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UNC housekeepers: Raise is 'a slap in the face'

Housekeepers, who work across the campus from dorm rooms to common spaces, have been advocating for a raise for months, including petitioning to raise their base rate from $15 to $20 per hour and to add a parking stipend.

Posted Updated

By
Sarah Krueger
, WRAL Durham reporter
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Housekeepers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill called the plan to raise their pay by 90 cents an hour "insulting and a slap in the face."

"Our fight will continue – we will not be silent, not for 90 cents," said housekeeper Tracy Harter.

Housekeepers, who work across the campus from dorm rooms to common spaces, have been advocating for a raise for months, including petitioning to raise their base rate from $15 to $20 per hour and to add a parking stipend. Housekeepers pay $500 per year to park on campus.

The university announced a plan to raise salaries across the board for its housekeeping staff, including boosting starting pay rate for those jobs.

The amount of the raise will be based on individual position and experience, and it is effective from Nov. 21, so the next check will also include back pay, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz noted in an email to the campus community.

The effort falls short of housekeepers' request for $20 per hour, and went largely to supervisors, according to a union statement.

“We are not satisfied by any means especially when crew leaders and administrators got the large pay raises and we got a mere 90 cents. We are the ones out here doing the dirty work, not them," Harter said.

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