A Northwestern workers union is accusing the university of stinginess after a recent round of contract negotiations. And now, they are taking their case public.
Members of union Local 681, who are renegotiating their recently expired contract with NU, allege that university administrators are offering too small a salary increase to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
The union staged its first-ever public protest during Saturday’s football game against University of Wisconsin-Madison. A group of workers stood outside Ryan Field, handing out flyers that read, “Ever wonder how Northwestern University spends all that money? Not on fair and equal pay for staff!” The flyer said Local 681 members are paid less than NU employees in other unions.
Thomas Penning, president of Local 681, said it is the first time his union has made a public appeal during a negotiation process. They are hoping to draw more attention to the conflict in order to resolve it, he said.
“Our membership knows that they’ve got the money there. They can afford to give more. They just don’t want to,” Penning said.
Local 681 represents 89 of approximately 200 unionized workers at NU, including many of the university’s painters, groundskeepers, mail delivery workers, store keepers, mechanics, locksmiths and carpenters. The union’s last contract was negotiated in 2000.
According to Penning, the university has offered a lower salary increase than it did five years ago. University officials justified the offer, he said, by claiming Local 681 received a more lucrative offer in 2000 compared with unions that renegotiated after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Negotiations aren’t going terrible, but we don’t want to settle for less than we got last time,” Penning said.
Carpenters, for instance, are being offered a 75-cents-an-hour raise, compared with $1.50 in 2000.
“It’s hard to live on a raise like that,” Penning said. Groundskeepers and carpenters also aren’t compensated for the cost of gas,he said, although they use their trucks on the job. But he stressed that “the wage increase problem stretches across all the different trades.”
NU and Local 681 representatives will meet on Oct. 28 for another round of negotiations. NU administrators said they expect the talks to continue smoothly.
“We’ve always had good working relationships with our unions and their members who are our employees,” said Guy Miller, NU’s associate vice president for human resources and a member of the university’s negotiating committee. “In my 15 years at the university there has not been a strike – We’ve always been able to reach an agreement at the end of the negotiation sessions.”
Local 681 is also pointing to pay gaps compared to other Chicago-area workers. Penning said Chicago-area carpenters make up to $35 an hour, while NU’s carpenters are paid $27 an hour.
University administrators declined to comment on any specific offers that have been made. But they said employees enjoy better benefits and job security than most workers.
“They are comparing construction workers who have little job security and low benefits to NU maintenance employees with a terrific benefits package. This is not an apples and apples comparison,” said Ronald Nayler, associate vice president for NU facilities management and the other university negotiator.
Penning agreed that Local 681 has enjoyed certain advantages at NU. “We do understand that our membership gains benefits. I haven’t seen a layoff since I’ve been at NU,” he said. “But $8 is a pretty big gap, and we don’t want to see it growing.”
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