AFSCME (The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) Council 31, the largest union of public service workers in Illinois, is currently on strike at Illinois State University.
The strike began on April 8th, 2026. They have now been on strike for 5 days as of writing this. Probably more at the time that you are reading this. I have talked to strikers on the picket lines and gotten their perspectives and even got interviewed myself by ISU’s student news station TV 10 about how I felt about the strike.
My interview and my own personal support of unions urged and inspired me to write this article and do some interviewing myself. I want to help these people get their story out there and also urge my peers to support our ISU workers who do so much for us. The University does not run correctly and efficiently without them.
As a student who works for the Office of Admissions here at ISU, I have an inside perspective about how the school treats its workers. Student Tour Guides are only paid $15 an hour, which leaves us with barely enough money to pay our rent. We don’t have a union and most of us are in our early 20s and haven’t started a family. I can only imagine being paid two dollars more and having to support a family or pay a mortgage. That is impossible.
I have observed the strike and even joined in, as someone on the picket line was kind enough to provide me with a sign. These people are some of the kindest people I have ever met. They are not violent or unreasonable. Many of the strikers I have talked to have said that they love ISU students and do not wish to cause disturbances, but that they have to do what they must in order to be provided with a living wage. I, for one, am in full support of them.
One striker that I was lucky enough to interview provided me with a description of what is going on for those that don’t know.
Erica Stevenson, in her 30’s, has worked at ISU for eight years. She is now trying to start a family with her husband in the next few months and is nervous about living paycheck to paycheck, even more than she is already.
Since starting eight years ago, she has heard about how the relationship between the Union and management in the past used to be better. They used to be able to work with the union on settlements. Now, it seems, they are refusing to bargain with the union.
So, who exactly is on strike? The people that clean the dorms, offices, classrooms and do all the grounds maintenance at ISU, such as planting the beautiful flowers on our quad, salting the sidewalks, and cleaning up trash on campus, as well as people who work in the dining center are all on strike.
These people have been out of a contract since July. Currently, they are asking for back pay from then, which is hundreds of dollars that they are owed. They are also asking for a raise. As contract workers, their percentage raise is usually around 3 or 3.5%, which is pennies on the dollar.
Erica told me that what ISU workers are looking for is not a raise for them to go on vacations, but a raise that allows them to live. The lowest paid members of the union make $16.60 an hour even after working here at ISU for eight years. They are asking to be paid a living wage, enough to help for common emergencies such as Erica’s water heater that’s having issues. BSW’s such as Erica start at $17 an hour. That is not a living wage to support a family.
“When people think of janitors, they think ‘oh, they just clean toilets and that’s it.’ But it’s a lot of bigger scale work.”
Erica explained that during the summer, the BSW’s here at ISU strip all the wax off of the floors in the dorms, which is hundreds of rooms. Not only that, but doing groundworks work and janitorial work can be very physically taxing and many of the people on strike that I talked to have spoken of shoulder or back injuries and taking medical leave.
The University is a year and half behind on providing the University workers with a contract and is refusing to pay workers retroactively.
Erica said that best ways for people and students to help are to contact the ISU board of trustees, ISU Housing and Dr. Glen Nelson, Vice President for Financing and Planning here at ISU. Contact them via email or phone call and explain why ISU workers deserve to be paid a fair and living wage.
Erica also urges students to take pictures of the dorms and dining halls and share them. “Pictures are our proof,” she says.
Make sure to follow the Local 1110 Facebook group for updates, as well as AFSCME 31 on Instagram. And remember to support Unions!