Tenured and tenure-track professors at the University of Illinois Springfield are on strike starting today.  Nearly 170 professors belong to the union that will take to the picket line this morning. 

Members of the union representing non-tenure-track faculty at the University of Illinois went on strike Tuesday morning, launching a two-day work stoppage.  In a mass e-mail, administrators questioned the goals of the strike, saying tentative agreements have been reached in 14 areas, including several "key items."  But Union President Shawn Gilmore called those areas "small."

Illinois’ largest state-worker union has agreed not to go on strike for at least another two months.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration is contacting retired state employees about possible returning to work on short-term contracts, in case of a state employees strike, according to the State Journal-Register.

The governor was asked in mid-May if state employees should be concerned about layoffs or a strike. "Hopefully not," he said. "We've got to make some big changes. Changes are hard. And there's going to be a lot of resistance to change."