After months of negotiation, a contract agreement between Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) and its faculty unions seems to be imminent. Members from both the NMC administration and the faculty associations met on Wednesday, October 2 for a negotiation session led by a state mediator. The session was reportedly productive and led to a “tentative agreement” between both parties.

“NMC the Faculty Association affiliates of the Michigan Education Association are pleased to announce they have reached a tentative agreement on all contract issues,” stated a press release sent by the college on Thursday afternoon.

The next step is for the NMC faculty unions to ratify the terms of the new contract – something that should happen at a ratification meeting scheduled for next Tuesday. If the union members vote to accept the new terms and ratify the contract, then the NMC Board of Trustees would need to review and vote on the agreement to make it official. That discussion and vote would occur at an “upcoming public meeting.”

At a meeting last week, the NMC Board of Trustees discussed the possibility of accepting the recommendations of a state Fact Finder and moving the contract negotiations to a close. The board ultimately voted to send the contract back to the bargaining table for the October 2 mediated session.