A union representing employees working under an expired contract at Northern Illinois University has filed a complaint against the institution with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, university and union officials have confirmed.

In the complaint brought before the labor relations board, the union claims that an NIU spokesperson said the university would refuse to continue bargaining with the union unless it agreed to ground rules for future bargaining sessions, according to the document filed with the labor relations board.

Anders Lindall, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, described the university’s conduct as “illegal.”

In a statement, NIU spokesperson Jami Kunzer said the university was aware of the union’s filing with the labor relations board.

“The union has chosen to file a complaint against the university to expand the audience,” Kunzer said.

The charge against NIU was filed with the state’s education labor relations board Oct. 3 by an AFSCME Council 31 representative, according to records provided by the union.

That council represents more than 90,000 active and retired employees, including clerical, technical and administrative professionals at NIU, organized under the AFSCME Local 1890.

The union is seeking a cease and desist order against NIU, an order to bargain in good faith, as well as legal fees and costs as relief.

The labor contract between AFSCME Local 1890 and NIU expired at the end of June, and representatives from both parties have met multiple times to bargain for a new contract. Lindall said those union employees are currently working under the conditions of the expired contract while negotiations continue.

The two parties don’t agree on who should be present during those contract negotiations, however.

Kunzer said NIU told the union that future bargaining sessions need to follow the rules of the expired contract. The university believes that the agreement stipulates only Local 1890 bargaining unit members, an AFSCME staff representative and authorized university officials can be present during contract negotiations.

The negotiation impasse arose after union members invited news organizations to attend a bargaining session in September.

Those invitations, which included one to Shaw Media, were given during a union protest that ended in a stakeout in Altgeld Hall when NIU President Lisa Freeman wasn’t immediately available to meet with union organizers. Union members wanted to end their march through campus by delivering a letter to Freeman, which invited her to their upcoming bargaining session.

Kunzer said the university told the union that future contract negotiations would need to be private after learning of the invitations to news organizations days later.

“Bargaining sessions are meetings between the union and the employer and are not open to the media, public or subject to the Open Meetings Act,” Kunzer said.

The union has been asking NIU officials for higher wages since at least June, when members crowded into an NIU Board of Trustees meeting to make a public plea.

Lindall said union members are asking for a living wage more than anything else.

“Far too many NIU employees are paid very low wages, particularly clerical workers; the university itself admits this,” Lindall said. “At the outset of contract negotiations, the administration presented data showing that wages are now 6% lower than NIU’s own internal targets. But the administration’s proposals to date don’t even close that gap. Worse, those wages are 15% lower than for comparable positions elsewhere.”

In September, Kunzer said the union had rejected multiple contract proposals from the university. At the time, Rave Meyer, president of AFSCME Local 1890, said the university’s offers were effectively a pay cut.

Now, a month after the campus stakeout – which was observed by at least one tour group – Kunzer said NIU remains committed to bargaining in good faith.

She said that the union’s actions aren’t helping, however.

“Performative activities meant to distract the employer and further draw out negotiations are not in the best interest of NIU’s employees,” Kunzer said in the provided statement.

She said the university’s labor relations team is looking forward to the next bargaining session and will continue to advocate for a multiyear agreement that the university considers fiscally reasonable, responsible and equitable.

Lindall said another bargaining session is scheduled for this month.

“The question is whether the administration is ready to make real movement toward raising wages and providing a fair standard of living for employees and their families,” Lindall said.