We, the Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition Local #6546 AFT/IFT/AAUP, express our full support and solidarity with the building and food service workers of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local #73 in their fight for a fair contract with the University of Illinois administration. SEIU #73 members recently authorized a strike by a massive majority. We demand that the university administration negotiates a fair contract now for SEIU workers.
The labor provided by SEIU workers is invaluable to our campus and community. Each day, they clean, maintain, and help keep dozens of campus buildings safe, while also feeding thousands of students, faculty, and staff at the university.
The university administration does not appear to respect this labor, however. Building service workers have long been understaffed and overworked, while dining workers struggle to maintain their hours during summer lay-offs. All are underpaid and overly policed by their supervisors. The administration has shown that it is more concerned with SEIU workers tucking in their shirts than it is with paying them a living wage and ensuring their safety in the workplace.
In bargaining, the administration is pleading that they do not have enough funding to properly pay SEIU workers. This is despite the fact that the university is in its strongest financial position in years and has a seemingly endless stream of money with which to make multi-million dollar renovations and additions to buildings and facilities on campus–buildings that SEIU workers will be cleaning and maintaining.
We call on the administration to prioritize paying all of its workers a livable, decent wage, and to provide safe working conditions through a fair contract. We, the NTFC, stand with the SEIU’s fight for a #SayinPay, and will support them however we can.
In Solidarity,
The Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition Local #6546 AFT/IFT/AAUP
