Newspapers / Black Ink (Black Student … / March 31, 1992, edition 1 / Page 8
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M.ircli 31, IW2 Hardin Opposes Free-standing BCC But “Hardin’s Plantation” Banner Would Puzzle Older Blacks, he says On March 17, University Chancellor Paul Hardin responded to a student coalition calling for a free-standing Black Cultural Center, better wages for the housekeepersandanerulowed chair for late professor Sonja //. Stone. The biracial coalition, which includes members of the Black Studeni Movement, Campus Y and Student Government,was generally displeased with the chancellor's response. BSM President-elect MichelleThomassaidit “expressed a blatant disregard for African Americans and a disregard for the desire of students in general." Below is the full text of the speech (subsections added): Aims of student coalition not interpreted as demands I want to talk to you, to our campus community, and to the general public about two important issues: (1) working together to meet the very legitimate needs and objectives of the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center and (2) working together to improve the wages and benefits of our lowest compensated employees, especially those at or near the poverty level. Both of these causes have had from the beginning, and will continue to have, my public and private support I ask you to listen carefully for a few minutes, not only to my thoughts on these important issues, but also to a description of actions we have already taken together and to further actions I now propose. As the leaders of the recent protests know, I sympathized with the frustration that led to the so- called demands of Feb. 24, and 1 elected to treat them not hterally as demands but as an urgent call for further consultation and action. Thus, I did not wait for the March 11 deadline but convened a meeting on Feb. 27, just three days after I received the communication. Atthat meeting Dean Boulton and I discussed the issues with AmieEpps (BSM president], Elizabeth Kolb [Campus Y] and others. Dean Boulton’s memo wasa summary of that meeting, a reminder to all of us of what we had discussed, what remained to be discussed, what had been done, and what we expected to be done. I conciured in his summary of those discussions. 1 was assured at that meeting by Amie that my interpretation was correct, and that he and others did not mean literally to demand. 1 did not feel — from that conversation — that he or anyone else expected me to take over the administration of the Di vision of S tudent Affairs or would not honor a written memorandum from my vice Kelly GrtentJBiack Ink South Building. To a few, it’s the big house on the plantation. chancellor. I have great confidence in Don Boulton, and I do not want anyone to think my speaking directly to you today evidences any lack of confidence in him or in his support of you and all of our students. Nevertheless, with Dean Boulton’s full support, I now address these issues in my own statement UNC-ChapelHill housekeepers start at 5 % higher wages First, the issue of compensation for the University’s lowest paid workers, I agree with North Carolina Representative Anne Barnes of Chapel Hill that no full-time state employee should have to live at or below the poverty level. While, with my full support, she works to improve, statewide, the compensation of the lowest paid state employees, I have been exploring what we have the financial means and legal authority to do on this campus without waiting for statewide action. Let me add that, although the focus has been on housekeepers, 65 workers with other job titles on this campus are in the same pay bracket and face the same financial difficulties our housekeepers are experiencing. Several months ago, when you and 1 were buying lunch from the housekeepers in the Pit to show our appreciation of their work and our support of their cause, I asked my financial advisers to ascertain the cost of raising the wages of our lowest paid workers by various amounts. I made it clear that I wanted to pay them more, if I could find the money and the authwity to do so, even though I recognized that this would result in compaction of wages at the bottom of the scale. Obviously, even if I had the authority, I could not find the resources to raise wages at higher classifications without the infusion of significant new state appropriations dedicated to that purpose. Let me tell you what we have been able to do for housekeepers and others at the same pay level. Because of the high cost of living in Chapel Hill, we have been permitted by the Office of State Personnel to pay a starting wage 5 percent higher than the standard entry-level wages at other UNC campuses and other state agencies. University has done all it legal ly can for housekeepers Second, when the General Assembly passed Representative Barnes’ Accelerated Pay bill but was not able to fund it fully, we moved enough money from other operations to enable all of our eligible employees to participate in that program. Thus, for 1991, we had only 21 full-time employees who earned less than $13,000 per year. During the past few days, in order to be certain that we have now done all that we legally can do, we asked the Office of State Personnel if we had any unused legal authority to do mcxe — on our own. The answer, given supportively and sympathetically, was, nevertheless, no. Our campus has no present authority to do more than we have done. However, OSP has, partly at our request and in view of our concern, recommended to the General Assembly the approval and funding of higher statewide pay ranges at those lowest levels and in some other classifications where earnings are higher but not competitive. I have personally discussed with Rep. Barnes and Dr. Jay Robinson of the UNC General Administration several ideas I have had for shifting from employees to state agency- employers some of the costs of fringe benefits. We have agreed to get together to explore further these and other possible proposals. I have also discussed with Dr. Robinson your desire to convey to state government your concern for the plight of these workers. He has indicated that he will be happy to counsel with student leaders in choosing effective ways to voice your concerns and in identifying the appropriate persons to address. Matt [Heyd, student body president], I hope you will call him and arrange to seek his advice and to follow it I want, in advance, to thank all of you who will join us in seeking a living wage for this group of employees. I also urge you to do as our students have always done— to present your convictions to our lawmakers courteously and respectfully. Dr. Robinson believes that speaking to and writing to our own representatives is the way to go. I concur, and we will keep Matt and other student leaders posted on what issues are pending before which bodies in Raleigh. “I have paid my dues as a human rights advocate...” Now let me address the issues surrounding the expansion and improvement of the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center. I have worked throughout my life for inclusion of all people into the full opportunities of American society and, throughout my career, for the inclusion of people of all races into every aspect of university life. I was practicing law in Birmingham when Rosa Parks, with majestic dignity, refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery. Some of you have heard me tell of the unique impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had on my father and me. I appreciate your sense of drama, but the adult African-American community in Durham and, indeed all citizens who were politically alert in that city in the ‘ 60s will be puzzled by your reference to the Hardin plantation [Eds. note: a banner held aloft in front of South Building by coalition members]. In the mid- 1960s, I chaired the Mayor’s Human Relations Committee, which compelled Durham on legal grounds, to integrate its motion picture theaters. I later ran for mayor, received endorsement of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, was attacked by a Raleigh television commentator (whose name you would recognize) as a Communist sympathizer and advocate of black power, and was defeated in a conservative, white backlash. [Eds. note: The commentator was U.S. Senator Jesse Helms]. I have paid my dues as a human rights advocate in the public arena.
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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March 31, 1992, edition 1
8
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