{"id":36642,"date":"2026-04-29T11:02:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=36642"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:02:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:02:40","slug":"striking-illinois-state-university-staff-frustrated-over-lack-of-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/36642-striking-illinois-state-university-staff-frustrated-over-lack-of-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"Striking Illinois State University Staff Frustrated Over Lack of Negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois State University building service worker and staff union president Chuck Carver speaks at a news conference at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jenna Schweikert)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By BEN SZALINSKI<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Non-teaching staff at Illinois State University have been on strike since April 8 seeking higher wages.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The staff union alleges ISU hired replacement workers and the union filed a lawsuit challenging the hiring of contracted vendors.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. JB Pritzker said he opposes hiring \u201cstrike breaker\u201d workers and said both sides should return to the bargaining table.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strike has become an issue in the governor\u2019s race after Republican candidate Darren Bailey stood with union members on campus last week and called on Pritzker to get more involved in the situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2014 Non-teaching staff at Illinois State University have been on strike for four weeks and are growing frustrated at the lack of negotiations between the union and administrators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The maintenance, building and grounds service workers who are represented by AFSCME Council 31 have been on strike since April 8, demanding higher pay. As a result, students at the campus in Normal have dealt with dirty bathrooms, garbage pilling up and limited dining options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A group of striking workers traveled to the Capitol in Springfield Tuesday to call attention to their strike, which has become an issue in the governor\u2019s race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWithout us, I know they&#8217;re not getting the quality of cleaning they deserve,\u201d building service worker Sue Perry told reporters at a news conference in Springfield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Little progress has been made in negotiations since January, according to Renee Nestler, AFSCME\u2019s staff representative. That\u2019s when the university put forward its latest offer, which it also says is its final offer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/afscme1110negotiations.illinoisstate.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ISU has offered<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> staff members a plan that would grant a 3.5% raise when the new contract is ratified, bringing hourly wages to $21.34 on average for dining hall employees and $22.78 for building services employees \u2014 the two largest groups of workers in the union. Workers would be slated for a 3% annual raise every July 1 through 2029.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the union says the lack of retroactive pay, since workers did not receive a raise last July, is a major problem. They are seeking a 3.5% wage increase retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year last summer, along with certainty that staff members will be a part of the campus wage program. The program would allow staff members to receive a greater wage increase when their management receives an increase above the yearly standard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union leaders said negotiations over the last four months have been unproductive and no future bargaining sessions are scheduled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe know the community values us because every day brings an outpouring of support,\u201d said union president Chuck Carver, a building service worker. \u201cThe ones who don&#8217;t value us are high up in the administration. They are ignoring our well-being, of the students, and damaging ISU\u2019s reputation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Lawsuit<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strike also escalated into a lawsuit against the university. The union alleges the university has hired new, non-unionized workers to replace the striking workers while they\u2019re off the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are fighting for fair pay and dignity, and while they&#8217;re saying they can&#8217;t afford it, they&#8217;re paying these scab companies more than what we make,\u201d Carver said, claiming the contracted vendors are making $38 to $197 an hour, compared to ISU\u2019s $16 floor for many workers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ISU has asked a court to dismiss the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese external companies are not strikebreakers \u2013 they are well-established, local businesses that perform custodial and grounds work in and around our local community every day,\u201d ISU said in a statement. \u201cFurthermore, the use of these external companies is not illegal, and we plan to vigorously defend our position in this meritless lawsuit. The university follows a state procurement process that ensures it is compliant with the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State law prohibits hiring new workers to replace the ones on strike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters in Springfield on Tuesday that both parties need to return to the bargaining table \u201cASAP.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI don&#8217;t believe in strikebreakers,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cI know that that&#8217;s being litigated right now \u2013 this question. You know, this should not occur \u2026\u00a0 We shouldn&#8217;t have people taking other people&#8217;s jobs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Campaign issue\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Republican nominee Darren Bailey joined ISU workers on the picket line on Friday, who called on Pritzker to get more involved in resolving the strike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;You can\u2019t claim to stand with workers and then disappear when it actually matters,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk about supporting labor and then allow situations like this to drag on while families struggle to get by.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bailey is trying to flip the narrative that Illinois Republicans are anti-union and attract a broader array of voters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;This isn\u2019t about being pro-union or anti-union,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cThis is about being pro-worker and pro-family. Workers need to be supported, they need to be respected, and they need to be paid in a way that allows them to actually live and not just survive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pritzker didn\u2019t let Bailey off the hook from past statements and positions Democrats believe are anti-union, such as opposing the Workers Rights Amendment and voting against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI will add that Darren Bailey, who likes to say that somehow he&#8217;s standing with the workers, has never stood with workers in this state,\u201d Pritzker said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Illinois State University building service worker and staff union president Chuck Carver speaks at a news conference at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Capitol News [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Striking Illinois State University Staff Frustrated Over Lack of Negotiations - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/36642-striking-illinois-state-university-staff-frustrated-over-lack-of-negotiations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Striking Illinois State University Staff Frustrated Over Lack of Negotiations - 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