Wednesday, March 29, 2017

UIS teachers stage “work-in” to try and get first contract negotiated

It’s been 18 months since a faculty union formed at the University of Illinois Springfield, and there’s still no agreement in place.

So a small group of faculty members staged a work-in outside Chancellor Susan Koch’s office on Tuesday.

“We keep asking the chancellor — just like we’ve been asking her today — why are you not talking to us? Why will you not meet with leadership at the union to talk about the slow pace of bargaining?” says Kristi Barnwell, vice president of UIS United Faculty. “We’ll just keep putting the pressure on until we get this contract. We want something by the end of this semester."

For its part, a UIS spokesman says it’s their practice to negotiate at the bargaining table not in the media.

Full Statement from Derek Schnapp, UIS Spokesperson:
“The university administration is anxious to get a contract agreement just as faculty members are. Any time you craft a first contract with a newly formed union, negotiations take considerable time. It is the university’s practice to negotiate with all unions at the bargaining table rather than through the media, as we believe this is most conducive to constructive, good faith collective bargaining.”

This story aired on WTAX on March 28, 2017.

Read the entire article online.