The Duke University Hospital unionization drives of the 1970s involved two distinct organizing efforts aimed at uniting the service workers of Duke Hospital. The drives were defined by their fusion of the fight for worker’s rights with the battle for racial equality. The first drive in 1974 was characterized by unity amongst the workers involved, including members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 77, and a strong spirit of activism, but failed due to political infighting and resistance by the University.Tony Dunbar. "The Old South Triumphs at Duke." Southern Changes, 1, no. 9 (1979): 5. The second drive, organized by a representative of the national American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in 1978, was formed on the ideals of inclusion and keeping the union free of politics. The 1978 drive failed as well, in part due to the management company that Duke hired to instill fear in its workers, and partly due to the overall lack of spirit for organizing. Despite the failure of these drives, they offer a revealing example of the convergence of civil rights and workers rights, highlighting both the status of the civil rights movement in Durham and the difficulty of instigating grassroots-level change in a corporation the size of Duke Hospital, not to mention the larger Duke University community.
Historical context
Labor militancy in hospitals throughout the United States witnessed significant increases in the 1950s through the mid-1970s.Karen Brodkin, Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 13.Ruth Milkman. Women, Work, and Protest: A Century of US Women’s Labor History. (Boston, MA: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985), 287. This was largely the result of the contradiction between the expansion of clerical and technical jobs and the exclusion of black and unskilled workers from those jobs. Beginning in the North in the late 1950s and 1960s, the movement was characterized by the refusal of black, Hispanic, and women workers to settle for wages below the national minimum.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 14. Because these employees were centered at urban medical complexes, this dissatisfaction sparked a nationwide movement in the unionization of hospital and public workers. Southern workers expanded upon this sentiment, intentionally melding issues of class and economic justice with those of workers’ rights.Tony Dunbar, "The Old South Triumphs at Duke," Southern Changes, 1, no. 9 (1979): 5-8. Southern racism and anti-union leanings characterized Durham in the 1950s-1970s. Espousing the views of a traditional Southern community at the time, Durham, North Carolina held the sentiment that a "Negro must be kept in his place."Robert Creamer. "Duke Employees Local 77: Confrontation over Impartial Arbitration of Grievances." (Master’s Thesis, Duke University, 1967), 3. Of all industries, the textile industry was most opposed to unions, and Durham was home to numerous textile mills. In fact, many of the key supporters of Duke University, one of Durham’s major employers, had close ties to this industry. In combination with the weak position of labor in Southern communities, the prevalence of textile mills served as a basis for Durham’s quiet, yet prevalent anti-unionist attitude.
Duke University demonstrated both the anti-union and racist attitudes of Durham while holding the power of a large corporation. Historically, blacks were confined to non- or semi-skilled jobs. While this can be partially attributed to lack of proper qualifications, Duke’s Vice President in charge of Business and Finance, Charles B. Huestis, openly admitted that Duke "practice[d] wholesale racial discrimination in its hiring policies." The salaries of these non-skilled workers reflected additional inequality, as maids and janitors, all who were black, received wages between $1.15-1.50 per hour— well below the minimum wage of $1.60.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 50-52. Workers were also disadvantaged in other regards, as the University had no grievance procedure, policy for summer layoffs, or job classification system. Furthermore, the University ignored the seniority system in terms of job advancement and firing procedures. Suppressing workers’ voices in the formation of workplace policies, Duke encouraged unskilled employees to simply make complaints, which their superiors then ignored.Robert Creamer. "Duke Employees Local 77: Confrontation over Impartial Arbitration of Grievances." (Master’s Thesis, Duke University, 1967), 4-7. Thus, the poor working conditions, low wages, racism, and desire to secure more authority and control in the workplace provided sufficient fuel for Duke workers to consider forming a union.
Immediate context
The unionization movement at the University began with a single night janitor, Oliver Harvey, who aligned the fight for unionization with the fight for civil rights from the start. Harvey, a veteran supporter of civil rights, spent a significant portion of his life striving to improve working conditions at Duke.Robert Creamer. "Duke Employees Local 77: Confrontation over Impartial Arbitration of Grievances." (Master’s Thesis, Duke University, 1967), 7. Given his history of working to secure rights for blacks in the workplace, Harvey added a new sense of urgency to the fight for representation in the workplace.Greene, Christina. Our separate ways: women and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North Carolina. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005), 106. Prior to Harvey’s leadership, workers primarily utilized petitions to pressure Duke administration. After actively recruiting signatures for a petition campaign to increase wages in 1964 and receiving no response from the University administration, Harvey realized that new tactics would be necessary.Robert Creamer. "Duke Employees Local 77: Confrontation over Impartial Arbitration of Grievances." (Master’s Thesis, Duke University, 1967), 8. Aiming to receive acknowledgement from the University, he organized the Duke Employees Benevolent Society in February 1965 and initiated a shift in the way his coworkers thought about unionizing. Considering issues in more collective terms under Harvey’s leadership, the Society affiliated with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) on September 1, 1965 as the Local 77. While the organization grew in membership, it struggled unsuccessfully for two years to win benefits from the University and failed to gain full recognition by Duke until 1972.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 56. In hopes of preventing the unionization of all medical center workers, Duke allowed some hospital workers to vote in the election for the union recognition of Local 77.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 55-56. As demonstrated by the later unionization drives of 1974 and 1978, these efforts to stifle collective action in the hospital were futile.
Duke began to pay attention to the complaints of its workers after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Inspired by King’s support of worker’s rights, students launched a demonstration supporting wage increases and collective bargaining rights for Duke’s nonacademic employees, most of whom were maids, janitors, and cafeteria workers.Carter, Luther. "Duke University: Students Demand New Deal for Negro Workers." Science, May 3, 1968: 513-517. The demonstration involved a four-day "silent vigil" by over 2000 students on the main quad of the University. The Local 77 then decided to strike, and all members left their jobs except for hospital workers. After two weeks of employee strikes and student boycotts of classes and on-campus dining, Duke Trustees finally agreed to address the grievances of the unskilled workers, but did not grant any wage increases or implement any policy changes in the end. Despite the slow progress at Duke, labor unions in Durham made more tangible progress towards improved working conditions. Within a year or two of initial efforts, the starting pay for housekeepers rose.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 59. Split shifts ended as a result of collective bargaining, and when campus dining halls closed for summer, workers were no longer automatically fired. In many industries, employees gained health insurance, credit unions, overtime pay, paid sick days, and regular paid holidays. These advancements in the rights and wages of many workers were significant, but hospital workers had little hope until the amendment of the National Labor Relations Act in 1974.
Unionization drive of 1974
The unionization drive of 1974 marked the first instance of collective action amongst large numbers of service workers in Duke Medical Center. Energized with the spirit of activism and strong desire to gain influence in the workplace, employees worked vigorously against University resistance towards unionization.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 105-109. In the fall of 1974, an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act permitted the employees of nonprofit hospitals to unionize."1974 Health Care Amendments." National Labor Relations Board, accessed April 4, 2014, http://www.nlrb.gov/75th/index.html . In addition to activist initiatives from individuals, the amendment inspired a Local 77 drive to unionize all service workers in the Duke Medical Center.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 70-74. The drive eventually failed due to political divisions amongst organizers coupled with Duke’s desire to strike down unionization efforts, but the level of activism in the drive allowed Duke medical center workers to glimpse the strength of united action.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 108-116.
A significant walkout in early 1974 by data terminal operators (DTOs) exemplified the power of collective action and provided motivation for the drive. DTOs fulfilled a position that was the rough equivalent of a black secretary, and the workforce was composed exclusively of women.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 78-81. The DTOs at Duke felt as though their wages were unreasonably low and that this implied a lack of respect for their skills. Furthermore, they were fed up with the prevalent racism they encountered on a daily basis in the hospital. After several meetings, the DTOs successfully organized a walkout that not only demonstrated to the hospital their necessity, but also allowed the women to realize their own power. In response, the administration raised their wages, gave them days off, and increased the size of the DTO workforce.Article on Hospital Workers Walkout. The Herald Sun (Durham, NC), April 14, 1974. Duke University Archives, Duke University.Karen Brodkin. Caring By The Hour (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 100. The walkout proved extremely effective and marked the first instance of collective action supporting the rights of hospital workers at Duke Medical Center.