Two high-profile faculty strikes—at New York University and Portland Community College—brought fresh attention to stagnant pay and the constraints many institutions face in tight budgets. At NYU, nontenure-track faculty members struck in early April and reached a tentative agreement by Wednesday. At Portland Community College, faculty and staff labor actions continued with a ratified agreement for staff while faculty remained on strike as of Friday. The push comes amid new analysis from CUPA-HR showing tenure-track faculty pay running behind inflation, with tenure-track faculty paid 11.7% less and nontenure-track teaching faculty paid 6.8% less (inflation-adjusted) compared with pre-COVID levels. The report also follows broader concerns that faculty compensation has failed to keep up over longer periods.