Students at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale could be out of class next semester as the faculty union there gets closer to striking.

Eighty-eight percent of the SIUC Faculty Association voted in support of a strike authorization Wednesday after a three-day polling period, a press release stated. A strike vote action was taken after SIUC administrators charged the Faculty Association with unfair labor practices and not bargaining in good faith.

The two groups have been negotiating a new three-year contract, including a 21 percent salary increase for faculty, since last February. Faculty workload, faculty layoff procedures and faculty/student ratios are among the 75 unresolved issues involved in negotiations.

“Today’s vote is an unmistakable indication of the faculty’s resolve to achieve a contract that is fair, equitable and that advances the interest of the university,” said Faculty Association President Morteza Daneshdoost in a press conference Wednesday.

If negotiations continue to be unsuccessful and the administration continues to ignore faculty requests, the Faculty Association will call a strike on or before Feb. 3, the press release stated.

The Faculty Association is a 688-member union, and about 21,000 students are currently enrolled at SIUC. This is the first time a strike vote has been taken at a research university in Illinois, the press release stated.

“We don’t want to strike,” Daneshdoost said. “I kindly request (administrators) to stop this strike by returning to the bargaining table with realistic proposals and a spirit of compromise.”

Daneshdoost has previously said a strike would be tragic for students, the university and the state, and he would like to conclude negotiations and concentrate on teaching students.

“Our negotiation team will return to the bargaining table in two days,” he said. “We hope the administration will bargain seriously because the stakes are now undeniably great and the time remaining is unavoidably short.”