UIC United Faculty members have been working without a contract since August 16th, 2026.

Under cover of the current federal assault on higher education, administrators at UIC and across the University of Illinois System are working to radically re-structure our university by attacking employment protections, obstructing unions, and undermining academic freedom and shared governance. Those efforts are especially evident from the last five months of bargaining, during which management has prioritized consolidating power at the expense of faculty:

• Management wants to set the terms of our wages outside of our union contract, under the opaque process of a “Campus Salary Program,” which is determined exclusively by the University of Illinois System. We will defend our right to bargain over wages and ensure that our members are paid what they deserve.

• Management wants to make top-down and sometimes secret decisions about our working conditions, including the use of AI and educational technology in our teaching and our research, the right to keep ICE out of our classrooms, and our commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus. We will fight for real rather than tokenizing participation in shared governance over university policies and the right to bargain directly over the terms and conditions of our work.

• Management wants to claw back provisions that we've won in previous contracts, including policies that allow our NTT faculty to earn multi-year contracts more quickly and provide protection from external threats to our scholarship and teaching. We will protect our existing contracts and demand stronger protections for our faculty.

We believe in our university’s mission to provide the broadest access to the highest levels of educational, research, and clinical excellence, and we know that none of this is possible without a strong union contract that provides faculty with the resources and support they need to fulfill this mission. Our contract must provide what our faculty deserves, what our university requires, and what our community needs.

We urge Chancellor Miranda, President Killeen, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois System to bargain with the faculty in good faith and agree to a fair contract now!

Signed,

Members and Allies of UIC United Faculty