strike when they have a market leading offer on the table,” NYU Spokesperson Wiley Norvell said at the time.

However, in the end, that was not enough to ward off the strike.

“While we shoulder so much of the university’s core work, decisions about our jobs and working conditions have long been made without us; and do not reflect the immense value we bring,” a union rep for CFU-UAW union said ahead of the strike.

In a further statement, when announcing the strike, the union said in part:

“Despite bargaining throughout the weekend to reach a fair contract — and even giving the administration a three-hour extension — the NYU administration made an offer at 9:57. While these new proposals made some promising movement on some issues, they are not yet enough on core issues like compensation, especially decompression. They are also continuing to commit an unfair labor practice illegally refusing to bargain over housing benefits.”

Meanwhile, the university called the strike “unnecessary”, saying in a statement:

“We respect our unionized contract faculty, but this strike is fundamentally unnecessary. We have a collective responsibility to our students, and the union owed it to them to pursue every option at the negotiating table before disrupting their education. They haven’t.

“For five months, we have urged the union to join us in resolving this contract through an independent mediator. The union has refused. They chose to strike even after the University remained at the bargaining table through the weekend and overnight. We presented a generous and comprehensive package that would improve the lives of every one of its members, including significant raises, the highest minimum salaries of any unionized contract faculty in the country, and comprehensive benefits including enhanced family care.”

The university made clear that classes would continue regardless of the strike.

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