Statement of Solidarity with Marquette University Graduate Students and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty
The Graduate Employees’ Organization at UIUC (IFT/AFT Local 6300) strongly expresses our support for Marquette University’s graduate students and non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF) in their efforts to form a union.
We stand in solidarity with graduate students and NTTF at Marquette while they face similar struggles to those at institutions of higher education across the country. The shift seen in recent years from tenured to non-tenured and graduate instructors has created increasingly contingent and precarious working conditions while negatively impacting the quality of education for undergraduate students. We support graduate students and NTTF at Marquette as they seek improved job stability, increased wages, and health insurance.
Graduate workers and NTTF should not have to live with the constant anxiety of not knowing whether they will be able to continue work due to economic hardships and uncertainties in appointments and employment. We ask that the Marquette University administration to remain neutral during the union drive and allow the workers to have a fair process, without management interference including: religious exemption, procedural delays, and use of tuition dollars to oppose unionization.
A graduate education and postgraduate job stability should be accessible to low income and underrepresented groups, not just the wealthy. We believe that labor needs to be recognized, valued, and fairly compensated. The fight for better working conditions makes this possible.
The Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus. In November 2009 and in February 2018, over 1,000 GEO members and allies participated in a strike to secure a fair contract and more accessible UIUC campus. With an active presence in the community, the GEO continues to work for high-quality and accessible public education in Illinois.
For more information, please contact geo@uigeo.org. More information can also be found on GEO’s website at www.uiucgeo.org.
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