Hofstra faculty prepared to strike as contract deadline approaches

Hofstra University’s faculty could walk off the job just as the fall semester begins, with the school’s American Association of University Professors chapter locked in a contract dispute with administrators over pay, health care costs and pension contributions.

The Hofstra AAUP chapter’s five-year contract expires at midnight on Aug. 31, the same day classes are scheduled to begin for the new academic year. It is the union’s first full renegotiation in a decade.

In 2021, the chapter agreed not to pursue a full contract renegotiation and gave up a contractual raise amid the university’s concerns about the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports in the university’s student newspaper The Hofstra Chronicle. The existing collective bargaining agreement covers Sept. 1, 2021, through Aug. 31.

Nearly 99% of the 222 faculty members who voted Aug. 7 supported authorizing a strike, according to union President Anthony Basile. The chapter represents nearly 600 full- and part-time faculty members.

According to an Aug. 17 letter to Hofstra President Susan Poser signed by a coalition of New York-area higher education unions, faculty members contend that the university’s financial concerns have fallen disproportionately on them.

The letter says top administrator compensation has increased more than 23% since 2019 while faculty compensation has lagged behind inflation. It additionally criticizes proposed increases in faculty health care costs and changes to pension contributions.

Newsday separately reported that Basile said top administrators’ pay had risen 23.2% since 2019, while faculty compensation had increased about 12%.

The sides also remain far apart on salaries. The union wants 6.5% annual raises, while Hofstra is proposing a 2.5% increase in the first year followed by 1.5% increases in subsequent years, according to Newsday’s report.

Basile has said the union’s position centers on fairness after a decade without a new contract and concerns about faculty compensation.

Hofstra spokesperson Terry Coniglio said the university remains engaged in negotiations with the AAUP and is committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to faculty and financially sustainable for the university. Coniglio stressed that the university “will not negotiate in the press.”

“Hofstra University is actively engaged in negotiations with the AAUP and is committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to faculty and financially sustainable for the University,” Coniglio said.

“Hofstra is preparing for a range of possible outcomes of the negotiations. The focus is on welcoming students and faculty back to campus this week and beginning the new academic year on Aug. 31.”

In 2016, the AAUP chapter again authorized a strike ahead of an Aug. 31 contract deadline, but a walkout was avoided when the university and union reached a tentative agreement at 2:15 a.m. that morning.

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