Southern Illinois contract battles proceed

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University officials filed a complaint against the University's faculty Monday with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, the latest punch in a bitter fight over a new contract.\nSIU officials say the faculty's 688-member union is not bargaining in good faith, is bringing up old and settled issues and is threatening to strike over issues not on the bargaining table, SIU lawyer Mark Brittingham said Monday.\nUnion officials did not immediately return a telephone messages left by The Associated Press.\nThe union, which claims its members are paid far less than faculty at similar universities, filed an intent-to-strike notice with the the labor board Oct. 30, clearing the way for a walkout anytime after a mandatory, 10-day "cooling off" period expires Nov. 10.\nThe SIU professors, who earn an average $60,200 yearly, are demanding a 21 percent raise in salary and benefits over three years. The union claims the school has the money to pay it despite absorbing more than $10 million in state budget cuts this year.\nPublic university professors in Illinois average $66,000 annually, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.\nSIU officials have offered a five-year plan that included no raise for the current year and unspecified raises each of the following four years tied to future state appropriations. They say they can afford no more.\nThe Educational Labor Relations Board will appoint an investigator to look into the allegations, said Elizabeth Gaffney, head investigator for the state agency.\nThe agency's executive director will ultimately decide whether a hearing will be conducted on the allegations, she said.