Post-strike update

I withdrew my membership from the union and didn't walk the pickets, but I did withhold my labor during the strike.

The only exceptions had to do with emails. 

I monitored my emails daily, mostly to see if there were any strike-related updates I needed to know. (Ever since I withdrew my membership, the union has, quite understandably, taken me off of whatever mailing list they have.) I also answered two emails I from people whom my campus unit serves curious about how the strike might affect them. That's "work," but 

I don't feel very guilty. It took only a couple minutes, and union or no union, without such people, I might be out of a job. Maybe it's true that "UIC works because we do." But it's also true that we wouldn't have work to do in the first place without students, who have already paid their tuition,  without the members of the public whom we also serve, and without the direct and indirect taxpayer subsidies that help fund our jobs.

In fact, my chief objection to the strike was that as public servants, we must clear a high bar before any strike we undertake is justified. Simply being right on the merits doesn't by itself clear that bar or justify the disruption that a strike causes. And to be clear, in the dispute between the union and administration, I think the union had, on balance, the better argument. Even so, the problems are real doesn't mean that the solution on offer is the correct one. I won't say, "the ends don't justify the means." Good-enough ends often justify some less-than-good means, in my opinion. But in this case, the strike is one means that I didn't find justified.

I have other objections, mostly to do with what I believe the long-term ill effects of the union will be on UIC and the commonweal. Those objections are probably less justified. At any rate, I'm probably less likely to convince anyone to agree to those.

Why did I withhold my labor, then? One reason is a bad one: I don't want to be called a scab or a "rat." While equating people who aren't on your side with vermin has some very disturbing precedents, I confess that's enough to give me pause for standing by my principles.

Another reason is that I might be wrong.

A third reason is that my colleagues, or many of them, sincerely believed a strike to be justified, and I simply didn't want to go against them.

The fourth reason is that I'm in a non-teaching position while most of the union members, from what I hear, are teachers. I understand that since the pandemic, the pressures on them have been much graver than any I have faced. They have had to do the transition from in-person to online classes, and then to "hybrid" classes, which from what I hear are exceptionally difficult. They have had to work twice as hard for the same pay. While I believe, for complicated reasons, that pay raises might have unintended and unwanted consequences that may make things worse, I also don't want to frustrate their attempts to secure something better.

I have not yet seen any notice about whether or how those of us who withheld their labor might self-report our non-working days. I don't work for free, and I don't expect to get paid for "work" I didn't do. At any rate, once and if it becomes clear how to report my absence, I'll do so. If for some reason that proves impossible, then I guess I'll donate four days of work pay to the UIC food pantry to give back to the students on whose behalf the union supposedly struck.

I may rejoin the union after the contract is ratified, assuming it is ratified. But I may not. As much as I don't wish to enjoy the benefits secured by the union without paying my fair share, I also don't wish to support an organization that in my opinion is on balance bad for UIC.

Of course, I'm already a "free rider" in many ways. Some of my colleagues have spent long hours, many of them on weekends and holidays, trying to negotiate with the administration. Many more of my colleagues participated in the picketing. I personally believe picketing to be unpleasant, especially in January weather. 

I disagree with my union-supporting colleagues. But throughout, they have acted professionally and with dedication. They sincerely believe that what they advocate for is in the best interests of faculty, students, UIC, and the public.