2026 Strike

Statement released 5/15:

We’re writing to let you all know that our membership voted to suspend our strike at a meeting last night (5/14).  The strike has now been officially suspended as of this morning (5/15) at 8 AM. To be clear, suspending the strike now is not a surrender or admission of defeat. This does not mean we are signing a contract now or giving up our fight. We are not advocating to ratify the contract in its current form because our members have overwhelmingly expressed that a 2.25% raise in year one with no guaranteed raise continuing is untenable.

The administration recognized the power we had been building up over the last 3 weeks and was willing to escalate desperately, threatening an unprecedented summer and fall lockout in an attempt to restore the status quo power imbalance between workers and bosses. However, this threat to the livelihood of our most vulnerable workers was not a risk we were willing to take by continuing to strike throughout the summer. Our choice to suspend represents an acknowledgement of where our power lies and an encouragement for us to continue to build our power and momentum as we continue to bargain with the university throughout the summer. We stood strong and pushed past the grading deadline, which represented a key point of leverage and a bold swing that our union has never taken before. This week’s chaos after the grading deadline passed showed UIC administration the true value of our labor and what happens when we refuse to contribute to this university’s daily operations! Our leverage was maximized by our strong relationship with UIC United Faculty built up over the past year, who have shown their commitment to GEO by fighting back against the university’s directives to do our work for us and enter falsified final grades in violation of their contract.

Many members recently expressed justifiable fear of the university’s unprecedented threat to lock us all out of our appointments this summer and fall. To this end, the university has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which reaffirms that it will not retaliate against workers who were on strike as a condition of our suspending the strike. Such retaliation would have been illegal regardless because we agreed to suspend prior to the end of our spring contracts, but signing this MOU provides further legal protections. Any retaliation or revocation of summer jobs would be ample grounds to file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) violation against them that could be expedited in court due to “irreparable harm”. For a full summary of our legal defense here, please reference this advisory memo sent to our leadership by IFT (our parent union) general counsel.

On Thursday, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the university to negotiate our conditions when we return to work and complete outstanding tasks from the spring semester, like grading. The full document is linked above, but here are the highlights:

We are protected against further retaliation for the strike. 

We have until 5/21 to enter grades. 

Instructions on changing grades in the system: https://registrar.uic.edu/uic-faculty-staff/grades/online-grade-change-request/ 

Portal to change grades: https://experience.elluciancloud.com/uic/ 

Folks have been asking what to put for the reason the grade is changing - something neutral and generic like “grade correction” or “grade not recorded” should work just fine!

We retain our right to go back on strike so long as we issue another 10-day notice. 

Those with summer appointments should show up to work as usual starting this Monday. 

We encourage you to reach out to your students, and we have created templates to help you with that communication.

Now that we have agreed to suspend the strike, this doesn’t mean that our work and commitment to organizing together is over. Our task moving forward is to harness the momentum that we’ve built while striking with a sustainable structure that supports those clearly mobilized by our fight. After taking a well-deserved rest, if you’ve been energized by the solidarity and comradery we’ve built up over the past few weeks, please continue to be involved with the union! Join a committee (more info will be added to the ‘Get Involved’ tab to our website soon)! Talk to your co-workers about what you’ve learned and how we can continue to grow moving forward! Remember - the union is run by and for its membership. And when we fight together… We win!

Remember - and the last few weeks have shown us that this isn’t just a slogan, but is abundantly true - UIC WORKS BECAUSE WE DO!!!

In solidarity,

Catherine Barth-Yoakum, Interim Co-Chief Steward

Alex Brown, Interim Co-Chief Steward

Micaela Foreman, Co-President

Macy Miller, Outreach Chair & Interim Treasurer

Ryan Nordle, Secretary

Soleil Smith, Co-President

Emily Via, Bargaining Chair

Charlie Wiland, Interim Communications Chair