Labor Talks Still On Between UI and SEIU, but Under an Unfair Labor Complaint

Talks this week between the University of Illinois and one of its employee unions gained no ground - and now the union is filing an unfair labor complaint.

But the head of the Service Employees International Union local said the two sides have agreed to have a federal mediator sit in on talks next month. Ricky Baldwin said that will head off any labor action for at least a month.

Baldwin claims U of I negotiators haven't been bargaining in good faith by asking for new concessions that moved negotiations further apart. He also accuses the University of replacing some union jobs with lower-paid workers, many of them students.

"It's not an us versus them in terms of the contingent workers," Baldwin said. "We love for these people to be hired full-time, get decent pay and benefits and union rights. But they're not treated very well," Baldwin claimed, saying employees were afraid to complain after one supervisor demonstrated bad behavior.

The SEIU represents nearly 800 food service and building service employees on the Urbana campus. A U of I spokesperson has not been available for comment as of Friday afternoon.

Baldwin said negotiations will resume March 8th, a week before a federal mediator will join the talks.