Frequently Asked Questions

A1. Yes! Instructors become eligible to join UPI in the semester after they have taught 15 credit hours. Depending on how many courses they have been teaching, that could be a couple of semesters or it could be a couple of years. Check the contract for the section on eligibility or contact the leadership for more details.

A3. Being a union member is the source of our collective power--to get strong contracts and to protect members when the administration violates the contract or treats people unfairly. Dues-paying members participate in the life of the union, vote in union elections and polls, approve official agreements and contracts, and are a force to be reckoned with on our campus and more broadly in the state. A person who doesn’t join the union is in the bargaining unit if they meet the criteria in the CBA. They are covered by the protections of the contract, but they contribute to the “free rider” problem – if people opt for the benefits of membership without contributing, eventually the collective body loses power, potentially resulting in deteriorating working conditions over time.

A5. NEIUPI maintains three email lists: one on-campus list (@neiu.edu emails) and two off-campus lists. The off-campus lists include an ANNOUNCEMENTS list, which does not allow posting by members, and a CONVERSATION list which allows members to post and respond to each other and the entire list. To be added or removed from any of these lists, please contact the Chapter Treasurer.