State-owned university faculty union endorses contract

(Harrisburg) -- Unionized faculty members at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities have overwhelmingly endorsed a new four-year contract.

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties said Friday that 95 percent of the faculty members who voted supported the pact.

The board of the State System of Higher Education is scheduled to consider ratifying the contract on March 20th.

The 5,500 faculty members had been working without a contract since June 2011.

The four-year pact recommended by union leaders includes concessions on health care, but calls for pay raises of one or two percent in each of the last three years. Faculty members also would get annual ``service increment'' increases of five percent for those with up to five years' service or less.

About 115,000 students attend the universities, which include Kutztown, Millersville, and Shippensburg.