Update On Our Negotiations With UIUC

Members vote to authorize our bargaining team to call a strike if mediation fails.

Frustrated with the pace of their contract negotiation with the University of Illinois, SEIU Local 73/119 recently took an action that could lead its members out on strike later this year. Members in both bargaining units negotiating now – Building Service and Food Service -- voted 91% YES to authorize a strike if the bargaining reaches an impasse. Union members have been working without a contract since the end of July 2006, when the last contract expired.

The Union feels that the University is not making a good faith effort at the bargaining table to move ahead and resolve the major issues. The last several bargaining sessions have been frustrating and going nowhere.

By law, the next step in this process for the Union is to file a request for federal mediation. Before any strike action could be taken, the law requires that the mediation process be undertaken and followed down.

“If things don’t go well with mediation, then the bargaining team will decide whether or not to call a strike. There’s still room for solving things through negotiations, and we hope a strike will not be needed,” said Larry Duvall, President of Chapter 119.

The main sticking points between the Union and UIUC have to do with wages and the bidding system. The University has offered members a 2.5 percent raise, but the raise would not be retroactive. After the Union rejected that flat out, the University came back with 2.5 percent plus retro, and a signing bonus we thought was a slap in the face.

SEIU Local 73 represents about 700 University employees who work as linen maids, mail messengers, food service workers, and building service workers. Union members do all the things necessary to daily living on campus – cleaning the dorms, preparing meals for students and staff, etc.