BROOKLYN, N.Y. Sept. 15, 2016 — New York State United Teachers today said strong support from students and the community, as well as unwavering solidarity, enabled faculty at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus to emerge victorious from an unprecedented lockout.
"From the very beginning, teachers wanted to teach and students wanted to learn," said NYSUT President Karen E. Magee. "In locking out faculty instead of continuing negotiations toward a fair contract, administrators at LIU Brooklyn did students and faculty a tremendous disservice — and everyone knew it. The faculty's unity, widespread community outrage and heart-warming support from students were the pillars on which this positive result was built."
Under an agreement announced late Wednesday night, the lockout ended immediately and LIU’s contract with the LIU Faculty Federation, an affiliate of NYSUT and the American Federation of Teachers, will be extended until May 31, 2017. The university has also agreed to make faculty whole for any health care costs incurred during the lockout and will engage a mediator who will help to forge a fair contract agreement.
Magee and other NYSUT officers, who joined the LIUFF in solidarity, thanked the AFT, UUP and the New York City labor movement — especially the Professional Staff Congress, LIU-Post, UAW, St. Francis Adjuncts, United College Employees of the Fashion Institute of Technology and United Federation of Teachers for their support. She also commended the LIUFF leadership.
"The LIU Faculty Federation and its president, Jessica Rosenberg, showed tremendous solidarity and strength in fighting for fairness and faculty rights during this unprecedented lockout. Their work rallying students and the community to their side helped them to emerge from this even stronger than they were before," Magee said.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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