New York—A tentative collective bargaining agreement has been reached between the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing CUNY faculty and professional staff, and the City University of New York (CUNY). The deal was announced today by PSC President Barbara Bowen and CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken.

The proposed contract provides 10.41% in compounded salary increases over a period of slightly more than seven years, from October 20, 2010 through November 30, 2017. CUNY faculty and professional staff, who have worked for more than six years without a raise, will receive retroactive payments and a signing bonus.

Equally important, the contract enacts significant structural changes that will fortify working and learning conditions at CUNY.

In a provision that will be crucial for the quality of education, the University has agreed to work toward structuring more time for faculty to devote to individual students. The tentative agreement also provides CUNY’s first-ever system of multi-year appointments for adjunct faculty, allowing thousands of instructors who are paid by the course to offer greater academic continuity to their students. Also as a result of the agreement, CUNY’s professional staff will gain opportunities for advances in pay and title; new provisions recognize the centrality of the work staff do in CUNY’s array of programs and student services.

The tentative contract, which now must be ratified by PSC members and approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees,  covers CUNY’s academic workforce of 25,000, including full-time and adjunct professors and lecturers, Higher Education Officers, College Laboratory Technicians, and other invaluable staff.

“I am inspired by the PSC membership,” said Barbara Bowen, PSC president. “We were able to negotiate a strong, imaginative contract in a period of enforced austerity for public workers because our members mobilized. The fight for our contract was a fight for investment in quality education at CUNY. On behalf of the union bargaining team, I commend our negotiating partners at CUNY, and I thank the many lawmakers in Albany and New York City—as well as the students and community groups—who offered essential support.”