Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, Mich., and its faculty union agreed on a tentative contract tonight, one day before fall classes at the 12,000-student institution were to begin, the Associated Press reported.
The professors’ union had voted last week to authorize a strike if the university rejected its latest offer, and a vote had been scheduled for today on whether to carry out that strike. In dispute in the negotiations were wages and health-care costs, among other issues. The deal apparently will give faculty members 2-percent and 3-percent raises over the next three years, according to a report on the Web site of a local TV station.
The university encouraged students to show up for classes, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations.
