UNC workers to rally, sit out today

Facilities services workers will take the day off today — but it’s no vacation.

Maintenance workers will sit out on the steps of South Building from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to protest the elimination of a compressed work schedule option. Student groups will join them for a rally from noon to 1 p.m.

Ana Maria Reichenbach, a member of Student Action with Workers, said SAW has been collaborating with University workers to plan the sit-out.

“We’ve had meetings with twenty, twenty-five workers, and they’ve been spreading the word,” she said.

The rally will feature speakers from the University and community and will focus on the broader issue of workers’ rights.

SAW member Laurel Ashton said the protest is a way to broadcast workers’ issues to students and the community.

“We’ve been living in a time when workers’ rights have been diminished,” she said.

She said the idea for the sit-out and rally came from workers upset about losing their option to work four 10-hour work days.

“I was amazed by what an immediate and a strong response I got from students,” she said.

Ashton said many student groups responded to her emailed call to action.

“When the University is not treating workers with respect or dignity, that is our problem because we’re the ones supporting this University,” she said.

Stephanie Gaskill, a Students for a Democratic Society member, said the group helps make a concrete difference.

“We’re hoping the administration won’t impose the 5-8 schedule,” she said.

Reichenbach said she hopes students will talk to workers about the situation.

“We’re encouraging people to come and talk to them throughout the day, see what kinds of things they have to go through and see why this change is so important to them,” Reichenbach said.

Planned speakers include members of the Black Student Movement, UNC’s chapter of the NCAAP, SAW, SDS and United with the Northside Community Now, she said.

The protest is endorsed by SAW, Carolina Hispanic Association and SDS.

Organizers said workers’ rights, a prominent issue nationwide, are especially important in North Carolina because it lacks collective bargaining.

“This isn’t just about maintenance workers, this isn’t just about facilities workers, this isn’t just about UNC workers,” Ashton said.

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