 |
|
|
|
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!
|
Who Can Join
Saturday,
November 2, 2002 NORMAL -- Illinois State University and union organizers disagree on which non-tenured faculty should be eligible for a union. The ISU Nontenure-Track Faculty Association is preparing to vote on unionizing with the Illinois Education Association. Both sides met Thursday with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board to decide who can be part of the collective bargaining agreement. The disagreement means the union vote, planned for this semester, will be delayed. Nontenure association spokeswoman Sharon MacDonald said ISU's plan would exclude two-thirds of her colleagues at the school, which has 456 nontenured faculty. She said ISU would exclude nontenured faculty who teach less than 75 percent of a full load. Others who would be left out are full-timers who haven't had full loads for three consecutive semesters; retired K-12 or college teachers; and full-time faculty in Milner Library and University College, which runs ISU's orientation and academic support programs. University spokesman Jay Groves did not say who the university feels should be included, but said the opinion is based on labor relations board statutes. Groves described Thursday's meeting as the first step in determining who can be in the union. The nontenure association "strongly opposes" ISU's picture of that. "I'm full-time, but I would not do anything to abandon part-time faculty," MacDonald said. "They are the people that face the worst discrimination from ISU. They have the lowest pay, they don't have offices, they're deprived of benefits. These are the people that need the union's help the most." The labor relations board will decide the matter. ISU officials want the decision made without hearings. Groves said the university and IEA are exchanging information; hearings will be set if no solution is reached. MacDonald expects hearings in December or January. She said union organizers will argue that all nontenured faculty face the same working conditions and concerns. "We signed the same contract. We do essentially the same job -- it's just that some of us do more of it. We share a community of interest and that's what governs the composition of a unit." MacDonald is confident the board will rule in her group's favor. She isn't even considering the possibility of moving forward with a union that excludes part-timers. "ISU is showing a lack of respect to nontenure-track faculty. Let the faculty decide," she said. "If it's in December, if its in January, if it's in May -- we're still going to win it. All this is is a delay." Reprinted courtesy of the Pantagraph, www.pantagraph.com. |
