September 17, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Temple University's faculty union has a tentative contract agreement that includes pay increases and better job protection, the union says.
Temple University's faculty union has reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract that gives members their largest negotiated raises since 1999 and stronger protections for job security.
The Temple Association of University Professionals, which represents 2,300 faculty members, librarians and academic professionals, announced the agreement Monday after more than a year of collective bargaining. Once the deal is ratified, all full-time employees will get $10,000 raises across the board and 3% raises in each year of the contract. The contract also includes higher pay for adjuncts and no increases in health care costs.
MORE: Former Project HOME executive to lead Philly's Office of Homeless Services
"This is the most complex and transformative agreement for our union since our 1990 strike, and contained in this agreement are historic wins on pay equity, job security, and numerous working conditions, benefits, and union power," the union said in a statement.
The tentative contract still needs to be presented to union members for ratification and the university's Board of Trustees must vote to approve it.
"I would like to thank the entire Temple University community for its patience over the last year as we have worked with TAUP to negotiate this new contract," Sharon Boyle, Temple's vice president of human resources, said in a statement.
At the outset of negotiations last year, TAUP rejected an 18-month extension that would have included salary increases but no changes in benefits. The union then rallied and campaigned for contract terms that recognized the changing landscape of higher education since the COVID-19 pandemic, which put financial strain on many universities seeking ways to reposition their degree programs.
Under the new contract, adjunct professors at Temple will have their minimum pay rate increased to $2,250 per credit, with $50 increases in each subsequent year. The minimum pay for a three-credit course will rise from $4,800 to $6,750. The union said the agreement marks a 50% raise for adjunct faculty over the life of the contract.
Although TAUP was able to negotiate expanded bereavement leave and improved parental leave for librarians and academic professions, the pact does not include changes to the university's sick leave policy – a union sticking point. Temple allows up to 10 days of sick leave, but the university can take disciplinary measures if employees use more than five of them instead of dipping into a separate bank of vacation days.
Union members argued that the sick leave policy has a "chilling effect" on employees and results in many of them coming to work sick or using vacation time, despite being entitled to 10 sick days.
The tentative contract also includes more protections for academic freedom and extended protections for discipline related to student feedback.
The deal comes after Temple's graduate student union went on strike for six weeks last year before reaching a new deal with the administration.
Temple is in the midst of a leadership transition as incoming President John Fry — Drexel University's president for 14 years — prepares to step into his new role on Nov. 1.
