SIU union begins vote on new contract

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Members of Southern Illinois University's faculty union started voting Thursday on a new contract, union officials said.

The union's 400 members were scheduled to vote Thursday and Friday on the university's four-year proposal, said Randy Hughes, a union officer.

The union had threatened to strike if more of their demands were not met.

The proposal includes a 7.5 percent raise over the final three years of the contract, protection against layoffs and a cap on the professor-student ratio. The proposed contract does not address the group's demands for more input into staffing decisions.

However, union officials expected the proposal would pass easily. Many of those expected to vote had indicated overwhelming support for the contract in a straw poll earlier this week, the union said.

The previous faculty contract expired June 30.

The union represents 688 tenured and tenure-track faculty on the university's Carbondale campus. It does not represent faculty on the university's Edwardsville campus, or at its law or medical schools.