'Why should we have to pay to come to work?': UNC housekeepers deliver parking petition to UNC

Update: 3/26, 4:28 p.m.: In a statement to The Daily Tar Heel, UNC Media Relations said the University has received the petition and "will carefully consider the requests from UNC housekeepers." Media Relations also said that UNC Transportation and Parking is currently working on a new five-year plan to address future University needs.

"The proposed plan simplifies permit pricing and includes a parking permit rate reduction for daytime and weeknight permits for employees in the lower salary ranges," Media Relations said in the statement.

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On Wednesday, a group of UNC housekeepers and students gathered on the steps of South Building to deliver a parking petition to the University administration. At the gathering, signs read "End Pay to Work" as students, housekeepers and community members chanted “Paid parking has got to go!”

The petition delivery was in part sparked by a double-parking deduction charge taken from many employees' paychecks last month. According to a press release by UE Local 150, the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, this deduction affected many employees' ability to pay their bills.

UNC housekeepers who park on campus have a biweekly deduction of around $27 taken from their paychecks as a parking fee, Robin Lee, the president of the housekeeper co-chapter of The Workers Union at UNC, said. The petition delivered on Wednesday demanded that parking fees be abolished for employees making less than $50,000 a year. 

“We are fighting for free parking because it don't make no sense that we got to pay to come and work," Lee said. "UNC got plenty of money. Why should we have to pay to come to work?"

Employees should not have been penalized for the University's double-parking mistake, Lee said.

This is not the first time UNC housekeepers have gathered to demand free parking and higher wages. In September 2022, housekeepers organized to fight for a $20 per hour minimum rate and free parking. A petition with over 2,000 signatures was later delivered to the University administration in late October 2022. That same year, the University responded with a 90-cent raise in December, with the demands for free parking unaddressed.

“We are tired of low wages and the University nickeling and diming us," Tracy Harter, vice president of the co-chapter, said. "With one hand they give us a laughable 90-cent raise, and then the other hand takes it away from us with paid parking."

Both Lee and Harter have played leading roles in organizing for the chapter the last few years. Lee, who has worked at the University for five years, said that higher wages and free parking would mean more money in her paycheck to deal with rising gas prices and the cost of living. Lee said one of her co-workers, who has worked at UNC for 25 years, is only making $17.61 hourly. She added that's one reason why she continues fighting.

Housekeeper wages are set by North Carolina’s Career Banding System, according to the University. In September 2023, a new state budget was passed, raising state employees' salaries by seven percent over the next two years. Despite this, Lee said, their pay is still insufficient.

“We got people here like me, a senior by myself," Harter said. "We got people here with children they go home to, single parents. Every nickel and dime they get is money they spend on their family and their life. If you don’t want to give us a livable wage, at least give us something, and take away unfair paid parking.”

Sophomore Toby Posel attended the event and said he is a student who stands in solidarity with graduate students and campus workers who are a part of The Workers Union. He said the labor of campus workers is often made “invisible” by the University.

“Any student who cares about justice and fairness on their campus and is outraged by the exploitation of workers should care about this issue,” Posel said. “I wish more students knew about the struggles of workers on their campus for just compensation, fair treatment and better wages.”

The Daily Tar Heel reached out to Executive Director of Transportation and Parking, Cheryl Stout, to whom the petition was meant to be delivered, but she did not respond by the time of publication.

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