Statement of Solidarity with University of Illinois at Chicago

The Bargaining Committee of the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC)-UAW stands in solidarity with our colleagues at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Graduate Employees Organization (GEO)-AFT Local 6297, who have been on strike since March 19 for a fair contract.

After nearly two decades of refusing to recognize our union, over 1500 research and teaching assistants at Columbia went on strike last April, and after a second strike threat last fall, we finally began bargaining with our university this February. Despite agreeing to bargain, we know that we must continue to organize and fight just like GEO to resolve the inequities that drove us to unionize.

From fighting for livable wages and a union grievance procedure with real recourse against sexual harassment and discrimination, workers in higher education have shown that we will continue to fight for what is right.We urge our members to donate to GEO’s strike fund. Together, we are fighting to make our universities more inclusive and just.

In Solidarity,

Graduate Workers of Columbia-UAW, Bargaining Committee