Wednesday, August 28, 2002

Nontenure faculty still seek union

By Kelly Josephsen
Pantagraph staff

NORMAL -- Nontenure-track faculty at Illinois State University still believe a union is the best way to improve pay and benefits, despite a plan to study their working conditions.

Nontenure-Track Faculty Association head Sharon MacDonald fears the study won't guarantee action. "Previous studies show administration-led efforts to improve working conditions don't stick," she said. "We want a binding contract so we can work out solutions and be sure they're permanent."

Interim provost Al Bowman last week asked a committee to suggest ways to improve treatment of ISU's 456 nontenured faculty, who are full- and part-timers working on one-semester or one-year contracts.

The Nontenure-Track Faculty Association had announced plans in April to seek representation from the Illinois Education Association. MacDonald said the campaign is going well, with her group refocusing on gathering authorization cards now that the fall semester is under way.

Authorization cards indicate how many nontenure-track faculty are interested in a union. Thirty percent -- 137 people in this case -- must return cards to take the issue to a binding vote.

MacDonald did not say how many cards are in, but said the group will collect cards until they get enough to ensure an election. A majority "yes" vote is needed to form a union.

"We got off to a great start last spring, and cards have kept coming in since then," she said. "As word of our efforts has spread, more and more nontenure-track faculty are asking to help."

MacDonald thinks job insecurity at the start of this semester -- some nontenured faculty weren't rehired and others got pay cuts -- contributed to increasing interest, especially because unionized employees got mandatory cost-of-living raises.

Campaign leaders are teaching nontenured faculty about benefits of unionization and telling the campus about their goals, MacDonald said, adding the group is getting support from tenured faculty.

She has several concerns about the administration's study.

First, she said, the committee is not addressing benefits or late contracts. Many nontenure-track faculty don't know if they'll get insurance from year to year, and late contracts delay pay, benefits and privileges such as parking.

She added parts of the report are misleading: Minimum pay, grievance procedures, teaching load rules and evaluations only helped full-timers, who make up less than half the nontenured faculty at ISU.

But MacDonald hopes some good can come out of the study: "We welcome the attention, and we hope the committee can help prepare the administration for post-election contract negotiations."

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