By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — NYU agreed to extend adjunct professors contracts through January 31 after months of negotiating with their union through a mediator.
The school will continue meeting with the ACT-UAW Local 7902 union, which also includes adjunct professors from The New School, to finalize a contract beyond the extension, said John Beckman, a spokesman with the school.
Adjunct professors at NYU seek some of the same gains their colleagues at The New School secured during their contract negotiations.
"The university's strategy is to reject practically everything we have proposed to improve our working conditions," read a statement posted to the union's website.
Instructor demands include wider coverage of health benefits for junior adjuncts and members with family plans, extending union membership to adjunct professors who teach in the summer, paid leave, professor access to university facilities and cancellation compensation fees so that instructors can find other work after a class has been cancelled.
Representatives with the Local 7902 couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
University officials maintain that adjunct professors at the school are among the highest paid in the region and offered them a contract that includes provisions for six-years of guaranteed wage increases with no give-backs.
"Adjunct faculty are valued members of the NYU community and contribute in important ways to the teaching-and-learning process here," Beckman said.
"From the outset, the University has been looking to come to agreement on a contract that appropriately honors their contributions to our community," he said.
Negotiations between the school and UAW began in May but weren't moving quickly enough for NYU, which brought the mediator on board in September.
As the two sides work towards a finalized contract, the school has been issuing contract extensions
"The University has made clear directly to the union and in the presence of the mediator that it will meet anytime, anywhere, and that we wish to reach an agreement promptly," Beckman said.
