UIC Graduate Workers Union on Strike Effective Monday, April 18

The UIC Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing more than 1,500 graduate employees in collective bargaining negotiations, is going on strike Monday, April 18.  

The university is committed to fully continuing normal operations during this work stoppage. Students and parents can be assured that educational objectives will be fulfilled, and grades should not be affected. All other members of the university community will be expected to meet for classes as usual.  

We believe that this work stoppage is not in the best interest of the university or our students. However, UIC fully respects the rights of its employees under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act and other applicable laws. GEO members: 

• have the right to picket and demonstrate peacefully 
• have the right to work or to strike
• who choose to work and not strike will continue to be paid 
• who choose to strike will not be paid during the strike 

To date, the university has participated in more than 30 negotiating sessions over the past year, including eight conducted under the guidance of an independent federal mediator, and has reached a tentative agreement with the GEO on 21 of 27 items. The bargaining teams are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, April 19. As detailed in a communication to the campus community earlier today, key outstanding issues include wages/stipends, tuition waivers, health care costs and student fees.  

We sincerely value the contributions made by our graduate employees to our academic mission and remain optimistic that we will, together, reach a collective bargaining agreement that is fair and beneficial for all involved. 

The university has created a website, geobargaining.uic.edu, to inform our campus community, to answer questions related to the strike and to share detailed information about the most recent university and union proposals. We will continue to provide timely updates to our campus community as negotiations continue. 

Michael D. Amiridis   

Chancellor   

Javier Reyes 

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs