New NIU union contract approved with 5% pay increase

DeKALB – After months of negotiations under an expired contract, Northern Illinois University recently reached a new agreement with two of its worker unions, which includes 5% pay increases after workers complained about “poverty wages.”

Workers represented by two American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee unions will be given increased compensation under a new two-year contract recently ratified by the union and approved by the university’s Board of Trustees. The employees have been working on contracts that expired in June.

Union officials called the contract, effective through June 30, 2025, “progress toward fair pay,” in a statement to the Daily Chronicle.

“This agreement represents a critical step forward in our pursuit of a brighter and more equitable future,” said Rave Meyer, office manager in the NIU Department of Environmental Studies and the president of AFSCME Local 1890, in a news release. “Even so, our journey is far from over. Our union will remain steadfast in our commitment to tirelessly work toward realizing these essential goals.”

More than 650 employees are represented by the two AFSCME unions. About 500 workers are represented by Local 1890 and 160 with Local 963. The unions represent office workers, building services employee, maintenance and food services workers at NIU. New contracts were approved for Local 1890 and

Union members have previously aired grievances that $15 per hour wages had stagnated, especially for longtime employees, while new hires were offered more pay.

The new two-year agreement includes a 5% pay increase that’s retroactive to July 1, 2023. Union workers will get at least a 3% pay increase on July 1, 2024 and employees can expect annual lump-sum payments up to $1,150 based on seniority.

The new contract was announced six weeks after NIU union workers demanded better pay, with union president Patrick Sheridan lamenting their hourly rate as “poverty wages,” at a Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 21.

The new contract not only included pay increases but it also raised the minimum starting wage for union members working at the university to $16 an hour. Efforts to address union worker wage inversion – where new hires are sometimes brought on at a hire pay rates than tenured workers – were also included in the contract’s provisions, according to the union.

NIU spokesman Joe King said the new contract that was approved by NIU’s Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 is for AFSCME Council 31 and Local 1890 union members. No contract was approved for Local 963.

Clerical, professional and administrative workers at NIU are represented by AFSCME Local 1890 and NIU building services, health services, dining and maintenance workers are represented by AFSCME Local 963, with AFSCME Council 31 bargaining on their behalf.

“The university is always committed to bargaining in good faith as was the case with AFSCME in achieving a contract reflective of their membership and goals. We appreciate the contributions of our staff to student success and our university community,” King said in a statement to the Daily Chronicle.

A 2023 study from the University of Illinois and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute indicated public university employees are paid about 20% less than individuals working similar roles in state government. That’s what union workers said they were rallying against in September.

“Clerical, technical and other support workers make NIU and every state university happen,” said AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch in a news release. “Together in our union we’re fighting for fair pay for every university employee.”