The union representing nearly 2,500 technical service employees at Penn State has a new four-year contract.
The new contract, which union members with Teamsters Local 8 approved on Friday, gives a 20% salary increase over the next four years.
Jonathan Light, the union's president, said this is the biggest increase in the local chapter's history. He said previous salary increases haven’t kept up with inflation.
“Instead of trying to survive, we wanted to thrive. And we were able to do that with this contract," Light said.
The contract is retroactive to July 1, and runs through 2028. He said while this is a historic increase for the union, members won’t see that raise all at once. Union members will see incremental raises over the next four years. Members will see a 4% raise in their Aug. 23 paychecks, and will continue to see similar increases every six months.
Light said some workers have left because of low pay.
“So hopefully this eliminates some of that issues and puts this place back on the map for jobs and technical service jobs here back at Penn State," Light said.
These increases come at a time when Penn State is making cuts across the board to balance its own budget.
“We understood that Penn State likes to talk about how, financially, they struggle, but the realization of that is the impact that our members have struggled, over the last couple of years in contracts prior, and even during COVID, we were the ones that had to come in and work," Light said.
Jennifer Wilkes, Penn State's vice president for Human Resources, said the university is grateful to reach a contract that "offers a competitive salary and benefits package aligned with the market."
“Our technical service employees keep our campuses operating seamlessly, and we believe this contract compensates and recognizes them for their important work," Wilkes said in a Penn State release.
