Valerie Goss, the head of the faculty union at Chicago State University, and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Daniel Montgomery embrace at an April 3, 2023, rally on the campus of Chicago State University. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)
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Report finds public university employees paid 21% less than state agency workers in similar jobs

At public universities across the state, staff and faculty unions have faced a contentious year of negotiations and, in some cases, strikes. Pay has been a major issue on several campuses and the unions are now looking to Springfield for potential reforms to the state’s higher education funding.

Part-time faculty members at Columbia College hold a rally on Oct. 30, 2023. (WTTW News)

The Columbia College Faculty Union (CFAC), which represents nearly 600 part-time faculty members, announced Thursday its members had officially approved the contract, which put an end to a record-long 49-day strike.

Part-time faculty members at Columbia College hold a rally on Oct. 30, 2023. (WTTW News)

College administrators and the Columbia College Faculty Union (CFAC) — which represents nearly 600 adjunct faculty members — jointly announced the tentative deal that would put an end to the record-long strike.

Part-time faculty members at Columbia College hold a rally on Oct. 30, 2023. (WTTW News)

Following the Thanksgiving break, faculty members represented by the Columbia College Faculty Union (CFAC) have entered the fifth week of the ongoing strike.

File - UAW local 862 members strike outside of Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 12, 2023. (Michael Clevenger / Courier Journal via AP, File)

Ford, General Motors and Stellantis agreements, which run through April 2028, will end contentious talks that began last summer and led to six-week-long strikes at all three automakers.

Members of the Howard Brown Health Workers United union on strike Nov. 14, 2023. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)

It’s the second time Howard Brown Health Workers United has taken to the picket line this year. The first strike in January was largely over 61 unionized workers being laid off as management pointed to drastic budget shortfalls.

Part-time faculty members at Columbia College hold a press conference in downtown on Oct. 30, 2023. (WTTW News)

Nearly 600 part-time faculty members at Columbia College walked off the job Monday. The faculty union and administration have been contract bargaining since May.

AW members and workers hold signs outside the Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant after walking off their jobs in Chicago, Illinois, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP / Getty Images)

Ford said it laid off 330 workers at its Chicago Stamping Plant and Lima Engine Plant following the union’s decision Friday to strike its Chicago Assembly plant, which made the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs.

United Auto Workers union members strike for improved compensation outside of the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio. (Phillip L. Kaplan /The Blade via AP)
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The United Auto Workers union says its two-week strike against Detroit automakers will spread to 7,000 more workers at a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors assembly factory near Lansing, Michigan.

Placards are gathered together at the close of a picket by members of The Writers Guild of America outside Walt Disney Studios, Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Burbank, Calif. On Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, a tentative deal was reached to end Hollywood’s writers strike after nearly five months. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a joint statement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.

United Auto Workers march outside the Stellantis North American Headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The president of the United Auto Workers said Friday the union will expand its strike against major automakers by walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis plants in 20 states.

A United Parcel Service driver pilots his truck, in New York, Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo / Richard Drew)

The 24 million packages UPS ships on an average day amounts to about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes, or as UPS puts it, the equivalent of about 6% of nation’s gross domestic product.

Hundreds protested outside the NBC Tower on May 17, 2023, in a show of support for the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. (WTTW News)

The Writers Guild of America began its nationwide strike May 2 after negotiations stalled with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Among key issues are increased wages and fair pay structures for writers in a streaming era.

FILE - Striking writers walk the picket line outside Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2007. (AP Photo / Nick Ut, File)

Streaming and its ripple effects are at the center of the dispute. The Writers Guild of America says that even as series budgets have increased, writers’ share of that money has consistently shrunk.

(WTTW News)

A wave of labor actions swept through Illinois public universities this month, with faculty at Chicago State, Eastern Illinois and Governors State universities on strike at various times throughout April.

Faculty and staff went on strike at Governors State University on Tuesday. File photo. (WTTW News)

Governors State University is the third public university in Illinois to go on strike this month. Union members are calling for a cost-of-living adjustment in their wages.