Ishaan Anavkar is in a tough spot. He is currently waiting for a renewed work authorization card from the federal government, and has requested a few weeks of unpaid leave to receive and furnish the card so he can return to work. He has already been through several stressful months of back-and-forth with UChicago Library HR, who have refused to sponsor his position. He has secured letters of support from UChicago faculty and the Library of Congress, tried to correct his position’s misclassification, filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the National Labor Relations Board, and sought temporary protected status in order to remain working. Multiple members of the Library have unsuccessfully proposed new positions that he could fill in order to remain working. He has now been informed that his last day of work will be Friday, August 2. If his position is terminated while he is still waiting for a renewed work authorization card, he will be required to leave the country in a month.
Ishaan is vital to processing the thousands of South Asian books currently in the library backlog and unavailable to library patrons, along with providing other copy cataloging services. If terminated, it is not clear when or if his position will be filled, and how these materials will be processed. Terminating his position, instead of granting this unpaid leave until his work authorization card arrives, will only exacerbate the severe understaffing problems in the UChicago Library.
