This weekend two members of our Editorial Board went to accept an award on behalf of The Daily Eastern News for our coverage and editorial support of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 981.

The award stated it was “for your diligent coverage of AFSCME Local 981’s fight to win a fair contract at Eastern Illinois University; for your dedication to journalism that can actually improve lives; for centering and amplifying the voices and experiences of workers in your writing.”

The award came as a surprise to our board as we felt we were just doing our jobs as journalists when we were out covering AFSCME’s protests and negotiations over the last year.

The community deserves to know when the people they see the most on campus are without a contract and feel they are being treated unfairly.

On the editorial side of it, we just felt it was the right thing to do.

After the layoffs AFSCME faced due to the budget impasse and their work during the pandemic, they deserved to be compensated fairly. They deserved to retain the rights afforded to them in their previous contract. They deserved to be treated with the same love and respect they give Eastern every day.

The Daily Eastern News Editorial Board is proud to support AFSCME and honored to accept Council 31’s Worker Support Award.

We thank AFSCME for this honor, but we thank them even more for all they do for us day in and day out.