The UNC Food Workers Strike was a labor strike at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that began on February 23 and lasted until December 9, 1969. Through the leadership of Mary Smith and Elizabeth Brooks and with the support of student groups and civil rights activists, the strike was organized around a list of demands to improve the working conditions of black food workers. The protesting employees of Lenoir Hall presented this list to University Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson, who responded by asserting his commitment "to be[ing] responsive to the educational needs of . . . all races, colors, and creeds" but also his inability to treat any group with preference and to make significant changes on their behalf. He directed a police response to campus disruptions with North Ca
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| - The UNC Food Workers Strike was a labor strike at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that began on February 23 and lasted until December 9, 1969. Through the leadership of Mary Smith and Elizabeth Brooks and with the support of student groups and civil rights activists, the strike was organized around a list of demands to improve the working conditions of black food workers. The protesting employees of Lenoir Hall presented this list to University Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson, who responded by asserting his commitment "to be[ing] responsive to the educational needs of . . . all races, colors, and creeds" but also his inability to treat any group with preference and to make significant changes on their behalf. He directed a police response to campus disruptions with North Ca (en)
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| - The UNC Food Workers Strike was a labor strike at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that began on February 23 and lasted until December 9, 1969. Through the leadership of Mary Smith and Elizabeth Brooks and with the support of student groups and civil rights activists, the strike was organized around a list of demands to improve the working conditions of black food workers. The protesting employees of Lenoir Hall presented this list to University Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson, who responded by asserting his commitment "to be[ing] responsive to the educational needs of . . . all races, colors, and creeds" but also his inability to treat any group with preference and to make significant changes on their behalf. He directed a police response to campus disruptions with North Carolina Governor Robert W. Scott, further instigating the protesters and drawing widespread attention to the issue. The subsequent formation of the UNC Non-Academic Employees Union prompted Governor Scott to negotiate with and ultimately accept the terms of the protesters on March 21, 1969. UNC facility employees experienced an increase in wage and working conditions, and this lasted until food management transferred from internal to contractual service provided by SAGA Food Service less than a month later. The change in employers sparked workers, many of whom participated in the first strike, to voice their discontent once again. Employees and students responded immediately, with the strike resuming, among other forms of protest, until its conclusion on December 9, 1969, when black supporters threatened to descend on the campus to elevate the issue if union negotiations did not begin. Instigated by perceived oppressive employment conditions and fueled by the spirit of the ongoing Civil Rights Movement, the Food Workers Strike brought attention to many issues in Chapel Hill and the American South as well as on college campuses throughout the country. These included the stalling status of desegregation, the assimilation of the fight for civil equality into part of the 1960s Counterculture Movement and the New Left, the shift towards more confrontational forms of protest for civil demonstrations and the rights of public employees to unionize and protest perceived injustice. The strike serves as a model for a successful, largely nonviolent protest against institutionalized injustice and is remembered today as a significant milestone for workers' rights and racial equality in University and North Carolina history. (en)
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