More proof that it pays to be in a union

Faculty at institutions with collective bargaining units make significantly higher salaries than peers who work at universities and colleges with no union contracts, according to this year’s salary survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Compared to the average of all faculty ranks at public institutions, union faculty take home $2,578 more per year; associate professors gain an even heftier $2,834. On average, union-represented faculty make more money than all ranks of faculty at private and public schools, with the one exception of instructors at private institutions (who earn just $251 more).

Also of interest is the percentage of full professors in the different public institutions: 33.7 percent of the faculty at union colleges claim this top-rank title, while only 30.9 percent at nonunion campuses are full professors. And only 6.9 percent of the faculty at union schools are instructors (the lowest rank surveyed), while 8.2 percent use that title at nonunion institutions.

Whether union or nonunion, all faculty got good news for academic year 2004-05 in an average 3.2 percent salary increase—a marked improvement over the previous year’s 2.1 percent increase. At public institutions, the boost was even better: 3.1 percent, up from just 1.4 percent the year before. To see the survey, go to www.cupahr.org/surveys/salarysurvey04-05.html.