Two unions negotiating with the University of Illinois Springfield for new contracts call the lack of progress "staggering." They want a mediator to get involved.
Unions representing UIS staff and tenure and tenure-track faculty began bargaining with the school in June. But the units said the university only put forth financial offers in recent days and called them disappointing.
“The living wage in our county for one adult is $20.60 an hour: our members earn about $17," said Thom Gebhardt in a statement. He is president of the UIS Staff chapter representing building service workers, food service workers, clerical, and technical staff. He said his members are some of the lowest paid state workers in Illinois.
"So the university is saying that the essential, front-line people who get to work before anyone else to keep campus safe, clean, and running smoothly – the people who keep students fed – don’t even deserve enough to feed and care for themselves. That’s insulting. The University of Illinois system can fund our contract with the change in their couch cushions.”
Union leaders said the statewide university system has seen assets rise in the past several years. They argue as inflation continues to impact purchasing power, UIS is offering inadequate compensation. They add the U of I system has a history of "pushing contract negotiations with employees to the brink of strike – it’s a pattern that has played out on every campus in the state year after year."
Both campus unions are affiliates of University Professionals of Illinois (UPI, Local 4100) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
UIS agreed to a contract with non-tenure track faculty earlier this year.
In a statement Monday, the campus administration said "UIS has met 11 times with the UPI Local 4100 Support Staff Chapter Clerical, Service Workers and Technical Bargaining Units, and six times with the UPI Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty Union, reaching several agreements during those sessions. The university remains committed to reaching a collective bargaining agreement that serves the best interests of the entire university community, while remaining mindful of its fiscal realities, including its current deficit and the broader challenges facing higher education nationwide.”
“There is no reason for austerity when this university system is raking in such large amounts of money. Current students deserve investment,” said Dathan Powell, chapter president of the UIS United Faculty, the union representing tenured and tenure-track faculty.
“Our core issues at the bargaining table are fair compensation and a voice in the future of this institution. We have threats of programs being cut with no information on how that will affect our faculty or our students. We want to ensure we can recruit top-notch faculty, and we want to hold on to the great educators we have on campus already. Our students deserve a world-class institution with an administration that invests in them now. And because we haven’t seen that investment – or much of anything – at the bargaining table, we’ve decided that we need the help of a mediator to get us there.”
UIS is also in a review process involving programs, leading to speculation that some could be eliminated. The campus reported a budget deficit that grew to $11.5 million last fiscal year. Total enrollment at UIS after the first 10 days of classes this fall is 4,364, down from 4,628 last fall. Officials point to fewer international students that accounted for the bulk of the decline.
Campus funding for NPR Illinois has been greatly reduced and is set to be eliminated next summer.
It could take weeks for a mediator to get involved. Meanwhile, the sides will continue bargaining with sessions scheduled next month.
