The union is demanding higher minimum salaries, bigger pay raises that match inflation, mental health support for students, better job security for non-tenure track faculty, learning disability assessments for students and more.
Hundreds of faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago hit picket lines across their Near West Side campus Tuesday on the first day of an indefinite strike after nine months of contract negotiations.
The UIC Faculty United union announced late Monday that it would proceed with its walkout after a 12-hour bargaining session still didn’t yield enough movement to land a deal.
Some classes went on as scheduled in departments not affected by the strike. But many students walked around the public research university’s Little Italy neighborhood campus observing picket lines and taking photos, some even joining the demonstrations.
A few dozen union members marched outside UIC’s University Hall, chanting, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!”
A minute’s walk through campus led to more striking faculty at the East Quad, where members chanted, “Get up, get down, Chicago is a union town!” with Scabby the Rat overlooking them and the Chicago skyline.
By noon, several hundred union members gathered at the quad for a rally with officials, including mayoral candidate and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, state Rep. Lakesia Collins, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th).
Union President Aaron Krall, a senior lecturer in the English Department, said the union “hoped we wouldn’t have to call a strike.”
“We are here fighting for a fair contract. We are here fighting for our students. And it is no exaggeration to say we are here fighting for the future of higher education,” Krall told a cheering crowd.
Collins, whose district includes the UIC campus, told the striking faculty members that “without you, this place would not run.”
“The administration here needs to understand that the low wages they are presenting to you are a slap in the face, and they can do better,” Collins said. “Nobody wakes up and says, ‘I want to go on strike.’ This is a hard decision that you had to make.”
Union members said they plan to picket daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until a tentative agreement is reached. Rallies will also be held every day on the East Campus Quad at noon with speeches from local, state and national officials.
The two sides agreed to resume bargaining Wednesday.
