Strike Continues Leaving Many Students Without Direction
A rally with faculty, staff and student speakers was held at GSU on April 11.
Negotiations between the University Professionals of Illinois at GSU (GSU-UPI) and the university’s administration have paused for the weekend, signaling that the strike will last at least a week.
Since faculty and staff launched their work stoppage on Tuesday, Apr 11, students have had a variety of experiences in their classes. Online classes have continued, but for most there are no professors to answer specific questions about lessons, assignments, or final exams.
Students enrolled in classes held in person are expected to continue to attend while professors march with signs at the entrances to the university. Many students have reported that attendance is taken but not accompanied by any instruction. This leaves students wondering “What is the point?”
One of the students who joined the picketers, said they found more value in walking the picket lines with their instructors.
For some students, the strike brings little change at all. Classes taught by adjunct faculty and non-union instructors are expected to continue as usual, and students in those classes reported that they have seen no impact.
The impact of a strike so late in the semester seems increasingly likely to affect student outcomes as it drags on, although in a virtual town hall meeting on April 13, administrators stated that they do not expect the strike to impact commencement and that they are working to minimize any disruptions to student life.
A second consecutive day of negations between GSU-UPI and the administration ended Thursday. Though there are reports of progress, salary increases remain one of the key bargaining issues on the table. According to a press release from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the administration declined to increase their salary offer before “walking away” from the last meeting.
“We’re not sure why they want to drag this out,” said GSU UPI President Mike Hart. “We’ve been closing the gap between the two sides. It’s so frustrating to be making progress and then have administration refuse to meet to bring it home. The stall tactics imposed by the university will only make us stronger in our resolve for a fair contract. We stand ready to bargain. They know where to find us.”
A fourth university may be following the lead of three UPI schools seeking fair contracts. According to a press release, North Eastern Illinois University (NEIU), voted on Thursday to authorize a strike.
“NEIU faculty and staff are the latest statewide university to inch closer to walking the picket lines,” the release said. “Faculty and staff at Governors State University (GSU) went on strike on April 11 after the administration walked away from the table last week. Their colleagues at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) were forced to walk out on April 6, and Chicago State University (CSU) faculty and staff have been on strike since April 3.”
The next bargaining session between GSU-UPI and the administration is scheduled for Monday, April 17.
Kim Boland Prom • Apr 16, 2023 at 2:56 pm
Nice overview of the strike issues. How about an in-depth article focused on the social justice perspective? It is a core value of GSU and the president says she holds this highly.
At the Town Hall meeting the president said that they offered faculty higher cost of living than faculty had accepted in the last 10 years. These would include years with low inflation and when there was no state budget- faculty accepted little to insure no jobs were lost or tuition hikes.
So is it fair to say that _____________ group has always taken less so we will offer less? This is payment based on employment class. The higher class of employees (administrators) get a larger part of the pie. Would we tolerate this type of thinking if the issue were gender inequality in salaries, racial groups paid less? Of course we would never argue this was social justice or be held up as a way to fix inequalities.
Is it fair or equal to have the president accept a 5.5% cost of living raise (Board of Trustees decision) and then offer less than half that amount to those below faculty?
Let’s use our stated values for self-reflection. The marketing and fluffing, of select statistics presented at the town hall meeting by self-righteous, needs further scrutiny. There was a discussion about how the president was paid less than presidents in other public universities. What about the faculty? What about the other union that accepted 2% COLA.
Inflation is a fact in the area we all live in. I hope you can dig beyond the PR selected numbers. There is not justice being practiced here.
Thank you,
Kim Boland-Prom
Full Professor
adviser • Apr 22, 2023 at 9:44 am
A good idea. I’ll see if one of our reporters can tackle it.