A group of Carolina Dining Services employees began the afternoon with microphone in hand, voicing concerns about unfair labor practices.
By early evening, they were, for the first time, face to face with University administrators and turning their contentions into action.
After a planned workers’ rights rally in the Pit, dining employees, union organizers and members of Student Action with Workers marched through Lenoir Dining Hall and into South Building chanting, beating drums and demanding a meeting with the administration.
Margaret Jablonski, vice chancellor for student affairs, was the first to address the group of about 60 protesters. After a brief discussion, she agreed to meet with a few group representatives.
Associate University Counsel Joanna Carey Smith — who is reviewing the University’s contract with Aramark Corp., the international company that staffs CDS facilities — also sat in on the meeting.
A handful of workers sat around a table in a Steele Building conference room while supporters stood behind them. The 14 employees detailed their work experiences and explained the need for better working conditions and the ability to unionize.
“I feel that as workers, we have the right to organize a union,” said George Noell, the sales manager for Circus Room. “I look at (how supervisors treat me) as harassment. … I don’t think that they’re fair in what they do.”
Noell and other workers went on to explain that they rarely get breaks, are belittled and threatened, receive little or no raises and are left without ample benefits.
Several workers said they have suffered silently because they fear repercussions for speaking out.
