GEO RECEIVES A RESPONSE FROM THE UNIVERSITY

GEO is dedicated to ensuring that COVID-19 is properly contained and that graduate workers are treated fairly, but strongly believes those obligations are impossible under the current contract language. While the GEO respects the current terms of our contract with the UIC, it is clear that the conditions in which that contract was agreed upon have radically changed.

Click here to send an email to President Timothy Killeen, Provost Susan Poser, and Associate Chancellor Michael Ginsburg demanding that student workers and their families get the health care and other protections we deserve during this pandemic. The email will automatically pre-populate with their email addresses and the following text:

Dear President Timothy Killeen, Provost Susan Poser, and Associate Chancellor Michael Ginsburg:

We, the graduate workers at UIC, demand that UIC provide at least 14 days of paid sick of leave for all graduate workers who contract COVID-19, in compliance with the CDC’s instructions to quarantine for 14 days when sick. For those of us working from home, it will allow us sufficient time to recover from the illness, which our current paid sick leave of less than 4 days will not. We also demand paid leave for workers taking care of sick family members. And we demand UIC make accommodations for any international workers who might be prohibited from leaving the U.S. over the summer and are legally prohibited from working, in the event that they do not have an assistantship.

Sincerely, YOUR NAME

The escalation of the COVID-19 crisis has created new labor-related risks and revealed numerous inadequacies in the working conditions of graduate workers at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC).

GEO strongly believes that the health of our members is paramount. Graduate workers should not have to face unnecessary risks, nor should they be expected to bare potentially devastating hardships. Graduate worker should not be forced to deal with ruinous consequences because of factors outside of their control.

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