Marathon bargaining over the weekend paid off and professors at Eastern Michigan University will be back in the classroom today. A tentative contract agreement between EMU administration and the union representing professors was announced just after midnight, bringing an end to a nearly week-long strike.
It had been a long and contentious journey to find agreement on issues of compensation and health care costs. Those certainly weren’t the only issues, but were among the primary sticking points.
The EMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors represents about 500 tenured and tenure-track professors and they had been without a contract since August 31st.
The educators went on strike last Tuesday, and, heading into the weekend, there were no assurances an agreement would be reached.
EMU administration was seeking a court injunction to force the professors back to work. A Washtenaw County Circuit Court judge last week sided with the professors, allowing, at least temporarily, the strike to continue.
Another hearing on the injunction was set for this coming Friday but is expected to be taken off the docket.
For the moment, details of the tentative agreement have not been revealed and it is unclear when union membership will take a ratification vote.
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