Two women who dedicated their lives to the struggle for low-paid workers’ rights at UNC returned to campus Wednesday night, addressing an audience of almost 40 students and faculty.
Elizabeth Brooks and Mary Smith, former Lenoir Dining Hall workers, revisited memories of the 1969 Lenoir workers’ strike during the event, sponsored by UNC’s Campaign for Historical Accuracy and Truth.
The event started with a 30-minute video made by students called “Women Behind the Lines” that documented the strike.
“We were underpaid and overworked,” Brooks said. “Although other workers knew what was going on, they never said anything.”
Brooks and Smith said workers were often denied bathroom breaks and were never compensated for working extra shifts.
Brooks explained that workers were hired on a 90-day basis. After 90 days, supervisors either terminated workers or allowed them a permanent stay with benefits and a raise. But Brooks said supervisors never changed the workers’ status.
“We never got an explanation as to why we were treated the way that we were,” she said. “We just did what we were told to do. We felt like we were prisoners.”
To start creating change, workers began talking with students, including Black Student Movement President Preston Dobbins.
When tensions finally mounted, workers went on strike, demanding better working conditions and a pay raise from $1.60 per hour to $1.80 per hour. The goal of the strike was to get administrators’ attention.
