COD faculty members authorize strike
Full-time faculty members at the College of DuPage have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, their union said in a news release Tuesday night.
It's the first strike authorization in nearly 25 years for the College of DuPage Faculty Association.
The Glen Ellyn-based school's faculty members have been working without a contract since a multiyear pact expired Aug. 14. Negotiations on a new deal started in March.
The vote doesn't mean a strike is imminent.
"It does not even mean we want to go on strike," union President Shannon Toler said Monday. "What it means is the faculty wants the negotiating team to be empowered to make that decision."
The faculty's bargaining team is required to file a 10-day notice of intent to strike with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board before a walkout can occur.
"We will continue to work with the board and come to an agreement that put students first," Toler said in Tuesday's news release.
The union represents 304 full-time faculty members.