Dive Brief:
- An administrative law judge has ordered Southern Illinois University Carbondale to pay $1.9 million to 1,500 employees who were furloughed for four days in 2011 during a union negotiating impasse.
- Judge Colleen Harvey of the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board ruled that the administration for the university at the time had illegally created a gridlock with three unions negotiating on behalf of employees at the school.
- The university said it disagrees with the ruling and may appeal the decision in Illinois courts, the Southern Illinoisan reported.
Dive Insight:
The unions, understandably, hailed the ruling, which comes just in time for the contract bargaining set to begin this fall. The judge’s ruling covers four days’ worth of back wages for the current and former employees. The three Illinois Education Association unions are the Association of Civil-Service Employees, the SIU Faculty Association, and the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association.
