June 29, 2006 - UPI wins five awards in communication contest (UPI News Release)
May 22, 2006 - Murphy’s Four Principles of Medicare (from www.upilocal4100.org)
May 15, 2006 - Domestic Partner benefits available: All UPI universities have signed on to participate in the domestic partner coverage, All employees of SURS and those receiving benefits qualify for Domestic Partner coverage. The open Benefits Choice period continues through May 31. (from www.upilocal 4100.org)
April 6, 2006 - Negotiated language for pension benefit modifications moving ahead: Legislative language amending Senate Bill 27—the 2005 pension legislation regarding exemptions to the 6 percent salary increase limit for pension purposes—was agreed to this week by negotiators from the IFT, the IEA and representatives of the House, Senate and Governor’s Office. The revisions provide exemptions to the 6 percent salary threshold used to determine when educational employers must assume financial liability for pay raises over 6 percent. The fate of the amendments is uncertain however, as they must now be reviewed and agreed upon by the legislative leadership prior to passage. That process is expected to occur over the next several days. (from www.upilocal4100.org)
March 15, 2006 - Lobby Day 2006: Focus on our Pensions (with photos): Three WIU activists—Martha Klems, Mike Romano and Maurine Magliocco—wait to meet their legislator in the Senate Gallery. (from www.upilocal4100.org)
>> See UPI Lobby Day 2006 Gallery
March 10, 2006 - AFT/NEA Joint Higher Ed Conference Draws Huge Turnout: More than 650 higher education union activists gathered in Orlando March 3-5 for the first-ever, completely joint AFT/NEA higher education conference. The theme, "Sharing our Successes, Challenges and Strategies," signaled coordinated events beginning with a day-long organizing drive with United Faculty of Florida/AFT/NEA at Central Florida University and ending with a panel presentation on efforts to protect free speech on campus. (from www.upilocal4100.org)
March 1, 2006 - UIS grad employees vote YES to UPI representation (with photos) Liz Moran and Leslie Rossman of the Association of Graduate Employees/ UPI, look on as the votes are counted. Michael Meyers, investigator for the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, signs the official results tally of the UIS Grad Assistant Election March 1. The pile of blue papers are the YES ballots; the sole blue paper next to the pile is the one NO vote.
Feb. 17, 2006 - UPI Local 4100 Votes 'NO!': IFT Endorses Blagojevich in March Primary Details of this weekend’s primary election endorsement of Gov. Rod Blagojevich by the IFT Executive Board will be available soon at www.ift-aft.org UPI Local 4100's two IFT vice presidents voted to oppose the endorsement.
“We consulted with the leadership of our eight chapters on the seven campuses we represent in collective bargaining prior to casting our vote,” Sue Kaufman, UPI Local 4100 president and IFT vice president, said.
“Chapter leaders told us that members are extremely upset with the Governor’s failure to support higher education funding and failure to properly fund the pension system.” John Murphy, Local executive vice president and IFT vice president, noted that the governor had not met the criteria set out in a resolution on endorsement passed by the Local’s House of Delegates in October 2005.
Local 4100 has not made an endorsement in the March primary.
Feb. 15, 2006 - Flood tells Illinois reps: Non-tenure-track faculty growing Sandy Flood, chapter president of NIU Instructors, testified before the Illinois House Higher Education Committee about the growing number of non-tenure-track faculty. (from www.upilocal4100.org)
Remarks Prepared by Sandy Flood, Chapter President of NIU Instructors,
Testimony to the House Higher Education Committee Special Topic: Nontenure-track Faculty
Feb. 7, 2006 - IBHE FY 2007 Higher education budget recommendations: Operations, grants and capital improvements
Jan. 10, 2006 - Illinois AFL-CIO Endorses Governor Blagojevich for Second Term; Duckworth gets nod in 6th Congressional Race, Mangieri favored for Treasurer
Jan. 10, 2006 - Illinois AFL-CIO: Primary Election Endorsements
Jan. 18, 2006 - UPI President responds to Governor’s tuition tax credit proposal How will tuition tax credits proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his State of the State message help the most under-served, the students who those of us in public higher education help bring to our public colleges and universities? What will a $1,000 tuition tax credit do for a family with a per capita income of $13,470, the average in Macomb, Illinois?
Unfortunately, Illinois higher education is now being funded at Fiscal Year 1997 levels in real dollars, leaving us just above West Virginia as the second worst-funded state in our nation when it comes to higher education.
>> Read the story on the IFT Web Site
