Workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have bargained what we believe are the first set of wins for a graduate union negotiating the effects of COVID-19. It was our winning strike last year that made our employer realize it should come to the table and give us what we demanded.

When the crisis hit in March, graduate workers at UIC quickly realized that having health insurance would not prevent them from accruing huge medical bills.

Nor did teaching assistants and graduate assistants, who perform much of the teaching and administrative duties at the university, have sufficient sick leave, as is typical for graduate workers in the United States on short-term contracts.