Syracuse University, SEIU Confirm New Five-Year Agreement

Syracuse University staff members represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 200United voted on Friday, June 28, to ratify a five-year contract for over 800 University employees, who are food service workers, library technicians, skilled tradespeople, custodial and grounds staff.

“We are pleased to have a new five-year contract at Syracuse University,” says Scott Phillipson, president of SEIU Local 200United. “This contract demonstrates SEIU and Syracuse University’s commitment to advancing wages, benefits and opportunities, while maintaining the highest skilled workforce in Central New York. These negotiations presented us with unique issues that challenged the union and the University and yet we were able to come to consensus and arrive at an agreement that provides stability for our members and the University. Once again, this demonstrates how working families having a voice at work through their union is more relevant today in the complicated modern workplace as it has ever been in our history.”

The package includes:

• extension of Orange Appreciation Days to all bargaining unit members;
• retirement bonus of $2,000 for employees retiring with 25 years or more of active, continuous service (increased from $1,000 with 30 years of service);
• shift differential pay increase for second- and third-shift employees;
• payment for licenses required by employees as part of their job function, and payment of $100 per year for safety boots or $75 per year for safety shoes; and
• a guaranteed 2.5 percent wage increase in the first year of the contract, and 2.75 percent annually over the next four years of the contract.

“This contract, spanning five years, recognizes the importance of the work being done by hundreds of University staff as we strengthen and grow our campus community,” says Pete Sala, vice president and chief facilities officer. “Our negotiations were both spirited and forthright as we reached common ground.”

“Both parties can be proud of the consensus achieved at the bargaining table for the staff members represented by SEIU,” says Andrew R. Gordon, senior vice president and chief human resources officer. “The contract is a result of the constructive and open dialogue that took place between the two negotiating teams. I am grateful that both sides worked together in good faith to reach an agreement.”

The new contract will run from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2024.