'Start paying for quality help': UNC housekeepers plan October rally to demand pay raises

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill housekeeper Tracy Harter has worked in her role for 16 years.

Harter said she doesn’t want a new job because she loves the students.

“The students are the best part of my job,” she said. “I love them.”

Like many industries across the world, UNC-Chapel Hill housekeepers are feeling the effects of inflation. The housekeepers’ footprint is felt throughout the campus form the dorm rooms to the common spaces.

Some housekeepers told WRAL News they feel underappreciated.

“Everybody is feeling a lot of anxiety and panic,” Harter said. “I’m by myself and I barely make it. I had to move 30 miles away just to find affordable housing.”

Harter said she hasn’t gotten a significant raise in five or six years. A few months ago, Harter said housekeepers received a roughly 30-cent raise per hour, but she said it’s not enough. Plus, she told WRAL News that housekeepers must pay $500 per year for campus parking.

On Thursday, the housekeepers met to discuss their strategy for how best to get the attention of the UNC administration. They are petitioning to increase pay from $15 per hour to $20 per hour. Also, they demand that housekeepers should not have to pay to park at work.

At 4 p.m. on Oct. 28, the housekeepers are planning to hold a rally and take their petition to university administrators. Housekeepers are working with UE 150 The Workers Union at UNC.

Harter said there are hundreds of housekeepers who work on behalf of the university, but they are understaffed.

On Thursday, UNC Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations and Chief Financial Officer Nate Knuffman provided WRAL News a written response to the housekeepers' demands.

“We appreciate the hard work of Carolina’s housekeepers and all they do to make sure our dorms, classrooms, offices and our entire campus is clean and safe," Knuffman wrote. "The chancellor has set a priority on addressing concerns and our office, human resources and the UNC System have been in conversations on this issue.”

Several UNC students told WRAL News they support the housekeepers’ requests.

“I lived on south campus last year and the housekeepers would come in literally every day,” UNC student Clara Mello said. “And, we’re not supposed to leave anything in the bathroom, but we still did, and they’d work around it and they were so nice.”

Fellow UNC student Alice McCracken Knight echoed Mello’s sentiments.

“They play a really, really vital role in keeping our campus clean and sanitary and ready for our use and comfort every day,” Knight said.

Mello and Knight said they believe the housekeepers should get a raise.

Harter said she lives paycheck to paycheck.

“I have volunteered at a food drive in Carrboro for about the last 12 to 14 years,” Harter said in tears. “Now, I’m getting a lot of my food from there, so I can make it.

“And like I said, I’m by myself. I’m not like those single parents.”

Harter said it’s a struggle to keep her car working so she can make it to campus.

“Employees right now have a unique opportunity that we have never had before in our lifetime,” Harter said. “Employers need us, and we’ve got to let them know, ‘You kept us poor far too long.’

“It’s time to start paying for quality help.”