Ithaca College

From Senior Vice President Nancy Pringle, Provost Linda Petrosino, and Professor Gwen Seaquist, representatives of the Ithaca College bargaining committee.

We wanted to provide members of the Ithaca College community with a brief update on the status of contract negotiations between the college and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing part-time, per-course faculty.

Since our last message on December 8, we have held six bargaining sessions. An additional three sessions have been scheduled to take place in February. The parties have reached tentative agreements on 22 Articles (including three new tentative agreements reached last week), and we have few issues remaining, which we will work diligently on when we get back together.

We are very pleased that the SEIU bargaining team has accepted our request—first made in October—that a federal mediator assist in the negotiations. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has appointed a neutral third party to serve as a resource available to both sides, who can explore ways to bridge the gap in our respective positions. The mediator has so far taken part in four of the bargaining sessions, and will continue to participate moving forward.

We are also pleased that progress has been made on some of the issues that separate the two sides. We will continue to bargain in good faith, and we remain optimistic that an agreement can be reached.