The UNC-system Board of Governors approved Friday morning a set of guiding principles to protect workers in the system, even as protesters interrupted the meeting.
Housekeepers, maintenance workers and other system staff members are all currently protected under the State Personnel Act, but a provision of a N.C. Senate bill is threatening to take the authority of the 22,000 UNC-system workers from the state and giving it to the Board of Governors.
The overall bill, which was introduced by Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake, died in committee last year, but this provision could be considered in May during the N.C. General Assembly’s short session.
About 30 students and employees gathered Friday to ask the board to consider their pleas. The protesters were not allowed to present at the meeting.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your meeting, but I feel compelled to speak to represent those who are not represented at this meeting,” Zaina Alsous, a UNC junior involved with Student Action with Workers, told the board, as she read from a prepared statement against the bill.
Chairwoman of the board Hannah Gage repeatedly asked Alsous to stop, saying the meeting was not a “public hearing.” Alsous was then escorted out of the boardroom by police officers stationed outside.
As the board addressed the issue and formally approved a set of guiding principles, which would offer protection to system employees if the provision passes through the state legislature, protesters continuously stood up to voice their discontent before being removed from the room.
After the meeting, system President Tom Ross met with several students individually to discuss the provision and the guiding principles.
He later expressed regret about the disruptions and the police involvement.
