Faculty and staff at universities across Tennessee voiced their concerns Thursday about COVID-19 safety on campus.
The members of the United Campus Workers union are calling on administrators and officials to take more measures to protect workers.
Adiministrators "have chosen to bring thousands of students into a small, compact, tightly-knit community and seem to think that controlling the classrooms will control the virus. It's naive," said Tom Anderson, a UT Facilities Services employee.
The union wants all Tennessee colleges and universities to move all classes online, provide hazard pay for front line workers, and prevent pay cuts for employees that make less than $50,000 a year.
Many say they're frustrated with how leaders are handling the situation.
"The question I have for administration is how many lives is it going to take? How many students, staff, and faculty have to suffer, suffering death, before administrators decide enough is enough," said Anderson.
The group also questioned Gov. Bill Lee's leadership. They were joined by state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat from Knoxville, at the virtual press conference. Johnson said the governor or university should set metrics to determine when it is safe to be open.
"We all want to reopen but we can't ignore the science. Lives depend on it," said Johnson."I have great concern not only for the families, but also for the community that they go out into every day and expose."
Workers say that layoffs and furloughs will also only further damage the economic health and growth of the state.
In response to the press conference, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, spokesperson released the following statement:
“We all share a commitment to wanting to keep our campus, and broader community, healthy. We made a commitment to be creative, compassionate and flexible with our employees, and with our students and will continue to lead our campus with those principles in mind.”