24 Nov Strike-Readiness member meeting Monday, November 28, 5pm, Hull House and on Zoom
With Gratitude and Thanks
During this short fall break, we want to depart from our usual messaging to offer something more personal. We have been sending bargaining updates for over seven months, usually without good news. Looking back, it would be easy to feel like the work many UIC faculty engage in remains invisible or unappreciated. We would like to ask that everyone reading this message take a moment and acknowledge the amazing service we as a faculty provide the UIC campus, its students, and its communities. It would be easy to feel overlooked by what has been offered at the table. But the phenomenal work you do, the extra mile you walk, and the intellectual joy and empathy with which you serve your students and communities is not invisible–your work is viewed by your community with gratitude. Your students and your colleagues are thankful for you. The bargaining committee has been listening, and we hope to offer you a contract soon that matches the value of your labor, or fight by your side to make that happen.
Status of Negotiations
On Tuesday, management presented a proposal for a two-year contract that, given the current rate of inflation, would effectively cut faculty pay. We remain far apart on NTT job security, TT progressive discipline, and institutional commitments to provide essential support for faculty work. We have had some positive convergence on language regarding bullying, shared governance, and workload policies, but those issues remain unsettled.
We invite all members to deliberate the next steps at a Strike Readiness meeting Monday, November 28th 5pm at Hull House or via Zoom. We will settle on benchmarks for declaring a strike, form a strike organizing committee, and kick off recruitment of strike captains.
Attend Bargaining!
Attending bargaining allows you to see for yourself what is going on, allows you to provide input to our team during caucuses, and demonstrates to our team and to the administration that our bargaining team has faculty support. You can always attend via zoom, or in person.
Upcoming sessions:
- Monday, November 28, 10-1, SCE White Oak Room (Please plan to attend this important session and then follow up at the Strike-Readiness meeting with your thoughts.)
- Tuesday, December 6, 12:30-2:30, SCE White Oak Room
- Monday, December 12, 10-1, SCW 206
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) | Jennifer Rupert (Senior Lecturer, English, Gender and Women’s Studies) | 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) | Kevin Whyte (Professor, Math, Statistics, and Computer Science) | Laurie Quinn (Clinical Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing Science) | Nicole Nguyen (Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies) | Paul Preissner (Professor, Architecture)