Campus Laborers Crash Ceremony With Protest, Demands for Change

Staff Writer

In the middle of the dignified installation ceremonies for Chancellor James Moeser, protests and angry shouts interrupted the pomp and circumstance.

During Thursday's University Day speeches of Gov. Jim Hunt, UNC-system President Molly Broad and Moeser, members of UE Local 150, a labor union representing campus groundskeepers and housekeepers, chanted, "Who are we? UE. Come to the table, UNC."

Protesters said the rally was to pressure officials to meet with campus workers.

"There has been no communication within the last year - I hope the University will come back and sit at the table and talk," said Barbara Prear, president of UE 150 and a UNC housekeeper.

In December 1996, housekeepers settled their longstanding lawsuit against UNC by establishing an agreement with the late Chancellor Michael Hooker, allowing housekeepers to meet with top administrators once a month.

But the settlement expired in December 1999. UE 150 members said administrators, since then, have refused to "come to the table" and settle unresolved issues.

Senior Kea Parker, a member of Students for Economic Justice, said the lowest paid workers are often forgotten. "We are out here celebrating the University when the people who clean the school are being ignored."

Members of the Progressive Faculty Network also protested. "Housekeepers do an enormous amount of work on this campus," said women's studies Professor Karen Booth. "Their jobs are really undervalued and important."

But there were mixed responses from spectators. Junior Lucy Pearce said she had no problem with the protesting but thought it should not have occurred during the ceremony. Pearce added that she could not clearly hear the protesters' chants. "It is not an effective way to get the message across because the message is masked by the rude noise."

During Moeser's speech, the protesters marched through the audience demanding higher wages and access to officials.

Moeser stopped his address to comment, "We are hearing the sounds of free expression now - that's what this University is about." He said he would listen to protesters if they would listen to him, stopping their interruptions.

But UE 150 members said their cause had not yet been settled. "I'd like to see (Moeser) standing up here looking at us every Thursday until he finds time to talk with us poor little hard-working folks who run the University," Prear said. "Treat 'em like dogs, feed 'em like dogs, work 'em like dogs."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.