Senator Durbin’s Letter to Hogan on the Faculty Union at UIC

Posted byCFAPosted inUncategorized

Here we re-print the letter from Senator Durbin to President Hogan urging him to recognize the union at UIC. We also add the letter from UIC Professor of Management Darold Barnum to BOT President Kennedy and Hogan on the same issue. We urge the UI to stop blocking the certification of United Faculty at UIC, a union which has met all the legal requirements for recognition. The UI is just playing legal games to halt the democratic process and spending thousands on lawyers in the process.

Dear President Hogan:

It has come to my attention that the Illinois Education’s Labor Relations Board recently ruled regarding unionization efforts at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. It is my hope that all parties involved will begin discussions to resolve outstanding issues as expediently as possible.

State universities are operating within a challenging budgetary climate today. Public colleges and universities across the state are dealing with the impact of increasingly constrained state budgets. These difficult times are best met with the full collaboration of all members of the university community. Working together, university administrators and faculty can find ways to continue to provide the distinguished higher education experience that serves our state so well.

University of Illinois campuses stand as strong testament to the state’s commitment to providing students the highest quality education while making award-winning contributions to the research community. It is important that UIC administration and faculty work together to continue this mission.

 Sincerely,

 Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

Dear BOT Chair Kennedy and President Hogan:

Senator Dick Durbin recently wrote to President Hogan, reminding him that the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board had ruled concerning the UIC faculty’s unionization, and “These difficult [financial] times are best met with the full collaboration of all members of the university community.”   

Senator Durbin is fully aware of your ongoing attempts to delay such collaboration, as our faculty union representatives have held numerous discussions with him.  In his letter, his not-so-hidden message is for you to stop delaying:  withdraw your court case, and restart the stalled negotiations with one integrated bargaining unit containing all of your unionized UIC faculty. 

Mr. Kennedy, you have strongly stated that there must be significantly more collaboration with the faculty.

Dr. Hogan, you have agreed to greatly increase your collaboration with the faculty.

Now, Senator Durbin has strongly requested that you both immediately begin collaborating with the UIC United Faculty organization.

I am sure that the UIC United Faculty stands ready to immediately begin such collaborations.

As soon as you withdraw your court case, the collaboration desired by us all can begin.


Sincerely

Darold T Barnum, PhD, MBA
Professor of Management
Professor of Information and Decision Sciences
Adjunct (Research) Professor of Pharmacy Administration
Former Head, UIC Department of Management
Founding Director, University of Illinois Center for Human Resource Management

Published by CFA

The Campus Faculty Association (CFA) is an advocacy organization for faculty and other campus workers committed to shared governance, academic freedom, and a strong faculty voice on campus.

%d bloggers like this: