Students ratify pact ending strike against fee hikes, budget cuts at Puerto Rico university

Students ratify pact to end strike in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Nearly 3,000 students have ratified an agreement reached last week to end a strike that has paralyzed the University of Puerto Rico for two months.

Students from the system’s 11 campuses met Monday in the southern city of Ponce to approve the deal worked out last week by negotiators for the students and the school’s trustees. The unanimous ratification vote means the public university’s campuses can reopen.

The accord says there will be no fee increase in the next academic term and no summary punishments for the strikers.

Students began the strike to fight proposals for budget cuts, fee increases and other issues. For weeks, protesters faced off with police at the gates of the main campus in Rio Piedras.