ITHACA, N.Y. — The United Auto Workers of America and Cornell University reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract, the union announced late Tuesday night, marking a potential end to a worker strike that entered its 10th day on Wednesday. UAW Local 2300 represents about 1,200 custodians, food service workers, custodians, and other workers at the university, all of whom will have the opportunity to vote on this upcoming Sunday and Monday — Labor Day, a federal holiday celebrating the American labor movement — to accept or reject the terms of the tentative agreement. The union said workers will remain on strike until a contract is ratified. The soonest Cornell employees could return to work is Sept. 3.The UAW announced the tentative agreement Tuesday at the end of a 12-hour bargaining session with university officials. Cornell and UAW representatives have bargained over the contract, which expired on July 1, since April. On Wednesday, Cornell issued a statement about the tentative agreement signed by six university administrators, including Interim President Michael Kotlikoff.The statement said if UAW-represented employees approve the tentative agreement, the university “looks forward to welcoming them back” to work.“We continue to respect the right of our UAW-represented employees to strike. We continue to respect the right of those employees who decide to return to work in advance of the ratification vote,” the statement said. The university has reached out to faculty, staff, and retirees with requests for them to fill in for workers on strike, which began the night before students were set to move onto Cornell’s campus. Currently, Cornell is serving boxed lunches to students, and has asked faculty and staff to bring their own food to work to avoid further burdening the university’s strained eateries. Cornell administrators noted that it will take “a few days” for campus operations to be fully restored once workers return to their jobs. Since the start of the strike, the university has moved in negotiations to meet some of the UAW’s core demands.The union said it was able to reach a deal on over 40 demands with Cornell leadership, including an average wage increase of 21% to 25.4% over the life of the four-year tentative agreement. Workers in positions with the lowest pay grades in the bargaining unit will receive significant pay raises in the first and second year of the contract, according to the UAW. Cornell has agreed to remove the tier system from the labor contract, a core demand of the UAW. The tier system prevented workers at the university from reaching the highest level wages for their positions.The tier system separated employees working the same jobs at Cornell into two different wage levels. For example, a food service worker who started at Cornell prior to June 30, 1997 — the cut-off date in the tier system — earns a wage of $24.41, while a food service worker in the same pay grade who started after that date can only earn up to $20.85. The system recognized the university’s most senior employees with a pay increase, but UAW representatives contended that element of the contract divided the interests of the bargaining unit. The tentative agreement also contains a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which is separate from general wage increases that workers would receive under the contract. COLA increases wages based on inflation, and was another core demand that the UAW entered negotiations with. In its initial announcement, the union said more details about the tentative agreement were forthcoming.The post UAW and Cornell reach tentative contract agreement, strike could end next week appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.