Members of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Technical Staff Local 3882, representing over 1,400 NYU employees, have ratified changes made to the tentative agreement signed by the union and the university in December. The changes include an increase in wages, insurance, a perfect attendance bonus and a new paid parental bonding leave, according to the new agreement.

This follows a series of negotiations between UCATS and NYU, after the 2011 to 2017 agreement expired on Oct. 31. The deadline was extended for the second time when the last collective bargaining session on Dec. 1 ― which lasted nine hours until 11 p.m. ― failed to reach an agreement between the two parties.

“It was certainly difficult for us, as the representatives of 1,400 NYU employees, to see how resistant the management was in addressing some of our members’ most important issues like compensation and workload,” UCATS President Stephen Rechner said. “But, after 16 bargaining sessions and many difficult conversations, we are confident that the agreement is a net improvement of the overall employment experience for our members.”

The new six-year contract is valid until Oct. 31, 2023 and includes a three percent increase of wages, retroactive to last September, followed by a 2.5 percent increase every year until 2021, a $20,000 increase of life insurance coverage and an increase of $750 per month for long-term disability insurance.

“Both sides worked hard to achieve an agreement that honored the contributions of the members of Local 3882 to the NYU community,” NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in an email. “We were pleased that was successfully accomplished, and that the members of the bargaining unit have now ratified the agreement. After review by the Union, the contract will posted on the web, and will be available for review at that time.”

However, several demands did not make it to the contract, such as its proposal to address the issue of work intensification.

“We were not able to get language into the contract about limiting ever-expanding job duties and to address the problem of often not being fairly compensated for heavier workloads and higher-level job duties,” Rechner said. “This was one of those areas where we had difficult conversations. We would also have preferred to have kept the HMO health insurance options, since some of our members liked them, but health insurance is a national train wreck right now, and we were compelled to bend to those realities.”

Rechner said that the union’s current priority is making sure members are briefed on the details of their new benefits.

“First on the agenda is making sure all of our members fully understand what the contract provides and the mechanics of taking full advantage of their benefits,” he said. “We also want to continue building out our communication capacity with our members. We did a lot of work on that front prior to bargaining and it was key to keeping members informed about what was happening at bargaining — including two contract extensions and engaging member support for the process — like mobilizing for contract support rallies and more.”

Email Kenneth Jung at [email protected].