Isobel Araujo, a second-year Ph.D. student, earns $24,000 a year as a teaching and resident assistant at the University of Illinois Chicago. Between classes, coursework and dorm duties, she babysits to make ends meet. She’s now searching for new housing on a tight budget.
“It’s really depressing. There’s not a single apartment that we’ve been able to find that you can afford with a wage like that,” Araujo said.
Araujo is one of roughly 2,290 student workers, represented by the UIC Graduate Employees Organization, who went on strike Monday after months of stalled contract talks. The union’s three-year contract expired last August.
The key sticking point in bargaining is wages, members say. Graduate workers fill a wide range of roles at the university, including teaching classes and conducting research.
Most work 20 hours per week, for nine months of the year, on a $24,000 salary. But Ph.D. student Macy Miller said their workload often stretches well past those hours. Many graduate students teach their own classes.
“Especially if you have to create your own course from the ground up, you’re responsible for all the materials, the syllabus, the grading,” said Miller, who also serves as the union’s treasurer and outreach chair. “That’s way more than 20 hours.”
The union’s latest wage proposal is $38,000. That figure is still below the wage floor for graduate workers at other local universities — doctorate students at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago earn a base pay of about $45,000.
UIC has proposed 2% raises across the board in the first year of the contract. A spokesperson said in a statement that the university’s “primary objective will be to minimize the disruption of instruction” during the work stoppage.
Six bargaining sessions have included a federal mediator, who acts as a neutral third-party and is typically called in to help avert a strike.
“We sincerely value the contributions made by our graduate employees to UIC’s academic mission and remain optimistic that we will, together, reach a collective bargaining agreement that is fair and beneficial for all involved,” the spokesperson said.
About three dozen workers picketed on the university’s East Campus Quad on Wednesday, chanting and raising hand-painted signs. Colorful chalk lettering was emblazoned on the sidewalk: “Strike for a living wage.”
Third-year Ph.D. student Charity Coleman peered across the quad as rain drizzled down. Coleman said she works a second job to afford rent and groceries, and feels sidelined by the university. Final exams are slated for next week.
“I’m struggling to meet my basic needs,” Coleman said. “We want to be paid a living wage. I don’t think that’s a very crazy thing to ask for.”
The union also says it is pushing for stronger job protections for international students. Roughly 30% of UIC’s graduate enrollment is international. Total international graduate enrollment dipped by about 200 students in fall 2024 amid tightened visa restrictions.
Several other Illinois universities have experienced strikes over the past month. Faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield ended a two-week strike last week after reaching an agreement with administrators. Maintenance and grounds workers at Illinois State University are in the third week of a strike amid ongoing wage disputes.
At the same time, many institutions are grappling with ballooning operating costs and sliding enrollment, pressures that are intensifying labor conflicts over pay and resources.
Last week, hundreds of non-tenure-track faculty at Loyola University Chicago voted to authorize a one-day strike this Friday after a year of negotiations. Staff and administrators are at an impasse over wages and workload after 37 bargaining sessions. The strike is planned for the penultimate day of finals.
“We’re trying to show the university the value of our labor,” said Dawn Helphand, a part-time political science instructor. “We’ve been dismayed by how little interest there’s been from the university.”
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A Loyola spokesperson said the university “remains fully committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a fair and sustainable agreement.”