Tenure and tenure-track faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield remains on strike. Negotiating sessions since the strike began on Friday have failed to produce an agreement.
A key issue remains salary. The administration is proposing a 1% increase effective March 16, 2026.Additional salary increases would be based on the university’s merit-based program.
The United Faculty Union wants a higher increase, effective August 2025 when the last contract expired. The union is also asking for increases in the coming years.
The two sides are still apart on the minimum salaries for the jobs of professor, assistant professor and associate professor.
The UIS budget is expected to finish the academic year in the red. The administration has blamed the budget problems on an enrollment decline that began years ago but has deepened with a drop among international students since President Trump regained office. Many of those students are having difficulties obtaining visas.
“The increases proposed by the union are not financially sustainable given current fiscal constraints and ongoing uncertainty,” the UIS Administration announced. “The university must balance compensation goals with its responsibility to maintain long-term financial stability.”
But the union argues UIS spends too much on administrators and said the University of Illinois system, with a more than $8 billion budget, can afford to meet the demands.
On Monday, as faculty walked the picket line, Cong. Nikki Budzinski stopped by to lend support. She said inflation is making it more difficult to pay for groceries, gas, child care and utilities.
“You deserve wages that are going to provide for your family,” she said.
Faculty pay remains a sticking point, but other issues are also part of the negotiations.
The union is asking for fees to be frozen during the contract, which is expected to be for three years. But the school said it is committed to maintaining “safe and functional parking for the entire campus community.”
The administration said it wants all employees, including non-union workers, to be subject to the same policies.
Stephanie Hedge, associate professor of English and the Director of the UIS Writing Program said the union wants clarity on artificial intelligence.
“Whether or not faculty will be forced to use AI in the classroom or if faculty jobs can be replaced by AI,” she said.
The strike is a disruption to learning on campus. The university has advised students to go to class, unless told otherwise. Certain faculty members, who are part of a different bargaining unit, continue to teach and are prohibited from a “sympathy strike.”
Contract talks have been ongoing for about a year.
