The most recent faculty contract negotiations resulted in conflicting opinions of how much progress was made from chief negotiators John Allison of the University Professionals of Illinois and Bob Wayland of the administration.

Wayland said he felt Wednesday’s meeting was the most successful since negotiations began, while Allison said UPI was disappointed with the progress.

The meeting was the second to be held with a federally contracted negotiator, with active bargaining lasting from 3 to 10:30 p.m. The next meeting with the mediator could not be scheduled until Oct. 11 because of the mediator’s schedule.

Allison said UPI was disappointed because the administration did not provide any new written language to address UPI concerns, even though UPI did so to address administration concerns. Also, there were no new offers regarding compensation from administration.

“This response is especially troubling since both sides know the mediator can’t revisit Eastern’s campus until Oct. 11,” Allison said. “We hoped for greater progress from the administration during the time the mediator was here.”

Allison said vague proposal language from the administration has been a continuing problem during negotiations.

“There was discussion, some of which was promising. But until discussion is reflected in written language, it’s really just air,” Allison said. “For us it was disappointing.”

Another major concern of Allison’s was that there was no new proposal regarding compensation. He said salaries have fallen under inflation rates for the last four years.

“The only way both sides are likely to achieve an agreement is through a compensation package that doesn’t cause our members salaries to shrink in the face of inflation,” Allison said. “There was some progress, but from our point-of-view, it was minimal.”

Wayland said there were some issues that were still unresolved, and proposal language was one of those issues.

However, he said he was pleased with the meeting Wednesday.

“I think both committees worked very diligently to sort through all the issues that we could,” Wayland said. “Although we have not reached a final agreement, I think our long session was very productive.”

He said a large numbers of issues were addressed and resolved in the meeting and relations between the negotiating teams are remaining peaceful and respectful.

“They have a job to do and we have a job to do and we’re trying to do it in a fairly respectful manner,” Wayland said.

While the mediator will not return to campus until Oct. 11, both Allison and Wayland plan to continue negotiations until then. The chief negotiators expect to hold a sidebar to continue discussions.

“I look forward to the meeting,” Allison said. “Especially if the administration at that time will be providing some additional written responses to our written language.”