They call it The Rock. It’s the site where all of Wake County’s safety assistants clock in and out for their routes. It's famous among Wake NCAE members. Demetria Harvey, a top leader of Wake safety assistants, got connected with NCAE organizers and member leaders after a three-day wildcat strike of transportation workers in October 2021. While the action succeeded in getting the school board’s attention and ultimately winning raises for transportation workers and other classified staff, Demetria says they did it without the structure and support of a union behind them, and pay wasn’t the only concern that safety assistants had. She knew they would have to get organized if they wanted to keep winning.
Several demands emerged as Demetria and other leaders at The Rock began organizing their coworkers and increasing union membership at their worksite. There was only one accessible parking space in the whole gravel lot, though the population of safety assistants includes several elderly employees. There were no lights in the parking lot where safety assistants arrive as early as 5 a.m. to walk alone in the dark to the trailer where they clock in. The biggest issue on most workers’ minds was the trailer itself.
Demetria says, “It’s terrible. The carpet is nasty. We only have two stalls in the women's bathroom and one in the men’s for 144 workers. The blinds are torn down. The break room fits maybe twenty-five people, and then the rest have to sit out in the foyer. It leaks when it rains. The air conditioner gives out. We have mice.”
Safety assistants were clear from the beginning that they deserve a real building, with seating for everyone, plenty of bathrooms—a place where they feel respected as workers. Just last month, they received an email letting them know that their biggest demand, the only one left from their original campaign, will be met. This summer, Wake County will begin work on a major renovation project that will result in more bathrooms, a bigger workroom with seating for all workers, and private offices for meetings between safety assistants and their leads. The new building is set to be open when they return to work in the fall.
This victory didn’t happen overnight. The organizing committee held walk-ins, rallies, walk-throughs with management, and lots of meetings with decision-makers. They moved surveys and petitions. They showed up and spoke at board meetings. There isn’t one big action or moment in the campaign that Demetria points to that led to so much success, but rather it was the constant and repetitive little actions they’ve been building on for almost four years. More than anything else, they had conversations with their coworkers.
Debra Anderson-Farmer, another member of the organizing committee, describes the two picnic tables every worker has to walk past to clock in. “We would sit at the picnic tables, and as people walked by, we would ask them, ‘Are you a part of the union? Can I talk to you about that?’”
The conversation wasn’t easy in those early days of the campaign. Not only was it hard to talk to people about taking action together, it was challenging to get people to see that the union was for them. “A lot of people didn’t want to join at first because we thought it was just for the teachers. We needed to know the union would acknowledge us.”
“When we first started organizing it was chaos,” said Demetria. That’s not how things look today. After winning additional accessible parking spaces, permanent lighting throughout the lot, an improved management structure, and now a brand new building, they are recognized by many in Wake as the strongest union worksite in the district.
“Many times we felt like giving up,” Debra says. “Yes, doors are going to get slammed in your face. You’re gonna get disappointed. But you’re gonna have to pick your head up and keep going.”
With over 65% membership among Wake County safety assistants and a strong, experienced organizing committee, Debra and Demetria both agree that the next step is to add more union members. “We’re trying to get everybody.”
