MARQUETTE — Leadership of the NMU-AAUP faculty union and the administration at Northern Michigan University have reached a tentative agreement for a new five-year contract.

The agreement will now be fine-tuned and forwarded to the membership of the union for ratification, officials said.

“As with all collective bargaining agreements, you never get exactly what you want, but I feel this tentative agreement provides the type of compensation necessary to attract and retain quality faculty at Northern Michigan University,” NMU-AAUP President Dwight Brady said. “Through this agreement, the administration, the Board of Trustees and the faculty union have secured the academic future for our current students and for those who have yet to enroll.”

NMU President Fritz Erickson said in a statement, “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement. This contract provides both financial and academic support for our faculty and ultimately for our students.”

Details of the comprehensive contract, which also addresses topics such as benefits, personnel policies and academic administrative functions, will be forthcoming

“This agreement obviously took longer than both sides would have preferred, but it does show the principles of collective bargaining and free speech are still alive and well at Northern Michigan University,” Brady said. “Finally, I want to thank the members of our negotiating team as well as the administration’s team for all the hard work and extra hours they committed to this process.”

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.