Charleston, IL-(Effingham Radio)- Members of the EIU University Professionals of Illinois (EIU UPI, IFT Local 4100) voted today to accept the tentative agreement that was settled on Thursday, April 13, after a six-day strike. 92% voted in favor of the contract. The union had been forced to the picket lines earlier this month after a year of bargaining and mediation with EIU’s administration.
EIU UPI President Jennifer Stringfellow made the ratification announcement to members, saying, “Tonight, we participated in the democratic process, and EIU UPI members voted to accept our tentative agreement. I am proud of this contract, but more so, I’m proud of each and every one of our members who walked long days on the picket line, chanted, rallied, marched, shared our story with neighbors and the media, connected with each other, uplifted our students, and strengthened our community. When we delivered our intent to strike to President Glassman last month, we made the decision to do whatever it took to stand up for our profession and to improve learning conditions for our students. Because of our resolve and solidarity, we did just that.”
Faculty and staff will receive an overall raise of 15% over the four years of the contract, retroactive to September, 2022, when the previous agreement expired. This compensation, while still falling short of covering the combined impact of 6% wage loss from past years and historically high inflation rates, still ensures EIU can remain a competitive employer in the region, retain the world-class faculty and staff they have, and continue to attract high-quality educators to work at the university.
In addition, EIU UPI fought for paid parental leave for new parents, including adoptive parents, which was previously not offered to university employees. Before this contract, the only way for employees to have paid parental leave when starting a family was to spend nearly two years accumulating unused sick leave days.
“Our contract is a win for our faculty, staff, students, and the working conditions at EIU,” said EIU UPI Lead Negotiator Billy Hung. “The parental leave proposal alone was a needed improvement to our contract and brings equity to our members starting a family. The raises we fought for are fair and help to make up for the ones we sacrificed to help our institution through Governor Rauner’s budget crisis. And the workload protections we won will continue to make Eastern a well-supported learning environment for students. We can’t thank our students and community enough for their tremendous outpouring of support for EIU UPI members – during our year of bargaining and especially while we were on strike. This was not easy, but we have come out of it stronger as a union and as a university community.”
EIU-UPI is the EIU chapter of University Professionals of Illinois (Local 4100), and represents 450 faculty, annually contracted faculty, lab coordinators, advisors, recruiters, and counselors at Eastern Illinois University. They’re affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) represents 103,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in PreK-12 school districts throughout Illinois, faculty and staff at Illinois’ community colleges and universities, public employees under every statewide elected constitutional officer, and retirees.
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