Urbana Champaign, IL – After two days of mass picketing that shut down hundreds of classes at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the strike by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) has scored an amazing victory. On the morning of Nov. 17, management tentatively agreed to keep tuition waivers intact and retreat from threatened furlough days. In response, pickets were suspended and a GEO general membership meeting was scheduled for the evening. There, the 450 members present unanimously recommended to the strike committee that it accept the agreement and suspend the strike.

The center of the campus was a carnival atmosphere both days of the strike, as crowds of more than 700 grads and supporters shouted out their slogans: “Who are we? GEO? Are we gonna back down? Hell, no!” Not even the rain could dampen the enthusiasm of the strikers.

The strike was a blow to an administration that has been pounded with negative publicity this year as a result of a ‘clout scandal’ in which both the president and the chancellor were forced to resign. The scandal involved the children of the wealthy and politically connected gaining admission despite low grades and test scores.

The threat against the tuition waivers was the issue that seemed to capture the mood of the graduate workers. Illinois has the second worst state budget crisis in the country, after California. The politicians and officials have come up with one attack after another to balance the budget crisis on the backs of those least able to afford it. Going after tuition waivers backfired, as even the American Association of University Professors weighed in to warn the university that they were undermining their attraction to high quality grads. But it was the fighting spirit and creativity of the GEO that made this strike happen.

The terms of victory were more than just defending the tuition waivers and included two weeks of unpaid parental leave, more money from the school’s contribution to health care premiums, and 10% in raises over three years. The victory serves as a bench mark and an inspiration especially for union workers employed by the state.

The union included in their press statement support for their “sisters and brothers in the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Illinois Chicago campus,” and for other higher education workers. They concluded, “Public higher education must be accessible to all, regardless of economic standing.”

The strike was also only the fourth strike nationwide of more than 1000 persons in 2009. Most of ‘Big Labor,’ with its billions of dollars of assets and six figure executive salaries refuses to fight. Examples like the GEO, the Republic Windows and Doors workers and the SK Hand Tool Workers all show that unions can beat back attacks if they dare to struggle.

November 13, 2009

Students from across the country participated in a National Day of Action for Education Rights, Nov. 10, demanding an end to the budget cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes hitting schools since the economic crisis began.

The Campaign for Education Rights, a working group of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice, organized the protests after the students, faculty and staff of the University of California system held mass walk-outs and occupations in September. “Now is the time to carry the momentum forward into a nationwide movement for education rights,” reads the call to action. Over a dozen organizations endorsed the National Day of Action for Education Rights.

In Milwaukee, WI, over 100 students and workers picketed outside the administrative office building. The event was organized by the UWM Education Rights Campaign. Speakers included Cathy Kaye of the professors’ union, Lee Abbott of the teacher assistants’ union, Gilbert Johnson of AFSCME Local 82, Moondancer Drake of Students Equalizing Rights Forever, Clint Myrick of the Black Student Union, Jacob Flom of Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and author and lecturer Michael Parenti. Angela Lang, an emcee at the rally, led the picket into a march to the doors of the Chancellor’s office. She thought the rally was a great kick-off of the campaign. “The Chancellor of our university is helping make cuts to our university while allowing himself a pay raise. We were chanting ‘education is a right’ and I was glad to be there protecting student rights.”

In Asheville, North Carolina, the UNCA chapter of Students for a Democratic Society staged a mock funeral for the EARN scholarship, a scholarship for over 10,000 low-income students that was recently cancelled. In the student union, protesters dressed in black gathered around a fake coffin and tombstone to ‘mourn’ the death of the scholarship. “We wanted to send a message to the North Carolina general assembly that youth and workers will not stand for this, said Viviana Moreno of UNCA-SDS. “Working people will not foot the bill for the economic crisis that has been created by the rich.”

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the University of Minnesota chapter of SDS organized a protest of over 40 people speak out against the high salaries of the university administration and the tuition hikes on campus. Protesters beat into pieces a piñata modeled after the university president, chanting, “Money for education, not for administration!”

“We’re seeing a huge crisis in foreclosures and unemployment and cuts to social services,“ said Andrew Somers, a member of UMN- SDS. “It’s a time where a lot of different fight backs need to happen. This was an inspiring event and we need to continue fighting.”

The fight for education rights is not over. Schools across the country are continuing with plans to protest cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes and students are inspired by the militant campus occupations happening around the country.

University of Minnesota SDS rally. (Fight Back! News/Staff)

• General assembly at the occupied University of Tuebingen (Germany) @3pm GMT
• BIG demonstration in Wiesbaden (Germany) together with teachers who will be on strike (~ 15,000 people are expected)
• Further protests and demonstrations across Germany, arranged by close to 100 local alliances: http://bildungsstreik.net/category/bundnisse

• Rally and sit-in at the San Francisco State University (U.S. of A.)
• Student led discussion on “The Role of the University” at the University of North Dakota (U.S. of A.)

• Demonstration against tuition fees in Freetown, called for by the National Youth Coalition Student Assembly (Sierra Leone)

• Pupils across France are mobilising for a day of action against reforms, that will promote a “two-class” public education system. Demonstrations expected in at least 26 cities. Close to 3,000 high schools are involved; frontdeluttepourleducation.fr

• Flashmobs and open discussions about the importance of free and emancipatory public education in Skopje (Republic of Macedonia); Sloboden Indeks (Free Index)

• Various protests – among which are also demonstrations – are being arranged in Bern, Basel, Zürich and Geneva (Switzerland): unsereuni.ch

• Demonstrations – and maybe further actions – across Italy, supported by the Unione degli Studenti (UdS).

• Day of Action across Austria: demonstrations, rallies, flashmobs, public discussions; unsereuni.at

• Simultaneous flashmobs in at least 7 cities across Poland; Demokratyczne Zrzeszenie Studenckie

• Demonstration in Budapest (Hungary) in front of the Austrian embassy.

• Demonstrations are to take place in Yogyakarta, Makassar and Palu (Sulawesi), Samarindo (Borneo), Ternate (Maluku) and Madura – all in Indonesia; lmnd-prm.blogspot.com

• Opening of gallery showing pictures of student protests around the world on campus of the Jagannah University (Dhaka; Bangladesh)

Campaign for Education Rights

Network to Fight for Economic Justice

October 25, 2009