Duke faculty members win big raises in historic union agreement

DURHAM -- Duke University’s non-tenured faculty have reached a tentative agreement in their first union contract, which includes higher pay and longer-term teaching appointments.

The three-year negotiated contract would cover about 275 part-time and full-time contingent faculty, according to Service Employees International Union, which the Duke faculty joined last year.

Average pay increases during the contract would be: 14 percent for faculty paid on a per-course basis; nearly 12 percent for salaried faculty; and 46 percent for faculty in Applied Music, who are the lowest-paid faculty. Roughly half to two-thirds of faculty in those categories would receive higher-than-average raises, according to SEIU.

The agreement includes multi-year teaching appointments, the same benefits as other Duke employees and pay protections for canceled courses. A new fund would be set up for professional development.

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