Striking tenure/tenure-track faculty walked the picket line again on Monday, April 13 after weekend negotiations failed to produce an agreement. The union and the administration met for negotiations Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but issues such as faculty pay, anti-AI measures and union release time remain unresolved. Tentative agreements on some items, including faculty parking costs, were reportedly reached during previous bargaining sessions.

United Faculty’s messaging has turned increasingly toward criticisms of the current UIS administration, especially UIS Chancellor Janet Gooch. Last week, on Thursday April 9, striking members of United Faculty gathered in downtown Springfield to speak with Illinois state legislators about the conditions that have driven them to strike and their dissatisfaction with UIS’s current leadership.

“We have made clear to the administration that their proposals are inadequate to meet the needs of the faculty and have not shown respect for faculty work or student learning,” said Dathan Powell, union president and an art, music and theater professor at UIS.

The University sent out multiple announcements over the weekend detailing their perspective on the state of negotiations. In these statements the UIS administration focused heavily on faculty pay and on the university’s $19 million dollar deficit.

“As a public university, UIS must balance compensation goals with its responsibility to maintain long-term financial stability,” said a UIS statement from Friday, April 10.

Some UIS students, such as Shawn Oderio in the Public History graduate program, question the University’s allocation of funds toward large campus development projects at the same time that faculty strike for higher pay.

“All this talk from them about having a $19 million deficit seems a little strange when they are establishing a new engineering program and building a whole new library. If anything, they need to pay their workers more and focus on improving the present campus and programs rather than starting new ones from scratch,” Oderio said.

The administration maintains a strike is not necessary and all its offers reflect the financial constraints of the University.

United Faculty view the strike as an effective tool to gain momentum in their more than 10-month long negotiations with the UIS administration, though faculty repeatedly state they would rather be in the classroom than on the picket line.

“The things that have been agreed on that matter most to faculty only came after the strike action occurred. The administration could have agreed to these items months ago, or in the period between the strike authorization vote of March 19 and the actual work stoppage of April 3. They instead chose to have faculty strike before they were willing to address these needs,” said Powell.

Tensions rise on campus at the approach of final exams and graduation. What many students experienced as a few missed classes may prove increasingly disruptive as the end of the semester nears.

“I get that the point of the strike is to disrupt normal operations, but being left in the dark about some assignments right before finals started has been a little bit of a headache,” said Oderio.

A variety of community members and others have openly and vocally supported the strike. Elected officials from both the state and federal level, members of other U of I unions and UIS students have come out to speak at strike rallies, walk the picket lines and write pro-union messages in chalk on the sidewalks around campus.

“We value greatly the voices of our students and elected officials who support us and are speaking up for what is right,” Powell said.

United Faculty encourages supporters to reach out to UIS and University of Illinois System leadership to express their feelings on the strike.

The UIS administration continues to advise students to attend all classes, unless notified by a professor of a cancellation, and to complete all assignments as listed on their syllabi, even if their professors are on strike. Students with questions or concerns, can reach out to the Dean of Students at [email protected].