20 Dec Happy Holidays, and Here is to Settling a Contract in January!
- Bargaining update: Here is a summary of issues still on the table
- Mark your calendars: January bargaining sessions, special member meeting, tentative strike date listed below
- Please sign up for picket line duty.
Dear UICUF Members:
We wish you all happy holidays and a well-deserved vacation! Before settling in for the semester break, please make note of some January dates for bargaining, a special member meeting to consider what is still on the table, and our tentative strike date.
Bargaining Update
The last bargaining session of 2022 was held last Friday. Management returned counter proposals on leaves and sabbaticals, discipline, and conversion to the “teaching professor” ranks. We continue to have points of disagreement on all of these issues. They also brought a new version of Article XII, Hours of Work and Commitment. On Monday we were able to resolve a few technical issues via email, and have now signed a tentative agreement on the article. The new version of this article gives clearer guidelines for what needs to be in unit-level workload expectation policies and how they are applied. The article includes a deadline for adoption of workload policies and states that all policies must be posted in a central location accessible to all faculty.
For an overview of all remaining issues on the table, please follow this link.
Save the Dates
- Thursday, January 5, 1-4, Bargaining, SCE White Oak Room
- Friday, January 6, 1-4, Bargaining, SCW 206
- Monday, January 9, 9-12, Bargaining, SCE White Oak Room
- Tuesday, January 10, 9-12, Bargaining, SCE White Oak Room
- Thursday, January 12, 2:30-4, Last Scheduled Bargaining Session, SCW 206
- Thursday, January 12, 5-7, Special Member Meeting, SCE Cardinal Room
- Tuesday, January 17, tentative strike date
Bargaining sessions will be hybrid, and a zoom link will be sent to members the morning of each session. We will have a zoom link for the January 12 member meeting for those who request it (please send your request to UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com), but we urge in-person attendance for those whose health permits attendance.
Strike Readiness
Should our Bargaining Committee call a strike, we will operate four picket lines each day from 10 am to 3 pm, with a noon rally each day. Please register for a shift (or several) on picket line here. The first 200 people to sign up will get a new blue UICUF beanie! When you get to the form, you will see that there is an option for those unable to walk a picket line to indicate willingness to contribute to the strike in other ways.
The week of January 9 we will share Strike FAQs for faculty, graduate workers, and students.
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)