Several workers unions under the Campus Labor Coalition gathered on the Main Quad Wednesday to demand that the University enact protections for international graduate students and cease financial partnerships with companies that service Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Representatives from the Graduate Employees’ Organization, Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition and the Service Employees International Union Local 73 spoke at the rally.
Organizers encouraged attendees to sign a petition demanding that the University increase community protections against ICE and cut ties with corporations that contract or collaborate with ICE.
The petition included demands such as posted signage outside of non-public spaces stating ICE is not allowed to enter and the use of Illini-Alerts to notify the campus community about ICE presence, among others.
Ricky Baldwin, assistant director of the downstate division of SEIU Local 73, condemned several corporations connected with the University and the NCAA.
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“We’re here as a coalition of community members, students, unions to call on this university to stop doing business with the corporations that are making this possible: GlobalX Airlines, Hilton Hotels, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Flock (Safety),” Baldwin said. “All of these corporations are profiting from this inhumanity.”
GlobalX operates a majority of ICE deportation flights, and GEO claims the University has used the charter company to fly its athletes. The Athletic found that numerous NCAA teams have used GlobalX, sometimes on the same planes used for deportation flights.
The CLC previously held a press conference Saturday at the University of Illinois Willard Airport to condemn the University’s alleged connection with the company.
Patrick Wade, director of executive communications and issues management at the University, denied a direct University contract with GlobalX in an email statement to The Daily Illini.
“The university does not contract with GlobalX,” Wade wrote. “Fighting Illini Athletics contracts with Anthony Travel, an industry-leading travel agency, for flights. We do not have a direct relationship with GlobalX, nor do we pay GlobalX for services. Anthony Travel may contract with GlobalX for some flights, but the university does not have a role in selecting flight operators.”
Hilton Hotels, another company the organizers criticized, recently sparked controversy when it removed its partnership with a franchise that refused to lodge ICE agents. Through Anthony Travel, the University offers employees and visitors special rates at various Hilton-owned properties around Champaign-Urbana.
The University has a travel agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and National Car Rental, offering employees discounts for business-related travel. In January, protesters in Minnesota claimed the company rents cars to ICE agents, calling for community members to book and cancel their reservations to disrupt its operations. Enterprise did not confirm the claims.
Flock Safety is a surveillance system manufacturer that has been criticized for its license plate readers. Researchers and journalists have found that local police departments may use Flock cameras for searches on behalf of ICE agents. The University has installed Flock cameras in C-U in recent years.
Emma Walters, co-chair of GEO’s solidarity committee, spoke to the crowd about the importance of protecting immigrant graduate workers.
“The University’s success relies on the skills and the knowledge of a diverse network of workers, many of whom are immigrants or non-citizens, and yet the University lacks sufficient concern for and protection of both their workers and their students,” Walters said.
Dani Nyikos, lecturer in LAS, delivered a speech on behalf of NTFC that echoed Walters’ sentiments.
“As an employee of the University, I find it very difficult for me, personally, to work for a place that has not done more to step up and protect our neighbors and our students and our colleagues and just to stand up for democracy,” Nyikos said.
GEO is currently bargaining for an updated contract with University administrators, a process that occurs every 4-5 years. Its bargaining rests on principles that include wage increases, full fee waivers, protections for international workers, respect and more, according to an Instagram post.
In a bargaining session with University administrators Monday, GEO presented its new contract proposal. It is currently scheduling a second bargaining session.
Xenia Osterhout, GEO member, clarified that GEO is not allowed to bargain over the University’s business dealings in its contract.
Osterhout stressed the importance of the petition in addition to contract bargaining, describing it as a “public pressure campaign” in which business-related demands can be presented to University administrators.
Once the petition gains enough traction — Osterhout is hoping for a few thousand signatures — GEO plans to hold another rally to present it to Chancellor Charles Lee Isbell Jr.
