UIC GRAD WORKERS DEMAND A ​FAIR CONTRACT NOW!

The Graduate Employees Organization (​GEO​) is the union representing over 1500
Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants at UIC. We have been negotiating a new
labor contract with the University administration since March 1, 2018, and we have now
announced our intent to strike on March 19. The administration has until then to respond
with a fair contract with living wages, more take-home pay, and clear hiring policies.
Specifically, we are fighting for:

● Living wages:​ Grad workers at UIC are among the lowest paid grad workers in
Chicago, making $10,000 ​less​ than our colleagues at other Research 1 universities
in the city.

● Fee waivers:​ UIC grad workers have to pay nearly $2,000 in fees every year. That’s
over 10% of our income, amounting to wage theft. We shouldn’t have to pay to work
here!

● Appointment/reappointment policies:​ Grad workers often have no idea how

hiring/rehiring decisions are made, leading to favoritism, discrimination, and
retaliation in our departments.

Of these the demands, the university has outright refused to give us any proposal on fee
waivers and re-appointment policies, and has offered us a “raise” that does not keep up with
the cost of inflation, which would actually be a pay ​decrease ​in real dollars. We deserve
better-our working conditions are your learning conditions! If we cannot make enough
money to live and work in Chicago, our financial insecurity makes our work suffer, and we
want to be able to bring the best of ourselves to the classroom to improve your education as
much as we can. Many of you may also choose to pursue graduate degrees after you finish
your undergraduate careers, and you deserve to make a living wage and fair working
conditions if you choose to do so.

Here’s how undergraduates can help:

● Email a statement of support: ​Email Chancellor Michael Amiridis at

chancellor@uic.edu​ imploring the administration to end the strike and give us the fair
contract that we deserve.

● Join us on the picket lines: ​Unless the administration decides to give us a fair
contract before we intend to strike, we will be out on the picket lines starting
Tuesday, March 19, and every day afterwards, until we get the fair contract we
deserve. We will be on the picket lines from 8:50am-4:00pm on M/W/F, and
9:20am-4:00pm on T/TH. When you can, please join us on the picket lines in
solidarity with us!
 ● Get others to join us on the picket lines:​ Tell your friends and other student
groups to join yourself and us on the picket lines. Strength in numbers!

● Share our strike fund: ​We've set up a ​strike fund​ to make sure we can outlast the
administration. If you are a student organization, please widely share this in support!

We call on the administration to listen to our demands and build a better UIC for graduate
student workers! ​#WeNeedGEO #WeSeeUIC #FairContractNow #uicUnionPower