The faculty is not the only group on campus having problems with contract negotiations.

Eastern’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union local 981, which represents clerical and technical workers, is currently negotiating wages and parity with the administration.

Rick Prince, AFSCME staff representative, said parity refers to bringing clerical and technical employees’ wages up to par with comparative universities, such as Illinois State University and Western Illinois University.

There are 174 clerical and technical employees at Eastern, Prince said, and they average about $8 to $10 per hour. All secretarial positions, library assistants, bookstore clerks and many others are included in the clerical/technical category.

Matt Pederson, president of AFSCME local 981 and building services worker, said these employees are the lowest-paid on campus, except for food service workers.

“A lot of them are single parents, making $15,000 to $20,000 a year,” Pederson said.

“We’re trying to get wages up. Faculty negotiations are stuck on money, and technical and clerical employees are going through the same thing.”

Pederson said the administration is trying to “play” the faculty against the other employees, but AFSCME said it wouldn’t accept a wage increase if no one else on campus received one. A wage freeze should apply to everybody, he said.

“A two percent wage increase across the board would cost $79,000,” Pederson said. “That’s next to nothing.”

AFSCME has been meeting with Bob Wayland, Eastern’s chief negotiator for all labor agreements, who said the university cannot afford wage increases for any employees.

“They’re just like any other group,” Wayland said. “With the current budget crisis, there’s no money available.”

Pederson and Prince are convinced the university has found money for other departments despite the shortfall. They said AFSCME has asked to go in and look at different areas after seeing the university’s budget, which did not include line items or distinctions as to where funds were going.

“Who’s to say the money’s just floating around?” Pederson asked.

AFSCME has had some serious negotiation battles in the past, but Prince said in the last two years, negotiations have been amicable, sometimes taking only two or three meetings to find an agreement.

However, he said, the university has asked AFSCME to hold off further negotiations until after the first of the year.

“We can’t do that,” Prince said. “The folks we represent are coming to us. These are folks that make the university work.”

Prince said AFSCME wants the respect it deserves from the university and doesn’t want to be forced to picket as it has in the past.

“We don’t want to see it,” Pederson said. “But we’re not afraid to take the battle to the streets.”