Striking ISU staff return to work after ratifying new 5-year contract
[May 07, 2026]
By Jerry Nowicki
Illinois State University non-teaching staff returned to work Wednesday
after ratifying a new contract to end a monthlong strike.
AFSCME Local 1110, the union representing more than 300 building
services, grounds, dining services and other ISU employees, said more
than 95% of them approved the five-year contract.
The new contract gives workers an immediate lump sum payment of $1,500
and an immediate 3.5% wage increase, plus annual raises of 3% every July
1 through 2029 until the contract expires on June 30, 2030. The union
had sought retroactive pay increases to July 1 last year and annual
raises equal to university administrators.
“In the end, the lump-sum ratification payment in this agreement is
greater than the value of a retroactive pay increase for the average
member of Local 1110, and even more valuable for lower-paid workers,”
the union said in a statement.
Strikebreaker lawsuit
The union had sued the university and accused it of violating state law
for hiring strikebreakers at higher wages than the striking employees.
The union agreed to drop the suit and unfair labor charges, according to
its statement.
“The terms of this agreement were available to ISU management on
February 10, when union members voted down the university’s takeaway
demands, and on April 7, when we met with the mediator before our strike
deadline,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said.
“Instead, management chose a path of conflict and division that brought
hardship to workers, disruption to students and a stain on ISU’s name.”
The workers went on strike on April 8, and the resolution of the walkout
comes following heightened scrutiny in Springfield and in the Illinois
governor’s race.
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Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule speaks to a
Senate committee in Springfield on April 28, 2026. (Capitol News
Illinois photo by Peter Hancock)
Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey took part in a picket on the
campus in Normal late last month, and on April 28, Gov. JB Pritzker
called on the university to return to the negotiating table and
criticized the use of strikebreakers. At the time, the university said
it had made its final offer.
That same day, Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule
faced heavy scrutiny in a Senate appropriations committee.
“The University appreciates the efforts made by both bargaining teams as
they worked late into the night to reach this agreement, which reflects
a collective commitment to moving forward together,” Tarhule said in a
statement. “I encourage our campus community to unite in the spirit of
collaboration, respect all individuals’ rights and choices, and work to
heal differences of opinion, real or perceived, so that we may
reestablish our sense of shared values and mission.”
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