Bargaining Update
Today was our fifth bargaining session, and it was a productive one! We are ready to sign tentative agreements on four articles: Grievance, Personnel Files, Unauthorized Work Stoppage, and Nondiscrimination. This should bring us closer to receiving a proposal on wages from the admin team.
After agreeing about those articles, we began discussing another article: Hours of Work & Commitment. In this article, we have proposed a system that holds units accountable for providing documents outlining job responsibilities that are fair, transparent, and up-to-date. We also have proposed that every faculty member’s duty percentage be congruent with their job title (for example, a Research Assistant Professor should not have teaching as 50% or more of their duty percentage).
The admin team was initially skeptical about whether overwork is an issue among specialized faculty.
Three specialized faculty members came up to the bargaining table and spoke about their experiences and the serious overwork they’ve found themselves compelled to do. In all cases, they were expected to do extensive work that exceeded their 100% appointment without additional compensation.
After hearing this testimony, the admin team engaged in dialogue with us, and agreed to consult with admin at the colleges about this problem. They seem to be undecided whether intervention is needed to prevent overwork, or whether it should continue to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, when people complain. Given that many specialized faculty have short-term contracts and little guarantee of job security, many are reluctant to complain about overwork. We hope that the admin team will see that a better procedure is needed to protect specialized faculty from overwork.
Tell Us About Your Overwork!
The admin team weren’t sure overwork is an issue, citing that they have not heard many complaints coming in to HR. This is a time to speak up, so they can see that it is indeed a problem many of us face! If you’ve been expected to do work that exceeds your duty percentage, here are two ways to take action:
- Contact Illinois Human Resources and let them know.
- (217) 333-2137
- ihr@illinois.edu
- Contact your union! Any information you share with us will be kept confidential.
Next Session
We will continue discussing Hours of Work & Commitment at our next bargaining session, which is ironically during Spring Break. If you’ll be in town, feel free to join us! All members are welcome.
- Friday, March 15, 9am-12pm
- Levis Faculty Center, room 300
