On March 27, 1980 a group of housekeepers presented the Physical Plant Director, Claude Swecker, with a list of demands that included the removal of two supervisors widely known to sexually harass female employees, the ability to use vacation time at any time during the year, the elimination of “warning letters” for employees who were late to work because of inclement weather, and the establishment of regular meetings for all housekeepers. Swecker and others in the Housekeeping Department did not meet their demands, but out of this action, in 1983, an early version of the Housekeepers Association formed.
On March 27, 1980 a group of housekeepers presented the Physical Plant Director, Claude Swecker, with a list of demands that included the removal of two supervisors widely known to sexually harass female employees, the ability to use vacation time at any time during the year, the elimination of “warning letters” for employees who were late to work because of inclement weather, and the establishment of regular meetings for all housekeepers. Swecker and others in the Housekeeping Department did not meet their demands, but out of this action, in 1983, an early version of the Housekeepers Association formed.
Organization: UNC Housekeepers Association
Space Use: Facilities
Spatial Organizing Approach: Contestation
Date Created: 1968
Campus Space: Cheek-Clark Building
Citation: Housekeepers Confrontation of Plant Manager Photograph in the John Kenyon Chapman Papers #5441, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.