Tenured and tenure-track faculty at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale went on strike this morning. Three other unions, representing non-tenure-track faculty, graduate assistants, and civil service employees, reached agreements last night. (All four unions are represented by the IEA/NEA.)

SIU president Glenn Poshard, who has been head of the institution for five years after earning three degrees there, denounced the faculty for striking, adding that “I don’t think anyone has as much invested in this university as I do.”

The Faculty Association spokesperson Dave Johnson declared, “the SIUC administration decided it wanted a strike, not a settlement.” SIU offered raises of 0,1,1, and 2% over the next four years, while promising it would cause large increases in tuition; the faculty offered to make salary increases contingent on increasing revenue for the university, but this proposal was rejected.

Another interesting aspect of this story are numerous reports that the SIU administration is censoring Facebook comments on the SIU page.