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University Professionals
of Illinois
Local 4100, IFT, AFL-CIO
Unions are happening!
June 21, 2026
The UPI Retirees' Newsletter was sent out May 19.
If you missed the email the Newsletter is now posted on the Retirees Page.
As you can see from the articles in this Spring Newsletter, the last six months have been a busy time for the Retirees Chapter. Among their many activities, Retirees members attended the HOD and our Annual meeting; organized, lobbied, and rallied for higher education funding; lent support to striking faculty at UIS; and joined No Kings protests!
Read more
Keep Up the good work
There has been a lot going on and it seems overwhelming. Take time for selfcare too. It's important to peacefully protest and equally important to take care of yourself.
It is important to keep up the pressure and run for local office!
Every phone call, letter, email, and postcard help keep the issues before our representatives.
The pressure is working, keep up the good work.
June 21, 2026
6/10/26
An arbitrator ruled that WIU administration violated a collective bargaining agreement when it let go 9 faculty and two other bargaining unit professionals.
The violation occurred under Article 26 the when the administration did not utilize the Academic Program Elimination Review (APER) process to eliminate those positions.
"This decision confirms what we have argued from the beginning: these layoffs were wrong, they were harmful to staff and students, and they violated our contract," said WIU Chapter President Merrill Cole.
“We have maintained from the very beginning that the institution had violated the contract.
This case illustrates the mistakes
that can happen when the state fails to adequately fund higher education.
You have an institution who’s in a crisis mode, and they are looking for a solution to a problem in a crisis without thinking about the long-term implications and whether or not they can contractually do this,” said John Miller, President of University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100.
Read the full story from our news section.
June 21, 2026
FB Post from UPI President John Miller
6/17/2026
I have been too quiet lately, so let me be direct
The emergence of the world's first trillionaire should not be celebrated as a triumph of individual genius or hard work. Extreme wealth on that scale is only possible because of the labor, knowledge, and contributions of countless others.
The scientists who conduct the research, the engineers who build the technology, the staff who maintain the facilities, the custodians who keep the buildings running, the administrative professionals who support the work, and the workers throughout the supply chain are the people who create value every day.
They are the ones who should be honored and celebrated.
No individual accumulates that level of wealth alone. It is built on the collective efforts and exploitation of the workers and generations of publicly funded research and scientific discovery. Rather than celebrating unprecedented concentrations of wealth, we should be asking why the people who make that wealth possible are too often underpaid, overworked, and denied a fair share of what they create.
The real story is not the rise of a trillionaire. The real story is the millions of workers whose labor made it possible. FB POST
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