All classes at UIS will return to normal schedules on Monday after tenure and tenure-track professors who had been on strike for the past two weeks reached a tentative contract agreement, both sides announced early Monday.
The details of the three-year deal were not immediately announced. The terms will be revealed after both sides formally approve the agreement, officials said.
Union members agreed to resume teaching on Monday, with classes expected to return to regular schedules, according to a university-wide message sent after 12:45 a.m. Monday.
“Our bargaining team made the difficult decision to suspend this strike because we do not want our students to lose further instructional time as they head into final exams and graduation,” Dathan Powell, an art, music and theater professor and union president said in a statement issued later on Monday morning.
In a statement of its own, University administration said, “The University is grateful to all parties who worked on this third successor contract for tenured and tenure-track faculty. UIS looks forward to continuing to work together to fulfill its mission to provide a uniquely student-centered educational experience, both in and out of the classroom, through active learning, meaningful research and impactful civic engagement that prepares graduates to contribute fully to society.”
Professors walked off the job April 3 after nearly a year of negotiations on a new contract stalled. The main sticking point was salaries. The union wanted pay increases that covered inflation and cost-of-living increases. The university, pointing to a “structural deficit” that will leave the campus $19 million in a hole by the end of the current fiscal year in June, was generally offering 1% raises.
The strike led to an unspecified number of class sessions being canceled over the last two weeks. While active strikers’ classes were called off, some tenure and tenure-track professors chose not to participate in the work stoppage, while other instructors, including non-tenure-track and adjuncts, were still required to work.
Tensions have been high on campus for the past two weeks, with union members marching and chanting around campus for a few hours every weekday. On Friday, a group of union members camped out in Chancellor Janet Gooch’s office waiting area for three hours in hopes of meeting with her. They were told she wasn’t available.
The two sides reportedly met in extra-long bargaining sessions on Saturday and Sunday as the university presented a final offer that union officials decided to bring to its membership for a vote.
Even so, union leaders remained critical of the administration for how negotiations played out.
“Chancellor Gooch’s lack of leadership is a stain on the University of Illinois,” Powell said. “Her disregard for the students, faculty, and staff of UIS is appalling, plain and simple. No matter the results of this vote, Chancellor Gooch must step aside so UIS can enlist a real leader.”
When asked about the Chancellor’s response to the union’s criticisms of her leadership and calls for her to resign, UIS Director of Media Strategy, Blake Wood, declined to comment.
Chancellor Gooch was not a member of the administration’s bargaining team and her absence during negotiating sessions was another point of contention for union members.
“Throughout the bargaining process, the Chancellor remained in close contact with the bargaining team and was involved in key decisions related to the negotiations,” Wood said.
In a message to the campus Monday afternoon, Gooch, who has been UIS chancellor since July 2022, thanked both sides for their “tireless work” to reach the tentative agreement.
“We recognize that this has been a challenging period for students who have experienced disruption and uncertainty, and we are committed to ensuring you have the support needed to finish the semester and stay on track toward your goals,” she wrote. “You have my assurance that our administration, faculty and staff will work together to support your progress toward completing coursework.”
The strike was the longest in UIS history, eclipsing a four-day work stoppage by professors in 2017.
The union that represents UIS’ clerical, service and technical employees, including building maintenance and food service workers, also is in drawn-out negotiations with UIS administrators. That group took a strike-authorization vote on March 19, the same day the professors’ did, but they haven’t started a work stoppage.
