Seventeen months after voting to form a union, part-time teachers at Bentley University have reached an agreement with administrators, averting a protest scheduled for Monday.

Bentley adjuncts had planned to demonstrate at the university's Center for Business Ethics 40th anniversary event. The four-year deal improves wages and teaching conditions for more than 200 non-tenured faculty at the Waltham campus. Non-tenured faculty will see across-the-board increases in pay per course, and for the first time greater security in who teaches courses each semester.

Bentley adjuncts say the union’s first contract is part of a growing labor movement in Massachusetts, where nearly 4,000 teachers have joined the Service Employees International Union.

Other unions at Tufts, Lesley, Boston University and Northeastern have also seen big wins for their adjuncts.

The four-year contract still needs to be ratified by adjunct faculty.

Earlier: Movement To Unionize Adjunct Faculty Gains Traction