October 28, 2025
Tuesday, October 28, marked our 24th bargaining session since February 2025 to reach a new contract — our third agreement. Management has enjoyed being back in person for the last three sessions and has welcomed discussion and real-time feedback.
During the session, Management provided an update on negotiations to date and Management’s view on what needs to occur to reach an agreement as there remains a major gap between our parties on the core economic package. Highlights of the update are as follows:
Review of Market Data
Management provided an analysis of market data previously shared by both parties as a part of negotiations. This review demonstrated both sets of data are consistent and show: Loyola’s full-time NTT faculty salaries are well above the market average, and our part-time NTT faculty are among the highest paid part-time faculty in Chicago.
Below is the data analysis presented in the October 28 bargaining session, which compares full-time and part-time compensations at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) to its competitive peer group in the Chicago area — University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), DePaul University, and Northern Illinois University (NIU). The review also includes hourly rates for music lessons at many schools, including several in the Chicago area.
Full-Time Salaries at Chicago Area Universities
Salary Distributions for NTT faculty at UIC (LAS) and Loyola (CAS)
Detailed Distributions (2024-2025)
Part-Time Rates in the Chicagoland Area
Music Lesson Hourly Rates
Review of Management’s Compensation Proposal and Recent Counterproposals
Following the review of the market data, Management shared how it’s proposal on compensation reflects the salary increases that many of the Union members have received over the course of the last contract:
- It comes to an average of 15.1% for all CAS faculty members. This includes the most recent salary adjustment in Spring 2025 for those who were eligible.
- Management’s proposal on compensation also maintains the current structure – one that permits Union members to receive the same merit increases as all faculty across the University. In the past four years, those increases have ranged from 2.5% to as high as 5%.
In addition to this compensation proposal, Management reflected on the several movements offered in recent sessions that seek to address concerns raised by the Union:
- To address workload concerns, offered for full-time unionized faculty members to receive one course release approximately once every four academic years.
- Explicitly recognized that time spent on protected leaves (e.g., parental leaves) will not count against service accrual for one-year and adjunct instructor appointments and also proposed to count one year of service as a temporary faculty member towards the completion of the probationary period if that faculty member is hired in an 85-line.
- Offered an increase in the professional development fund by 83% over the last contract to $55,000 and an increase in the individual amount payable to a unionized faculty member to $1,250 (an increase from the prior $600).
- Accepted the Union’s proposal for salary increases for promotion (i.e., $3,375 and $6,750, respectively for each level of promotion).
Context on Higher Education Landscape
As previously shared, the University is facing the same difficult challenges as all of higher education, including:
- Challenges with federal funding and the lack of certainty around future availability.
- Moves at the federal level that have caused an anticipated dip in international student enrollment.
- Demographic shifts including less high school graduates predicted. This includes an estimated nationwide drop of 13% less high school graduates through 2041.
No school is immune to these realities, and many in the Chicagoland area are taking dramatic steps to address them, including through faculty and staff hiring freezes, staff and faculty layoffs, suspension of pay increases, reduced discretionary spending and merger or elimination of academic programming.
It is in the context of this landscape that the Union has presented minimal movement in its compensation proposals. For example,
- Despite our mutual understanding around fair market comparisons as seen above, the Union is proposing to reduce the increase to the annual minimum salaries from 35% to 32%. At the same time, the Union has maintained its request for a 25% reduction in teaching loads.
- On professional development, the Union has maintained the same request for a $200,000 pool and just slightly lowered the proposal from $2,000 per individual to $1,750.
The Path Forward
Loyola remains committed to bargaining in good faith and as stated above, presented a counterproposal on October 28 that showed additional movement to close gaps with the Union’s proposals.
Loyola looks forward to continuing with work with the Union to achieve an agreement that is fair to faculty while ensuring the University can continue to serve students effectively and remain responsible stewards of our collective resources in an increasingly challenging higher education environment.
Tuesday, October 28, marked our 24th bargaining session since February 2025 to reach a new contract — our third agreement. Management has enjoyed being back in person for the last three sessions and has welcomed discussion and real-time feedback.
During the session, Management provided an update on negotiations to date and Management’s view on what needs to occur to reach an agreement as there remains a major gap between our parties on the core economic package. Highlights of the update are as follows:
Review of Market Data
Management provided an analysis of market data previously shared by both parties as a part of negotiations. This review demonstrated both sets of data are consistent and show: Loyola’s full-time NTT faculty salaries are well above the market average, and our part-time NTT faculty are among the highest paid part-time faculty in Chicago.
Below is the data analysis presented in the October 28 bargaining session, which compares full-time and part-time compensations at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) to its competitive peer group in the Chicago area — University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), DePaul University, and Northern Illinois University (NIU). The review also includes hourly rates for music lessons at many schools, including several in the Chicago area.
Full-Time Salaries at Chicago Area Universities
Salary Distributions for NTT faculty at UIC (LAS) and Loyola (CAS)
Detailed Distributions (2024-2025)
Part-Time Rates in the Chicagoland Area
Music Lesson Hourly Rates
Review of Management’s Compensation Proposal and Recent Counterproposals
Following the review of the market data, Management shared how it’s proposal on compensation reflects the salary increases that many of the Union members have received over the course of the last contract:
- It comes to an average of 15.1% for all CAS faculty members. This includes the most recent salary adjustment in Spring 2025 for those who were eligible.
- Management’s proposal on compensation also maintains the current structure – one that permits Union members to receive the same merit increases as all faculty across the University. In the past four years, those increases have ranged from 2.5% to as high as 5%.
In addition to this compensation proposal, Management reflected on the several movements offered in recent sessions that seek to address concerns raised by the Union:
- To address workload concerns, offered for full-time unionized faculty members to receive one course release approximately once every four academic years.
- Explicitly recognized that time spent on protected leaves (e.g., parental leaves) will not count against service accrual for one-year and adjunct instructor appointments and also proposed to count one year of service as a temporary faculty member towards the completion of the probationary period if that faculty member is hired in an 85-line.
- Offered an increase in the professional development fund by 83% over the last contract to $55,000 and an increase in the individual amount payable to a unionized faculty member to $1,250 (an increase from the prior $600).
- Accepted the Union’s proposal for salary increases for promotion (i.e., $3,375 and $6,750, respectively for each level of promotion).
Context on Higher Education Landscape
As previously shared, the University is facing the same difficult challenges as all of higher education, including:
- Challenges with federal funding and the lack of certainty around future availability.
- Moves at the federal level that have caused an anticipated dip in international student enrollment.
- Demographic shifts including less high school graduates predicted. This includes an estimated nationwide drop of 13% less high school graduates through 2041.
No school is immune to these realities, and many in the Chicagoland area are taking dramatic steps to address them, including through faculty and staff hiring freezes, staff and faculty layoffs, suspension of pay increases, reduced discretionary spending and merger or elimination of academic programming.
It is in the context of this landscape that the Union has presented minimal movement in its compensation proposals. For example,
- Despite our mutual understanding around fair market comparisons as seen above, the Union is proposing to reduce the increase to the annual minimum salaries from 35% to 32%. At the same time, the Union has maintained its request for a 25% reduction in teaching loads.
- On professional development, the Union has maintained the same request for a $200,000 pool and just slightly lowered the proposal from $2,000 per individual to $1,750.
The Path Forward
Loyola remains committed to bargaining in good faith and as stated above, presented a counterproposal on October 28 that showed additional movement to close gaps with the Union’s proposals.
Loyola looks forward to continuing with work with the Union to achieve an agreement that is fair to faculty while ensuring the University can continue to serve students effectively and remain responsible stewards of our collective resources in an increasingly challenging higher education environment.