Chicago, IL – The University of Illinois Board of Trustees had protesters inside and outside their meeting here, May 21.

Chicago, IL – Clerical workers at the University of Illinois – Chicago (UIC) are celebrating after scoring a big victory in contract negotiations. The fight for this contract had dragged on over two years. When the last contract expired in August 2006, management’s team under the new vice chancellor, John Loya, took a very hard attitude in the first bargaining sessions. Management’s proposals included a new formula for wages that called for subtracting anniversary raises that are part of the seniority system for these workers. Willie English, a staff representative for SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 73, pointed out that this move “…would have resulted in employees falling behind the cost of living.”

Chicago, IL – The contract fight between 1500 clerical and administrative workers at University of Illinois – Chicago (UIC) has seen hundreds of workers on picket lines in recent weeks. Members of Local 73 SEIU (Service Employees International Union) voted overwhelmingly (94%) in January to authorize a strike if negotiations fail to reach an agreement. Since then, the campus has not stopped hearing the sounds of marching feet.

Chicago, IL – From Jan. 15 to Jan. 23, hundreds of clerical and administrative workers at UIC (University of Illinois – Chicago) turned out for a strike authorization vote. 94% of them supported the call from their elected bargaining committee to walk out of work if negotiations fail to reach an agreement.

Chicago, IL – Clerical and administrative workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will be taking a strike authorization vote in early January. Over two years have passed since their last raise, and the 1500 employees, including workers at sites in Rockford and Peoria, are fed up. The workers are members of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 73. Management presented a settlement offer to their bargaining committee on Nov. 14. According to Jeff Dexter, lead negotiator for Local 73, that offer falls short of what the workers need.

Chicago, IL – “They want us to learn to live with less.” That’s how Denise King sees it. King had just finished marching outside the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois on Nov. 14. She was one of 22 workers from UIC (University of Illinois – Chicago) who had traveled to the university’s Springfield campus to confront the Board of Trustees.

Chicago, IL – Demetris McKinley, a customer service representative, came to work on Thursday, Aug. 16, even though it was a vacation day for her. She came to work to picket.

Chicago, IL – When 80 union members marched on the Human Resources building at the campus of the University of Illinois – Chicago (UIC) May 11th, they had the name of who they were hunting for. “Are you listening, John?” asked Tracey Whitaker, a Patient Unit Clerk from the UI Hospital, and a member of Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Chicago, IL – 100 workers at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) marched on the labor relations office on Jan. 19. They were protesting management’s failure to give service and maintenance workers the raises they agreed to in contract negotiations. Also, clerical, administrative and technical workers joined the march to demand that management schedule new bargaining dates for their contracts, both of which expired several months ago.

Chicago, IL – In November, the University of Illinois announced they were hiring a new president, Joseph White. He will receive a $450,000 salary – $115,000 a year more than the outgoing president.

Chicago, IL – When Willie English heard management say that the bathrooms in his building were dirty, he was insulted. English, a foreman, said, “The number of Building Service Workers in my building is half what it was three years ago, but we take pride in keeping the building clean.”

Chicago, IL – Since the economy tanked nearly three years ago, workers at the University of Illinois have put up with doing more with less. Building Service Workers have been hit especially hard. There are 80 fewer of them today than there was in 2001.

Chicago, IL – “We have never had so much respect from so many,” proclaimed Sirlena Perry. “And,” she said further, “we earned it.”

To the tune of R. Kelly’s Thoia Thoing song, adapted by Ron Hamilton. Hamilton is a member of Local 73 SEIU at University of Illinois Chicago and an activist in the new Technical Workers bargaining unit. Last year, 300 Techs in the UIC Medical Center voted to join Local 73. They scored a victory and settled their first contract as Fight Back! was preparing to publish. Hamilton performed this song at a rally of over 100 workers in front of the University of Illinois Hospital on Taylor Street in October.

Chicago, IL – In front of the offices of James Stukel, president of the University of Illinois, the lunchtime crowd swelled. Soon, 100 workers were marching around, singing and chanting. On the bullhorn, Jeff McCaster, a building service worker and union steward with Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), shouted, “That man sits up there, he has plush carpet everywhere. He probably has it in the bathroom.” The picketers laughed in response.

Chicago, IL – Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are locked in combat with management at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

But the Struggle to Defend Jobs Continues

Chicago, IL – The state of Illinois is $5 billion in the red, according to new governor, Rod Blagojevich, who made the announcement one week after he took office in January.

Chicago, IL – 150 workers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) marched against job cuts and layoffs, Aug. 8. Members of Local 73 Service Employees International Union who have had 75 positions eliminated since October 2001, were protesting the announcement of the next round of cuts.