Workers groups to hold press conference, petition Chapel Hill Town Council tonight

Whereas, organizations and individuals in the community, including co-workers are concerned about retaliation against workers for several for filing grievances relating to racism, abusive management, and health and safety concerns and

Whereas any retaliation reduces workers raising issues and problems publicly that demand the attention of the town and would improve town services and

Whereas, two workers, Clyde Clark and Kerry Bigelow, have been suspended for over one month right after they filed grievances, and after a several months of raising these issues of public concern through grievances and at public forums and

Whereas the Town suspended without pay long-time transit driver Stan Norwood for three days, just days after he and others submitted a petition to management regarding the dangers of shifts with NO breaks and

Whereas, the Town has given a contract to Capital Associated Industries worth thousands of dollars, a "consulting" company with a clear anti-worker organization bias while refusing to tell the workers any details or provide any real due process

Whereas, these incidents show a clear pattern of abuse and neglect of Town Policy

Be it resolved that:

1. The Town must re issue and assure in department meetings will all non-management workers  the following section of Town Manager Roger Stancil's 2007 memo:

"Respect for each other is a basic value and the foundation for creating a better place to work. How we handle certain serious and sensitive issues - such as sexual or other types of harassment, discrimination and major safety hazards - reflects our commitment to respect each other and directly affects the quality of our workplace."

The Town must deal with incidents of harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, other safety violations, and any other serious incidents that may arise such as retailiation of workers who speak out on these issues, with respect and dignity”

2. The Town must reverse any retaliatory actions towards workers who have been punished for speaking out on issues of discrimination, health and safety and/or other issues;

3. The Town must regularly make all workers aware of the details of the grievance procedure, including the right to a representative and the right to grieve without retaliation;
The Town must appoint an independent, community-based review board to investigate disciplinary action taken against Town workers to determine whether these actions constitutea pattern of discrimination based on race, gender, ability, etc.

5. The Town must implement a policy in which front-line workers evaluate their supervisors, and that these evaluations count in any review of a supervisors' performance, to more fully monitor and assure consequences for supervisors and managers who treat workers unfairly, including those who retaliate against workers for raising issues.

6. The Town, in an effort to create a supportive working environment, must fully monitor the actions of managers, directors and supervisors and implement consequences for those staff members who treat workers unfairly and retaliate against those workers who speak out on issues of workplace justice enumerated above.