Syracuse University and one of its largest unions have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract, according to a university official and the union’s secretary.
The tentative agreement comes just days before SEIU Local 200United and the university’s temporary contract expires on Sept. 6. Union members are set to vote on the contract Friday.
Local 200United represents library workers, JMA Wireless Stadium staff, food service workers and facilities workers. More than one hundred workers, students, staff and faculty rallied Aug. 26 for the contract to include higher wages.
Workers wanted the university to increase wages to keep up with the rising cost of living. This is the first time since 2019 the university and Local 200United had to negotiate a contract.
The contract includes a 10% first-year raise with raises of 3%, 2.75% and 3% in each subsequent year, said SEIU Local 200United secretary Adema King. That equates to a 19.9% raise over the length of the four-year contract.
The 10% first-year raise was a sticking point for workers, who threatened to strike at the rally. At the time, United Auto Workers-represented workers at Cornell University were in the middle of a 15-day strike that eventually ended on Sept. 2. Union members at Cornell ratified a contract that would earn them record raises from the university.
The entire bargaining committee supported and endorsed the contract, King said.
“We feel it’s a big win, absolutely. It’s a much better deal than what we were getting before,” King said.
The 10% raise is the highest the union has seen in decades, according to union representatives.
King said workers’ biggest priority was a pay increase.
According to King, the contract also maintains stipends from the previous contract. Earlier in the bargaining process, union representatives said that the university had tried to decrease or omit these stipends in order to meet the union’s desired 10% raise.
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