After reaching a tentative labor agreement with administrators Wednesday night, the members of a Barnard workers’ union will vote on the contract on Friday morning.
The new United Auto Workers Local 2110 contract was drawn up after almost five months of negotiations.
“We’re really pleased we’ve reached a tentative agreement with the administration,” Maida Rosenstein, president of Local 2110, said on Thursday. She declined to reveal details about the agreement until the union members had the chance to review it first, since there was still a chance they would turn it down.
The union had been discussing the terms of a new contract with administrators since the previous one expired in June. The last few months have been particularly tense as both sides struggled with a proposed wage freeze and reductions to workers’ health plans and retirement contributions.
According to Rosenstein, this is the first time that administrators have proposed cuts on this scale since 1996.
Earlier this month, Rosenstein hinted at the possibility of “escalated action” should negotiations fail to proceed.
Barnard Chief Operating Officer Gregory Brown said at the time that the college was “seeking a contract that is updated to reflect present circumstances, and maintains consistency across different employee groups.”
The extended negotiations have also drawn support from students, with the newly formed Students Support Barnard Workers group organizing a “teach in” protest earlier this month. The group is planning a victory march at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Local 2110 workers at Columbia and Teachers College came close to striking earlier this year following similar extended negotiations, before a last-minute agreement was reached.
