Temple University has reached a tentative deal with its faculty union over a new five-year contract. If approved, it would provide full-time union employees with $10,000 across-the-board raises and 3% pay bumps in subsequent years, according to the group.
Jeffrey Doshna, the president of the Temple Association of University Professionals and its co-lead negotiator, praised the deal in a Thursday statement.
“After more than a year of bargaining we have secured a contract centered on job security, dignity and equity for all of our members,” Doshna said. “Together through our work, we’ve secured the largest raises in recent history and job security for all.”
TAUP represents some 2,300 faculty members, librarians and other academic workers at Temple. The university’s previous contract with the union expired last October.
The deal would give adjuncts a pay bump, according to the union, with the minimum pay for a three-credit course rising from $4,800 to $6,750. Additionally, the agreement would expand bereavement leave, create new lactation spaces for nursing parents and keep healthcare costs flat.
However, TAUP said in a social media post that negotiators didn’t secure hoped-for changes to Temple’s sick leave policy. University policy allows for 10 days of sick leave, though TAUP has said employees can face discipline if they use more than five of those days, The Temple News, the university’s student newspaper, reported.
Union officials said they plan to work with state and city lawmakers to potentially change the policy for Temple workers.
TAUP’s membership must ratify the contract for it to take effect, a process that the union said typically takes a month. The deal is also subject to approval from Temple’s governing board.
“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 Monday statement. “I also want to thank the TAUP bargaining team for their work in helping to bring the negotiation process to completion.”
