Campus Faculty Association (CFA)

All posts tagged Campus Faculty Association (CFA)

Chicago Teachers Union Continues Strike

Posted by odellcampbell on September 17, 2012
Posted in: Access and Equality, Current Issues, K-12 union solidarity, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, solidarity, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The GEO stands with the Chicago Teachers Union as they continue to strike for public education.

In 2009, the GEO Strike Committee waited to suspend our strike until members were heard through their voices and their votes at a General Membership Meeting.  The Strike Committee took this action because we are a democratic organization wherein members make the decisions.  But some in the UIUC administration falsely accused the GEO of unfairly preventing its members from going back to work.

The CTU Board of Directors has made our 2009 Strike Committee’s decision on a much larger scale: given the impact the Chicago Teachers’ new contract will have on the people of Chicago and the future of public education in this country, the Board refused to suspend a strike until all CTU members were heard.  Sure enough, Mayor Emanuel’s response is to falsely accuse CTU leadership of preventing its members from returning to work.

Our solidarity is our power: the bosses will always try to undermine workers’ rights to form a union.  The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has spent thousands of dollars fighting the recognition of the democratically elected Faculty Association at UI Chicago.  Our labor is our power: The bosses will always try to undermine the unions’ right to strike.  Mayor Emanuel has so far failed in his dishonest bid to force teachers off the picket lines through the courts.

The GEO stands with the CTU because we know that unions win through solidarity and the powerful incentive of our labor.  We stand with the CTU because we know what will happen to U.S. worker’s children if those who seek to profit from public education succeed in their goal of denying the chance for a good education to most working class and students of color.  We stand with the CTU in Chicago because we know that if we choose to follow their example, and withhold our labor in defense of our jobs and of our students, working teachers throughout the midwest will stand with us in Champaign.

Members of UIC and UIUC Graduate Employees Organizations march with the Chicago Teachers Union

Roll on, UIC United!

Posted by odellcampbell on October 24, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Current Issues, Higher Ed Unions, Labor Movement, News, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

“The faculty union at the University of Illinois at Chicago won another victory Friday, with a ruling by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board rejecting a request by the university to stay an order certifying the union. The union is the result of a major organizing drive conducted by the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, which have hoped that the effort at UIC would pave the way for more faculty unions at doctoral institutions.”

Read more at the Inside Higher Ed ‘Quick Takes’ Blog.

The 24/7 Solidarity Vigil Continues Thursday 2/24! See the schedule below and join us when you can.

Posted by odellcampbell on February 23, 2011
Posted in: Activities, Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The solidarity vigil will temporarily be relocated to the *Illini Union* from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm tomorrow (Thursday, February 24).

9 a.m.- 2 p.m.  Illini Union: Solidarity Teach-In, Grade-In, Meet-In, Drink-Coffee-In

Show your solidarity with workers in Madison and throughout the Midwest.

12 noon – 12:50 p.m. Publics, Unions, Movements: discussion with Monica Bielski Boris of the Labor Education Program

University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, Lower Level

(SEIU supporters can head for FAR/PAR before the 1pm picket).

Join YMCA vigil participants and community members for a discussion on the legal, social and regional dimensions of unions and union building. Have questions about collective bargaining, public resources, or solidarity tools—-then this is the place for you and your allies. Professor Monica Bielski Boris (http://www.ler.illinois.edu/faculty/fp_bielski.html), from the School of Labor and Employment Relations, will introduce a series of topics and questions, including…

* What are public sector unions? How and why do they differ from state to state?

* What competing myths and realities are at work in labor and opposition movements ?

* How are organizing tactics nurtured and altered?

* What types of political strategies are either at work or stifled in the Midwest?

* What is the state of labor and social movement education on our campus and in our communities?

1-2 p.m. SEIU Picket at the FAR (Florida Avenue Residence Hall)

On College Court near the intersection of Lincoln and Florida Residence Hall —support SEIU in their contract struggle, practice your chanting, and support workers’ rights right here in Champaign-Urbana

7 p.m., Patricio Guzman’s sterling, epic documentary The Battle of Chile, parts 1 (“The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie”, 96 minutes) and 2 (“The Coup D’Etat”, 88 minutes)

Covering workers, politics in Chile, and events leading to the coup of Salvator Allende in 1973.    We will have the opportunity to think about workers’ protests in an international context, both historically and in our present moment.

GEO Call to Action on March 4

Posted by odellcampbell on March 2, 2010
Posted in: Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 comment

RALLY: March 4, 2010 – assemble at Alma Mater at noon, march at 12:15, rally in front of Swanlund 12:30-12:50.  Electronic versions of flyers and posters can be downloaded here.  RSVP here, and see the event website here.  A copy of the UC United Press release announcing the rally is available on this post after the jump.

Please join us for the UC United Coalition’s March 4th Rally for the Future of an Accessible, Diverse, and Democratic UIUC.  The UIUC rally will be part of the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education (read the national calls).  The GEO has officially endorsed the March 4th Day of Action, and we call on all GEO members to participate.

The UC United Coalition, which includes the GEO, the Campus Labor Coalition, the Campus Faculty Association, the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, La Colectiva, and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, demands a UIUC truly committed to access, diversity, democracy, and quality, and that the U of I administration stop pushing the burden of the budget shortfall down to workers and students.

While we worked incredibly hard last semester to win a contract that is already working to protect our members through the grievance process, the University administration is still moving toward a privatized future for UIUC that includes fewer graduate employees, larger class sizes, and less flexibility for graduate appointments. Campus units and departments are being forced to plan for drastic cuts that will significantly impact graduate employees, despite the fact that an independent audit from the American Association of University Professionals claims that the U of I financial situation is “strong,” and that these measures are in no way required by the current shortfall in state funding.  Download a flyer summarizing the audit here.

We know more than anyone on campus that only through direct action can we continue to take back control of the direction of our University.  Many of the members of the UC United Coalition walked with us on the lines – now their jobs and livelihoods are being threatened by irresponsible and non-transparent decisions by the UI administration – so let’s walk with them!

We worked long and hard to win an historic contract.  Now let’s build on those gains – starting on March 4th!

UC United press release announcing the rally:

Continue Reading