SIU walkout threat is over, but other unions pressing case

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The prospect of professors walking picket lines is over for now at the main campus of Southern Illinois University, where faculty ratified a new contract after weeks of demonstrations and strike threats.

But at some of the state's other public universities, professors intent on getting a better deal are just starting to flex their union muscles.

Deep cuts in state funding have made for contentious contract negotiations on at least five of the state's 12 public university campuses, according to school officials and faculty members.

The five -- SIU Carbondale, Eastern Illinois, Governors State, Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois -- are among the seven in Illinois where faculty members are represented by unions and bargain collectively for work contracts.

The other two unionized schools, Northern Illinois and Western Illinois, have agreed on contracts. Faculty at the University of Illinois' three campuses, SIU's Edwardsville campus and Illinois State are not represented by unions and make their own arrangements with administrators.

"We understand there's a fiscal problem in the state," said Laurie Walter, president of Chicago State's faculty union, which has failed to reach a contract with administrators despite six months of talks and informational picketing. The current pact expired in August.

Despite the financial troubles, Walter said the university could still give employees a raise.

Lost $157 million

Illinois public universities lost $157 million in state funding this year and have been asked to pay an additional $45 million for staff health insurance costs for a second straight year. Meanwhile, they also have been serving 3 percent more college students this year, said Don Sevener, spokesman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

After years of funding increases, "we have to change the way we think about budgets," said Dean Justman, Chicago State's associate vice president for the budget and risk management. "It's enormously difficult now."

Administrators at schools such as Chicago State say they can't afford to give professors raises this year and have decided to save money by letting some vacant faculty positions remain unfilled, Justman said.

That combination of frozen salaries and, in some cases, increased work has angered faculty members, said Sue Kaufman, president of University Professionals of Illinois, the umbrella union whose chapters represent faculty at each school but SIU Carbondale.

Can't expect more

"These are tough times," Kaufman said. "But if we're going to deliver quality education, you can't tell people you're going to increase workload and expect more out of them" while refusing a pay raise.

Chicago State's faculty union plans to picket frequently later this month, said union local president Laurie Walter.

Their counterparts at Governors State, whose contract also expired in August, hope the arrival of a federal mediator later this month will inspire progress in their contentious talks, said local president Marsha Katz.

"We've gotten nowhere on the major issues," Katz said.

Eastern Illinois' union leaders reached a tentative agreement with administrators Thursday. Local president David Radavich declined to say whether the plan includes raises. Faculty are scheduled to vote on it next week.

But he said the school's offers became more enticing after the union voted last month to authorize leaders to call a strike. "I think the message was clear," he said.

Talks at Northeastern aren't going as well as union members want, said local president Richard Higginbotham. But the group hasn't picketed or considered a strike vote.

Although Friday's vote at SIU ended a year of contract battles, former congressman Glenn Poshard, now associate chancellor for administration at the school, is not resting easy.

He expects the state's budget problems to worsen and tensions between the faculty union and administrators to continue.

"Part of the reason for being a member of a union is to raise expectations," said Poshard, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1998.

"But when you buck up against extraordinary economic conditions like we have in this state, it can be disheartening if it doesn't come out the way they expect," he said.