A discussion is provided of the Fashion Institute of Technology's (FIT's) new faculty contract and its implications for the college. First, the paper traces the history of union-management negotiations. After looking at the bitter relationship that restricted faculty growth, development, and morale in the 1970s, the paper describes the "contract of 1973" which acknowledged all of the issues that divided the institution and made a clear effort to emancipate the faculty completely from authoritarian control and place responsibility for the success of FIT on the shoulders of the faculty and staff. This section explores the hopes placed in the "contract of 1973" as well as its limitations. Next, the paper discusses the changed nature of the contract negotiations that took place in 1986, which became a responsible imaginative effort to solve mutual problems mutually. The paper then takes a summary look at the long troubled history of labor-management relations, drawing parallels between FIT and the broader labor-management context. Finally, it is concluded that the FIT agreement weakens neither the union, nor management, but strengthens both through the union's acceptance of a larger role in the management of the institution and management's broadening of its intelligence system and network of opinion. (EJV)