AFSCME University Member Update: February 2025

22 States, including Illinois, sue to stop cuts to research grants

As part of billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to slash funding of public institutions, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a major, catastrophic overhaul in its research grant funding policy, cutting the amount that it would fund overhead, or indirect costs, of all grants to a maximum of 15%, from a current average of around 40%.

NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, awarding nearly 60,000 grants totaling around $32 billion in Fiscal Year 2024—much of it to researchers at universities and university medical centers. Around $9 billion of that total went towards indirect costs, including staffing, laboratory upkeep, and other important overhead. The policy overhaul would cut about $4 billion in funding, leaving universities and hospitals on the hook. In many cases, including at Illinois universities and hospitals, vital research projects and lifesaving clinical trials would be forced to cease operations due to the lack of funds.

The University of Illinois system would stand to lose $67 million in funding, including around $14 million at UIUC.

Following the policy announcement, 22 states sued the Trump administration, and on Feb. 10, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the funding cuts from going into effect. Currently, grantees are receiving the full amount of indirect costs, with the policy change frozen as it works its way through the courts.

Trump’s Department of Education threatens federal funding to universities unless “DEI” is eliminated

In a Feb. 14 memo, the Trump Administration threatened to cut off federal funding to all universities that do not cease using “race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”

Universities were given two weeks to purge all such programs from their operations.

The “Dear Colleague” letter, from Craig Trainor, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, expands on a 2023 Supreme Court decision barring reliance on affirmative action in admissions at universities, but goes far beyond the scope of that decision in expanding the banning of “race-based” practices throughout all facets of educational institutions.

The letter provides few concrete examples of what these practices are, leaving K-12 schools and universities scrambling to comply with the law. Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education—the professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon, who has no formal education policy experience—was unable to provide a clear answer when questioned during her confirmation hearing on whether schools risked losing funding if they offer African-American studies courses.

Most Illinois universities have, at minimum, pledges to support diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. But it is not clear how universities in the state plan to respond to the administration’s order. In the meantime, multiple lawsuits have been filed in federal court challenging the administration’s executive orders on DEI.

AFSCME members ramp up the pressure on management at NEIU

Members of AFSCME Local 1989 at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago have long known that they are underpaid—especially when accounting for the cost of living in the Chicago metropolitan area.

But management has refused to accept this reality at the bargaining table. So the local took the matter into their own hands, submitting Freedom of Information Act requests on all 78 titles represented by the union at the university, and comparing wages at NEIU to those for the same titles at other universities around the state.

The data is very revealing: When adjusted for cost of living, employees at NEIU are paid, on average, $4.07 less per hour.

That information has provided further motivation for Local 1989 members to reach a contract whereby they are paid fairly, in line with public university employees around the state working the same jobs.

It has also been important for contract negotiations during which management has consistently brought erroneous information to the bargaining table.

With management refusing to admit to the unfairness of the wage structure, local members have amped up the pressure. Three members spoke at a February Board of Trustees meeting, where they described the difficult negotiations due to management’s position at the bargaining table, and told trustees about the importance of their work for campus operations.

Members have also gotten the community involved: On Valentine’s Day, Local 1989 tabled at the student union with a giant poster-sized card addressed to the university president calling for a fair contract settlement. They gathered signatures from students, faculty, and other supporters. Members then delivered the card, with over 100 signatures, to the president’s office.

The next bargaining session is set for March 3 and union members are hoping to see a different attitude from the management representatives across the table.

Legislative update for university members

During the current legislative session in Springfield, AFSCME is leading the charge for higher education reform by introducing critical legislation focused on wages, collective bargaining, and improving working conditions for state university employees.

SB 2349/HB 3158, introduced by Sen. Chris Belt and Rep. Katie Stuart, would immediately raise the minimum wage of employees at state universities, to $22 for the 2025-26 academic year; $23 for the 2026-27 academic year; and $24 for the 2027-28 academic year. In subsequent years, the minimum wage would be increased by a percentage increase equal to that of the Consumer Price Index.

SB 1952/HB 3046, introduced by Sen. Doris Turner and Rep. Sharon Chung, amends the State Universities Civil Service Act by clarifying that nothing in the act prevents parties to a collective bargaining agreement from agreeing to a provision that enhances labor rights.

AFSCME’s lobbying team also remains committed to advancing legislation that would end the gap in wages between employees at state universities and those working identical jobs elsewhere within state government. Our union is in conversation with legislators to introduce a resolution that encourages the General Assembly to examine wage inequity between public employees at universities and in state government.

Higher education funding remains flat in Gov. Pritzker’s proposed budget

On Feb. 19, Governor Pritzker released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026. Though the budget outlook was not as drastic as feared following multiple forecasts that predicted major shortfalls, the proposed budget would do no more than keep higher education spending relatively flat from FY25.

In total, the FY26 recommended budget appropriates $2.620 billion in general revenue funds to higher education spending, compared to $2.615 billion in FY25. The budget does include a 3% increase in general fund dollars for public university operating costs (a $37 million increase) while continuing to increase investments in MAP funding and support the pipeline for the advancement of healthcare (PATH) workforce programs at $15 million (decrease of $5 million). The budget also continues investments in scholarship programs, technology investments and efforts to diversify teaching and higher education staff in Illinois, as well as capital development dollars to address deferred maintenance and construction costs at higher education facilities.

While the proposed budget does not contain cuts from FY25, it is clear that further revenue is needed in order to advance our goals in the legislature and win wage parity to bring public university employees in line with their counterparts in state government.

Additionally, while Gov. Pritzker’s proposed budget is a balanced one, it also continues to depend on allocations from the federal government—including for state universities. While the Trump administration’s attempted funding cuts have thus far been held up in court, the situation continues to evolve, and our union stands ready to fight against any cuts that would impact university employees in Illinois.

Continuing the fight to Fix Tier 2 during the spring legislative session

With the spring legislative session underway in Springfield, AFSCME and other public sector unions in the We Are One Illinois coalition are once again leading the fight to fix Tier 2 and pass comprehensive legislation to provide dignity and fairness in retirement.

The coalition has reintroduced our pension reform bill, the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act, into both the State House and State Senate as HB 2711 and SB 2, respectively, and are engaged in conversations with lawmakers and the Pritzker administration towards passing this bill and getting it signed into law.

In his budget proposal, Gov. Pritzker included funding to resolve the “Safe Harbor” issue within Tier 2. But while we agree that Safe Harbor should be addressed, we know that the most pressing problem with the unfair Tier 2 retirement system is the inadequate benefits for all public employees—including those at state universities—that require those on Tier 2 pensions to work for more years, while receiving less in retirement than Tier 1 retirees.

Council 31 members who work at state universities in Illinois have been front and center in the fight to fix Tier 2—from speaking at town halls across the state, to showing up in force at our rally in the Capitol rotunda in November, to sending emails and making phone calls to legislators. It’s important that we keep making our voices heard in telling lawmakers that now is the time to fix Tier 2.

In the coming weeks, there will be further actions you can take to help fix our unfair pension system. Fixing Tier 2 is possible, but only if all of us join in keeping the pressure on lawmakers to make it happen.