Part-time professors at Portland State University reached a deal Feb. 22, after nearly 10 months of union contract bargaining. About 1,200 part-time faculty work under a contract negotiated by the Portland State University Faculty Association, also known as American Federation of Teachers Local 3571. About 650 of those work for PSU in any given term, of which about 200 are full-fledged members.

By the end of the new two-year agreement, part-time faculty will make at least $746 per credit hour, up from the current $676 — an increase of just over 5 percent a year. The union contract sets minimum compensation per credit hour. By university rules, part-time faculty aren’t allowed to teach more than five four-credit-hour classes in a three-term regular school year, so even after the raise, they’ll continue to gross less than $15,000 a year and still will have no employer-provided health, pension or other fringe benefits.

Local 3571 President Brooke Jacobson said the contract is a step forward, and the bargaining team is recommending approval. “We wanted to bring them up to something that looks more like a living wage,” she said. “Ultimately we need to have equity with full-time faculty so that the university doesn’t have an economic advantage to favor use of part-time faculty.”

Members received a copy of the agreement and a ballot and will vote by mail or in person at a March 14 meeting.