Union Condemns
Last-minute
Promises and
Retaliation against Union Activist
NORMAL, IL - Today,
Illinois Education Association-IEA/NEA
filed an unfair
labor practice with the Illinois Educational
Labor Relations
Board against Illinois
State University,
charging illegal interference in
employees' decision
about forming a union. President Victor
Boshini was named
in the charge.
"It's sad that
a few campus executives are spending so much
time and money
to fight their classroom instructors, who
just want a democratic,
fair, and effective
means of improving
their jobs," said Dr. Peter Miller, an
organizer with
the Illinois Education Association.
"Refusing to
re-hire a leading union supporter and
promising changes
for NTTs just as the election approaches
is clearly illegal.
We wish that the election could have
proceeded without
this interference," he added.
The unfair labor
practice charge is related to a union
election for
nontenure track (NTT) faculty, and it has two
components. First,
in recent weeks, ISU President
Victor Boschini
promised that the university will make
significant changes
in employment of nontenure track
faculty.
Boschini announced that the university will
establish a grievance
procedure, compile an employee
handbook--which
is the legal equivalent of a contract,
enforce previously
ignored rules requiring evaluation of
NTT faculty,
and make other changes.
"The university
has employed NTTs for decades, and they've
had concrete
recommendations for NTTs since 1997. And now,
just a few weeks
before the union
election, they're
promising all these changes," said Dr.
Sharon MacDonald,
a spokesperson for the ISU Nontenure Track
Faculty Association-IEA/NEA
and
30-year NTT faculty
member. "That plus all the money
they're spending
on outside attorneys shows pretty clearly
that they're
trying to convince us we don't need a
union.
A union is the only reason they're making these
promises, and
if we don't vote for a union, the promises
will disappear,
right along with President Boschini."
The second part
of the charge is related to the university's
stubborn refusal
to re-hire Dr. Gretchen Knapp, an outspoken
supporter of
the union. In October 2002,
Knapp won a grant
to improve undergraduate education in
ISU's Biological
Sciences department. However, attempts to
approve her appointment
have been
stymied by the
Provost's Office, including ISU vice
president of
Academic Administrative Services, Sharon
Stanford, and
the Provost's Office. Knapp has worked
at ISU since
1997, and has spoken out in the press and
before the Illinois
Board of Higher Education about the need
to improve pay,
job security, and working
conditions for
nontenure track faculty.
"This is the clearest
case possible of retaliation against a
union activist,"
said Miller. "ISU is saying to NTTs, 'We
have a carrot
and we have a stick.' We alone
have the power
to change your jobs, and we can punish you if
you step out
of line. We're saddened that Dr. Stanford and
the Provost's
Office are resorting to
these tactics.
The actions are illegal, and the IEA will
ensure that the
rights of all NTTs to make their own choice
are protected."
According to state
law, public education employees have the
right to form,
join or assist labor organizations without
fear of discrimination,
penalty or retaliation.
Public employers
like ISU are prohibited from interfering
with, restraining
or coercing an employee in the exercise of
the employee's
rights in labor organizing
activities.
State law also prohibits adverse employment
actions such
as failure to reemploy or rehire an employee
based upon union
activities.
"The actions of
a few administrators sends a bad message
about how our
university functions," MacDonald said. "Our
union is fighting
to guarantee nontenure-track
faculty their
rights, respect, and recognition. This is a
prime example
of standing up for one's rights."
The ISU Nontenure
Track Faculty Association-IEA/NEA began
organizing in
April 2002 in an effort to gain collective
bargaining rights
for nearly 40% of ISU's
classroom instructors.
They filed a petition for a union
election last
October, and are awaiting hearings to
determine who
will be able to participate in the union
election.
A union election is expected to take place before
the end of the
semester.
For
more information, contact:
Peter
Miller, IEA Organizer: (217) 637-5000
Gretchen
Knapp, NTTFA Member, (309) 378-5627
Sharon
MacDonald, NTTFA Spokesperson: (309) 376-5021