Faculty at Chicago State University walked off the job Apr. 3 after 10 months of failed negotiations between staff and administrators, WBEZ Chicago reported.
The faculty are negotiating and striking for better pay and reduced workloads. For the 2021-2022 school year, Chicago State professors earned an average of $88,000, $7,000 less than the average salary for Illinois public university professors, according to a report from the National Education Association.
“The professors put in the time and work. They work overtime — I’ve seen it,” said Muriel McClendon, a Chicago State graduate student who protested with faculty. “They are burning our professors out. And that’s one thing that you cannot do … I’m almost at a loss of how successful I will really be, if they have nothing else to give.”
More than 160 employees – professors, lecturers, and academic and technical support professionals – at Illinois’ only predominantly Black public university are represented by University Professors of Illinois Local 4100. Striking faculty were joined by students and leaders of the American and Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Union leaders also criticized Chicago State President Zaldwaynaka Scott’s pay – she earned $395,000 during fiscal year 2021 and she is one of the highest paid Illinois higher ed leaders.
“These regional institutions play a very important role,” said Dr. Robert Bruno, a professor of labor relations at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “And when they’re underfunded, or when the employer isn’t properly valuing the work of the educators inside their system, they’re also dismissing and having a negative impact on the student body that’s going to attend Chicago State.”
Chicago State has disputed the union's claims, arguing that faculty pay at the school hovers around the middle for Chicago public university faculty.
