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.

Chicago, IL – Music and chanting rose outside the Illini Union building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), May 15, as 100 workers, students, and supporters marched on the Board of Trustees meeting.

Chicago, IL – In the spring of 2001, 150 Sodexho food service employees at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) voted to join the Service Employees International Union Local 73. They work in the cafeterias in the student union buildings.

Racist Pay Difference Defeated

Chicago, IL – A year of struggle has brought success for workers in Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). On Sept. 17 and 19, nearly 400 workers came out to overwhelmingly ratify a new contract.

Chicago, IL – Over 400 workers, members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, rallied on the city's West Side, June 5. They have been fighting for a new contract at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) since October 1.

Chicago, IL – 700 service workers at University Illinois Chicago (U.I.C.) are working without a contract. This is because management is refusing to end their decades-long practice of paying less to workers in Chicago than at the downstate campuses. Chicago workers are mostly Black and Latino; downstate workers are mostly white.