[Peace] SEIU at the University of Illinois begin their strike / what should you do?

[Karen Medina]

The Service Employees International Union Local 73 Chapter 119 at the
University of Illinois will go on strike.

These are the workers who clean the buildings on campus, prepare and
serve food to students, and provide essential services such as snow
removal on campus steps and sidewalks.

Please, continue to hold classes and use the buildings and facilities
on campus. By using the buildings, and not having anyone to clean
them, empty the trash, and take care of the restroom facilities, it
will help to demonstrate to the campus how absolutely essential the
labor of these workers is to the functioning of our University.

By using the buildings, and not having anyone to clean them, empty the
trash, and take care of the restroom facilities, it will help to
demonstrate to the campus how absolutely essential the labor of these
workers is to the functioning of our University.

If you are asked to participate in cleaning your building during these
days, please do not do so.

The Campus Faculty Association is holding a food drive in support of
SEIU. While on strike, the loss of wages will have signifiant impact
on these workers, and this food drive will help them meet the basic
needs of their families. You can bring dry and canned goods to a drop
off box located at the first floor of the campus YMCA | 1001 South
Wright Street | Champaign, IL. Canned foods and non-perishibles only,
please. THANKS!!!

The SEIU bargaining team has been negotiating for a new contract since
last spring. Despite reasonable proposals and significant concessions
by the union regarding wages, the administration's most recent
proposal would continue to set wages well-below inflation. This is a
particular hardship, since many of these workers are amongst the
lowest-paid workers on this campus. In addition, many of the
food-service employees annually undergo long layoffs, making it
necessary for them to find second jobs to make ends meet. The top 28
University of Illinois administrators received an average 5.86 percent
wage increase over the past year--that's over 5 percent added on to
their six figure salaries. Yet they cannot find the money to provide
basic cost-of-living raises for some of the most vulnerable workers on
this campus.

picket with them this Monday and Tuesday

On Tuesday, starting at Noon, the Graduate Employees Organization will
be sponsoring a 'bike picket' in support of SEIU. Bring your bike to
the campus YMCA, where they will decorate bikes (and riders) in SEIU's
colors of purple and yellow. We will then bike around campus to the
various picket sites, making noise with kazoos and generally drawing
attention of students to the strike. This is your chance to support
SEIU and be a little bit zany in the process.