2015
September 2 – seventeenth bargaining session [notes]; the union offers counters; the session mainly consisted of a lengthy discussion on grievance proposals; no tentative agreements were signed
August 11 – sixteenth bargaining session [notes]; the union offered a counter-proposal on academic freedom and received administrative counter-proposals on personnel files, and union rights; evaluations, personnel files, union rights, and grievance were discussed; no tentative agreements were signed
July 29 – fifteenth bargaining session [notes]; the union offered a number of proposals and counter-proposals, including appointment/reappointment and union rights; the administration offered a counter-proposal on non-discrimination
July 15 – fourteenth bargaining session [notes]; administration grievance proposal rejected; preamble and purpose, non-discrimination, and personnel files discussed, including counter-language
June 24 – thirteenth bargaining session [notes]; personnel files and evaluations discussed
June 10 – twelfth bargaining session [notes]; savings clause and academic calendar discussed; a tentative agreement on savings clause was signed
May 27 – eleventh bargaining session [notes]; a continued discussion on academic freedom; administration presents a counter-proposal on academic freedom; no tentative agreements signed
April 28 – tenth bargaining session [notes]; a broad discussion on academic freedom, featuring questions from many union members
April 20 – ninth bargaining session [notes]; purpose, non-discrimination, and labor-management meetings discussed; a tentative agreement on labor-management meetings was signed
April 8 – eighth bargaining session [notes]; proposals on recognition, purpose, non-discrimination, and labor-management meetings discussed; a tentative agreement on recognition was signed
March 11 – seventh bargaining session [notes]; administration presents its full set of non-economic counter-proposals [proposal]
February 19 – sixth bargaining session [notes]; union presents its full set of economic proposals
January 29 – General Membership meeting held; on the agenda–bargaining proposals and discussion [agenda]
January 21 – Appellate Court upholds the IELRB’s certification of both CFA Local #6546 and the Uni High union [court ruling]
January 7 – fifth bargaining session [notes]; the union presents proposals, but encounters some obstacles from the administration; Spring bargaining dates are set
2014
December 11 – fourth bargaining session [notes]; Work In at the Illini Union, with a great turn out from membership
December 2 – CFA Local #6546 elects its first slate of officers; the results are posted on our elections page.
November 18 – CFA Local #6546 ratifies its constitution by an overwhelming majority!
November 10 – third bargaining session; the union attempts to move things forward, presenting more proposals [notes]
October 30 – second bargaining session; the union presents some of its proposal, though little progress is made [notes]
October 20 – Resolution 15.01 is approved in the UIUC Academic Senate, which addresses a subset of the union’s concerns over ongoing wage and promotion freezes [RS.15.01; see entry for September 19, below]
October 16 – Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board rules on behalf of union, ordering that the Illinois Attorney General’s office compel the University administration to address the ongoing wage freeze [order]
October 6 – complaint issued on behalf of the union by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, compelling the University administration to respond to the union’s Unfair Labor Practice charge and laying out a timeline, which may include mediation and/or a hearing [complaint]
October 3 – first bargaining session; the administration still does not accept the right of the union to represent faculty in the bargaining unit [notes]
October 1 – first General Membership Meeting (GMM) held; on the agenda–draft constitution, bargaining priorities, and open concerns
September 19 – administration agrees to give raises to non-tenure-track faculty who were promoted during the summer, yet received no salary increase; this action responds to a senate resolution (from union leaders who are also senators) that points out such promotion raises were promised during debate on the senate floor last spring [Resolution 15.01, and administration response]
September 15 – Appellate Court dismisses the administration’s September 5 request for a stay in bargaining [court ruling]
September 9 – union responds to administration’s email of September 5 by suggesting dates for bargaining in late September/early October
September 8 – Illinois Attorney General responds on behalf of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board to the administration’s request for a stay in bargaining [Attorney General’s statement]
September 5 – despite having asked the courts to prevent bargaining from taking place (see item below), the administration says it wants to identify “mutually agreeable dates and times for bargaining.” [email]
September 5 – administration notifies union that it has filed in appellate court to place a stay on bargaining (that is, to place bargaining on hold) with both CFA Local 6546 and with University High School teachers (who are affiliated with a different union, the NEA); administration wants the stay to be in effect until the court has decided on the administration’s previous claim that the union is not properly formed [see entries for August 5 and August 12, below]
September 3 – union lodges an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, alleging that the administration has denied raises to non-tenure-track faculty because they are now covered by collective bargaining while at the same time refusing to enter into bargaining; the union seeks immediate injunctive relief through action of the Illinois Attorney General’s office in state court [press release]
August 29 – administration responds with no new information, simply repeating from the letter of August 12 that it is willing to fulfil any bargaining obligations it “may have” under Illinois labor law; administration makes no response to the union’s insistence in the letter of August 13 that raises and promotions should go ahead under existing structures for 2014-2015 [letter]
August 13 – union demands that administration commit to bargaining; notes the administration is denying raises to faculty on the grounds that collective bargaining must take place, while simultaneously declining to commit to bargaining; says raises and promotions should go ahead under existing structures for 2014-2015 [letter]
August 12 – administration requests (in response to union’s letter of July 30) that bargaining should not begin, due to its ongoing court challenge to the union’s right to represent faculty in the bargaining unit [letter]
August 11 – union states publicly that it has no objection to the administration granting raises to NTT faculty under provisions of established salary programs for 2014-2015, before a full contract is negotiated [letter]
August 8 – administration says it will respond next week to the union’s letter of July 30 asking whether it is committed to bargaining with the union [email]
August 7 – union responds to provost’s mass email, pointing out that there “are no state statutes or rulings that would prevent the administration from continuing established pay raises and promotion structures” [letter]
August 5 – provost says in a mass email that the administration will not give raises to faculty in the bargaining unit until a contract is bargained with the union; also wrote that the university has challenged the certification of the union in state court [massmail]
July 30 – union asks university administration whether it is committed to bargaining with the union [letter]
July 28 – university administration responds with its contact details [letter]
July 18 – union establishes contact with university administration [letter]
July 9 – Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board certifies the non-tenure-track (NTT) bargaining unit as represented by Campus Faculty Association (CFA) Local 6546 [article]
Exclusion – although most NTT faculty are covered by the new bargaining unit, NTT faculty in the following colleges are not represented by the union: Law, Medicine at UIUC, and Veterinary Medicine.
June 16 – university administration announces 2.5% merit raise pool [massmail]
May 14 – filing of signed union cards at Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board [article]
April 28 – Provost announces new campus-wide minimum salary for non-visiting positions: $40,000/year for full-time 9-month appointments [massmail], based on benchmarking of salaries in Departments of Communication around the Big-10 [correspondence]
Spring semester – public events, organizing supporters, gathering signed union representation cards
Campus Faculty Association 