Earlier this week I posted that the Graduate Employees Organization was going on strike at the University of Illinois this week. Yesterday was rainy and cold, but there were 700 or so grad students and supporters out on the quad at 8 in the morning, making their voices heard. Among the marchers were supporters from the faculty; from the undergraduate population; from other unions on campus, in town, and around the state; and from other grad student organizations in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa (as well as Illinois). It was quite a sight.

The picketers were back out today, even though it was colder and still rainy; and while a few hundred strikers and supporters were marching on the quad, the administration was back at the bargaining table. By one p.m. we learned that the union and the administration reached a tentative agreement on a contract, with the administration meeting our demands to protect tuition waivers. Ironically, the wording is apparently very similar to what the union proposed way back in April, and is actually *stronger protection* than what the union proposed (and the university rejected) at Saturday's 6 hour bargaining session.

It has been an interesting couple of days on the U of I campus, and it's not official yet -- there will be an official ratification vote sometime later this week. But for now the pickets have been suspended and everyone who spent most or part of the last two days marching in the cold and the rain is feeling pretty good!

I know some people here expressed their (much appreciated) support for the striking workers, and so I wanted to be sure to let you all know how it turned out!