On April 21, with a 96 per cent vote in favour, the Queen's University Faculty Association ratified an agreement between the University and QUFA to provide a scale increase of 1.25 per cent for all members of the bargaining unit, plus an additional special adjustment of 1.5 per cent for librarians and archivists (career development and merit adjustments for 1998-99 are set out in the existing collective agreement and were not up for negotiation.) The scale increase is designed to protect the real value of salaries against the impact of inflation and to keep salaries competitive with those at other research-intensive universities in Ontario, while recognizing the University's difficult financial position. The special adjustment for librarians and archivists is in response to the fact that the salaries for these two groups are nearly 10 per cent lower than those at comparable universities. The agreement and the vote reflect the positive environment for negotiations that has developed at Queen's since faculty voted to certify in 1995. The agreement will be put before the Queen's University Board of Trustees for a ratification vote at its May meeting.