20 Apr Bring your class to the pickets! (and other ways to support GEO)
Dear UICUF members,
As you know, our graduate worker colleagues have been on strike since Monday fighting for adequate pay, an end to fees, and protections for grad workers who are experiencing bullying and harassment.
The UIC administration has been dragging its feet in negotiations and seems to be trying to punish grad workers for striking rather than trying to end the strike quickly. GEO needs our support in showing them that UIC cannot function as usual when grad workers withhold their labor! Here are a few ways you can be in solidarity with GEO:
Join the pickets! There’s no way to show solidarity like walking a picket line. Given the choice between teaching on campus and joining the pickets versus teaching remotely, it is better to come to campus.
Walking a picket line is very educational! Some faculty have given their classes the option of going together to the picket lines rather than meeting remotely or canceling class. Undergraduates who join the picket lines boost the energy of striking grad workers and learn invaluable lessons about power, collective action, and solidarity.
Join a rally! AFT President Randi Weingarten will be speaking in the quad tomorrow, Thursday 4/21/22 at 10:30am. Keep an eye on GEO’s twitter for announcements of other upcoming actions.
Send a departmental letter of support! GEO is asking faculty in all academic units to send letters of support to the university administration. Several departments have already done so. The departments of History, GLAS, and CLJ have already sent letters that can serve as inspiration for your department.
Solidarity,
UIC United Faculty Leadership