Catherwood LibraryILR School

After working without a contract for twelve months, and having their offer to submit to binding arbitration turned down, the nearly 400 members of the Faculty Association (FA) at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale Campus began voting today on whether to hold what would be the first strike at a four-year college in Illinois history. The decision to hold the two-day vote came after the faculty's bargaining team voted four to one to recommend that the FA delegate assembly and membership reject the university's "last" offer including a one-year wage freeze and a 7.5 percent raise over the subsequent three years of a four year contract. Although the offered raise fell far short of the salary demands of the faculty members---who make almost ten percent less than the average for public university professors in Illinois---the FA appeared more outraged by the administration's rejection of binding arbitration and refusal to give faculty members a greater say in hiring decisions.