About 2,000 UIC graduate workers went on strike over pay, health insurance, and protections around AI and immigration enforcement.
A few days into the strike, Alex Hagan said his routine has become a kind of math problem—shopping across multiple grocery stores just to stretch wages that he says don’t cover basic bills.
Hagan is one of about 2. 000 unionized graduate student workers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) who walked off the job this week after a year of bargaining with administrators failed to produce a contract.. The Graduate Employees Organization says the dispute is rooted in wages and benefits. but it has also widened into larger questions about job security. health care access. and whether artificial intelligence could eventually replace labor.
At a rally on UIC’s campus Tuesday. Hagan described paying for car insurance as a struggle and said students are being pushed out of where they live.. Protest signs captured the tension between academic work and daily survival—“We can’t research if we can’t pay rent. ” and “UIC works because we do.” While UIC said classes are continuing and the university will minimize disruptions. the strike has put a spotlight on the way universities rely on graduate workers to teach. grade. and conduct research.
Graduate assistants at UIC generally make a minimum of about $24. 200 for a nine-month contract with no guaranteed summer employment. according to union organizers.. Union outreach chair Macy Miller said many graduate workers find that the workload can’t realistically be completed in the roughly 20 hours per week they’re expected to work.. In practice. Miller said. some teach courses and carry responsibilities that extend beyond the time estimates—sometimes including class instruction without a faculty professor in the room.
The union’s wage proposal, Miller said, has been higher than UIC’s offer.. UIC offered a 2% raise in the first year of the contract, a UIC spokesperson said.. Miller said the union’s most recent proposal is $38. 000 for a nine-month contract and that its earlier demand of $60. 000 was intended to approximate a living wage using calculations referenced by the union.. The union says the central issue is not only the absolute wage. but also whether the pay is competitive enough to match what graduate workers can earn at other schools in the same region.
UIC administrators, for their part, characterized the dispute as a bargaining process that can still reach resolution.. In a statement. the university said graduate workers are valued and that administrators are confident they can reach an agreement through good-faith negotiations while remaining fiscally responsible.. According to the union. negotiations have involved dozens of sessions over the last year. including discussions with a federal mediator intended to prevent work stoppages.
The financial pressure isn’t abstract to many graduate workers—it shows up in health decisions. housing stability. and the ability to plan beyond semester-to-semester deadlines.. Hagan said he’s had to compare prices at multiple grocery stores. not because he prefers variety. but because he’s trying to find the lowest cost that still allows him to eat.. For graduate workers who also teach and grade. the margin for “just pick up a side job” can be thin. Miller said. because schedules are tightly packed with academic and research duties.
Beyond pay, the union is pressing for changes to health insurance and coverage.. Graduate workers at UIC use a program called CampusCare, which provides care through UI Health.. Organizers say premiums are too high for what they describe as limited coverage and that access can be uneven depending on where medical centers are located in the broader Chicago area.. They also want the plan to better cover services including gender-affirming care, reproductive care, and immunizations.
Union demands also reach into how the university responds to immigration enforcement and technology in the workplace.. Organizers want UIC to protect international student workers by refusing to allow federal immigration agents on campus.. They pointed to past detentions in the Chicago area, saying the risk isn’t theoretical.. They also want expanded know-your-rights training and more legal and financial aid for international workers.
Finally. the strike reflects a national trend: labor unions and employers are trying to negotiate the future role of artificial intelligence.. The union is seeking a guarantee that AI won’t be used to replace union labor.. In higher education. where tasks can include assessment. administrative functions. and certain forms of content generation. workers are pushing for guardrails—especially as universities increasingly explore automation tools and AI-assisted workflows.
The immediate stakes are campus-specific, but the broader message is familiar across U.S.. workplaces: when salaries don’t keep up with the cost of living. bargaining stops being only about compensation and becomes about whether a job is sustainable.. As UIC and the union move through more scheduled bargaining sessions. the core question will remain whether the university can address wage and benefits concerns while offering protections on coverage. immigration-related safety. and the future of work technology.