EIU Media Relations

Comments on the Eastern Strike and Negotiations -- Dr. David Glassman, President

There is no doubt that labor contract negotiations can be complex, highly emotional, and prolonged.  Unless agreed upon by both parties, messaging to the public and media are allowed and commonplace during negotiations to provide transparency in the process as well as gain support for the cause and proposals of the messaging party.  The messaging of the labor union may attempt to vilify management by suggesting management doesn’t care about them or is unwilling to provide a fair agreement, that they delay the negotiations, that they walk away from the table, that they are hoarding funds, etc.

Management on the other hand traditionally does not respond to accusations messaged by the Union but rather defers to periodic prepared statements submitted to the media that indicate they are bargaining fairly with the Union and working diligently with the Union bargaining team to reach a mutually fair agreement.  This is what we have been doing at Eastern and the words are true, we are working diligently with our UPI partners to resolve our differences and reach a mutually fair agreement as soon as possible. 

I felt it was time for me, as president of the university, to present some thoughts about our labor negotiations with our UPI partners as well as the Strike that began last Thursday, April 6.  Some are facts that are borne out of data that can be viewed, others reflect actions that I have been personally involved in, and others reflect what I truly do believe to be the case for both EIU management and UPI members.  I’ll start with that.

1. Both EIU administration and UPI members have a great love for our students and this university and its regional community.
2. Both EIU administration and UPI members agree that the university has made great strides in the past six years following the budget impasse and has grown in enrollment and is headed to a position of financial stability.
3. Both EIU administration and UPI members want the Strike to end immediately, reach a fair agreement, and return to operating our learning environment in the manner our students deserve and expect.
4. Both EIU administration and UPI members respect one another and have had an excellent working relationship over the past many years.

Well, if that is true, why did a Strike happen and why has an agreement yet to be achieved?  The issue revolves around differences in what a fair agreement should be, particularly as it relates to economic issues such as annual across-the-board salary increases for the UPI bargaining unit members and the other financial compensation funds provided annually to our UPI bargaining unit members in the form of merit increases, promotion increases, and professional advancement increases that are added on top of the across-the-board salary increase to those that qualify.  Here’s where the sides are currently in the most recent proposals by each side.

UPI is requesting across-the-board increases over the next 4 years of 7% / 5% / 5% /4% for a total increase in every members’ salary of 22% (compounding included).  When the entire package is considered including funding the non-across-the-board compensation, the UPI request exceeds $9.3 million over the 4 years of the contract.

EIU has offered our UPI partners increases in across-the-board over the next 4 years of 3.75% / 3% / 3% / 2.25% for a total increase in every member’s salary of 12.5% (compounding included).  When the entire package is considered including funding the non-across-the-board compensation, the EIU proposal exceeds $5.8 million over the 4 years of the contract.

Why not just give the Union what it wants so the Strike can end and we can all move forward?  After all, that is the essential question.  UPI leadership has said publicly that EIU has the funds to do so, it is just that the administration does not have their priorities correct.  One only needs to realize that the Union has only one priority to focus upon (and that’s what they should be doing), the benefits to their membership.  In contrast, EIU does indeed want to provide reasonable compensation to our UPI partners, but we also want to provide available funds with our other outstanding employees; we want to rebuild staffing in the departments of facilities, business office, HR, procurement, advancement, university police, and others that were decimated during the budget impasse and have yet been provided the resources to rebuild.

We want to provide available funds to be put to our $500 million worth of deferred maintenance.  Numerous roofs on our academic buildings need to be replaced, our steam tunnels are failing and need attention as do our sidewalks, parking lots and HVAC systems across campus.  All of these items impact the educational environment we provide our students and the working conditions of our faculty and other employees.

We also want to distribute any available funds to increase student financial aid to recruit students and keep our university accessible and affordable for high school graduates and transfer students.  We want to provide our available funds to hire needed additional faculty and other academic and non-academic support staff, all of whom will help EIU improve its services to students and faculty.

We believe it prudent for EIU to continue to restore the cash reserves back to comparable levels that existed prior to the impasse and before they were used to keep the university afloat when EIU experienced 11 straight years (2006 – 2017) of declining enrollments so that EIU is prepared in the event of a future crisis or declining enrollments.

That the administration has many high priorities is absolutely true and all of them are important—rewarding our outstanding employees, add staffing in vital operations’ areas, rebuild campus infrastructure and keep the campus beautiful, assist our students with the high cost of a university education, and remain financially stable.  There are simply not enough university funds to tackle all of these areas except through balancing the amount of dollars going to each priority.  We absolutely value our faculty and academic support staff and will increase their salaries significantly—indeed our current offer does so more than the last several collective bargaining agreements—but we must also retain adequate funding for increasing our non-UPI employee salaries and keep our university structurally sound, beautiful, and operating efficiently.

Other issues that have been raised about the EIU negotiation team and the EIU administration and setting the record straight.

1. EIU has fairly bargained since the beginning of the negotiations, and we are continuing to do so.
2. EIU has been committed to remaining at the bargaining table as long as doing so is productive and has not provided a “final and last” offer to the UPI bargaining team.  We are always willing to meet and keep the negotiations moving forward.  The parties are scheduled to meet at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, the earliest UPI was available to meet this week even though the EIU team offered to meet before that.
3. Significant progress is occurring in resolving differences on issues regardless of the messaging that the public is hearing.  For example, this past Friday, EIU and UPI bargaining teams fairly resolved six non-economic issues that had been on the table throughout negotiations.

For EIU and UPI to resolve our differences and end this Strike, both parties will need to compromise and reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial – not just beneficial to one side.  That will be the fairest solution for our UPI members, the university, and its students at large.

Respectfully,

David Glassman, Ph.D.
President, Eastern Illinois University