May 21, 2013
The Uni Faculty Organization (UFO) files a majority interest petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) to be recognized as a union, with a clear majority of cards signed by Uni faculty.
June 2013
UIUC objects to UFO’s petition, on the grounds that Uni faculty should be considered part of the presumptive bargaining unit of all non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty on campus.
December 9-10, 2013
A hearing is held before the IELRB Administrative Law Judge in Chicago. Several Uni teachers, past and present, testify regarding the significant differences between the working conditions of Teaching Associates at Uni and non-tenure-track faculty teaching in other units on the UIUC campus.
February 14, 2014
The Administrative Law Judge rules that UFO seeks to represent an appropriate bargaining unit and should be allowed to proceed. UIUC lawyers appeal the decision.
May 15, 2014
The full Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board concurs with the recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge and rules that UFO seeks to represent an appropriate bargaining unit with a unique community of interest, and that the petition to form a union was done per law and with no evidence of fraud or coercion. They direct that a certification be issued.
May 28, 2014
IELRB issues the certification for UFO.
June 24, 2014
UFO issues its first demand to bargain.
Dec 15, 2015
After almost 18 months of negotiations, a two-year contract is ratified and becomes effective as of August 16, 2014. The Bargaining Team successfully secures a 2.5% raise for all faculty, a one-time signing bonus of $500, storage of personnel files in the Academic Human Resources office and an individual’s access to their own personnel files, positions for two faculty members on the Uni High Strategic Visioning Task Force, no more than 185 work days in a year, protection of academic freedom, and a grievance process.
August 2017
UFO’s 2015-2017 contract is renewed for one year per UFO’s request.
March 2018
UFO issues a demand to bargain.
October 23, 2018
UFO membership ratifies a five-year contract after six months of negotiations. The bargaining team secures 2% raises for all Teaching Associates as well as $57,000 of new money that is equitably distributed among the faculty in order to adjust for wage compression. This new money results in $10,000 salary adjustments for some faculty. The bargaining team also negotiates new contractual language that guarantees increased transparency around the availability of new positions, regular communication between the union and Uni administration, and the right to reopen the contract to renegotiate wages in 2021. A Memorandum of Understanding also agrees to the formation of a UFO and University joint committee that would propose a promotional pathway for professional advancement at Uni High.
April 19, 2019
Representatives from the UFO and University officially form the Joint Committee on Promotional Opportunities for Uni Faculty and are charged with designing a promotional system for Uni High Teaching Associates, as per the MOU in their 2018-2023 collective bargaining agreement.
February 21, 2020
UFO forms the Committee to Review Non-stipend Paying Labor, which is charged with inventorying unpaid work at Uni High and recommending the creation of stipend-paying positions to the Director.
June 30, 2020
UFO submits their demand to reopen negotiations around wages.
August 6, 2020
UFO submits a demand to bargain the impacts of the U of I’s health and safety measures around COVID-19.
September 21, 2020
Following recommendations from UFO’s Committee to Review Non-stipend Paying Labor, the union submits a proposal to create 19 new stipend-paying positions that will compensate Uni faculty for work they currently perform at the school. This proposal results in the creation of 5 new positions and $5,300 in new stipend money in the 2021-2022 academic year.
January 7, 2021
In coordination with the Uni High Health and Safety Task Force, UFO signs a Memorandum of Agreement with the University that provides health and safety protections for teachers, students, and broader campus and Champaign-Urbana communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The MOA also minimizes disruptions to teachers’ working conditions during the remote learning period and remains a guiding document through the pandemic’s first two years.
June 30, 2022
UFO submits a second proposal to create nine more new stipend-paying positions at Uni High. The proposal results in the creation of three new stipend-paying positions and $4,930 in new stipend money in the 2022-2023 academic year.
July 22, 2022
After more than three years of negotiation with the University on the Joint Committee on Promotional Opportunities for Uni Faculty, UFO membership ratifies a Memorandum of Agreement that creates a promotional system for Uni High faculty. The system provides a pathway for professional advancement based on lab mission work as well as $3,000 and $4,000 base salary increases for teachers who receive promotion. It also realigns the salaries of Teaching Associates who had not previously been compensated for their completion of advanced degrees in their field while employed at Uni High and guarantees that such salary adjustments will automatically happen for future teachers. Concluding the 2021 wage reopener, the MOA’s ratification also secures 2% raises for all faculty for the 2021-2022 academic year, to be retroactively paid, and 3.5% raises for 2022-2023.
April 10, 2023
UFO submits a third proposal that revisits four previously rejected new stipend-paying positions at Uni High.
Uni Faculty Organization 