Aisha Baiocchi is the 2023-24 enterprise managing editor at The Daily Tar Heel. She has previously served as a senior writer on the university desk. Aisha is a junior majoring in journalism at UNC and international comparative studies at Duke University, as well as a minor in history.
"As a community, we need to remember him, as well as what his detainment foreshadowed. His wrongful detainment began the cycle of racism and misinformation that has plagued conversations about our campus surrounding this tragedy."
At a Wednesday rally in front of the South Building, UNC housekeepers announced they have been offered a contract from the University. They said the contract did not address their two key demands: higher wages and free parking. Instead, housekeepers said they were offered a bonus — with strings attached.
After months of advocacy, University housekeepers have been granted a pay raise of 90 cents to $16.81 per hour, according to The Workers Union at UNC. Media Relations said the move came after advocacy from the Chancellor, his office and the Board of Trustees. The change falls short of workers' demands for $20 per hour wages and free parking.
Housekeepers employed by the University have been advocating for higher wages since early in the semester. Here's an update on their progress so far.
The Workers Union and the UNC housekeepers met today outside of the Carolina Inn during the Board of Trustees meeting to demand better pay from the University.
A group of housekeepers, students and representatives from The Workers Union at UNC brought a list of demands a petition with over 2,000 signatures to the UNC administration last Friday. The list outlines two main goals: $20/hour wages and free parking. Numerous housekeepers said that they have not received any relevant communication from the University, except for an email requesting the staff not to speak to media outlets.
Sloan Thompson, one of the UNC Violence Prevention Coordinators, said the idea for the initiative came from her prior job at the DC Coalition against Domestic Violence when she was looking for ways to distribute resources during RVAM but work around the limitations of COVID-19.
The University has been using Social Sentinel, an AI-based service, since 2016 to identify threatening or concerning public social media posts. The contract will end in October. Documents show that UNC used Social Sentinel to monitor campus protests through geofencing and pulled data from public posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Reddit.
The recent UNC Housekeeping Employee Statement of Demands asks the University for increased pay, and share concerns that employees don't have enough compensation to pay for necessities like rent, food, child care, transportation and health care bills.
Though prepping for regular-season horse shows lies at the center of the club’s agenda, the UNC equestrian team works to cultivate a tight-knit community above all else.
