(CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) – Illinois State University non-teaching staff returned to work Wednesday after ratifying a new contract to end a monthlong strike. 

AFSCME Local 1110, the union representing more than 300 building services, grounds, dining services and other ISU employees, said more than 95% of them approved the five-year contract.

The new contract gives workers an immediate lump sum payment of $1,500 and an immediate 3.5% wage increase, plus annual raises of 3% every July 1 through 2029 until the contract expires on June 30, 2030. The union had sought retroactive pay increases to July 1 last year and annual raises equal to university administrators. 

“In the end, the lump-sum ratification payment in this agreement is greater than the value of a retroactive pay increase for the average member of Local 1110, and even more valuable for lower-paid workers,” the union said in a statement. 

Strikebreaker lawsuit

The union had sued the university and accused it of violating state law for hiring strikebreakers at higher wages than the striking employees. The union agreed to drop the suit and unfair labor charges, according to its statement.

“The terms of this agreement were available to ISU management on February 10, when union members voted down the university’s takeaway demands, and on April 7, when we met with the mediator before our strike deadline,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “Instead, management chose a path of conflict and division that brought hardship to workers, disruption to students and a stain on ISU’s name.”

The workers went on strike on April 8, and the resolution of the walkout comes following heightened scrutiny in Springfield and in the Illinois governor’s race. 

Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey took part in a picket on the campus in Normal late last month, and on April 28, Gov. JB Pritzker called on the university to return to the negotiating table and criticized the use of strikebreakers. At the time, the university said it had made its final offer. 

That same day, Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule faced heavy scrutiny in a Senate appropriations committee. 

“The University appreciates the efforts made by both bargaining teams as they worked late into the night to reach this agreement, which reflects a collective commitment to moving forward together,” Tarhule said in a statement. “I encourage our campus community to unite in the spirit of collaboration, respect all individuals’ rights and choices, and work to heal differences of opinion, real or perceived, so that we may reestablish our sense of shared values and mission.” 

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