Temple faculty ratify new five-year contract

Temple University faculty have voted to approve a new five-year contract that includes a $10,000 across-the-board raise for full-time union employees and 3% raises in subsequent years through May 2028.

The Temple Association of University Professionals, the union that represents more than 2,300 faculty, librarians, and academic professionals, posted on social media that 98%, or 721 members, voted yes, while 15 members voted no. Three-quarters of members voted, the union said.

The two sides struck a tentative agreement last month after more than a year of bargaining that included 33 sessions. Temple’s board of trustees previously approved the pact subject to the union’s ratification. That means it will be in effect when John A. Fry takes over as Temple president on Nov. 1.

» READ MORE: Temple faculty, administration reach tentative agreement on five-year contract

“We obviously did not get everything we asked for, but we are confident we have been able to make gains on a number of important issues that our members have raised with us,” TAUP president Jeffrey Doshna said last month when the tentative agreement was reached.

The median salary of non-tenure-track full-time professors is about $83,000, and for those who are tenured, it is about $130,000, Doshna said. Over the life of the contract, a tenured professor on average will receive an 18% increase, while those who are nontenured will get about 23%, he said.

Pay for adjuncts, who teach about 40% of undergraduate courses, also will increase under the new pact.

» READ MORE: As Drexel’s John Fry gets voted in as Temple’s next president, here’s what he plans to do

“We’re glad to reach an agreement that is generous and works for everybody,” Ken Kaiser, Temple’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, said last month. “It brings certainty for students and for faculty and for the board and the administration. This is one item we don’t have to worry about for four more years.”

Kaiser had declined to say how much the pact would cost the university but said “it’s a percentage increase that we will handle within the budget.”