In February 1969, the Food Workers’ Strike, also known as the Lenoir Food Workers’ Strike, began at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Prior to this, in April 1968, the Black Student Movement (BSM) had urged black university employees to strike against the unfair working conditions and unjust hierarchy keeping them from fair wages. Twenty-three demands were brought to Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson by the BSM in December of 1968; in response some of these demands were met while others were ignored.

Once the Food Workers’ Strike ensued, “strike supporters tried to disrupt food services by what they called a stall-in – going through the lines slowly, taking a glass of water, and sitting one at a table.”  Tables in Lenoir Dining Hall were also overturned by BSM members (Snider 282).

As with many movements of the Civil Rights era, black women were at the forefront of the Food Workers’ Strike.  Among the most influential of this strike was a food worker by the name Mary Smith. An interview with Smith from the Southern Oral History Program can be found here.  From an early age, Smith recognized systematic inequalities her and her family faced growing up in a rural farming community.  Interactions with her intolerant white neighbor gifted Smith with a moral compass for social justice and equality. Though systematically oppressed by her race, gender, and class positions, Smith’s eloquence and endurance while fighting for equality and justice for her fellow workers are to be admired.

Tensions heightened as more students, faculty, and staff began to take part in protest efforts.  Though opposed by Chancellor Sitterson and UNC System President William C. Friday, Highway Patrol officers were brought to UNC-Chapel Hill by Governor Robert W. Scott to police the strike.  By March, auditors had found “168 cases of overtime wages due workers since February 1968” and a further investigation ensued (Snider 282).

Forced to come to a resolution, Governor Scott met with three strike leaders and lawyers on March 20, 1969.  The governor agreed to terms that would raise salaries for the food workers. The settlement came at the right time, as more than 1,000 people had been ready to occupy South Building to protest for the strike (Snider 283).

Later in 1969, the Lenoir food workers were faced with another infringement of rights when the university contracted SAGA Food Services.  With conditions failing to meet expectations of the March 1969 resolution, food workers engaged in a second strike on November 7, 1969. Building on support from the first strike, students, faculty, and staff once again supported the Lenoir food workers.  Another agreement was signed into effect on December 8, 1969. Shortly after, SAGA refused to renew its contract with UNC-Chapel Hill (Saunders).

For more information, visit The Daily Tar Heel article How much do you know about the Lenoir Dining Hall employee strikes in 1969? from March 1, 2019.

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References

Interview with Mary Smith by Beverly Washington Jones, February 8, 1975 E-0092, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Saunders, Arabella.  “How much do you know about the Lenoir Dining Hall employee strikes in 1969?”.  The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill), March 1, 2019. Accessed April 14, 2019, https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/03/lenoir-workers-strike-0229.

Snider, William D.  Light on the Hill: A History of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992.