The Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition #6546 has authorized a potential strike, and they are seeking support from tenure-track faculty.
NTFC asks tenure-track faculty to sign the following support letter. A PDF of the letter is available here (TTSupportLetter); a Word version is available here (TTSupportLetter-4).
You can return the signed letter to the Geneva Room of the McKinley Foundation (Fifth & Daniel, Champaign) or request pick-up by the Campus Faculty Association (campusfacultyassoc@gmail.com).
The letter reads as follows:
We, the undersigned members of the UIUC faculty, stand firmly in solidarity with the members of Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition #6546 and fully support their efforts to secure a fair and equitable contract. Our colleagues have been in bargaining since October of 2014, and the administration still refuses to address these systemic issues of higher education. They have denied rights of basic job security to members of our own faculty, and they have prioritized managerial flexibility over the best interest of our students.
Stability and high-quality teaching benefits the university as a whole, and the administration’s refusal to negotiate mutually beneficial items like multi-year contracts, does not reflect the value that we put on our students’ education and the work of faculty as a whole.
We have lost faith in the administration’s willingness to resolve these issues, and we hereby call on the leadership of the University of Illinois to engage directly and immediately in negotiations with NTFC #6546 to resolve these issues and sign a fair contract now.
Campus Faculty Association 