UIUC Updates

New Chapter 119 Officers

Members voted in chapter elections at the January meeting, according to the Chapter Bylaws. Congratulations to everyone who won and please thank anyone who ran. New officers will be sworn in at the next meeting, Feb. 22.

Chapter 119 Elected Officers

President: Heather Fairbanks (217-637-0108) (exp. 2/2026)

Vice President: Teresa Deaville (217-841-8480) (exp. 2/2027)

Secretary: Kelsey Hayes (217-693-2384) (exp. 2/2028)

Trustee A: Delbert Ketteman (217-493-6592) (exp. 2/2026)

Trustee B: James Southward (708-427-2946) (exp. 2/2027)

Trustee C: Eva Bituin (217-202-2239) (exp. 2/2028)

Trustee D (Decatur): Amanda Francis (217-620-8651) (exp. 2/2028)

Trustee E (Decatur): Vacant (Term exp. 2/2026)

Sgt-at-Arms: John Morris (217-552-2061) (exp. 2/2027)

 

Upcoming Events

Saturday, Feb 22

1 p.m.: Membership Meeting

2 p.m.: Steward meeting/training

(*New date*) Sunday, March 16

1 p.m.: Membership Meeting

2 p.m.: Steward meeting/training

 

Investigations

Recently some supervisors have reportedly told members they cannot meet with Union representatives at work. This is untrue. The law says you can. And here is what the contract says in black and white (Article III):

The Employer shall provide to the exclusive representative, including their agents and employees, reasonable access to employees in the bargaining units they represent. This access shall always be conducted in a manner so as not to impede normal operations.

Access includes the following:

(1) the right to meet with one or more employees on the employer’s premises during the workday to investigate and discuss grievances and workplace-related complaints without loss of pay or leave time of employees or agents of the exclusive representative;

 

Changes and impact negotiations

The Employer, unfortunately, has the legal right to make changes such as hours of operation, number of employees assigned to each location and each shift, and more. But the Union has a right to negotiate any impact on the employees. Changes are coming – some good, some bad. So we need to hear from you about anything you notice that needs to be addressed related to these:

Dining summer layoffs: As you all know, we were finally able to take a bite out of the summer layoff for dining employees. This summer, for the first time ever, not everybody will be laid off. Workers can choose to be laid off. But the most senior employees in each classification will work 40 hours a week straight through the summer. Besides full-time pay, this should also help avoid the health insurance problems a lot of people have experienced. For everybody else, it should be the same.

Dining Overtime: There has been a lot of confusion about what happens to overtime opportunities after DCSO calls through their entire list and nobody takes the OT. The Union and Management want these filled, the Union so our members get more money (and you get help at work!), and Management so the job gets done. We had previously agreed that Management would post OT opportunities for anybody who wants them, first come, first served – including part of the shift at first, then with the requirement that if you accept you must complete the shift. DCSO, however, did not follow the rules as agreed upon, and the process was unclear to everybody. The Union has re-negotiated this arrangement to try to fix the problems. Partial shifts will now be allowed. Management is supposed to post the rules alongside the OT opportunities. Hopefully, this will work better, but let your steward immediately know if there are problems.

Conference Center: The conference center has historically been cleaned by F&S BSWs. Starting July 1, however, the conference center will be the responsibility of the Illini Union. Four BSWs are being displaced. The Union is currently negotiating over what happens to them.

F&S: Management tells us they know we need more BSWs, and this time, they are using APPA cleaning standards to try to justify hiring more. Management estimates the current level of cleaning between levels 4 and 5. The Chancellor would like it to be between levels 1 and 2. (You can see the Levels of Cleaning here.) This involves the type of area (classroom, lab, auditorium, restroom, etc.), square footage, and other factors.

Putting it all together, Management has concluded that to clean at level 1, F&S would need about 1,000 BSWs. Currently, the number is 330, which is predicted to be a cleaning level of 5. BSWs, in general, are performing better than the APPA predicts with the current staffing. Think about that.

However, this also means jobs will be rewritten to accommodate more new hires. BSWs must pay attention, attend meetings, and alert their Union stewards to any concerns during this process.