SEIU holds press rally and files civil lawsuit against UIC administration
Jackson Wentland
31 October 2021
In only the early weeks of the fall semester at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the administration finds itself in the middle of civil lawsuits and complaints from organizations and unions on campus. On Wednesday, September 20, the Service Employees International Union Local 73 (SEIU) held a press rally outside of Student Center East on the Halsted side of the building, announcing their filing of a lawsuit with the state attorney general.
Speakers at the rally claimed that during administrative meetings discussing the contracting of private service companies and other topics related to service employees at the school, members of the union were not allowed to speak or voice their concerns.
The 45-minute rally consisted of several speakers from the union: Executive Vice President of SEIU 73 Stacia Scott Kennedy, Member Vice President Lavitta Stewart, and 25-year-long worker Toya Seveir. They all issued first-hand reports of interactions with the administration, lack of respect from the administration, and concerns about the private maintenance contracts. Each member chanted the protest cries this campus is all too familiar with; “What do we want? Contracts. When do we want it? Now. If we don’t get it? Shut it down.”
“What do we want? Contracts. When do we want it? Now. If we don’t get it? Shut it down.”
Although the union is in current contract negotiations with the administration concerning wages, this press rally convened outside of SCE to discuss their recent civil lawsuit concerning their being refused to speak in front of the administration. One representative of the union claimed administration stated that since the questions the union wanted to ask involved topics under current negotiation, they could not discuss them openly at that time.
The rally also involved Students For a Democratic Society (SDS) and 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez.
SDS has consistently stood by UIC’s unions when they conflict with administration, including last school year when UIC faculty went on strike, and the year prior when the graduate student union also struck. Liz Rath, whom Bonfire has spoken with on multiple occasions throughout the last few years at countless protests, was the organization’s representative at this rally as she spoke alongside her fellow SDS members holding posters and chanting in the background.
Alderman Sigcho-Lopez, who was once a member of SEIU 73, spoke in solidarity with the union, asserting the union’s cause as not a singular issue on campus but a citywide struggle for workers’ rights and protections.
The rally outside of SCE Thursday occurred at a time when the school is facing another federal civil complaint brought on by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). This places the administration on a multi-front battle concerning the civil rights of its students and workers, one that has occurred for the last several semesters consecutively.
