About 160 faculty and staff at Chicago State University’s employee union will go on strike Monday after almost a year of bargaining to secure a fair contract, union officials said.
Members of CSU’s chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois (CSU UPI, Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 4100) had previously voted to authorize a strike if the university administration didn’t take “significant movement” at the bargaining table. Yet disagreements continued over workload issues and compensation.
After Saturday negotiations didn’t lead to an agreement, union members decided to take to the picket lines. No additional bargaining sessions between CSU UPI and university administrators are currently confirmed.
“We have made it clear all along that we expect the CSU administration to prioritize the needs of our students by offering fair and equitable compensation for the faculty who serve them,” said Valerie Goss, president of CSU UPI, in a news release. “Even as our strike deadline approached, they refused to do so. The administration has pushed us to this point — we didn’t want it to come to this. Now we must do what is necessary to provide our students with the education and support they deserve.”
Union members from other institutions have also expressed disappointment with the progress, or lack thereof, of yearlong negotiations with school administrations.
[ Strikes looming at 3 state universities: ‘We’ve already exhausted a bunch of other steps’ ]
CSU is the only Predominantly Black Institution in Illinois, and as such, low-income and first-generation college students make up more than 50% of its student body. Union members said the administration is “disinvesting in the students who need them most.” As the lowest-paid professionals in the state in comparison to peer institutions, Goss said, CSU UPI members are concerned about retaining faculty and adequately supporting students.
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Union members will picket on the CSU campus, 9501 S. King Drive, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday, with a rally and news conference scheduled for noon. Picketing will take place at 95th and King Drive, and the rally and press event will be by the flags in front of the Cook County Administration Building. Besides CSU UPI speakers, other guests will attend the rally, including American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and John Miller, UPI president.
CSU officials, who have been bargaining with CSU UPI since June 6, released a statement Friday ahead of Saturday negotiations: “We remain focused and eager to return to the bargaining table to work toward a new agreement and to avoid an unnecessary strike. We have contingency plans in place should the Union choose to take this action, but we remain hopeful it will not come to that. No one will win during a strike.”
Strikes are looming at two other state universities — Eastern Illinois University and Governors State University — as employee unions say they feel like they have exhausted other steps after a long time at the bargaining table. CSU, EIU and GSU all serve special student populations — the latter is a Minority Serving Institution and an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution.
“At campuses across Illinois, faculty and staff are telling university administrators that they need to get their priorities straight,” said Miller, president of UPI, the local union for the CSU, EIU and GSU chapters. “The presidents of these universities have the resources to provide what students, faculty and staff need, but are investing in other priorities. Our members are standing up for our students.”
Union members at EIU are scheduled to have an all-day bargaining session Monday and another session April 7, which will steer their union’s next steps. After union members overwhelmingly voted on March 10 to authorize a strike, the unit filed its 10-day notice with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.
Union officials at GSU said students there have an increased need for advising assistance, yet school advisors are overloaded, some with as many as 500 students. An additional bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, and GSU union members could strike as early as April 7.
