DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Professors will return to their classrooms at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus after the administration and the faculty union reached an agreement on union member contracts.
The faculty union, the LIU Faculty Federation, and the school administration announced late Wednesday night that the 12-day lockout would end Thursday.
The administration and the union agreed to extend the faculty’s recently expired contract to May 31, 2017, giving both sides more time to continue negotiations, according to the union.
LIU will pay for any health care costs incurred by professors, who went without pay or health insurance during the lockout, the union said.
“We will be reunited with our students and can resume our professional lives,” said a statement from the union.
The professors in the union were initially locked out of the school over Labor Day weekend, as they tried to negotiate a new, three-year contract that would increase wages for professors, making the minimum salary at the Brooklyn campus equal to that of the one at its Post campus on Long Island.
The union said it would continue to fight for equal pay to the school’s Long Island campus during future negotiations.
The school and the union say a mediator will be present for future contract negotiations.
“The union’s commitment not to strike during this academic year provides us enough runway to reach a reasonable and fair agreement, while providing our students the ability to continue their studies uninterrupted,” said LIU Vice President Gale Haynes in a statement. “That has always been our intention. Mediation is a positive step to that end.”
