Back when it was called Sangamon State University, the Springfield campus had a faculty union.
But since joining the University of Illinois system, professors have been without a bargaining unit. For more than a year, they’ve been trying to get an agreement that would retain the rights they had before.
Now, frustrated by the slow pace of talks, they’ve voted to authorize a strike.
Kristi Barnwell, a history professor, says negotiations have thus far been more about grievance procedures and tenure, than dollars and cents.