UNC housekeepers’ movement, 1991–1996

In the chronology

Chronology entries for this event, in date order. See these 14 dated events in the chronology →

1. April 14, 1930 Black janitors organize the UNC Janitors' Association Facing a threatened 10 percent pay cut, janitors Kennon Cheek, Frank Hairston, Elliot Washington and Melvin Rich organized the Janitors' Association, with Cheek as its first president. Its early gains included a week's paid vacation and showers in the janitors' bathrooms. People: Kennon CheekNames in Brick and Stone: Histories from UNC's Built Landscape: Cheek Clark Building
2. March 28, 1980 UNC housekeepers present grievances to the Physical Plant Thirty Physical Plant housekeeping assistants gave director Claude Swecker a list of grievances in Berryhill Hall, including the rehiring of Gene Alston, an organizer they said had been fired for organizing. On April 2 Swecker granted two concessions to about sixty housekeepers.The Daily Tar Heel, March 31, 1980, p. 3: Workers list grievances
3. July 1, 1988–June 30, 1995 Paul Hardin serves as chancellor of UNC at Chapel Hill Hardin, who had led Wofford College, Southern Methodist University and Drew University, was chancellor at Chapel Hill from July 1, 1988 to June 30, 1995. His administration covered the university's bicentennial and its fundraising campaign, the argument over a freestanding black cultural center and the housekeepers' class action suit.Search the index · UNC Libraries: Office of Chancellor, Paul Hardin Records, 1988-1995 (finding aid)
4. 1991–1996 UNC Housekeepers organize for pay and respect UNC housekeepers formed the Housekeepers Association in 1991 and brought a class-action discrimination suit against the University over pay, advancement and treatment. Led by Marsha Tinnen and Barbara Prear, they signed a settlement with UNC on November 26, 1996, that brought raises, a career training program and monthly meetings with administrators.The Daily Tar Heel, November 27, 1996, p. 1: UNC, Housekeepers near end of legal battle
5. October 28, 1991 UNC housekeepers take their grievances to the Campus Y cabinet Housekeepers, most of them Black women earning about $11,000 a year, asked the student groups at a Campus Y cabinet meeting to back their push for better pay and working conditions. Students for the Advancement of Race Relations and the Student Environmental Action Coalition took up their cause, and the housekeepers spoke at a Human Rights Week rally for Sonja Haynes Stone on November 4 to 8.Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), November 11, 1991, p. 8
6. November 1991 Housekeepers and student allies hold a cook-out to publicize the housekeepers' demands UNC housekeepers, Students for the Advancement of Race Relations and the Student Environmental Action Coalition held a cook-out in November 1991 to make the housekeepers' demands public. Chancellor Paul Hardin later recalled buying lunch from the housekeepers in the Pit to show support.Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), January 21, 1992, p. 6
7. January 22, 1992 UNC housekeepers rally and file a step 3 grievance At a rally on January 22, 1992, the housekeepers turned in a step 3 grievance over pay and treatment; the associate vice chancellor for human resources, Laurie T. Charest, left before they finished, so it went to her secretary. The housekeepers named the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, the Black Student Movement, the Campus Y, the State Employees Association District 35 and other student groups as supporters, and attorney Alan McSurely represented them. People: Alan McSurelyBlack Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), February 4, 1992, p. 3
8. January 7, 1993 NAACP task force begins a study of UNC's employee grievance procedure A task force chaired by Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP president James Brittian held its first meeting to evaluate UNC's grievance and appeals procedure and employee relations counseling, aiming to change state law for workers across the UNC system. Former UNC personnel director Jack Gunnells was its operations director.Search the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 8, 1993, p. 3 (Task force aims at fixing UNC grievance procedure)
9. January 15, 1993 UNC housekeepers hold a Unity Day celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. UNC housekeepers held a Unity Day dinner honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on his birthday, January 15, 1993. Black Cultural Center director Margo Crawford spoke on what King would say about their fight for decent wages and respect from supervisors, and the center's office manager played.Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), February 10, 1993, p. 9
10. November 1993 More than 200 housekeepers and students march after a judge dismisses the housekeepers' grievance Two days after Wake County Superior Court Judge Henry Hight dismissed the UNC housekeepers' racial discrimination grievance, more than 200 housekeepers and students marched in protest. Arthur Kinoy of the Center for Constitutional Rights spoke, urging the housekeepers to keep up their fight.Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), March 28, 1994, p. 4
11. September 4, 1995 Black town workers and UNC housekeepers march down Franklin Street on Labor Day More than 150 supporters of the Black Public Works Association and the UNC Housekeepers Association rallied on the steps of the post office and courthouse and marched down Franklin Street to the Hargraves Center. NAACP branch president Fred Battle opened the day; speakers raised pay, privatized hiring and training. People: Fred Battle, Alan McSurelyBlack Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), September 1995, p. 5
12. November 26, 1996 UNC Housekeepers’ settlement is reached UNC administrators and leaders of the UNC Housekeepers Association signed a mediated agreement on November 26, 1996, meant to end the housekeepers' 5 1/2-year-old discrimination suit. Housekeepers had approved it 212 to 1; it included back pay for about 340 workers, a career training program and regular meetings with administrators.The Daily Tar Heel, November 27, 1996, p. 1: UNC, Housekeepers near end of legal battle