Campus activism for workers grows

At a time when labor unions nationwide are struggling to retain and attract membership, student activists are working to revitalize collective bargaining among university employees.

College students recently have held demonstrations on campuses across the country to promote the interests of university workers and staff.

Students at Georgetown University staged a high-profile hunger strike last month to express their support for a “living wage” for campus employees, and many UNC students have rallied to the cause of workers in Chapel Hill.

Last week, the arrest of Carolina Dining Services employee Vel Dowdy on March 25 prompted a sizable demonstration in the Pit, where students voiced support for her and other University workers.

Mike Hachey, a UNC student and member of Student Action with Workers, said the purpose of the group is to promote the fair treatment of all campus workers by their employers.

“We try to ensure that workers aren’t being intimidated,” he said.

SAW is loosely affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, Hachey said, adding that the association is indirect because only workers can establish a union.

Hachey said the group is now working to have the University require Aramark Corp., the company operating CDS, to sign a card-check neutrality agreement with its employees. The agreement would be an alternative to National Labor Relations Board elections in which a company declares itself neutral to avoid intimidation in the workplace.

Hachey said this would allow workers to decide whether they want to unionize.

But students aren’t working exclusively at the university level. Many are attempting to influence labor policies in state government.

Sherry Melton, director of communications for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, said the association welcomes those who support their mission. Students, she said, could join as affiliate members.

“Students have been very supportive of university employees,” Melton said.

She noted that SEANC is not a union, but an association composed mostly of public school teachers and state workers.

While student groups seek better treatment for university employees from the state, Melton said the association’s objective is similar.

“No less than a 5 percent pay raise this year is our goal for all state employees, including university employees,” she said.

Although North Carolina restricts the collective bargaining of state employees, other states allow for the establishment of unions among their workers.

In 2001, Maryland extended the right to unionize, which existed for other state workers, to employees at the state universities, said Karl Pence, executive director of the Maryland State Higher Education Labor Relations Board.

“The purpose is to administer the collective bargaining rights to employees of state institutions of higher education,” he said.

Pence said it includes all university employees, except faculty members.

Because of this policy, demonstrations for collective bargaining have not occurred at state universities in Maryland, he said.

Even if UNC-system workers face obstacles to bargaining, there is hope for employees and their student-activist allies, Melton said, referring to the proposed pay raise.

“We’re optimistic that employees will fare better this year than they have in recent years.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.