Graduate Worker Demands to UNC Chapel Hill Administration and Board of Trustees

We, the graduate workers of UNC Chapel Hill and their allies, demand that the administration and Board of Trustees:


  1. Publicly Support the Repeal of the Jim Crow NC Collective Bargaining Ban (House Bill 243 and Senate Bill 561)

  2. Pay Graduate Workers a Living Wage with Fair Contracts

    1. Pay all graduate workers a living wage — defined as $3,200/month in Orange County — commensurate with their status as full-time workers and scholars.

    2. Instruct the Graduate School to release clear and standardized guidelines and contracts that detail the rights and responsibilities of graduate researchers and educators, including compensated trainings and a maximum workload of 20 hours/week.

    3. Respect the right of union representatives to be present during grievance proceedings.

  3. Support Graduate Worker Health on Campus

    1. Include comprehensive access to affordable, low co-pay reproductive health, mental health, dental and vision care in the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP).

    2. Enroll in the Green Source Advantage Program to ensure that UNC-CH is greenhouse-gas neutral in the next decade and cease the burning of fossil fuels near campus.

    3. Develop and release annually a publicly-accessible report on worker safety and exposure to environmental pollutants, including lead, and provide swift remediation of and monthly communication about the lead-in-water crisis.

    4. Create an accessible campus in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including yearly elevator inspections and fully-accessible campus spaces.

  4. Get its Funding Priorities Straight

    1. Reallocate funding from the UNC-CH Police to community-based justice initiatives and alternatives to police-based emergency response.

    2. Stop requesting state funding for partisan projects like the School of Civic Life, and instead fund demands which improve the quality of life of university students and workers, including the ones described here.

We request periodic meetings between UNC-Chapel Hill administrators and graduate worker representatives in UE Local 150, the North Carolina Public Workers Union, to discuss the fulfillment of these demands.

Yours for quality jobs and services,

The Graduate Workers of UNC Chapel Hill & Community Supporters

  • Please Note: When Submitting a Letter from this link, as this is not anonymous, the decision makers will see that they received the message from your personal email.

Sponsored by
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UE 150, The Workers Union at UNC
Chapel Hill, NC