Threatened strike by four unions at Southern Illinois University worries local businesses
WISL TV News
October 31, 2011
Four unions at Southern Illinois University are set to go on strike this Thursday if no contract deal is reached. Members of the Faculty, Civil Service, Non-Tenured Faculty, and Graduate Assistant unions have been working without a contract since last year.
About a week ago, each union set a strike date for November 3rd. That deadline is not sitting well with many local business owners, who say both the city and students will suffer if there's a strike.
The consensus is, if this strike happens, we all will see an effect. The short-term economic impact isn't the only effect they're worried about, but one that has a lot more potential to make all Carbondale businesses suffer in the future.
What do pizza shop, a tanning salon, and a outdoors outlet have in common?
"We depend a lot on the university."
Southern Illinois University is the biggest economic driver in Carbondale, employing thousands of people and drawing in more than twenty thousand students every year. Now, some business owners fear much of that economic stability may go into limbo if the four unions go on strike this week.