SIUC, Faculty Association reach tentative accord

Negotiating teams for SIUC and the SIUC Faculty Association reached a tentative agreement Thursday night on a new four-year contract.

Representatives of both teams held a joint news conference Friday, Feb. 16, to announce the details. The proposed contract requires ratification by the Faculty Association membership and approval of the SIU Board of Trustees.

Gary Kolb, the spokesperson for the University's bargaining team, noted negotiations on previous contracts "have never taken less than a year." The first bargaining session was on June 12, 2006.

"This 'across-the-table' settlement represents an historic first in contract negotiations," said Kolb, associate dean in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts. "Both parties attribute this in part to the dialogue and the commitment to civility and courtesy brought to the table in negotiations."

Kolb also said both negotiating teams shared several goals throughout the talks, including increasing faculty salaries to address issues of compression and parity, ensuring faculty and administration rights and developing better mechanisms for communication.

"We are pleased that negotiations proceeded in a positive manner," he said. "Both bargaining teams have spent hundreds of hours in these negotiations and deserve the University community's thanks. This is a very positive moment for the University."

Interim Chancellor John M. Dunn applauded the efforts of both bargaining teams.

"I congratulate both teams for this successful outcome," he said. "Both made a conscious and conscientious effort to advocate and to listen."

The tentative agreement calls for:

• A 3 percent across-the-board salary increase for fiscal 2007, retroactive to July 1, 2006. Also, the University will commit an additional $250,000 for distribution to all faculty based on an equity formula to address parity/salary compression.

• For fiscal 2008, the greater of 3 percent or the average amount the Board of Trustees approves for salary increases to non-represented employees, distributed 66 percent across the board and 34 percent merit. An additional $500,000 will be distributed to all faculty, based on an equity formula, to address parity/salary compression.

• For fiscal 2009, the greater of 3 percent or the average amount the Board of Trustees approves for salary increases to non-represented employees, distributed 66 percent across the board and 34 percent merit. An additional $1 million will be distributed to all faculty, based on an equity formula, to address parity/salary compression.

• For fiscal 2010, the greater of 3.5 percent or the average amount the Board of Trustees approves for salary increases to non-represented employees, distributed 50 percent across the board and 50 percent merit. An additional $1.5 million will be distributed to all faculty, based on an equity formula, to address parity/salary compression.

- Tom Woolf