International Workers Action Report Back

September 3rd, 2024

Last week, members of GEO delivered a petition to Student Affairs, within the Office of the Dean of Students, concerning their repression of international graduate workers trying to informally resolve grievances with the Office of International Services.

We met at University Hall to finalize plans before walking over to the Student Services Building, which houses the Office of the Dean of Students, and delivered our demands directly to the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students, Annette Wright. Next, several international graduate workers gave comments about how the xenophobic actions of OIS and the Dean of Students in response to S.H.’s grievance violate UIC’s publicly stated values of diversity and equity.

Ms. Wright confirmed that she would share this petition with her Office, but declined to answer questions about dropping disciplinary charges against S.H., citing student record privacy concerns. We reiterated that we hope to see these charges dropped and the situation resolved within five (5) business days, without needing to escalate.

The next day, the Dean of Students sent a response: referring us to Labor Relations instead. We knew that their Office might try to shirk responsibility for their actions in the usual way, picking and choosing when to categorize us as “workers” or “students” based on what suits them. We delivered the petition anyway because we wanted to give them the opportunity to do the right thing - but UIC’s disappointing response leaves us no choice but to demonstrate the gravity of this issue through more serious action.

If you want to support this campaign, or report your own experiences as an international worker, reach out to us here.