HARRISBURG Pa.
Representatives of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities and the faculty union resumed contract talks Monday and the union agreed to postpone any strike until Tuesday at the earliest, spokesmen for both sides said.
A negotiating session that began Thursday broke off late Sunday afternoon after the union rejected the State System of Higher Education's latest offer. Monday's bargaining session was scheduled at the urging of a state mediator.
The previous contract for the 5,500 professors expired at midnight Saturday, but the two sides have been unable to resolve their differences over salary increases.
The average nine-month salary for full-time faculty was $70,000 in the 20006-07 academic year, and maximum salaries currently range from $60,000 for instructors to roughly $98,000 for full professors.
The state system schools are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities.
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