The University of Illinois-Chicago has sent word that administrators would not attend a special state senate hearing about treatment of the school’s union employees.

Notice was sent by UIC’s Executive Director for Governmental Relations Katherine Laing to the Senate Committee on Higher Education and Appropriations on Aug. 10, less than 48 hours before the hearing, scheduled for Aug. 11 at 1 p.m. at the university, Service Employee International Union Local 73 spokesman Adam Rosen said.

Laing did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment on the university’s decision.

The goal during the hearing was to get out a better understanding of the erosion of unionized staff at the school, Rosen said.

A recent vote of the union’s 3,000 members and their three bargaining units came back with affirmation to strike if a tentative labor agreement is not reached by Aug. 16, said Rosen.

The bulk of Local 73’s grievances against UIC management stems from the trend toward increasing non-union “academic professional positions.” In plain terms, Local 73 claims that UIC has been turning union secretary jobs into “department coordinator” positions, which may offer more pay but only have one-year contracts.

It’s a non-union job and job security is gone, Rosen said.