FAQs

The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO Local 6297) bargaining unit includes approximately 2,000 teaching, research and graduate assistants, and certain visiting teaching associates, at UIC.

All UIC GEO members receive a stipend or wages based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) of their assistantship appointment (e.g., 0.25 FTE=10 hours per week, 0.50 FTE=20 hours per week). 

In addition, GEO members receive a tuition waiver, dental and vision benefits, a reduced charge for Campus Care and additional waivers of some student fees. 

Currently, GEO members receive a minimum stipend of $24,200 for two semesters of 20 hours of work per week. UIC departments cover these costs from their budgets with some paying higher than the minimum. 

In addition to the stipend, GEO members receive an additional benefit, on average, of $17,226 in the form of a tuition waiver over the two semesters (assuming full-time tuition of 12 credit hours or more for two semesters), as well as full waivers for some student fees (Service, Health Service, Academic Facilities and Maintenance Assessment as well as Library and Information Technology Assessment). UIC subsidizes 62% of the premium costs for those GEO members enrolled in UIC’s Campus Care student health care program. UIC also covers 100% of the cost of dental and vision coverage. 

No, the university intends to continue classes without disruption should a strike occur. 

Yes, please come to class, unless your instructor, the department head/chair, or dean provides other instructions.

In some cases, your instructor may contact you, but if they don’t, please contact them, even if they are a TA. Alternatively, contact the departmental home of the class or lab. A list of department contacts is available here.  

Please wait for at least 15 minutes before leaving and then contact the instructor and/or the department that houses the class. A list of department contacts is available here.  

Instructors are the students’ first point of contact. Instructors are expected to tell students in advance about all class assignments and arrangements. The staff in the department offering the course will also be available to address questions or problems that may arise. A list of department contacts is available here.  

Responses to missed classes will be handled at the departmental level. While it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen and describe all possible responses, the campus has made a concerted effort to plan for a variety of contingencies. 

Unit executive officers (heads, chairs) and the supervising faculty must determine the most appropriate solution for each course.  

Students have a right to attend classes. Students, employees and members of the public have a right to enter academic and administrative buildings and to do so without being intimidated, coerced or threatened. Picketing on public property is usually lawful so long as the picketing is peaceful, does not create a disturbance and does not block entrances and exits. Picketers must not block a door, passageway, driveway, crosswalk or other entrance or exit. Union officials or picketers have the right to talk to people entering or leaving campus buildings. Attempts to intimidate, threaten or coerce are not permitted, either by verbal remarks or physical action.  

Please call the Office of the Dean of Students at 312-996-4857 for assistance.

Please contact the Provost’s Office at 312-413-3450 or email provost@uic.edu.

Generally, no. A labor strike does not affect F‑1 status unless it is formally certified by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). DOL certification is rare. If a strike is not DOL‑certified, F‑1 status and employment authorization remain unchanged. At this point, there is no indication that the GEO strike will be DOL-certified.

International students should continue to maintain their immigration status as normal by maintaining full-time enrollment and following the regulations of F-1 or J-1 visa status.

No. U.S. immigration regulations do not require F‑1 students to cross a picket line in order to maintain status. Decisions about participating in or refraining from work during a strike are not, by themselves, immigration violations.

Since most graduate assistants work as part of their academic program and do not rely on an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), a strike—certified or not—does not automatically affect F‑1 status for graduate assistants. Academic or employment expectations are governed by institutional policies rather than immigration law.

Again, international students should continue to maintain full-time enrollment and otherwise follow the regulations of F-1 or J-1 visa status.

If a strike is not DOL-certified, OPT and STEM OPT authorization continue as normal. However, if you do not actively perform your employment duties due to the strike, the time may be counted toward OPT or STEM OPT unemployment limits. Please consult with your immigration sponsor (the university that hosts your SEVIS record) for guidance.

International students sponsored by UIC can contact the Office of International Services with any questions about maintaining status during a strike.

UIC administrators can connect with their dean or university legal counsel.

Instructors are the students’ first point of contact. Instructors are expected to tell students in advance about all class assignments and arrangements. The staff in the department offering the course will also be available to address questions or problems that may arise. This contact information can be found online.

The University Communications team, based in the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications, is the central information source and public voice for the campus, managing media relations, internal and executive communications, and crisis and issues management. Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez, associate vice chancellor for university communications, and Brian Flood, senior associate director of university communications, will serve as UIC’s official media spokespeople. You can forward media queries to them at news@uic.edu.  

You may contact the Office of Human Resources at geostrike@uic.edu.

Before a strike may occur, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act requires that the parties to have engaged in mediation without success and that the union has filed a Notice of Intent to Strike at least 10 calendar days prior to calling a strike. GEO filed the legally required notice on April 16.

Only current members of the bargaining unit represented by the GEO, namely teaching, research and graduate assistants, and certain visiting teaching associates, can strike. Certainly, employees in other employee groups may elect not to cross picket lines; however, the university’s normal procedures governing approved absences remain in effect.

Graduate students who are appointed as teaching assistants and graduate assistants receive a tuition and fee waiver, a stipend, and insurance benefits in exchange for performing job duties. Any deliberate refusal to fulfill job objectives could result in the assistant’s pay being withheld.

No, as long as they remain students at the university.

Faculty and non-GEO staff are expected to perform their job duties as usual. Students and parents who have paid tuition to receive a quality education have reason to expect that the objectives of their courses will be met. If there are interruptions, make-up arrangements must be put in place to ensure the instructional objectives are delivered as promised.

Faculty members do not have the right to strike in sympathy with GEO. We would look to the deans of the colleges to meet with department heads to emphasize the university’s mission of teaching and our obligations to students.

The current collective bargaining agreement between UIC and GEO expired on Aug. 15, 2025. It is not unusual to negotiate a contract long after its expiration, and GEO members have and will continue to receive compensation and certain benefits under the terms of the existing contract until a new agreement is reached.

Negotiations began in April 2025. To date, the university and the union have held 40 bargaining sessions, including 14 sessions with an independent federal mediator.

It is not uncommon for bargaining to continue well past the expiration date of an existing contract agreement. The parties agreed to engage an independent mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to reach agreements on the remaining key issues. The university is committed to ensuring that a new agreement is reached as expeditiously as possible.

When negotiations began in April 2025, the university and union met approximately every other week except during the summer. The partes met less frequently during the summer at the GEO’s request. Since a federal mediator joined in March 2026, the parties have met weekly and conducted longer bargaining sessions. We believe much can be resolved through continued dialogue, and the university remains willing and available to meet more frequently to accelerate a final agreement.  

Initially, both UIC and GEO focused primarily on resolving non-economic issues. We began exchanging proposals to address key economic issues, including stipend, tuition waiver, healthcare and other student fees in Sept. 2025. After that, the parties continued to focus on non-economic issues (over 20 articles) and have more recently returned to economic issues. 

In March 2026, the parties agreed to engage an independent mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to accelerate the pace and progress of negotiations. Mediation is often a very effective tool to help negotiating parties continue their work in a productive manner, and UIC is fully committed to the mediation process. We are hopeful that an impartial mediator’s broad knowledge, and input as a neutral participant, will help us reach a fair and fiscally responsible contract agreement as soon as possible.

The next negotiating session is planned for May 27. We believe much can be resolved through continued dialogue, and the university remains willing and available to meet more frequently to accelerate a final agreement.

To date, the university and the union have reached a tentative agreement on 20 of 27 contract articles, including: work rules, recognition, no strike/no lockout, savings, purpose, access to personnel file, leaves and holidays, additional employment, discipline and dismissal, grievance procedure, training, expenses, and health and safety. The parties anticipate more in the upcoming sessions as bargaining continues.

Key outstanding economic issues, wages and healthcare, remain unresolved.

As of May 12, UIC is proposing a 2.25% increase for the first year of the agreement and the university-wide campus wage program for any remaining years. In addition to having several student fees fully waived and others reduced. GEO members currently have four student fees waived at 100% for the full academic year. 

As of May 7, GEO proposes to increase the minimum stipend 8% in each year of an agreement (Y1 – $26,136; Y2 – $28,227; and Y3 – $30,485). In addition, GEO proposes that UIC cover 100% of the cost of Campus Care, or that UIC create a healthcare plan solely for GEO members at 1% of the stipend minimum. Moreover, GEO is proposing that UIC cover 100% of all student fees.

Eighty percent of GEO members choose to enroll in UIC’s Campus Care student healthcare program, with the balance obtaining insurance coverage elsewhere. 

While all other UIC students pay the full premium cost of $697 per semester for this coverage, UIC currently subsidizes the majority (60%) of the premium costs for GEO members, who currently pay just $280 per semester. As with all other UIC employees eligible for insurance coverage, GEO members can also purchase discounted dependent coverage for their spouse and/or child(ren). 

The parties anticipate reaching a tentative agreement on the non-discrimination and anti-harassment article.