Chicago State faculty picket Wednesday

CHICAGO — Chicago State University faculty and academic support professionals protested Dec. 4 at their University’s Board of Trustees meeting.

University Professionals of Illinois, the union that represents more than 450 full-time and part-time faculty and professional employees, has been in negotiations with Chicago State University since July over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Laurie Walter, president of the faculty union, addressed the Board of Trustees at their meeting. "Our message to the Trustees is simple: We are unhappy with their team’s unwillingness to negotiate a fair contract. We have been negotiating for more than four months, and we just keep getting proposals from the administration that make it more difficult for us to get an agreement," said Walter, a professor in the Biological Sciences Department and chief negotiator for the union.

The faculty union has urged the administration to review its spending priorities in light of the current budgetary situation. "While spending has increased exponentially in recent years on the Intercollegiate Athletics program and on new administrative positions, the administration says they have no money available for even a basic cost-of-living increase for the people who carry out the central mission of the university — educating the students," said UPI spokesperson Cheryl Green, an associate professor in the Counseling Department at Chicago State.

Chicago State’s administration has proposed that faculty salaries be frozen for the 2002-03 academic year, and wants the union to accept several contract givebacks.

"Our administrators want to increase our workload and lower the number of classes which faculty members can teach in the summer," said Walter, adding that the administration has recently cut several academic programs. The Union has proposed a modest cost-of-living increase along with some changes to contract language that would represent little to no cost to the university, some even resulting in savings.

"While we recognize that resources are limited due to this year’s state budget crisis, we believe that the union and the administration ought to work together during this time to hammer out a fair contract so that we can focus on continuing to provide an excellent education to our students," said Walter.

"We are willing to do our part, but the contract givebacks that the administration has on the table indicate that they are unwilling to work with us."

Dec. 4, 2002