Workers voice grievances

A group of UNC workers and their supporters gathered Friday afternoon on Manning Drive with one goal in mind: to make their voices heard.

Amid a din of passing buses and cars, the group — organized by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, UE Local 150 — spoke out in a unified effort to provoke changes in the working conditions at UNC Hospitals.

“We have a lot of problems inside in the hospitals,” said UNC Hospitals housekeeper Monica Orosco. “We want to change everything here for the workers.”

These problems, said Orosco and fellow housekeeper Mauricio Rosales, include unreasonable expectations by managers, unfair treatment and the absence of a Spanish version of the hospitals’ grievance policy.

“In many occasions, they don’t have the real information in Spanish,” Rosales said as a translator spoke for him in English.

Rosales said his working conditions worsened after he was harassed by his supervisor Dec. 17.

According to his written statement, a supervisor forcefully confiscated Rosales’ bag as he was leaving work. Aside from other personal belongings, the bag contained union materials. Rosales said he was the target for retaliations because he spoke out against poor working conditions during a December public hearing.

“We just want to end this situation,” Rosales said. “We just want justice.”

Rosales met with UNC Hospitals Vice President Mel Hurston to discuss the incident later that day. But Rosales and union organizer Steve Bader said it did not spark any efforts to rectify the situation.

Hurston was unable to comment on this specific case because of privacy policies. “We investigated the incident, and based upon the investigations, we took the appropriate actions,” he said.

Hurston said he and his colleagues take circumstances of worker dissatisfaction seriously and review all reported grievances.

“We at the UNC Hospitals place a great deal of emphasis on employee satisfaction,” he said. “In order for us to have an environment where patients and visitors want to come for treatment, we must strive for employee satisfaction.”

Other community organizations also were in attendance at Friday’s demonstration. Representatives from the African American/Latino Alliance, the Association for Latino Workers of North Carolina and the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Project expressed their solidarity.

Ajamu Dillahunt of the African American/Latino Alliance reminded attendees of Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to workers’ rights.

“Dr. King said that all work has dignity, and certainly, the hospital workers at UNC have that dignity,” he said. “We’d like some freedom and dignity for our UNC workers.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.