The union representing Illinois State University faculty has moved one step closer to a potential work stoppage, calling for a strike authorization vote that will continue through noon Friday.
United Faculty of ISU’s bargaining team announced the decision Thursday. Even if members approve, a strike authorization does not guarantee faculty will go on strike, though it opens that possibility.
The union, which represents around 650 tenured and tenure-track faculty, is negotiating its first contract with ISU. There have been at least 42 negotiation sessions so far, including seven conducted with help from an independent federal mediator, ISU said. It’s been contentious. The union filed an unfair labor charge against ISU last month and has publicly demonstrated across campus.
In a Facebook post, the union said it called for the strike authorization vote because the two sides are “still so far apart” on the financial aspects of the contract.
“They still haven't made the kind of movement that will meet our members' economic needs,” the union said. “Things might start moving fast over the next couple of weeks, so we encourage you to check your non-ilstu email regularly to keep on top of things.”
ISU officials say their latest financial proposal included four weeks (20 business days) of new paid parental leave for all tenure-track faculty. On pay, ISU says the average salary for assistant and associate professors will be at or above the projected market averages for similar positions at Illinois State’s peer institutions by the first full month following contract ratification. By January 2027, the average salary for all ISU tenure-track faculty will be at or above the projected market averages for similar positions at ISU’s peer institutions, ISU officials said.
Other details of ISU’s financial proposal are posted on this website.
In its Facebook post, the union did acknowledge the paid parental leave offer, though they said “we think there is room for improvement here.”
“We are getting much closer on workload and assignment of duties, but [administration is] still rejecting release time for union business,” the union said.
As the contract talks have progressed, ISU officials have stressed the “financial reality” facing the institution, which has already led to budget cuts.
This week ISU’s chief financial officer, Glen Nelson, issued a staffwide memo that said the university ran a $7.1 million “structural deficit” in its unrestricted funds for the 2024 fiscal year, up from $4.6 million the year before. The CFO said those unrestricted funds “provide the vast majority” of faculty and staff wages, salaries, and expenditures. Nelson said a surplus of $21.3 million in the capital assets and restricted funds “are not available to pay the wages of the University’s tenure-track faculty.”
“Unfortunately, the deficit in our unrestricted funds has continued to worsen,” Nelson wrote. “This deteriorating unrestricted fund deficit is driven by inflationary pressures that have caused expenditures to outpace revenues. The current trajectory of the increasing annual unrestricted fund deficit is not sustainable and must be addressed for Illinois State to avoid the fate of many of its higher education counterparts who have faced similar challenges.”
Apart from financial aspects of the contract, ISU says it’s reached tentative agreements with the union on several other topics, including academic freedom, disability accommodations, and shared governance.
