The full Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (IELRB) has just certified the University of Illinois United Faculty as the representative of all faculty-- tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty-in a single bargaining unit.  What's that?  Didn't that already happen, you ask?  Why yes, yes it did. 

A quick review of the timeline will show that in late April 2011 a majority of faculty filed authorization cards signaling the desire to have UIC United Faculty represent them for the purposes of collective bargaining.  The UIC Board of Trustee filed a motion to dismiss in an attempt to split the union in two.  In late May the IELRB rejected that motion to dismiss.  Then in July the IELRB Administrative Law Judge rules that UIC United Faculty be certified as the exclusive representative for UIC faculty in a unit that combines both tenured and non-tenured faculty.  Not good enough for the UIC Board of Trustees which then filed an exception to the ruling which brings us to today where again, the IELRB rules that UIC should bargaining with UIC United Faculty on behalf of all faculty.

Will this one stick?  Perhaps third time will be the charm!  Or maybe, we will once again see the UIC Board of Trustees and administration choose to stall, delay and waste taxpayer dollars on litigation rather than sit down and bargain in good faith.

Regardless, we congratulate all of the faculty members at UIC for standing strong and standing together. 

Read the full press release below.

__________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dave Comerford (IFT)
Phone 217/544-8562

September 15, 2011

Union Wins, UIC United Faculty Demands to Bargain

CHICAGO-Today, the full Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (IELRB) ruled in favor of the faculty union at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), certifying the group as one bargaining unit. UIC United Faculty will immediately contact the administration to bargain a first contract.

In April of this year, representatives of UIC United Faculty jointly organized by the American Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, delivered hundreds of signed union authorization cards to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, more than the majority needed to certify the union under Illinois law. The faculty voted to have one union represent tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty.

Based on the Board's Certification, the UIC United Faculty will contact the University Administration to discuss how they can work together to strengthen the university and ensure that UIC continues to provide the highest quality education to its students. The union hopes that the administration will respect the will of the faculty and realize that collaboration through collective bargaining is the best avenue to achieve the University's mission of research, teaching, and service.

The Administration has said it plans to appeal any decision of the labor relations in the union's favor. UIC United Faculty considers the administration's commitment to endless legal appeals abusive and a misappropriation of student and taxpayer dollars.

"We have followed the law, and previous case law clearly shows that we have every legal right to be recognized as one union," said Lennard Davis, Distinguished Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UIC. "We call on the administration to work with us to strengthen our university."

For more information, visit http://www.uicunitedfaculty.org.