At the April 17 Press Conference, Brenda Prell, Bargaining Team Chair, explained that ACsE has been in contract negotiations for almost a year and the Board of Trustees' representative told us to take their April 15 offer to our membership for a vote. She announced that ACsE members voted April 16 and 93.9% voted ‘no’ to the offer.

Brenda told the media that we are in the tenth month of working without a contract. She enlightened the media to ACsE being the lowest paid on campus and that we are the permanent residents of this community who are behind the scenes performing our duties 12 months of the year while many of the faculty and students leave Carbondale during the holiday break and during the summer. She said that we are the behind-the-scenes employees who are a valuable asset to this campus.

She asked if one could imagine the university without accountants, clerical personnel, lab and animal technicians, or computer specialists because those valuable employees are ACsE!

Brenda clarified that what we are asking for in our contract is neither unreasonable nor outrageous. We deserve to be paid a fair wage that reflects our contributions and we are asking for respect. She noted that many think that those who work at SIUC make a lot of money and that is simply not true for the ACsE-represented employees, many of whom are single parents trying to live paycheck to paycheck while the cost of living continues to increase.

She summarized the three issues that are of main concern:

1. Fair treatment for the length of service to this university, which we call Longevity Increases.

2.Bringing some of our employees’ salary up to the average state universities’ minimum rate which we call Parity Increases. The average comes from nine Illinois universities.

3. And of course the general salary increase which alone just isn’t enough to keep up with the rising cost of gasoline and groceries.

Brenda closed by saying that we are thrilled that the other three IEA locals are supporting our efforts. To us, it means they recognize our numerous contributions to this university and support our efforts to get a fair settlement. She made clear that we just want this university’s administration and the Board of Trustees to also recognize and respect us.

The press conference was turned over to Cathy Lilley, ACsE President, for questions. Cathy explained that the bargaining team is optimistic that we will reach an agreement at the next Mediation session, but that the team has started discussions of contingency plans just in case. When asked what can be done to help ACsE in their efforts, Cathy asked that students, parents, and community members send letters or e-mails to the Chancellor, President, and Board of Trustees showing support.

Marvin Zeman, Faculty Association President, and Ron Fields, Graduate Assistants United President were then interviewed. Both gave wonderful interviews on our behalf.

At this time, we don’t have another Mediation meeting scheduled. We will keep you informed as things progress.

In Solidarity~
Your ACsE Bargaining Team