Housekeepers for UNC-Chapel Hill have advocated for months for pay raises and free parking during their shifts since the fall. While their efforts led to minor increases in hourly pay, many are saying their labor is worth more – and this week, several gathered for rallies to keep up calls for action from the UNC Board of Governors.
Dozens of housekeepers, students, UE 150 and community members stood at the steps of South Building on UNC campus Wednesday afternoon – missing work or class to show their support for the cause. People held signs calling for higher wages and respect for the university’s facility workers, who clean the dorms, academic buildings, and athletic venues for UNC. Later in the afternoon, the group would also demonstrate in Raleigh outside the UNC Board of Governors meeting – as the board began budget discussions for the next fiscal year.
Since sending a longer list of demands to the UNC System, the housekeepers and workers union have condensed their requests to three items: raising minimum wages for housekeepers to $20 an hour, eliminating parking fees for those workers and advocating the state government to repeal a law against collective bargaining.
Much of UNC’s housekeeping staff are minority workers, and messages were shared Wednesday in Burmese, Karenic and Spanish in addition to English.
Saw Moo, one of the housekeepers representing those from Karenic communities, said he believes the work alone speaks to the staff’s need for higher wages. But when combined with inflation and staffing shortages, that need becomes even more critical for the university employees.
“Everything has changed, right,” said Moo. “Gas prices, rent, utility bills, food, everything is up. But our salaries and wages are not up. They are still the same. I feel like it is unfair pay, and we really do deserve $20 an hour. Why? Because we work too hard.”
UNC housekeeper Aung Than speaks to the crowd in Burmese during a rally for higher pay and fewer parking fees on February 22, 2023. (Photo by Angelina Katsanis)
Housekeepers, students, and representatives from The Workers Union at UNC rally for a raise in pay to $20/hour and better working conditions for UNC Housekeepers outside of South Building, where the Chancellor’s Office is. (Photo by Angelina Katsanis.)
After the group’s initial calls for raises in October, UNC announced in December it would be giving a 90-cent raise to the housekeeping staff. The workers, however, quickly pointed out that department supervisors and UNC administration received far more significant raises.
Tracy Harter, who spoke to the crowd on Wednesday, said the raise barely offsets the amount housekeepers on first shift have to pay for parking. She also pointed to recent action from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, which approved a new pay rate of $20 per hour for school bus drivers last week.
“If a small entity like [CHCCS] can pay bus drivers $20 an hour, why is it that a giant like UNC can’t do the same thing,” Harter asked. “You’ve got to tell us why they can pay, but you can’t. You make a whole lot more money than they do – and I’ll bet you none of them pay for parking.”
Another “pacification tactic” housekeepers and the union pointed to was just shared in recent days. Robin Lee, one of the UNC employees leading the campaign, said university leadership shared details of a $1,500 bonus with workers last week. She said she takes exception to language in the bonus that says housekeepers must stay for a full year or else would pay back a prorated amount of the money.
Lee also said she does not trust her supervisors to not intentionally write up housekeepers and have their bonuses taken away for disciplinary reasons.
“I hope, I pray that nobody signs this paper,” she shouted as she tore up a copy of the bonus agreement. “Please don’t sign this paper.”
Harter said, though, that the bonus offer and plans for UNC leadership to interview more housekeepers about their experiences are good signs. She pointed to the direction of UE 150 leaders and the strength of the housekeeping community for making those progressions.
Additionally, UNC student activists and groups spoke at Wednesday’s rally on campus, including the Black Student Movement, Siembra NC and the Campus Y leadership.
“We as undergraduates are in a very unique position,” said Campus Y co-president Megan Murphy. “We’re the ones who pay the bills around here, and so we have to leverage the pressure we have on this institution in order to support housekeepers.”
Chapel Hill Resident Maple Osterbrink was also at the rally, holding a sign that said “Pay Our Workers Living Wages.” She said she regularly attends events that call for higher pay for the working class, because it aligns with her environmental goals of decreasing emissions from vehicles.
“It all ties together,” Osterbrink said, “because – like everywhere in the U.S. now – if you can live where you work, there’s less pollution created. They should be able to live nearby, and they probably don’t.”
Tracy Harter, a 16-year housekeeper for UNC, wears a UE 150 shirt and stands in front of a crowd rallying at South Building. (Photo by H’aiasi Chinfloo)
UNC students and Chapel Hill-Carrboro community members stand with signs in solidarity of housekeepers and university staff. (Photo by H’aiasi Chinfloo)
The UNC System shared a statement in response to the group’s list of demands received in January:
The University of North Carolina System relies on the talent and hard work of more than 48,000 faculty and staff to meet our mission every day.
The System has advocated strongly for faculty and staff raises, resulting in legislative increases during the last two years. Compensation for [State Human Resources Act] employees, including housekeeping staff, will remain a key priority for the University in the coming legislative session.
Last year, about 400 employees in this occupational grouping at UNC-Chapel Hill received salary increases totaling $1.5 million. We’ve worked with the legislature and the Office of State Human Resources to make it easier for campuses to recruit and retain staff.
Graduate student stipends and parking regulations are responsibilities delegated to individual campuses. Chancellors work diligently to balance many competing demands on their resources, and we’re grateful for the care that goes into those deliberations. Graduate students’ contributions are an essential part of the University’s teaching and research enterprise, and the recent minimum stipend increases at UNC-CH were well deserved.
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