PITTSBURGH _ Labor and management reached a tentative agreement Friday to end the first faculty strike in the history of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities, a deal that could lead to resumption of classes no later than Monday.
Details of the apparent accord were not immediately available Friday afternoon, but plans to brief union members are underway. More than 5,000 professors represented by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties went on strike at 5 a.m. Wednesday after marathon talks broke apart over issues including compensation and health care costs.
The strike has affected 105,000 students at the 14 campuses that in Western Pennsylvania include California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana, and Slippery Rock universities.
Both sides have been without a contract since July 2015.
Efforts to bring the two sides to the table intensified in the last day or so and included staff of Gov. Tom Wolf.
Picketing at the 14 universities entered a third day Friday. Numbers provided by several Western Pennsylvania universities indicate the overwhelming majority of professors have declined to cross the picket lines, leaving large numbers of classes either unsupervised or in the hands of staff and administrators.
Edinboro University, for instance, reported Thursday that just five of 350 APSCUF faculty were teaching on the campus of 6,200 students. California, Clarion and Slippery Rock universities reported nearly 90 percent of union professors thus far did not go to their classrooms.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania offered neither a number nor a percentage estimate of faculty members working in spite of the strike. But APSCUF's IUP chapter estimated, based picket line observations and students who went to classes, that fewer than 25 out of 755 union faculty crossed picket lines.
Friday's tentative contract requires approval by the State System board of governors and by APSCUF's membership. But State System spokesman Kenn Marshall said the understanding between the parties nevertheless clears the way for resumption of classes Monday and even Saturday if any weekend courses are scheduled on the 14 campuses.
Both sides said the deal includes raises and health care savings, but did not offer additional details.
Picket lines are to be removed immediately from campus entrances and from the Dixon Center in Harrisburg, the system's headquarters.
"The strike is over officially at midnight tonight," Marshall said.
Wolf hailed the agreement.
"Coming to a final agreement was challenging, and it took a lot of effort from everyone involved, but I appreciate (the State System) and APSCUF coming together to reach a final agreement on a contract that is fair for professors and university faculty and the State System," he said in a statement released by his office.
"We all agree that the higher education of our students is a top priority, and I am thrilled that today students can go back to class and professors can teach them."
The State System's board leadership also praised the resolution, as did system Chancellor Frank Brogan.
"We are pleased to get to this point and look forward to the conclusion of the process," said Board Chair Cynthia D. Shapira. "Once again, everyone can focus on what matters most _ teaching and learning."
"Today is an opportunity for a fresh start," Brogan said. "Throughout this process, our students have been remarkably patient, and they should be applauded."
He and APSCUF President Kenneth Mash thanked the governor for his efforts to bring the parties back to the bargaining table.
"Our primary goals were to preserve quality education for our students, protect our adjuncts from exploitation, and make sure the varieties of faculty work are respected," Mash said. "We achieved every single one of those goals,
The 14 schools are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities of Pennsylvania.
