Demands to UNC system board of governors
January 18, 2023
Public university workers across the state of North Carolina are standing up and fighting back! In spite of the fact that North Carolina is one of a handful of states nationwide that bans public sector collective bargaining, workers have been joining together and organizing to further their demands in record numbers. Accordingly, we, the campus and graduate workers of the UNC system, demand the following from the UNC System Board of Governors:
We demand a $20/hr minimum wage for all housekeepers and other campus workers, who work daily to ensure each of our campuses can function.
We demand an end to parking fees for campus and graduate workers, who should not have to pay to park at their place of employment.
We demand an end to the privatization of essential campus services across the UNC system, including housekeeping and dining services.
We demand a UNC system-wide minimum graduate stipend of $22,000/year for PhD students. We also demand annual stipend increases that keep up with rising cost of living and university cost of attendance.
We demand comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage for all university workers across the UNC system, including graduate student workers, providing affordable or free access to mental health care, vision, and dental care as a minimum.
We demand fair and transparent employment contracts from our departments.
We demand that the Board of Governors advise each constituent UNC campus to eliminate or completely cover graduate student fees, as has been done at UNC-Chapel Hill.
We demand that the state legislature repeal its racist, Jim Crow-era laws that hinder public workers’ internationally-recognized and constitutionally-protected rights to collectively bargain and meet-and-confer with our managers. Specifically, we demand that the Board of Governors declare its support for the repeal of Article 12, § 95-98 of the NC General Statutes.
We also demand, as the workers who are responsible for the success and esteemed reputation of the UNC System, that the Board of Governors acknowledge the racist roots of these laws and submit a formal recommendation to the North Carolina State Legislature that these anti-labor policies be repealed.
We also demand that the Board of Governors publish recommendations to each constituent UNC administration to establish meet and confer policies for campus and graduate workers and their managers.
In Solidarity,
The Campus and Graduate Workers of the UNC System: The Workers Union UE 150