Oakland University, Professors Agree On Contract

ROCHESTER (WWJ) - Oakland University has reached a proposed tentative agreement with the American Association of University Professors.

OU's website describes the talks as a marathon session, running until 3:30 a.m.,  and the proposed agreement will cover the next three years and includes pay increases across the board, merit pay adjustments and benefit restructuring for the union's 700 members.

Union president Karen Miller said the toughest part of negotiation was compensation.

"What we had wanted was cost of living and health care provisions," Miller told WWJ Newsradi0 950 on Friday. "We wanted to be in a situation where our faculty was not actually experiencing decline in wages."

"Our faculty very much wanted to focus its energies on the teaching and scholarship that occurs at the university and did not want to be distracted by needless problems regarding their compensation," she said.

Details of the contact won't be made public until it's presented to the union's executive committee.

A ratified agreement is expected within the next three weeks.

Classes are scheduled to begin the Tuesday after Labor Day.