Two faculty labor actions escalated into visible disruptions this week, underlining that compensation stagnation remains a core fault line in higher education staffing. New York University’s non-tenure-track faculty reached a tentative agreement after striking Monday and returning to work following talks Wednesday. At Portland Community College, staff struck beginning March 11, with a tentative deal ratified for union staff while unionized faculty and academic professionals remained on strike as of Friday, pushing PCC toward continued remote operations. The disputes come as multiple pay-gap analyses point to faculty lagging other employee groups. CUPA-HR analysis referenced in the reporting found faculty salaries are most behind inflation—tenure-track faculty are now paid 11.7% less (and nontenure-track teaching faculty 6.8% less) than pre-pandemic levels after inflation adjustment.