The SIUC faculty union president called on all tenured and tenure-track faculty to join the union in opposing the administration’s faculty contract counterproposal.

In an informational meeting Wednesday, Jim Sullivan, faculty union president, and other union activists appealed to all faculty and the almost 200 faculty in attendance to join the SIUC Illinois Education Association/National Education Association so they can vote in a March faculty union meeting.

The meeting will determine the faculty union’s response to the administration’s November counterproposal.

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We are meeting March 4 to identify, debate or vote upon actions that we are forced to engage in based upon the tenor of negotiations at that time, Sullivan said. We are going about making these preparations because while we hope for the best we must be prepared for the unsuccessful.

Prudence requires we prepare for eventual action.

Sullivan said the union’s options include putting the administration’s 32-page proposal to a vote and other methods.

They run the range of wearing buttons in support of negotiators to voting on an intent to strike.

He said, however, that a strike remains as an extreme option.

It remains an option because it is legally an option, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that in January the association formed a crisis response team because of the turbulent negotiations that have developed after the submission of the administration’s counterproposal. The team, made up of union members, will monitor and shape negotiations policy based on the tenor of negotiations.

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At the meeting, the faculty loudly voiced their dissatisfaction with the administration’s proposal.

Mary Lamb, an association member and a professor in English, read from the administration’s proposal and asked faculty to yell no whenever they disagreed. The faculty then shouted no after listening to Lamb read the board’s position on tenure, promotion, the 11-month contract, and other issues.

Kay Carr, a faculty negotiating team member, told the audience major points of dispute between the faculty and administration are grievance procedures, discipline and dismissal procedures, faculty rights, the tenure and promotions process, and salary. She said the negotiators are also concerned about departments’ roles in changes and further elimination of tenured or tenure-track faculty.

She said negotiations on all these issues are going too slow.

The reason things are going too slow is there appears to be two very different visions about the role of the future of the faculty at this University, she said. Our proposal uses the (employee) handbook as a frame of reference…The administration’s proposal appears to repudiate the handbook in large chunks.

Both the faculty and administration proposals are available on the Internet at (www.siuc-faculty-assoc.org).

Carr, an associate professor in history, explained the faculty negotiating team’s philosophy.

Your team views their job to not tentatively agree with any contract provision that is less than historical precedent, Carr said. The board team wants to start everything at ground zero.

This conceptual and practical disagreement seriously retards the process of bargaining.

Joan Friedenberg, a professor in linguistics, explained that money is available for faculty salary increases in hefty administrative salaries and administrative retirement income. She said by staying united faculty can improve SIUC.

That’s why I vow to wear this little (IEA) pin every single day no matter where I am, what I am doing or what I’m wearing until we have a respectable contract, Friedenberg said to the applause and hoots of those who attended.

Leslie Sheets, associate professor in Information Management Systems and a union member, said he attended the meeting because the contract proposal is inadequate.

“There’s not much they (the faculty’s negotiating committee) can do to further the process.” Sheets said. “The administrative bargaining team has not been interested in trying to meet the March deadline to meet any kind of negotiations.

“[The administration] is not working for the best interest of the students or even the faculty.”

John Magney, an assistant professor in technical and resource management, said the faculty must be united and join the union. He said they should support the faculty union in large numbers even if it ultimately leads to a strike.

Hopefully it won’t reach that point if things go well at the bargaining table, but we don’t know, he said.

Sullivan would not say the exact membership numbers of the union but said membership continually grows and grew rapidly after the administration’s contract proposal.

He said faculty should no longer be content to sit on the sidelines.

We are here because we know that sitting on a fence waiting to see what happens is merely surrender, Sullivan said to applause. We are calling on the faculty to better this University.

Everyone has to be a player.