AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – A deal was made Saturday to end the faculty strike at Oakland University.
The deal was made just after midnight to end the strike that started Thursday.
DETAILS: Contract agreement reached at Oakland University ending faculty strike
Faculty members marched outside Oakland University on Thursday and Friday demanding better pay and benefits.
The union and the university sent a joint message to campus early Saturday saying they were ready to work together.
“We expect classes to resume today,” said Glenn McIntosh, senior VP for student affairs and chief diversity officer.
“I got a text message about 12:30 a.m. this morning saying that the two sides have reached a tentative agreement on a multi-year deal. And so I was pretty excited.”
READ MORE: ‘We want what we think is fair’ -- Oakland University faculty on strike
Business student Jessica Fisher also welcomed the news.
“It feels good to be able to be here and see my friends and have the full experience,” said Fisher.
The 27-year-old was back on campus Saturday for her 9 a.m. class.
“Everybody acted normal, just came to class and it was nice,” said Fisher.
The union called for the work stoppage to end immediately and encouraged faculty to reach out to students as soon as possible.
The tentative agreement included a 5.25 percent raise over three years.
“Both sides will attest that we came to the middle after having backed off and then coming back to the table with the focus of our mission which is to provide a high quality education for our students,” said McIntosh.
After navigating a pandemic, Fisher is eager to make up for the delays and begin in-person classes.
“It makes learning easier to for me so I’m really happy to be back,” said Fisher.
The previous contract expired last summer but was extended several times.
When there was no agreement by Sept. 1, the 880 member union went on strike. The strike impacted about 18,000 students.