YPSILANTI (Michigan News Source) – Professors at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) have ended their five day strike against the university on Sunday Sept. 11 after successful contract negotiations.
EMU released the following statement from Vice President for Communications Walter Kraft:
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“A tentative contract agreement has been reached with the faculty union, following marathon bargaining sessions between the administration and faculty union bargaining teams this weekend that went late into the evening on Saturday and tonight. Faculty are returning to the classroom and a full schedule of classes will take place tomorrow, Monday, Sept. 12, beginning at 8 a.m. Details about the agreement will be provided in future updates.”
As of Aug. 31 the faculty’s health care contracts had expired leaving many to wonder how much their premiums might increase.
“This is an important victory for our members – and most importantly for our students. We took a stand to maintain and strengthen quality education at EMU, and this agreement moves us forward,” Matt Kirkpatrick, associate professor of English language and literature at EMU and chair of the EMU-AAUP negotiating team, said in a statement Monday morning. “This was a challenging set of negotiations. Our goal now is to work together, all across the campus, to deliver the best possible options and opportunities for EMU students.”
The teachers’ labor union, The American Association of University Professors at Eastern Michigan University (EMU AAUP) union released in a tweet late Sunday night that the strike was over and that a tentative agreement had been reached with the school. As of Monday, all faculty would return to their work duties.
Despite filing for a court injunction on Sept. 7, the Washtenaw County Circuit Court refused to force teachers to return to classes on Sept. 9 though it opted to set up a court hearing for 9 am Sept. 16 to decide whether to permanently order faculty to return while the union and administration continued contract negotiations according to a Detroit Free Press article.
EMU AAUP, which represents more than 500 of the tenured and tenure-track EMU faculty, held a vote prior to the strike in which 91% of the faculty members voted in favor of the strike.
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