AICWU Faculty at SAIC are prepared to exercise our federally protected right to strike—and we are asking for your help!

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has increasingly relied on the underpaid, under-recognized labor of Non-Tenure-Track (NTT) faculty to educate future artists, architects, designers, scholars, and historians. We’ve watched as inflation has devoured our paychecks, while tuition has risen; currently, more than 300 faculty teach multiple courses without benefits (including health insurance). 

In December 2022, 400+ SAIC NTT faculty unionized with AFSCME Council 31 to join our School Staff and Museum Colleagues in forming Art Institute of Chicago Workers United. We chose to stand together in solidarity to enshrine our right to fair pay, access to health insurance, and equitable working conditions via a collective bargaining agreement. For nearly two years, we have been bargaining for a fair contract, but upper administration has refused to come to the table with anything more than pre-Covid wages and policies. We didn’t unionize to go backward. We unionized to ensure that educators have a fair shot at a stable and tenable future; and, importantly, that our students receive the highest caliber education possible, knowing that our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. As the political landscape around us shifts beneath our feet, we know more than ever before just how much the work we do inside and outside of our classrooms matters.
 

By launching this strike fund, we are asking for donations to support our members who teach nearly 80 percent of all SAIC courses, mentor our students, perform academic and institutional service, and are vital members of our community. During a strike, management is allowed to withhold wages and benefits from striking workers. Your donation will go directly to wages and/or benefits stripped from faculty during the strike. This is enormously helpful in extending our ability to strike as long as needed to get the best contract we can. 
 

Are you currently on strike?

We are still negotiating our contract with SAIC administration, but the situation is increasingly dire. Any donations made to our strike fund will help us move forward in securing a fair contract, and signal to everyone that we are one step closer to our goal.
 

What happens to our donations?

Your generous donations will be held in our strike fund account. If a strike vote passes and a strike is called by our bargaining team, funds will be distributed directly to NTT faculty in accordance with rules approved by our membership.
 

What if there is no strike?

If we reach a fair contract prior to the call for a strike, your donations will be held in a high-interest savings account managed by our union, preparing us for future actions and allowing us to engage in mutual aid efforts for our members.
 

Are there other ways to support this endeavor?

YES. We are planning parties and art auctions to support our NTT faculty. Click here to subscribe to our email list, to be notified of future developments and events.