The Kirkland portrait returns to VUSN. (photo by Susan Urmy)
Vanderbilt University and the Laborers International Union of North America, Local 386 — the union representing approximately 600 employees in the custodial, grounds, food service and skilled crafts categories at Vanderbilt — have reached an agreement on a new three-year contract.
On March 2, the union membership ratified the agreement that was announced Feb. 28 after two days of meetings between representatives of the University and the union with a federal mediator.
The agreement calls for an increase in the base rate of pay to $10 per hour for workers in the lowest pay grade within the next 20 months; a guaranteed across-the-board annual increase of 3 percent in the first year of the contract and an increase of 3.5 percent in the second and third years of the agreement; implementation of a new program to provide opportunities for lower-paid employees to earn additional increases based on service and performance; and increases in shift differentials and on-call pay.
“After lengthy good faith negotiations and with the help of a federal mediator, we have reached an agreement that both sides are pleased with and that will significantly benefit our employees and the University,” said Kevin Myatt, associate vice chancellor and chief human resource officer.
The contract took effect upon ratification, and wages are retroactive to November 2006.
The previous contract, reached in 2001, expired in November, though both parties agreed to continue operating under that agreement until the current contract negotiations were concluded.