Wake NCAE Members Rally for Improved Pay, Working Conditions
Wake NCAE members rallied at the Board of Education meeting on April 11 to demand improved working conditions, better equipment and facilities, and better pay for classified workers. At the rally, workers spoke about their needs and the importance of making their jobs better so they can fill the historic vacancy rates in classified positions. Organized by Wake NCAE members from the Transportation Department and Child Nutrition Services, the rally featured NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly as a speaker.
More than 50 NCAE members and supporters, dressed in red, then packed the Board of Education meeting and spoke directly to district leadership about how things need to change. Kayi Mensah, a cafeteria manager in Cary, told a story about children and parents calling her because spoiled milk had been served in her cafeteria due to broken coolers waiting to be repaired. Faulty equipment, a lack of sufficient training, and difficulty paying bills without working a second job were constant refrains among cafeteria workers who spoke, and they delivered a petition demanding changes, which more than 300 of their coworkers in the district's cafeterias signed. Brigette Bridges, a safety assistant who rides on a bus to care for EC students, spoke about the need for her department to get a building that is adequately large enough for workers to fit in and for an increase in pay for some of the lowest-paid staff in the district. "We do our job with pride and compassion," Bridges said, "Now we're asking for compassion to be given to us." NCAE represents a majority of safety assistants in Wake County schools.
Wake County's budget process is in full swing and NCAE members will be following up with decision makers to ensure the voices of those who do the work to keep the schools running are not ignored. Wake NCAE member leaders will continue to advocate for expansion of the budget to address the critical problems facing their coworkers, especially among classified staff.
