February, 2015 Newsletter

I hope your semester has begun well.  As usual, things are busy for Faculty Association volunteers and activists, bringing up news on a number of fronts:

As you know, the SIU Board of Trustees has chosen not to appeal the bad-faith bargaining decision issued by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board in December.  The IELRB ruled that the SIUC Administration illegally imposed four furlough days on all IEA-Represented employees in spring of 2011.  The IELRB has ordered the Board of Trustees to repay all those employees who were furloughed at that time, including tenured and tenure-track Faculty.  The repayment process will be rather complicated, so the the three IEA locals involved—the Faculty Association, the Non Tenure Track Faculty Association, and the Association of Civil Service Employees—are calling a joint meeting to relay information and answer questions that you may have.  The meeting will be at noon on Wednesday, February 18.  You will receive a reminder, along with the location, soon.  Please come, and encourage your colleagues to attend as well.  In addition to the repayment of the furlough pay, the decision of the IELRB obligates the SIUC Administration to post the finding around campus.  The administration will post it in designated spots, but I am also attaching a copy of the posting to this email for your use.

Negotiations on a new contract have continued, with two days of meetings in December, and two in January.  We will be meeting about every other week throughout the semester.  Our meetings continue to be constructive and cordial.  Look for another joint statement from both bargaining teams soon.

Members of the Faculty Association are eligible to be nominated (or to self-nominate) as delegates to our national union’s annual Representative Assembly, or RA, which takes place this July 1 through 6 in Orlando, Florida.  The Representative Assembly is the national voting body for the NEA; it elects leaders and votes on policies.  Our local is allotted one delegate, and we can nominate people to run for the statewide delegation ballot administered by the IEA. The NEA RA is a very large gathering and would provide the opportunity to meet and work with educators and union activists from around the country, including people from Higher Education institutions.  If you are a member of the FA, and are interested in being nominated, please contact me at stocking.rachel@gmail.com.  The deadlines for nominations are February 11 for the statewide delegation, and February 13 for the local delegate.

In response to inquiries from tenured and tenure-track Faculty, we’ve been working on a list of non-contractual rights you are accorded by SIUC policies.  Here are the first two:

1. You cannot be required to do any work for the University if you are on Family Medical Leave or if you are on sabbatical.

2. There is a limit on the overload compensation you are allowed to receive in one year: 20% of your salary.  But you should know that this means 20% of your annualized salary—i.e., your monthly salary multiplied by 12, even if you are on a nine-month contract.  This does not apply to summer school pay.