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Our Position...We feel strongly about the need for a union at Illinois State University. Please read this article to see why it is important to Unionize NOW!
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Frequently Asked Questions About UnionsWhat is a union? A union is a legal tool that allows employees to negotiate as a group--rather than as individuals--over aspects of their work. Those aspects generally include wages, terms of employment, and conditions of employment. For educational employees, including ISU nontenure track faculty, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act defines the guidelines for establishing a union and the rules that employees and their employer follow when negotiating a contract. How does collective bargaining work? Collective bargaining is a democratic process. Employees decide whether to engage in collective bargaining in a two-step process. First, at least 30% of the nontenure track faculty must sign a petition requesting an election. Then, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) will conduct a "representation election". Nontenure track faculty will vote on whether to they want a collective bargaining representative (i.e. a union) or "no representative." If collective bargaining is chosen, the employer must, in good faith, negotiate a contract. The only legal requirement of the contract is that it contain a grievance procedure whose final step is binding arbitration. All other provisions in the contract are negotiated. Is collective bargaining consistent with the university's system of shared governance? Yes. Collegial relations in a university community depend on mutual respect among the members of that community. Senates exist to give voice to faculty, students, and other constituencies, yet nontenure track faculty at ISU -- who compose 40% of the teaching faculty -- have only a single senate representative. Even if NTTs held a majority, their voice would only be advisory to the President. Collective bargaining ensures that NTT contributions and concerns are discussed in the contract negotiation setting, placing NTTs on equal footing with the administration. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has endorsed collective bargaining for college and university faculty. Is collective bargaining more effective than just creating a separate nontenure track senate? Yes. Our shared governance system provided a limited voice for the Academic Senate. The Senate's function is to offer advice and information to the President. Collective bargaining and a separate nontenure track senate can co-exist amicably, if the nontenure track faculty desire. What are the most common collective bargaining gains for nontenure track faculty? Most NTT union contracts guarantee broad participation in shared governance, timely issuance of contracts, financial penalties for late cancellation of classes, extra pay for over-sized classes, guaranteed access to offices and teaching supplies, and preferential re-hiring for longer-term employees. The specific gains depend on the needs of the particular group of faculty. What have others gained through collective bargaining? When faculty discuss their concerns as a group, they quickly realize that they are not alone in their (sometimes longstanding) complaints. Gaining a unified voice, change can be dramatic and beneficial. When the nontenure track faculty at Columbia College adopted collective bargaining in 1998, the negotiating team asked to be paid equally to tenured/tenure track faculty for their teaching. Their first contract provided for pay increases of up to 100 percent! Roosevelt University adjuncts won a 60 percent increase in their first contract. How will collective bargaining affect my current salary and benefits? Your current salary and benefits will not be reduced by collective bargaining. In fact, most likely you will receive a raise, even for those who are well-paid! Collective bargaining sets a "basement" compensation level--a minimum salary--not a ceiling. Faculty in different disciplines will continue to be compensated at different rates. How much are dues? Dues for NTTs will be the same as for other IEA members, but until a contract is negotiated, a reduced rate (roughly 1/2 the normal rate) will apply. Initial dues for NTT faculty will be approximately as follows: Less than 1/4 time
appointment: $6/month ($76.13/year) What do I get for my dues? IEA and NEA offer a wide variety of programs and services to members, including professional bargaining consulting, legal services, legislative support for public education in Springfield and Washington DC, budget and salary research services, outstanding liability protection, and publications that include a peer-reviewed journal about academic work and an annual overview of US higher education. With 2.7 million members nationwide, IEA and NEA can also offer a variety of consumer benefits such as top-of-the-line credit cards, insurance plans, tax-deferred annuities, consumer education guides, home mortgage plans, and other cost-cutting benefits. More information is available at www.nea.org/he/ and www.neamb.com. Will collective bargaining result in lay-offs? This is a rumor that circulates whenever NTTs begin talking about forming a union. The record speak for itself: when NTTs organized unions at Roosevlet University, Columbia College, and the College of DuPage, no NTTs were laid off, despite the fact that they negotiated large raises. NTTs play a vital role in teaching, and collective bargaining doesn't reduce the need for our work. What is a contract? The contract is the end result of collective bargaining. It contains the mutually agreed guidelines for payment, timelines for hiring, length of contract, expectations for future employment, access to professional development resources, etc. It can be as detailed or as general as the nontenure track faculty and the administration feel is appropriate. Who decides what issues are included in the contract? NTTs do. After the election is completed, all nontenure track faculty members will be surveyed to find out what issues are most important to their well-being. We NTTs develop the agenda and set priorities. Who participates in contract negotiations? We elect a negotiating team (typically about 10 people) of our colleagues in a democratic manner. Our elected representatives negotiate with representatives of the ISU Board of Trustees. Typically, guidelines for selecting negotiating team members ensure that a wide variety of interests are represented at the negotiating table. When is the contract final?
The contract is not
ratified until the general membership votes to approve it.
If we don't like the contract, we set up another round of
negotiations until a contract is reached that meets the approval of
the general membership. For More Reasons to Support the Union, click here. |
