CHAPEL HILL, NC – Overworked and underpaid. UNC housekeepers say that’s the feeling that drove them to demand that the university give them higher wages and free parking on campus.
On Friday, the Worker’s Union at UNC, a chapter of the UE Local 150 organization held a march and rally outside the Old Well and South Building for housekeepers to receive free on-campus parking and $20 per hour wages.
Housekeepers like long-time UNC employee Tracy Harter said she and her colleagues have been working more in the face of staffing shortages, but aren’t making livable wages.
“You can’t keep paying us what you paid us pre-COVID. If you want quality work, we want quality pay,” Harter said. “And we want free parking because you hand us $15 an hour on one hand and with the other hand you’re taking it away.”
During the march, the Worker’s Union handed a petition to the university with more than two thousand signatures, including two hundred housekeepers. Tt asked for Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz to advocate for housekeepers’ demands and for housekeepers to have a seat at the table with university administration. According to the Union’s president Trey Anthony, the university needs to recognize the value of housekeepers.
“They are the ones that make this university run, they are essential workers, and it’s time that they are treated like essential workers,” he said.
Guskiewicz did not appear at Friday’s rally. In a statement, the university said it is working to address the issues brought up by the housekeepers.
“The Chancellor is committed to addressing this issue, and his office, human resources and the UNC System continue to advocate for changes that would allow the University the authority to further address the housekeepers’ concerns.”
For Tracy Harter, these concerns are not wants but needs.
“We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired,” she said.