upi annual report 2010

UPI Local 4100University Professionals of Illinois | Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO | 2010 Annual Report

WE WERE THERE. At the Illinois House hearings on education reform in Aurora Dec. 17, 2010,UPI President Ellie Sullivan confers with activists, Mark Sudeith from CSU, Steve Frankel from NEIU and Jamie Daniel of IFT.

• 11 million members internationally

• Teachers & truck drivers• Musicians & miners

• Firefighters & farm workers

• And many others

• 2,700 members.• Faculty, instructors, staff,

IT and professional tech personnel and graduate employees.

• Representing 7 of the 12 Illinois public universities.

• The collective bargaining leader in Illinois higher education.

• 1.4 million members; 3,000 local affiliates; 43 state affiliates

• Pre-K - 12th-grade teachers; paraprofes-sionals / school-related

personnel; higher ed fac-ulty & professional staff; government employees; nurses / healthcare pro-fessionals.

ILLINOIS FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

You are here☛

You are hereYour campus

CSU • EIU • GSU • NEIU • NIU • UIS • WIU

UPI Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIOCollective Bargaining • Grievance Protection • Legislative Muscle

and again,

You are here

☛ And here And here, too

☛

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR - Congress of Industrial Organizations

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

• 103,000 members • Teachers and paraprofessionals;

faculty and staff at community

colleges and universities; public employees; and retirees.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONALS OF ILLINOIS Local 4100

☛ ☛

CONTENTS

President Ellie Sullivan on the state of the State of Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3Our Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8Chair of the Trustees Lydia Morrow Ruetten on policies and reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9IFT Field Service Director Dave Beck on the status of negotiations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Secretary-Treasurer Hank Davis on the budget balancing act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Executive Vice President David Carpenter on defending our contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13Legislative Chair John Miller on UPI’s aggressive political stance . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-152010 House of Delegates . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17Telling Our Story: Chronology of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-20

2010 UPI Annual Report • 1

Fall 2010 UPI Local 4100 Executive Board

Ellie SullivanUPI President

[email protected]

David CarpenterUPI Exec. Vice President

dcarpenter @upilocal4100.org

Hank DavisUPI Secretary-Treasurer

[email protected]

Normajean NieburUPI Recording Secretary

[email protected]

John AllisonEIU President

[email protected]

Jonathan BlitzEIU Rep

[email protected]

Jennifer CarterUIS-AGE President jennifer.carter6

@gmail.com

Ann ColeActing UIS [email protected]

Sandy FloodNIU President

sandyflood @gmail.com

Steve FrankelNEIU Rep stevef670

@gmail.com

Jeff HancksWIU Repjhancks

@hotmail.com

Marsha KatzGSU President

marshakatz @ameritech.net

John MillerWIU President

jmiller @upilocal4100.org

Normajean Niebur

UIS [email protected]

Rich SampleWIU-PT President

[email protected]

Terry SchuepferNEIU President

t-schuepfer @comcast.net

Stacey ShortNIU Rep

stacey_short @hotmail.com

Mark SudeithCSU Rep

[email protected]

Laurie WalterCSU Presidentl_walter624 @yahoo.com

University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100 is affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.

The UPI office is located at 11 E. Adams, Suite 1106, Chicago, IL 60603.Phone: 312-663-5916Fax: 312-663-3833Web site: http://il.aft.org/041000/

This publication was edited by Mary Durkin, communications director.

2 • 2010 UPI Annual Report

Our Legislative Director John Miller, president of the WIU / UPI Chapter, and myself, were elected as two of the 40 IFT vice presidents.

The IFT is collaborating with the Il-linois Education Association to take on the issue of educational reform in Illinois. UPI, backed up by the IFT, has urged state leaders to include faculty and staff in any plans for educational reform. Indeed, the IFT and IEA lead-ership worked during the winter holi-days to develop alternatives to what some legislators have proposed. The result is a proposal called “Account-ability for All” and provides for plan-ning and measurement at all levels. Take a look at it on the IFT website, http://ift-aft.org.

Our colleges of education at UPI uni-versities can help with the education reform effort. The problems of educa-tion are NOT tenure and seniority. Indeed, in most professions experi-ence is celebrated. Experienced practi-tioners must mentor the newly hired, using their experience to assist and to advise new teachers. Instead of “re-inventing the wheel,” let’s use what already works.

UPI members who study and teach ed-ucation can help with the reform effort. We can help provide solid, concrete im-provement in our educational system based on sound research. If teachers need improvement, let’s focus on meth-ods to develop their abilities. As many of you are aware, 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. Teaching is tough and de-manding, but the rewards are great. As President Obama said in his State of the Union address in January, “If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.” New teachers

2010 has been a year of ups and downs — and ups again. The tax increase, which this state so desperately needs, was the final action of the outgoing 96th Illinois General Assembly in the early hours of Jan. 12. With it, Illinois can begin to regain our financial footing and to pay our bills. If you haven’t already done so, please thank your legislators who voted for the tax increase. And if your legislators opposed the tax increase, don’t be antagonistic. We are redoubling our efforts to con-vince them that increasing taxes was the right thing to do. We will need their support on other issues, as well. So let’s look to the future and work together to change their minds.

President Ellie Sullivan

See how legislators voted at http://il.aft.org/041000/ “Tax Increase: How Your Legislator Voted.”

And talk about working together, UPI representatives attended conventions of the American Federation of Teach-ers (July), AFL-CIO Illinois (October) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (October).

The AFT convention gave us an op-portunity to better understand the national landscape for both education and legislation and to exchange ideas and issues with colleagues nation-wide.

Our participation in AFL-CIO Illinois helps maintain our Labor coalitions, just as many of you are part of coali-tions of unions in your hometowns.

And the news out of the IFT is a change in leadership as President Ed

Geppert retired. We elected officers, all of whom have long resumes of educa-tion credentials and union activism:

• President Dan Montgomery, presi-dent of the North Suburban Teachers Union, Local 1274, and an English teacher for 18 years at Niles North High School, Skokie;

• Executive Vice President (this is a new position) Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1, and a high school chemistry teacher;

• Secretary-Treasurer Marcia Boone, president of the Southwestern Illinois Federation of Teachers, Local 6600, and an accounting specialist at South-western Illinois College, in Down-state Belleville.

The 2010 tax increasewas the right thing


need the resources, support and mentoring to change the world, not to change careers.

In higher education, ac-countability must include measurements that make access available to students from varying backgrounds and levels of preparation. Any measures of success must include these ele-ments. Our faculty and staff must be part of the plan-ning, they must provide relevant research, and they must mentor our new col-leagues. In most places these experiences are al-ready in place. Let’s use the “best practices” available to us to further improve our workplaces. Working to-gether we can provide a sol-id foundation for planning and measurement based upon real, concrete concepts and research that shows us what works.

We also need to do a better job of communicating our successes and our beliefs. Currently our critics focus on schoolhouse horror stories. I’m sure you have read them. Let’s not just cel-ebrate the many successes of our universities but let’s disseminate them as well.

For example, tell your state and federal legislators what we are doing right; your UPI legislative representa-tives will help you focus and direct the message. Write a letter to the editor when you see a particularly egregious story in your local

newspaper; we’ll be happy to help you on that as well.

Take a minute to respond to an alert we may send you asking you to contact your legislators.

These things DO make a difference. Your elected union leaders can and do communicate with the members of the Illinois Legislature, but the notes and letters you send and the phone calls you make are much more important. In this way you develop a relationship with your leg-islators; then when we need their assistance, you can easily make that call.

At the January Illinois Sen-ate hearings on education reform, legislators com-mented on the number of letters and calls they had received on the issue of educational reform. As an

informed voice, you help shape the conversation and the legislation.

The past year has been a time for building coalitions, working with our legislators and working to mobilize our membership:

• UPI participation in the AFT Union Leadership last summer, with members attending legislative work-shops, grievance work-shops and a workshop on “mobilizing for power.”

• UPI participation in the IBHE Higher Education Finance Reform Study Commission.

• UPI participation in the College Affordability Sum-mit.

• Our continuing attention to the Illinois House of Representatives and the

Illinois Senate hearings on education reform.

• And don’t forget that UPI was part of the larg-est rally in Springfield history. About 100 to 200 of you were there on that absolutely gorgeous day in April. I know it was one of your busiest times, and I am so proud you were there.

We will continue to ask YOU to mobilize this com-ing year. Come help us. Make a phone call, write a legislator, sign an online petition. If you have a little more time, join a UPI com-mittee and help us expand our existing efforts to build programs that we are proud of and that will continue to grow and improve.

Always remember YOU are the union. Together we can do great things.

UPI Local 4100 President Ellie Sullivan introduc-es the candidates — soon to be the new IFT lead-ership — to UPI delegates to the IFT convention in October. Speaking at a breakfast meeting are

Karen Lewis, who was elected IFT executive vice president; Dan Montgomery, who was elected IFT President; Marcia Boone, who was elected IFT secretary-treasurer; and Sullivan.

President Laurie Walter

[email protected]

Representing faculty, staff, IT

Located on the South Side of Chicago, 9501 S. King Drive

Our Chapters . . .


DOMINATING THE YEAR were layoffs of our members in late March / early April 2010. Initially, nine bargaining unit members were af-fected; the jobs of five were restored; one resigned; and currently, three are laid off, pending the outcome of their (and our) grievances. To say that this has negatively affected morale is an understatement.

One college has been reorganized and a plan would eliminate one ma-jor; people understandably are wor-ried about their futures. Negotiations continue and show no signs of a resolution. We plan to con-tinue to refuse the administration’s more egregious proposals. The dis-content among members is sufficient

that we will be able to do so. Members who can are retiring and seem to be enjoying themselves.

And, on a sad note, two former mem-bers died this year, Phyllis Swanson of Physical Education and Julian Scheinbuks of Biological Sciences and Distance Learning.

THE GSU CHAPTER SIGNED its 2009-2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement in May 2010.

GSU replaced trimesters with semes-ters, which enables Unit A faculty to decline summer teaching. Summer teaching for Unit A, however, will be compensated at a negotiated rate.

Another change comes in the Ex-cellence Award. Three awards of $6,000 will replace up to 10 percent

of the bargaining unit receiving $750. While the total dollar amount is similar to the past, distribution is quite different.

During the year we had several open meetings with refreshments in the Atrium of the Faculty Office Building. At the first one after the contract was signed, we made a toast to continuing relationships.

Several issues remain unresolved.

Joint task groups continue to negoti-ate these issues:• Minima, which have not been up-

dated for at least 15 years. • CUE guidelines. • Language dealing with the newly

created clinical doctoral programs. • Compensation for program coordi-

nators.

Other plans are to continue grow-ing membership and our executive board and to recruit more activists.

Chicago State University

President Marsha Katz

[email protected]

Representing faculty, staff

Located in University Park, a south suburb of Chicago

BY THE NUMBERS5,674 students enrolled (49.2% undergrads; 50.8% grads)Retention rate (GSU does not accept freshmen)Top undergrad programs by degrees awarded:

1. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities (ranked 1 last year)2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies

(ranked 2 last year)3. Education (ranked 5 last year)4. Psychology (not ranked among top 5 last year)5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting &

Related Services (not in top five last year)

Governors State University

BY THE NUMBERS7,235 students enrolled (74.6% undergrads; 25.4% grads)58% one-year retention rate for full-time, first-time studentsTop undergrad programs by degrees awarded:

1. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities (ranked 1 last year)2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies

(ranked 4 last year)3. Psychology (ranked 3 last year)4. Health Professions & Related Studies (ranked 2 last year)5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting &

Related Services (not ranked among top 5 last year)

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MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Reached contract agreement: Chief negotiator Jon Blitz and our team reached a tentative agree-ment Dec. 13. The two-year con-tract includes across-the-board increases, guaranteed multi-year contracts for qualifying ACFs, an agreement that furloughs cannot occur without campuswide finan-cial exigency and more.

• Continued successful political education and action: Members contacted Gov. Quinn and legisla-tors to protect pensions, promote higher-education funding and preserve union rights. Thank you to our Political Action and Legislative Committee, chaired by Richard Wandling. This group also hosted campus Q&As and timely public forums.

• Upheld political expression as component of academic freedom: With our support, Eastern’s Trust-ees Jan. 22 approved language on academic freedom, including our right to communicate views to state government, to display po-litical buttons, stickers or patches and to attend partisan rallies. AFT On Campus magazine featured the story in a spring issue.

• Produced successful resolutions: The IFT approved three EIU reso-lutions: 1) support for a graduated state income tax, 2) pension fund-ing and a single-payer health-care system, and 3) the prevention of supernaturalism from being pre-sented as science. The National Center for Science Education wishes to publish the evolution and science resolution written by Gary and Ann Fritz.

MAJOR GOALS

• Increase membership: About 30 percent of bargaining-unit mem-bers are fair-share members. A 5 percent gain in “full” membership over the next year is an ambitious goal at EIU.

• Maintain commitment to and enthusiasm for bargaining: Our new contract will expire in August 2012. We must strive to motivate members to continue focusing on and working for long-term gains.

• Continued high level of politi-cal action: We must continue to inform and motivate colleagues so that they act swiftly to oppose leg-islation aimed against them and to support legislation favorable to their interests and the people of Illinois.



1. Education (ranked 1 last year)2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies

(ranked 2 last year)3. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness Studies (ranked 4 last

year)4. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities (ranked 5 last year)5. Communication, Journalism & Related Studies (not

ranked among top 5 last year)

Information taken from the IBHE 2010 Data Book

President John Allison217-581-6978

[email protected]


Located In Charleston, 175 miles south of Chicago

Eastern Illinois University

Chicago State UPI members gather on campus for a member-ship meeting in November.

Governors State UPI members enjoy one of the faculty / staff parties on campus, this one in late October.


1. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies (ranked 1 last year)

2. Health Professions & Related Studies (ranked 4 last year)3. Social Sciences (ranked 2 last year)4. Education (ranked 3 last year)5. Communication, Journalism & Related Studies (ranked 5 last year)

Information taken from the Illinois Board of Higher Education 2010 Data Book

President Sandy Flood

815-753-1302 [email protected]

Representing instructors

Located in DeKalb

NIU INSTRUCTORS WILL scru-tinize our 17-year-old Collective Bargaining Agreement for confusion and misinterpretation. We have listed language improvements and will survey our 200 members for ideas. Our trained negotiators will be ready to start in May.

In October, NIU President Peters

announced a 2.5 percent across-the-board raise for all employees, effec-tive Jan. 1. Because of the uncertain economy, our raises have been con-nected to any legislative appropria-tions for the last two contracts.

Other concerns are nonsexual harass-ment; computers for all instructors; and workload complaints.

We want to revise service report lan-guage to replace written evaluations with Digital Measures. Several instruc-tors will pilot the program this year.

We continue to build membership by active communications. John Dickerman, grievance officer, and I troubleshoot difficult issues each week to service members better.


JANUARY 2010 BROUGHT a third calendar year to the ongoing contract negotiations. We began in May 2008 using an Interest-Based Bargaining approach and continued until the end of 2009 when the IBB approach was abandoned and a traditional bargain-ing structure adopted in January 2010. Jamie Daniel, an IFT field ser-vice director, became lead negotiator and the administration hired an exter-nal law firm to represent the adminis-tration’s interests. Negotiations were scheduled weekly throughout spring and summer, and as fall approached it became clear that little progress was

being made. Federal mediation began October 2010 and continues in 2011.

Most NEIU chapter activities focused on organizing members to take action at both a local and state levels. In-formation tables were set up weekly for members and students to collect the most recent releases from the IFT, UPI Local 4100 and the chapter. Social gatherings were held off campus and a Halloween party for UPI members and NEIU students gave everyone a chance to share stories and admire the “Death of Public Education” altar cre-ated by Art Club students. UPI mem-

bers attended three NEIU Board of Trustees meeting and voiced concern about the length of contract negotia-tions. These meetings were stand-ing room only; the last meeting was moved to an auditorium to accom-modate the hundreds of members in attendance. Our members spoke pas-sionately to the NEIU Trustees about their shared commitment to higher education, the university and most of all, our students. Mediation continues and some progress has been achieved. NEIU / UPI members remain confi-dent that a successful resolution will be achieved in the near future.

President Terry Schuepfer

[email protected]


Located on the North Side of Chicago, 5500 N. St. Louis

BY THE NUMBERS11,631 students enrolled (79.0% undergrads: 21% grads)85% one-year retention rate for full-time, first-time studentsTop undergrad programs by degrees awarded:

1. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies (ranked 1 last year)

2. Education (ranked 2 last year)3. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities (ranked 3 last year)4. Social Sciences (ranked 5 last year)5. Communication, Journalism & Related Studies (not in top five

last year)


Northeastern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University


Staff ChapterRepresenting cleri-

cal and building service workers

and pro-techs

Located 200 miles southeast of

Chicago

President Jennifer [email protected]

BY THE NUMBERS4,977 students enrolled (79.0% undergrads:

21% grads)85% one-year retention rate for full-time,

first-time studentsTop undergrad programs by degrees

awarded:1. Business, Management, Marketing &

Related Studies (ranked 1 last year)2. Education (ranked 2 last year)3. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities

(ranked 3 last year)4. Social Sciences (ranked 5 last year)5. Communication, Journalism & Related

Studies (not in top five last year)

Taken from the Illinois Board of Higher Education 2010 Data Book

University of Illinois Springfield Association of Graduate

Employees Chapter

Representing graduate

employees

President Normajean Niebur217-206-6301 • [email protected]

ANYONE FOLLOWING the news headlines or the cable talking heads is, by now, well aware that we, public employee retirees (present and future) are the favored villains of the political right wing and mass media. We’ve been identified as recipients of “exorbitant” and “undeserved” pensions that are guaranteed for life, while our private sector neighbors have to abandon even a hope of retir-ing with economic dignity.

Combating these false-hoods and pension class warfare attacks has been a persistent and, admittedly, less than perfectly success-ful effort on the part of UPI, its retirees, the Illinois Federation of Teachers

and our organized labor allies during the past year. The public and political assault on our pension system has been orchestrated by private sector corporate and business interests that are determined to destroy the defined benefit systems, which are still avail-able to public employees.

UPI and the Retiree Chapter have worked with our allies in the efforts to provide accurate information

about the state of Illinois State Universities Retirement System and the need to pro-vide adequate funding to all state services. By passing an

income tax increase and authoriza-tion to borrow the $3.7 billion owed to our pension systems, the General Assembly has finally started to seri-ously address its fiscal mess.

The goal for our chapter has been to “re-union” as many of our members on each campus as are interested. We have developed a team of campus liaisons, who have been instrumental in developing social and informa-tional events on campus. At Eastern Illinois, Audrey Edwards organized an informational meeting for retirees and near-retirees alike. Howie Silver at Chicago State and Judy Lewis at Governors State hosted luncheons that attracted recent and past UPI re-tirees alike. At Northeastern, Ed Hunt set up a luncheon that included a memorial for a recently deceased col-league, Dr. Shirley A. Castelnuovo.

I continue to work with our chapter officers, Maurine Magliocco of WIU and Mary Ann Schwartz of NEIU to develop new approaches to making UPI a useful and enjoyable part of the retired stage of our lives.

President John Murphy

312-663-5916, [email protected]

Representing retired UPI faculty and staff

Retiree Chapter

NEIU retiree members share lunch on campus. Former President Ed Hunt acts as NEIU campus liaison.


Pro-Techs Chapter

Representing pro-techs

Located in Macomb, west of Springfield,

north of St. Louis

President John Miller309-333-0520

[email protected]

Western Illinois University

Faculty Chapter

Representing faculty and

staff

President Rich Sample309-298-2600

[email protected]

WE WOULD LIKE to offer our sup-port to our colleagues at Chicago State, Northeastern and UIS as you continue to negotiate your contracts. We understand the challenges you face and are willing to provide as-sistance if so requested. On behalf of my members, we stand in solidar-ity as you work to ensure a qual-ity workplace and institution. We would also like to offer our congrat-ulations to Eastern on successfully negotiating a tentative agreement.

On our campus during the past year, we have focused on implementing our contract extension, reaching out to the community and consolidating our bargaining units into one chapter.

After months of discussion, we have developed what we think is a work-able and fair personal achievement award for our Unit B Academic Sup-port Professionals. This program provides a means for our ASPs to have the quality of their work recog-nized and valued by the university. Though it took many months to develop, this will provide a strong

benefit to all of our Unit B members in the years to come.

In addition to continuing to pro-vide informational sessions on our campuses, we began a community outreach program in our surround-ing communities. Through a program called UPI Cares, we regularly send volunteer members into the commu-nity to assists groups providing food relief to those in need. Thus far, we have participated in three such out-reach attempts since the start of the academic year. More than 60 mem-bers have taken leave time to distrib-ute food in cooperation with Catholic Charities mobile food bank. This ef-fort has not only provided a vital ser-vice to our community but also has engaged members who have not been engaged in the past. We are planning to extend this program in the next several months.

Finally, we recently concluded our efforts to unify the UPI bargain-ing units at WIU into

one chapter. The addition of the Pro-Tech bargaining unit brings more than 45 bargaining unit mem-bers, all civil service employees, into our chapter. We hope this will provide these members with addi-tional support and strength. We are negotiating a new contract for this bargaining unit. Despite initial slow progress, we have recently made progress, though more hard work is in our future. Additionally, we are actively engaging these bargaining unit members to encourage them to sign their membership cards. This several-months-long campaign has had some initial success.

BY THE NUMBERS12,679 students enrolled (83.2%

undergrads; 6.8% grads)74% one-year retention rate for full-time,

first-time studentsTop 5 undergrad programs by degrees

awarded:1. Business, Management, Marketing

& Related Studies (ranked 2 last year)

2. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting & Related Services (ranked 1 last year)

3. LA & S, Gen Studies, Humanities (ranked 3 last year)

4. Education (ranked 4 last year)5. Communication, Journalism &

Related Studies (ranked 5 last year)


WIU / UPI Chapter President John Miller helps unload a truck, assisting in community outreach in the Macomb

area. More than 60 UPI members have volunteered to help distribute food for a mobile food bank.


Trustees / Audit Committee Chair Lydia Morrow Ruetten

Focus on policies, review of bylaws; thanks to officers for taking pay cut

Policy review

A review of the policies has been ongoing in 2010. Research continues on the travel and salaries policy. When all policies have been reviewed, trustees will make recommendations and for-ward them to the Local Ex-ecutive Board for approval.

Constitution/Bylaws Review Committee

A committee is review-ing the Constitution and Bylaws. The UPI attorney has reviewed the docu-ments, stating no changes are needed. There is interest in adding representation from University of Illinois Springfield and Northern Illinois University to the Trustees/Audit Committee, and language for special elections. When the com-mittee has concluded its work, UPI membership will vote to accept the changes. Members of the commit-

tee include: Hank Davis, Sandy Flood, Marsha Katz, John Murphy and Lydia Morrow Ruetten as chair.

Budget

Because of Illinois’ budget situation in 2010, trustees considered the UPI budget.

We discussed the need for a line of credit for the Local in case the universities are unable to make payments in the near future. The cost to set up a $100,000 line of credit is $300 and $50 per year to maintain it. The purpose of this loan is for liquidity and not to finance operations. The Local 4100 Executive Board approved this March 7, 2010.

The Trustees reviewed and accepted the audit report in July. Concerns were raised as to the fiscal sustainabil-ity of the Local. The largest expenses are travel and per-sonnel. Both an AFT and an

IFT convention were held in 2010 with an estimated cost of $65,000. A reduction in adjuncts, layoffs and fewer faculty further reduces the income.

Trustees supported reduc-tions to officer and staff sala-ries beginning Sept. 1 and commended the officers and the director of communica-

tions for “taking one for the team.”

Retirement

Yvonne Morris retired from CSU in January, after more than 34 years. We commend Yvonne for her service as a trustee and her commitment to UPI. Thanks, Yvonne, we wish you the best!

TRUSTEES / AUDIT COMMITTEE: ROW 1: Sophia Mihic, NEIU;

Lydia Morrow Ruetten, GSU and trustees chair; Martha Klems, WIU.

ROW 2: Yvonne Morris, CSU; Charles Delman, EIU; Ellie Sullivan,

UPI Local 4100 president; Hank Davis, UPI Local 4100 secretary-

treasurer.

UPI Local 4100 Staff

Dave BeckIFT Field Service Director

Jamie DanielIFT Field Service Director

Mary DurkinUPI Communications

Kathy McConnellUPI Programming

Tamara MorrisFinancial Assistant

Pat TracyOffice Assistant


IFT Field Service Director Dave Beck

Negotiations complete at EIU, WIU; continuing at the chapters at UIS

UIS Support Staff The UIS Support Staff has been ne-gotiating since the fall of 2010. Issues include pay, handling of job vacancies, overtime procedures and improved benefits.

UIS Association of Graduate Employees UIS-AGE has also been negotiating since the fall of 2010. Issues for them include pay (which is the lowest of any unionized graduate employees in the state of Illinois), compensatory time, health insurance and other benefits.

EIU A two-year tentative agreement was signed Dec. 13, and ratified Feb. 16. The agreement includes across-the-board increases in both years as well as improvements in Academic Support Professionals hiring lanes, multi-year contracts and protections for Annually Contracted Faculty against erosion of the unit by graduate assistants, among other gains.

The two sides also agreed to reopen negotiations in the future to discuss furloughs, if the university declares financial exigency.

WIU The Pro-Tech and Faculty/ASP chap-ters have merged. So our negotiating team includes members of both the Pro-Tech unit and the entire chapter.

Issues include overall pay, establish-ment of pay minima and improved benefits. The team feels it’s made some progress recently, and we feel good about our upcoming bargaining date.

No information was received from IFT Service Director Jamie Daniel, who supports Chicago-area schools.

Demonstrations in Wisconsin continue as Tea Party Gov. Scott Walker is trying to push through legisla-tion that threatens collective bargaining rights there.

Tens of thousands of public employees jammed the Capitol in Madison, including Illinois activists like Ja-mie Daniel, IFT field service director, who took these photos, and Gary Fritz from EIU.

Demonstrations were expected in Columbus Feb. 22 as the Ohio Legislature had scheduled hearings on a bill that would end collective bargaining there, as well.

“What happens in these states could set a precedent that threatens the very soul of the American Labor Movement,” said UPI President Ellie Sullivan.

IFT President Dan Montgomery has also been closely following the events. “In Illinois, we learned that collective bargaining is not the problem, it’s the solu-tion,” he said.

Wisconsin, Ohio guvs attack collective bargaining


Our financial position is strengthening as the result of cost reduction efforts during the past 18 months.

We have significantly re-duced personnel costs and streamlined operations. Because the conventions of both the American Fed-eration of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teach-ers were held in the same year, our travel costs were abnormally large. However, during 2011, we anticipate building our cash reserves.

UPI financial assistant Ta-mara Morris and I are work-ing on processes to stream-line and improve financial processes in the Local office.

A major initiative in 2010 was to assist and facilitate political involvement activi-ties. Member contributions to UPI COPE (Committee on Political Education) and

a rebate from the IFT have provided funds for political activities. Recent legislative changes have significantly increased regulatory compli-ance requirements and com-plexity. We have revamped our accounting procedures for COPE activities to fa-cilitate compliance and to report political activities.

As we enter 2011, the press-ing financial issues are rev-enues and expenditures.

On the revenue side, we must • Be vigilant maintaining

and preventing job ero-sion from our bargaining units and

• Strive to increase dues revenue by increas-ing our organizing and membership levels. Inac-curate membership levels impact our expenditures when we overcount the number of people in the

bargaining unit and sub-sequently pay more in per caps than necessary.

“Per caps” or per capita dues is the amount that a local like Local 4100 pays to its affiliates, in our case, to the IFT, the AFT and our area labor councils (for example, the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Mideastern Illinois Labor Council, the Springfield Trades Council and the West Central Labor Council). It is based on the number of members we have.

For full-time members the amount of the “per cap” payment for all of these co-alitions is about $520.

The other component of your dues is a variable rate of 0.6% (or 0.006 of your sal-ary), which supports UPI.

Your campus deducts UPI

dues from your paycheck and we receive dues rev-enue from individuals listed as members of the bargain-ing unit on each campus.

Each campus provides to UPI the names and dues amounts in a document called the “trailer warrant.” If the campus record fails to show an individual as a member of the bargaining unit AND UPI records show that individual as a member, then UPI pays about $520 to the labor councils and re-ceives $0. Thus, it’s vital that UPI records are consistent with campus records.

I hope to work on this pro-cess with Local and chapter officers during the House of Delegates meeting.

If you have questions about our finances, please let me know and I will be glad to talk with you.

Secretary-Treasurer Hank Davis

Finances stabilizing with more money for political and organizing activities

FAR LEFT: Two major conventions in one year have put a strain on the UPI budget. Here, UPI delegates watch Bill Gates at the AFT convention.

LEFT: UPI dues are never used for political pur-poses, but many mem-bers sign a COPE card authorizing a paycheck deduction to sustain UPI’s legislative program.


OVER THE PAST YEAR, UPI has developed an ag-gressive political and leg-islative agenda to advance the goals of our union.

Unfortunately, there is an equally aggressive attack on public employee unions. These forces are well funded by various wealthy individuals and organiza-tions and have captured the imagination and vigor of major media outlets. Utiliz-ing the frustrations of the current economy and re-lated fears and anger, these groups have successfully turned community frustra-tion on state employees. They say we are overpaid, have overly favorable ben-efits and are underworked.

Teachers, regardless of the level, are particularly the focus of these attacks be-cause, they say, all problems in public education must be the fault of teachers. While higher education has thus far been spared the brunt of these attacks, there is clearly a growing, ominous storm looming on the horizon.

To counter this, we have actively engaged the legisla-tive and political spheres throughout the state.

Following the House of

Delegates meeting last year, we developed a coor-dinated plan to encourage our members to work with their elected representa-tives throughout the sum-mer. Numerous office visits were conducted, editorials were written and legislative sweet tea and lemonade parties were held. The effect was an increased aware-ness in Springfield of our concerns and issues and the development of new friend-ships and positive relations with various elected offi-cials.

Throughout the fall, we engaged directly in the po-litical process. Though we decided not to endorse a candidate for governor, we actively supported several state representatives and senators from both parties. Many of the candidates we supported were suc-cessful in November. Most importantly, many of these candidates have reached out to us, asking for our opinion and concerns on various legislation.

Our efforts were signifi-cantly tested in the winter with an attack by Stand for Children and their so-called “education reform” effort. Laying the gauntlet down, Stand attempted to

eliminate tenure for our preK - 12 colleagues, con-nect evaluations to student learning assessment and eliminate collective bargain-ing. Legislative hearings on this “reform package” were conducted in December and January. In the House, Stand received a warm wel-come by those sponsoring the legislation (these politi-cians received extremely large contributions from Stand and the primary sponsor was a legislator we directly challenged in the November election); how-ever, in the Senate, calmer heads prevailed as the Illi-nois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association (IEA) offered a competing reform pack-age, which holds all levels, from parents through school boards, accountable for the success of a student.

As of this writing, the edu-cation reform challenge is still ongoing; our efforts to directly engage our legisla-tors appear to be paying off. UPI members attended both the House and Senate hearings to oppose the leg-islation while many more contacted their representa-tives and senators. This is only the latest attack on public employee unions, and we need to be prepared

for additional challenges in the future. Stand and other groups are not going away anytime soon. As experts in education, we need to lead reform efforts that truly fo-cus on improving education rather than simply attempt-ing to justify cuts in fund-ing and the privatization of public education. We either need to lead or we will end up with reforms that do nothing to improve the quality of education.

Most importantly, we had success with the passage of the new revenues for the state. Even late into the night during the debate in Springfield, our members were on the phone talking with their legislators to urge them to make the difficult vote to solve the structural deficit problem. Though we are concerned that the leg-islation did not include in-creases in personal exemp-tions to protect lower-in-come individuals, property tax relief and additional cuts in state spending, this new legislation will help solidify the state budget for the next several years. While growth will be held to a minimum, the hope is that Springfield will now have the funds to fulfill its budget obligations without devastating vital state services such as higher

Legislative Committee Chair John Miller

UPI’s aggressive political stance meetshostile groups who blame the teachers


education. We hope to see some stability in university budgets in the very near future and a decrease in the pressures caused by the cash flow issues many of our institutions are facing.

Despite this success, we are losing the public relations battle over the tax increase. We have all heard of other states coveting our busi-nesses with a myth that their tax burdens are lower.

Unfortunately, the media, primarily the Chicago Tri-bune, continue to ignore the truth that despite Illinois’ tax increase, our taxes are still lower than many in the country including Wiscon-sin, Indiana and New Jersey. The individual income tax rate of 5 percent in Illinois compares with 4.6 to 7.75 percent in Wisconsin and 3.3 percent state tax plus 3.1 percent county tax in Indi-ana, according to the Chi-

cago Sun-Times (“Does state tax hike spell doomsday for business?” Jan. 24, 2011). Further, during the tax de-bate, an orchestrated attack on public employee unions, cited us as the reason for the increase. This highlights the need to expand our efforts to directly challenge the media and their attempts to inaccurately portray us as “greedy.”

We need you to challenge

the media through editori-als, phone calls and other public events to educate the public and media about the truth of our goals and mes-sage. To help assist in this agenda, we will be develop-ing a plan to interact with the media throughout the state in the months to come.

Please stay tuned as we will be once again calling on our strength, our members, to accomplish this goal.

LEFT: UPI activists and others participate in the Illinois House hearings on education reform in December.BELOW: UPI President Ellie Sullivan (right) and IFT’s Nick Yelverton visit with Illinois Rep. Suzanne Bassi at a coalition breakfast in the spring.

UPI Legislative Chair John Miller and Patrick Stout of WIU go on air in an impromptu inter-view on public radio during a visit to Springfield.

UPI President Ellie Sullivan talks issues with IFT’s Legislative Direc-tor Steve Preckwinkle at a Chicago Teachers Union event in the fall.


2010 House of Delegates

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

• Past President Sue Kaufman is inducted into the UPI Wall of Fame as UPI President Ellie Sullivan applauds. David Radavich, John Murphy and Don Geren were also inducted.

• Nick Yelverton, IFT leg-islative director, briefs delegates on the dismal financial situation.

• Delegates from the NIU Instructors chapter: Toma Heldt, Stacey Short and Ben Stone.

• UPI staffer Pat Tracy with NEIU delegates Nancy Matthews, Sophia Mihic and Michael Grossman.

• Governors State delegates, Lydia Morrow Ruetten and Bruce Wilson.

• Several Eastern delegates John Allison, David Car-penter, Ann Fritz.

• Chicago State delegates include recently retired UPI Trustee Yvonne Mor-ris and Trena Hawkins.


Status of 2010 House of Delegates ResolutionsResolution Action to be taken Action

at HoDResponsiblePerson / Group

Date ActionCompleted

1. UPI Support of Elder Care Benefits. UPI support contract language and legislation.

Passed. Chapter bargaining teams. Ongoing.

2. Support for Campaign Finance Reform. Submit to AFT and IFT conventions;Work to form a public finance election system.

Passed asamended.

Forwarded to AFT;Forwarded to IFT.

To AFT 04/26/10To IFT 07/15/10

3. Amend State Officials and Employees Ethics Act to Exempt University Teaching Faculty from Positive Time Reporting

Submit to IFT convention. Passed. Forwarded to IFT.

4. Urge State to Become Current on Paying Health Care Providers.

UPI contact legislators to spearhead a postcard campaign.

Passed. IFT / UPI lobbying activi-ties.

Ongoing.

5. Support of House Bill 174 to Improve Funding of Higher Education.

UPI continue as an active member of the Responsible Budget Coalition;support passage of this or a similar bill.

Passed asamended.

IFT / UPI lobbying activi-ties.

Ongoing.

6. Seek UPI Representation in Benefits Negotiations.

Work through legislative channels and with CMS.

Passed. IFT / UPI lobbying activi-ties.

Ongoing.

7. Political Mobilization. Legislative Committee develop a strategic plan.

Passed. Legislative Committee. Ongoing.

Status of 2009 House of Delegates ResolutionsResolution Action to be taken Action

at HoDResponsiblePerson/Group

Date ActionCompleted

1. Support for Increased State Fundingfor All Levels of Education.

IFT support and lobby for increasedfunding for preK-20 education.

Referred to UPI Executive Board.

Forwarded to IFT foraction by legislativecommittee.

Ongoing.

2. Create a Progressive Income Tax in Illinois.

Submit to 2010 IFT Convention;IFT support a state constitutional amend-ment to create a progressive income tax.

Approved Forwarded to IFT for con-vention.

06/01/10.

3. Call for Cost Reductions bySupporting Current Pension Systemsand Single-Payer Health Care in Illinois.

Submit to 2010 IFT Convention, that IFTLegislative Platform advocate that the State of Illinois preserve current state-funded pension systems; support a single-payer health care system.

Referred to UPI Executive Board..

Forwarded to IFT forconvention.

06/01/10.

4. Promote Economic Literacy. Submit to 2010 AFT Convention, that AFTuse its political and economic resources to promote broad-based economic literacy at all levels of education.

Referred to UPI Executive Board.

Forwarded to AFT forconvention.

04/01/10.

5. Keep Supernaturalism out of theScience Curriculum.

Submit to 2010 IFT Convention. Approved Forwarded to IFT forconvention.

06/01/10.

6. Endorse the U.S. National Health Insur-ance Act. (HR676) by the Illinois AFL-CIO.

IFT submit to the IL AFL-CIO’s nextconvention a resolution endorsingthe U.S. National Health Insurance Act.

Approved Forwarded to Illinois AFL-CIO for convention.

tbd

AT RIGHT: * From UIS: Ann Cole

and Normajean Nie-bur, UIS Staff / UPI Chapter president and UPI recording secretary.

• FAR RIGHT: From WIU, UPI Trustee Martha Klems, Lora Wallace, Erin Taylor.

August 2010

August: A group of WIU / UPI mem-bers create UPI Cares, an organization which volunteers its time and muscle at community services.

September 2010

Sept. 2: UPI Officers & Staff take pay cut to help balance the budget.

Sept. 2: Academic Support Profes-sionals attend a meeting of the Local 4100 Executive Board and discuss their concerns. This is the second year the executive board has focused on a

constituency to discuss their issues and concerns.

Sept. 16: NEIU / UPI members pack a meeting room in the student union to appeal to the Board of Trustees to help settle their contract. Soon after, the leadership of the Board changes.

Sept. 21: NEIU / UPI members jam NEIU President Sharon Hahs’ State of the University address, asking questions and seeking to settle the contract.

October 2010

Oct. 15 – 17: UPI’s elected delegates attend the Illinois Federation of Teach-

ers Convention. New leaders were elected, including UPI President Ellie Sullivan and Legislative Chair John Miller, as vice presidents.Oct. 27: The GSU / UPI Chapter hosts the faculty and staff at a campus party.

Oct. 28: The NEIU / UPI Chapter holds a Halloween party, using the event to lobby the campus community to support their three-year battle to get a contract.

November2010

Nov. 2: Election Day: Voters elect Pat Quinn governor. The IFT had endorsed Quinn, but UPI chooses not to make endorsements.


Telling our story

Oct. 28: The NEIU / UPI Chapter Hallow-een party. AT RIGHT:

Steve Frankel, a member of the nego-tiations team, attends

the party as “The Ghost of Education Past.” FAR RIGHT: NEIU art students

constuct an an altar called “The Death of

Public Education.”

Sept. 2: Academic Support Professionals attending an Executive Board meeting include (seated) Dave Beck, IFT; Molly Homer, WIU; Carla

Johnson, GSU; Carnice Hill, CSU; (standing) Shelly James, EIU; Lora Green, EIU; Yvonne Morris, CSU.


Nov. 4: CSU faculty meet and hear a status report on the negotiations, which is not going well.

Nov. 4: The EIU / UPI Chapter mem-bers rally on the Library Quad, seeking a fair contract.

Nov. 8: GSU retirees share lunch and ideas for future events. Retiree and for-mer member of UPI’s Trustees Commit-tee Judy Lewis organizes the event as the GSU liaison to the Retiree Chapter.

Nov. 12: “I have many issues with the report and the methodology used in ‘re-searching’ our colleges of education,’” UPI Local 4100 President Ellie Sullivan said. UPI — as well as the IFT and organizations of the deans of colleges of education — is highly critical of the report by the National Council on Teacher Quality that denigrates teacher preparation across Illinois. News media give the criticism prominent play.

Nov. 18: NEIU Trustees move their meeting into an auditorium in an-ticipation of a crowd. NEIU / UPI members had packed a room in the student union for the board’s last two meetings, protesting the administra-tion’s failure to agree on a contract and voicing concern about the length of the negotiations.

Nov. 18: NEIU retirees meet for lunch. A memorial service for their late colleague Shirley Castelnuovo is held that evening.

Nov. 19: EIU / UPI members hold a pre-sentation and silent rally at the univer-sity’s board of trustees meeting.

Nov. 22: Patrice Stearley, longtime UPI activist and NEIU librarian, is honored at a retirement party.

Nov. 23: The NEIU Faculty Senate ap-proves a “no confidence” vote in the leadership of President Sharon Hahs.

December2010

Early December: Western’s Faculty chapter merges with the Pro-Tech chap-ter, expanding the WIU / UPI bargaing unit by more than 45 employees.

Dec. 10: The EIU / UPI Chapter holds a silent rally at a meeting of the Commit-tee on University Policy and Budget, as they continue to seek a contract.

Dec. 13: The EIU / UPI’s negotiations team reaches a two-year, tentative agreement. EIU / UPI leadership ex-pects faculty to ratify it in February.

Dec. 17: The Illinois House of Repre-sentatives holds hearings on education reform. Their tone is discouraging; however, the hearings held in January by the Illinois Senate seem more open and promising.

Oct. 15 – 17: At the Illi-nois Federation of Teachers Convention new leaders were elected, including UPI President Ellie Sullivan and Legislative Chair John Miller, as vice presidents.

Sept. 16: NEIU / UPI members pack a meeting room to appeal to Trustees to help settle their contract. Soon after, the leadership of the Board changes.

IFT appointments include • Sullivan to IFT’s Executive Committee, the P-20 Educational

Policy Committee, the Operations/Constitution subcommittee and chair of the Higher Education Constituency Council;

• Miller to the Legislative/Public Policy Committee, the Locals/Or-ganizing Committee and chair of a PAC Task Force;

• David Carpenter to the Women, Civil and Human Rights Com-mittee;

• John Murphy to the Retirees Committee.

Nov. 4: CSU faculty meet and hear a status report on the negotia-tions, which is not going well.

January/February2011

Jan. 1: A 2.5 percent, across-the-board raise for employees at Northern Illinois University goes into effect. The 2005 contract of the NIU / UPI Instructors Chapter includes contractual language that gives instructors the tenure-track faculty raise.

Jan. 3: Our state fed, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, along with the Illinois Educa-tion Association and the Chicago Teachers Union, propose the joint venture called “Accountability for All,” to lead the way in education reform.

Jan. 12: The Illinois General Assembly ap-proves a desperately needed tax increase amid great criticism of both the tax and pub-lic employees, who are seen as overpaid.

Jan. 22: Eastern’s Board of Trustees approves language on academic freedom, allowing EIU employees to communicate with legisla-tors; to display political buttons, stickers or patches; and to attend partisan rallies.

Jan. 27: House Bill 149 rears its ugly head. This legislation that would reduce pension benefits is being seriously considered.

Feb. 16: Members of EIU’s bargaining unit ratify their contract.


Nov. 22: Patrice Stearley, longtime UPI activist and NEIU librarian, is honored at a retirement party.

Dec. 10: The EIU / UPI negotiations team reaches a two-year, tentative agreement. The team includes chief negotiator Jon Blitz, Ann Fritz, Carol Jean Dudley, Jeff Duck and Grant Sterling.

Oct. 27: The GSU / UPI Chapter hosts the faculty and staff at a campus party.

Nov. 8: The GSUI Retirees group see a great turnout at a lun-cheon meeting. Leaders include UPI President Ellie Sullivan, Addison Woodward, GSU retiree liaison Judy Lewis, and GSU / UPI Chapter President Marsha Katz.

Feb. 16: Coalitions are the hope of the future, as UPI’s state fed IFT teams up with the Illinois Education Asso-ciation and the Chicago Teachers Union to write and to rewrite plans to help guide the Illinois General Assembly in reforming education.

By your example, You show our students the way.

With the things you do, You make our universities soar.

With you, we’re all better.

YOU are our SOARING EAGLE

UPI Local 4100 wants to make 2011 the

year of the SOARING EAGLE. We are

looking for the UPI members whose work

epitomizes the spirit of public service,

who inspire us to go the extra mile, who

inspire students and co-workers alike.

We are looking for the superstars of UPI. During the 2012 House of Delegates,

that person will honored and rewarded. Watch for information to nominate that

SOARING EAGLE. Perhaps it is you.

UPI on the Go

University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO11 E. Adams, Suite 1106Chicago, IL 60603

March 6 UPI Executive Board Meeting UPIOffice,ChicagoMarch 24-27 AFT PSRP Conference FlamingoHotel,LasVegasApril 1-3 AFT Higher Ed Issues Conference SheratonHotel,PhiladelphiaApril 12 IBHE Board Meeting, NorthernIllinoisUniversity,NapervilleApril 15-16 UPI Executive Board Meeting UPIOffice,ChicagoApril 29-30 IFT Executive Board Meeting RobertM.HealeyCenter,WestmontMay 19-20 AFT HIgher Education Program & Policy Council Washington,D.C.May 30 Memorial Day UPIOffice,Chicago,closedJune 7 IBHE Board Meeting St.AugustineCollege,ChicagoJuly 4 Independence Day UPIOffice,Chicago,closed

July 26-28 IFT Executive Board Retreat RobertM.HealeyCenter,WestmontAug. 16 IBHE Board Meeting ChicagoSchoolofProfessionalPsychology,ChicagoSept. 5 Labor Day UPIOffice,Chicago,closedOct. 4 IBHE Board Meeting HarperCollege,PalatineOct. 14-15 IFT Executive Board Meeting RobertM.HealeyCenter,WestmontOct. 26-30 AFT Civil, Human & Women’s Rights Conference MarriottDetroitRenaissanceCenter,DetroitNov. 24-25 Thanksgiving UPIOffice,Chicago,closedDec. 6 IBHE Board Meeting MoraineValleyCommunityCollege,PalosHillsDec. 26-Jan. 2 Holiday Break UPIOffice,Chicago,closedJuly 26-30 AFT Convention2012 COBOCenter,Detroit

upi annual report 2010

Documents

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members teachers

local affiliates

illinois higher education

illinois public universities

illinois house hearings

upi president ellie

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