After working under an expired seven-year-old contract, Unionized Faculty at Manhattan School of Music's Precollege Division have finally secured an agreement for a new contract. Members of ARTS/MSM/NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) Local 6498 's persistence paid off with an agreement to raise the wage floor minimum by 70% over the course of the contract, while prohibiting harmful class size increases. Other significant gains include establishing new minimum pay rates for Teachers, Directors of large ensembles and Orchestral Conductors. After an entire semester of negotiating, Teachers were left with no choice but to go on a one-week Strike in February for the first time in the century-plus history of the school. The Strike kicked off with a 10-hour picket line, including Teachers, students, parents, alumni, local officials and members of fellow Unions in solidarity. As a result, the school was unable to conduct “business as usual.” Pre-College teachers demonstrated decisively that their relationship with students and their families are at the heart of MSM’s viability as an institution. The new agreement will go into effect if ratified by majority vote of ARTS-MSM Members.