07 Jan Bargaining Update + Revised Schedule for Week Ahead
- The need for member action is now!
- UICUF and management have exchanged comprehensive settlement packages with little movement from management.
- Next bargaining session: Tuesday 1/10, 9:00-12:00, SCE White Oak Room. (Monday session canceled.)
- Informational picketing & picket captain trainings Tuesday 1/10 and Wednesday 1/11.
- Special member meeting Thursday 1/12 at 5pm in SCE Cardinal Room.
- Strike FAQs for faculty, graduate workers, and students are now available.
Opportunities to help us settle a contract: This week we have two bargaining sessions, two informational pickets, an art/poster-making session, and a member meeting. If we want to win a strong contract without having to go on strike, we need every member to commit to at least one of these activities this week. This link will take you to our calendar.
Bargaining: On Thursday the UICUF Bargaining Committee presented management with a comprehensive settlement package consisting of all outstanding contract articles. We made significant concessions, including a step down in our salary demands. On Friday management returned a full counter without budging on salary pools. They continue to insist on just a two-year contract, with a 5% salary pool for Year 1, and 3.5% for Year 2. They also sought to take one article out of the package, where we made a significant concession on standard AAUP shared governance rights, and asked us to sign that article without making any concessions of their own, despite us telling them when we gave them our comprehensive proposal that we won’t be giving up that concession without movement from them on something else.
We caucused, drafted our comprehensive counterproposal, and handed that back, so now everything is sitting in management’s court once again. Since time wouldn’t permit them to consider any movement in time for our previously scheduled Monday morning session, that session is now canceled. The next session will be Tuesday, 9-12, SCE White Oak Room. It is vital at this stage that management sees our members in the room with us, so we call on all members to show up Tuesday morning. You needn’t be there the whole time. If you want to observe via zoom, please ask staff for a zoom link by emailing them at UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com. The only other scheduled bargaining session before our strike date is Thursday, 2:30-4, at SCW Room 206.
For a summary of outstanding issues, please see this bargaining observation guide.
Informational Picketing: To warm up our picketing skills and raise awareness about contract bargaining, we’ll be picketing Tuesday 1/10 12:30-1:30pm at Student Center East (west entrance) and Wednesday 1/11 10-11am outside UH. We encourage all members to attend at least one of the pickets. If you have not participated in a strike before, this will help you know what to expect.
Picket Captain Training: Before each informational picket (Tuesday 1/10 12-12:30 at SCE and Wednesday 1/11 9:30-10 at UH), we will have a half hour training for picket captains. Even if you aren’t sure you want to be a picket captain, you should come to this training! We’ll discuss picket line safety & organization, legal rights, chant leading techniques, and more.
Poster and Art Making: In preparation for the informational pickets and possible strike, we’ll have a poster and art making session Monday 1/9 2-4pm in the Writing Center (Grant Hall). Come to make art, have fun, and hang out with other union members! Please let us know if you plan to join us by sending an email to UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com.
Special Member Meeting: Just after our final scheduled bargaining session on Thursday 1/12 at 5pm in the SCE Cardinal Room, we’ll hold a meeting for all union members to discuss the status of bargaining and whether we will need to strike.
Frequently Asked Questions: Union staff have been fielding questions about what faculty, graduate workers, and students can and cannot do, and what they should expect, in the event of a UICUF strike. FAQ documents are ready (links above), and will be updated continuously as new questions come our way. Faculty wishing to have hard copies of student FAQs to distribute to their classes may pick up hard copies at our informational pickets on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In Solidarity,
The UIC UF Bargaining team
Xochitl Bada (Associate Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies) | Aaron Krall (Senior Lecturer, English) | Andy Baker (Clinical Assistant Professor, Music) | Anna Kornbluh (Professor, English) | Becky Bonarek (Lecturer, Tutorium in Intensive English) | Charitianne Williams (Senior Lecturer, English) | Gosia Fidelis (Associate Professor, History) | Ian Collins (Clinical Assistant Professor, Daley Library) | Jim Drown (Senior Lecturer, English) | Jeff Gore (Senior Lecturer, English) | Kate Floros (Clinical Associate Professor, Political Science) | Kate Lowe (Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy) | Kevin O’Brien (Clinical Associate Professor, Library of the Health Sciences) | Laurie Quinn (Clinical Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing Science) | Nicole Nguyen (Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies) | Paul Preissner (Professor, Architecture)