Chicago, IL – The strike of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 and the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) shows no sign of ending. Starting when the INA, representing 1300 nurses walked out Saturday, September 12, the strike ballooned to 5300 on Monday, September 14, when Local 73 put down their brooms, keyboards and medical equipment to hit the picket lines.

Chicago, IL – On September 15, the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) held a press conference to reject the charade that was happening the same day in Washington, DC, where the Trump administration was holding a signing ceremony for a ‘peace’ arrangement between Israel and both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Chicago, IL – 4000 workers represented by SEIU Local 73 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) began an open-ended strike, September 14. They join 1300 nurses represented by the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) at the University of Illinois Hospital (UIH), who began a weeklong strike on Saturday, September 12. Central to both strikes is the demand for staffing measures to protect the health and safety of frontline workers, many of whom have been exposed to COVID-19.

Chicago, IL -Today, September 12, SEIU Local 73 union leaders have discovered that UIC is bringing in workers from out of state to cross the picket line. These out-of-state workers are coming from Texas, Tennessee, Nevada and Mississippi, all of which are currently listed on the city of Chicago’s COVID Emergency Travel Order. This action calls into question UIC’s commitment to a decent contract, as it goes directly against one of the main bargaining issues, universal COVID-19 protections.

Chicago, IL – At noon on Saturday, September 12, 500 nurses and their supporters rallied at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Earlier that morning, Illinois Nurses Association members went on strike after months of UI Hospital refusing to negotiate on safe staffing. Nurses say that the hospital is unsafe without a limit to the number of patients per nurse. Other demands include adequate access to PPE (personal protective equipment).

Fight Back News Service is circulating the testimony of Joe Iosbaker to the September 10 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Board of Trustees meeting. University of Chicago workers are preparing a major strike for safety, respect and wages.

UIC told: You don’t value the lives of workers, and the lives of Black, Latino workers even less.