Wayne State University and the Wayne State Chapter of the American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT Local 6075) has reached an agreement on a new three-year contract in what negotiators from both sides of the table have said was a respectful and professional negotiation, despite some of the difficult topics discussed.

The faculty and academic staff will receive a 2% lump sum in the first year of the new contract, with an additional 4.25% increase in base pay over years two and three of the contract. The new contract still must be ratified by union membership.

“We’ve reached this agreement through a shared vision of collaboration and give-and-take, and we feel all parties have benefited because of this,” said the university’s chief negotiator, Margaret E. Winters. “Moreover, we’ve established a productive framework for continuing cooperation about many university issues moving forward.”

The faculty and academic staff made gains in areas related to shared governance, as well as childcare support and parental leaves. In addition, the title of lecturers and senior lecturers will now be changed to assistant/associate/professor (teaching) with new promotion lines established.

“Even in this challenging bargaining environment, we saw tremendous progress on key issues related to the security, equity and safety for our members,” said Ricardo Villarosa, chief AAUP negotiator. “We established negotiation priorities before entering talks with the university, and we were able to see movement on almost every one of our priorities.”

AAUP-AFT Local President Danielle Aubert said, "I appreciate all the hard work that the bargaining teams from both sides have put into reaching an agreement. I look forward to building on this over the next few years."

"We regard our world-class faculty and academic staff highly, and it's important as a university that we compensate them fairly in recognition of the groundbreaking work they do,” said Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson. “We also have a responsibility to our students to provide them with the best and most innovative instruction available at an affordable cost, and we feel this agreement succeeds on all counts."