MARQUETTE, MI-- Faculty at Northern Michigan University are now working without a contract.
A one-year agreement with the administration expired at midnight Thursday, but the NMU Board of Trustees declined to extend it.
Negotiations between administrators and the union started in March. Union President Dwight Brady says talks regarding financial items didn’t begin until May, and that’s where the two sides still differ.
Administrators say while they’re disappointed an agreement couldn’t be reached last month, they expect one will be reached soon. They note faculty will continue to be paid and their benefits will continue as usual.
Brady says any wage increases negotiated in a new agreement are not retroactive for the period the faculty worked without a contract unless agreed upon by NMU.
