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Staff and faculty at the City Colleges of Chicago have issued a vote of no confidence in the colleges' chancellor and administration.
The colleges have required student service staff, like advisers, to work in person since Aug. 3, according to a news release from the Illinois Federation of Teachers. The staff had until then been working from home, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The release states that remote work had been going well, and the staff shouldn't be required to report in person.
"Masks are disposable, staff and students are not," it states.
City Colleges have also challenged unemployment claims made by more than a dozen adjunct professors, according to the release. Adjuncts, who teach more than 60 percent of the courses at City Colleges, have been underpaid, and more than a quarter have sought public assistance over the last decade, the release states. When the colleges challenged the claims, the adjuncts were forced to pay back thousands of dollars in aid they had received.
The unions that represent staff and faculty at the City Colleges will hold a press conference today. They are demanding that the colleges let employees work remotely until there is a safe reopening plan, and that City Colleges stop challenging unemployment claims.
The Cook County College Teachers Union, which represents about 2,000 employees at City Colleges, is also prepared to strike if the administration does not address safety concerns.
"The colleges are not prepared for employees or the public to return safely, especially with COVID cases on the rise in Chicago. Since August 3rd, three cases of COVID at the City Colleges have been announced," the release states.
