Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois v. Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board

# University of Illinois Department Chairs Case Summary **What Happened** The University of Illinois and a labor board disagreed over whether department chairs at the Springfield campus should be allowed to join a union representing tenure-track professors. The labor board initially ruled that department chairs could join this bargaining unit. The university appealed, arguing that department chairs held management-level positions and shouldn't be included. **The Court's Decision** The Illinois Appellate Court sided with the university. The court decided that department chairs are managers—not regular employees—and therefore cannot join the tenure-track faculty bargaining unit. This reversed the labor board's earlier ruling. **Why It Matters for Workers** This case clarifies who can organize collectively at universities. Department chairs lost the right to negotiate as part of a faculty union. The ruling suggests that positions involving supervision, budgeting, or hiring decisions may disqualify workers from joining certain unions. This distinction between management and eligible employees affects which workers can collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.