NORMAL, Ill. (25NewsNow) Members of United Faculty ISU, a union negotiating a contract with Illinois State University, threatened to walk out in front of the Board of Trustees if they do not reach an agreement.
ISU and UFISU have butted heads over the group’s demand for new contracts and mediation representing over 600 tenured and tenure-track faculty since January 2024.
At a board of trustees meeting Friday morning, several faculty members aired frustrations over the quality of family leave conditions and accused the university of inadequate pay.
The 650 tenure and tenure-track faculty represented by UFISU now threaten to walk out if they don’t reach mediation, including associate professor Ashley Farmer.
“I am not just going to tell you, I will show you,” Farmer said while holding up what appears to be hundreds of flyers listing the union’s proposals. “This stack represents the tenured and tenured track faculty who are willing to do whatever it takes to get a fair contract.”
These discussions with faculty members have been underway for essentially a year now.
“The fact that we’re at where we’re at today is disappointing,” Keith Pluymers, another associate professor and union member said. “What we would prefer, what we would want is respectful, productive labor-management relationships with this university’s administration.”
ISU has a webpage dedicated to negotiation updates. Another webpage lays out the university’s proposals.
The university posted the following after the most recent mediation session between the two groups on February 10:
“During this thirty-ninth negotiation session, the fourth conducted with assistance from an independent federal mediator, the parties signed a tentative agreement covering Disability Accommodations. The parties also exchanged various other proposals/counter-proposals, and discussion and clarifying questions/responses continued.”
The next three mediations are scheduled for Feb. 28, and March 10. and March 19.
