Members Confront OIS, Get the Cold Shoulder

May 28th, 2025

Seeing as UIC negotiators have evaded our proposals to support international workers, a group of union members took matters into their own hands this past Wednesday. Eight grads confronted the Office of International Services to demand answers and accountability.

The story OIS told contradicted UIC’s past responses to the union’s information requests: that OIS has not implemented any new policy to respond to changes in federal immigration enforcement. According to the OIS Director Megan Ward, there are in fact new policies – she just can’t confirm what the policies are. 

Why can’t administration just share its plan for international workers? What does it have to hide? 

This evasive posture continued throughout the entire exchange. The director was there to “listen,” but explicitly not provide any information. They wouldn’t even answer questions about what “services” they provide. If OIS stonewalls and refuses to engage with organized union members, how can we expect them to provide information and support to individual international workers, especially in vulnerable or precarious situations? 

When pressed, the Director shared information on only a few, superficial points: confirming that internal policy advises staff not to engage with ICE and to call campus police; international students would be notified in writing in the case of visa revocations; and that information requests from federal agencies are handled by a “principal designated school official.” Whether or not the union will be informed of such interactions, the Director wouldn’t say. 

One of the most striking moments occurred when a union rep asked directly: “Setting aside your role here, on a purely human level: what kind of support do you think international students facing deportation deserve?” The director looked uncomfortable and complained that they have to follow the law too, or risk going to jail. The delegation countered by asking whether it was against the law for OIS to answer the union’s questions, or to request UIC to bargain with GEO in good faith - she conceded that it was not. 

The exchange ended when the delegation gave the office the union email, requesting they contact the union with the answers to our questions and relay to Labor Relations our demand to bargain in good faith. By the end of the afternoon, we had a response from UIC: they had received our questions, which they would investigate as an information request. Back to square one. 

This action reveals UIC’s unwillingness to provide even the most basic information that would allow us to bargain in good faith. Furthermore, OIS staff’s behavior confirms the allegations of institutional negligence we’ve heard from international students. But it will take more than a delegation to win the protections and support we need. Next time, we’ll apply even more pressure to show UIC the true costs of neglecting their workers’ demands.