TO THE EDITOR:
Today, the Board of Governors of the UNC system will meet in Chapel Hill to discuss Senate Bill 575.
If passed, this bill will severely reduce the rights of people working on the 16 UNC-system campuses, removing 22,000 employees from the legal guarantees and protections provided to all state workers under the State Personnel Act (SPA). This will in effect create a double standard throughout the UNC system.
The Board of Governors of the UNC system would become the sole authority that determines most employment parameters for these SPA workers, including wages and grievance and disciplinary policies.
The current system of checks and balances on possible abuses would disappear. Employees will face potentially hostile work environments. They could be fired at the board’s will, without the justification and legal redress options to which they are now entitled.
Employees who criticize working conditions or call for better wages could be more easily removed from their jobs for speaking up.
As members of the executive board of the North Carolina Conference of the American Association of University Professors (NCAAUP), we are concerned about the possible curtailment of workers’ rights to free speech.
This law would negatively affect the people we work with, our working and teaching environments, and the state as a whole. We urge you to learn about SB 575, discuss its implications for your community and the state, and share your concerns with legislators.
Purificacion Martinez
President, NCAAUP
