Contract academic staff and part-time librarians at Wilfrid Laurier University are getting a 10 per cent salary increase over three years after ratifying a collective agreement earlier this year.

Supplementary pay or grading assistance for larger classes, a tuition subsidy and a 1 per cent increase in the benefit index are also part of the new agreement.

Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association president Joyce Lorimer said the union was also successful in negotiating an increase to the salary base in the first year. Members will receive $5,618 for a one-term course.

"Salary increases were established on the basis of such increases in the university sector in the past year, as clearly established by the patterns of bargaining and by an arbitration at Laurentian (University)," Lorimer said. "These increases also reflect that qualified academics are in short supply and that salaries paid for part-time faculty are responding to a volatile market."

In addition to compensation gains, the agreement also includes improvements in the appointments article addressing employment opportunities and job security through seniority, better language on classroom contact hours and enhanced recognition and support for members' scholarship and research.

Lorimer said with negotiations for their part-time members successfully completed, the union is now gearing up to renegotiate the agreement for Laurier's 400 full-time faculty members that expires June 30, 2005.

"To keep Laurier competitive, negotiations for the renewal of the full-time agreement will need to be at least as successful as the CAS negotiations," she said.