After about nine months of negotiation, the union representing non-tenure track faculty at Illinois State University and administration have come to an agreement on a new contract.
Members of the Illinois State University Education Association [ISU EA] voted to ratify the new contract on Dec. 10. The agreement is effective as of July 1, 2024, and runs through June 30, 2027, according to a union press release.
While many parts of the contract were agreed to as early as May, salary and sick leave proved to be sticking points between the two groups, and a federal mediator was brought in to oversee negotiations in August.
Four mediation sessions were held before a tentative agreement was reached.
“This agreement is not everything we hoped for, but demonstrates a substantive agreement for our membership that puts further protections in place,” ISU EA president Sarah Hall said in the release. “Our members will see a salary raise in January, but there is more work to be done.”
State directs mediator to join tenure-track union negotiations
Meanwhile, a federal mediator will join the ongoing negotiations between the union that represents tenure and tenure-track faculty at ISU.
The United Faculty of ISU [UFISU] are still negotiating the details of their first contract with the university. Negotiations have been ongoing since February, nearly a year after the state Educational Labor Relations Board [ELSRB] recognized the 650-plus-member union.
Following a UFISU request for a mediator late last month, the state ELSRB issued a directive to the university and UFISU to begin negotiating under the mediator's oversight.
That first session is scheduled for Jan. 13, according to ISU, but one more bargaining session this month is set for Dec. 18.
