Faculty at the University of Vermont now have their first collective bargaining agreement following a unanimous ratification vote last week by members of University of Vermont/United Academics.

This first collective bargaining agreement for faculty in the 221-year history of the university brings significant gains for United Academic's members, including greater job security for lecturers and other non-tenure-track faculty, salary minimums and larger across-the-board salary increases than the faculty have seen in a decade.

This has been a long struggle by United Academics, which was first created in April 2001 after a victorious organizing campaign launched by University of Vermont/AFT and the AAUP. While they began bargaining with university administrators in November 2001, it took until last month to win a tentative agreement.

More than half of the 600 faculty members are members of United Academics, and with the settlement of the contract, the union hopes for continued growth. [Tim Shea]

[February 10, 2003]