Can SIUE professors influence state budget impasse?

Tenured faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville are happy with their compensation and the way they are treated by the school administration.

But as the budget standoff between the governor and our legislators continues — with Gov. Bruce Rauner vowing to veto any budget that doesn’t include a 20 to 30 percent cut to the funding of state universities — SIUE professors are scrambling to find their voice.

They’re hoping membership in the Illinois Education Association gives them “a seat at the table” as program eliminations and reductions are negotiated.

There are 15 bargaining units on campus already, including one for non-tenure-track instructors, who unfurled their union flag 12 years ago.

“We are the guardians of the quality of education here,” said Charles Berger, SIUE English professor and co-chairman of the petition drive. “If it’s a question of programs being cut or resources allocated... we want an additional say.”

Who can blame them?

In the course of the budget standoff, 12 public universities and 48 community colleges have not received any of their allotted state appropriations. For some schools, state funding makes up as much as 30 percent of their budgets.

Would union representation help the stake holders negotiate a budget compromise closer to the 6 to 8 percent cuts thus far proposed by state legislators?

According to Michael McDermott, organizer for the Illinois Education Association, SIUE’s tenured professors stand to gain additional protection from possible layoffs. And, not mentioned, the union would certainly stand up to preserve the $100,000 and $200,000-plus annual pensions many retired instructors currently receive.

But McDermott also said there remain just “a very few” state universities whose faculty members have not organized.

Here we are, in the midst of this operational impasse that has left $6.4 billion in unpaid bills and both sides dug into either raising taxes, passing an unbalanced budget or making deep cuts and other changes to collective bargaining laws.

Have the Illinois Education Association and the instructors it represents been heard? If so, have they made a difference? Can they?

As the state heads into the ninth month without an approved budget, we wonder.

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Can SIUE professors influence state budget impasse?."