If so, now is the time to do something about it, and the National Labor College (NLC) can get you started toward completing your degree as soon as this Fall.

The NLC’s program is tailor-made for full-time working men and women like you. Call 1-888-427-8100 or click here to visit NLC.edu for more information.

With NLC, you can expand your job skills, increase your salary, enhance your job security and improve your job satisfaction while finishing your degree.

Apply by Aug. 6 to be eligible for financial aid and scholarships.

Visit NLC.edu or call 1-888-427-8100 to get more details and apply.

Worried that your full-time work schedule won’t give you enough time to go to class? The National Labor College offers degrees with an online format so you can manage your coursework and pace to fit your schedule. You also can receive college credits for what you have learned through trainings and work experience.

And NLC is the only accredited labor college dedicated to educating union members and their families. Tuition is highly discounted for union members (about $300 per credit).

What if you aren’t a union member? You can join our community affiliate, Working America, and get the discount. And Union Plus scholarships also are available to help with tuition costs.

NLC offers online bachelor’s degrees and certificates in:

• Business Administration,
• Construction Management,
• Emergency Readiness and Response Management and
• Labor Studies.

Call 1-888-427-8100 or click here to visit www.NLC.edu for more information. Take the first step and apply today!

The NLC offers an array of financial aid options so you don’t have to worry about how to pay for your degree. You can find out more about financial aid here. You could complete your degree in less than two years for less than $10,000. 

If you apply now, take 50 percent off the application fee—and you can start taking classes in September.

What can you do to help restore democracy, overturn Citizens United, and abolish corporate personhood?

Come to the Legislative Office Building at noon on Wednesday, May 23 and show solidarity for a North Carolina state resolution to overturn the Supreme Court decision that legalized unlimited corporate spending to control elections.

What: Citizens United Lobby Day
When: Wednesday, May 23 at 10:15 to 2pm (press conference at noon)
Where: Room 425, Legislative Office Building, 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603 (first building on West side behind the legislative building)
Why: Support the introduction of a resolution against Citizens United

Click here for more information.

Come any time between 10:15am to 2pm to Room 425 in the Legislative Office Building. Rep. Verla Inkso will hold a press conference at noon to launch the new North Carolina state resolution to overturn Citizens United. We need as many people as we can to back her up and show that North Carolinians want this change.

Melissa Kromm (cell: 919-272-5447) will have packets and will point you in the right direction! For more information: www.ncvce.org or RSVP to Sally Goerner at sgoerner@mindspring.com.

What happened last year when unemployment insurance lapsed for almost 40,000 North Carolinians due to a technicality?

N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis left the lives of those workers in limbo for 47 days to extort budget concessions from Governor Perdue. The impasse didn’t end until the Governor resorted to issuing an executive order that the benefits be restored.

Fast forward to Wednesday when it was revealed that two ex-members of Thom Tillis staff – both of whom resigned after being caught having inappropriate, intimate relationships with corporate lobbyists – received checks equal to a full-months’ pay at taxpayer expense.

The News & Observer reports that Tillis’ former chief of staff, Charles Thomas, received $12,500, and Amy Hobbs, his former policy advisory, got $6,833.33.

Tillis defended the payments to Thomas and Hobbs by citing a Wikipedia entry on the Employment Rights Act of 1996 in the United Kingdom before asking reporters to consider the “human side” of unemployment:

In a brief interview Wednesday as the legislature was about to begin its session for the year, Tillis defended the payments as part of the “human side” that takes into account families who were affected by the abrupt job losses. He said that Hobbs is a single mother.

Asked why employees who resigned would receive a month of additional pay, Tillis said: “I would hope people would think of these two who were in devastating personal situations.”

Sign up now to tee-off at the first-ever charity golf tournament hosted by the N.C. Alliance for Retired Americans and YMCA of the Triangle.

On Friday, June 8, 2012, the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans and YMCA of the Triangle will team up to raise funds to support the ongoing work of their organizations with a charity golf tournament near Clemmons, NC.

What: NC Alliance for Retired Americans and YMCA of the Triangle golf tournament
When: Friday, June 8, 2012
Where: Oak Valley Golf Club, 261 Oak Valley Blvd., Advance, NC 27006

The cost for each golfer is $60, and teams  of four can play for $225. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. All contributions are tax-deductible.

The North Carolina Alliance is breaking new ground with this golf tournament, the first of its kind for the organization which hopes to turn success on the golf course into more successful advocacy for North Carolina’s retirees. From the open invitation:

The North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans (NCARA) is pleased to announce our 1st Annual Golf Tournament to raise funds for the YMCA of the Triangle, and for the ongoing NCARA programs to assist seniors here in North Carolina. The tournament will be held on Friday, June 8, 2012, at Oak Valley golf course in Clemmons, North Carolina beginning with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. Rooms will be available at The Village Inn for $67.00 per night. The Village Inn is located at 6205 Ramada Drive, Clemmons, NC 27012. The phone number is 336-766-9121. The Oak Valley Golf Club is located at 261 Oak Valley Blvd., Advance, NC 27006.

Click here to download the call letter and registration form (Word doc).

Contact NCARA consultant Heather McLaughlin at 919-522-8996 for more information.

State lawmakers returned to town May 16 to find about hundred and fifty disappointed but determined North Carolinians here to greet them with a clamorous protest they are not likely to soon forget.

Click here to see pictures from the Pots & Spoons Protest.

Fed up with actions taken by the General Assembly to enrich and empower the few at the expense of the rest, people from different walks of life – young and old, working and unemployed, gay and straight – united on Bicentennial Mall for a cacerolazo – a Pots & Spoons Protest – the first-of-its-kind protest of our out-of-control state legislature.

To kick off the protest, the Triangle singing group Raging Grannies sang a song written just for the cacerolazo set to the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”:

“We’re the Raging Grannies and we’ve come out here to say
That the people will be heard and so we’re making noise today!
We’re worried ‘bout the future ‘cause we’re goin’ the wrong way,
Wake up and hear us now!”

Click here to watch the Raging Grannies perform at the Pots & Spoons Protest.

Then, each armed with only a pot, a spoon, and a determination not to be ignored, about one hundred and fifty protesters stood across the street from the People’s House – their house – and banged on empty pots and pans they brought from home non-stop for a full 15 minutes.

Click here to see and hear the sights and sounds from the Pots & Spoons Protest.

People inspired by the popular form of protest which originated in Latin America have come together in cacerolazos from Chile and Argentina to Iceland,Ireland,Greece, and even Syria, to challenge power and affect change.

On Wednesday, protesters in Raleigh brought the spirit of the cacerolazo home, where an out-of-control state legislature has busied itself since the 2010 election by catering to corporate interests and right-wing ideologues, gutting funding for public education, endangering women’s health care, putting the rights of unmarried couples up for popular vote, and attempting to lock some groups of voters out of the political process all together.

Indeed, the Pots & Spoons Protest could hardly have come at a more critical time for North Carolina.  While lobbyists for CEOs and the right-wing “crazy train” – some of them literally in bed with the staff of legislative leaders – lined up to be heard inside the legislative building, protesters outside sought to remind politicians on Jones Street to whom they are really supposed to listen.

“As long as this legislature does the bidding of the 1%, our people and our democracy will suffer,” said MaryBe McMillan, Secretary-Treasurer of the NC State AFL-CIO in a call-to-action after the protest.  “We the People will not rest, we will not go away, and we will not be quiet while our rights are under attack and our government is for sale to the highest bidder.”

Click here to watch MaryBe McMillan deliver a powerful call-to-action.

With no apparent sense of irony, Americans for Prosperity North Carolina showed up with a slick, billboard-truck and attempted to hand out earplugs to legislators and passersby.  The symbolism of lobbyists giving away earplugs paid for by Art Pope, the Koch brothers, and the 1% so lawmakers could continue to ignore the voices of their constituents only underlined the need for a Pots & Spoons Protest in the first place.

“Today we made it clear,” MaryBe told the crowd, “that Art Pope, the Koch Brothers, and the 1% can buy all earplugs they want, but they cannot silence democracy.”

Too many legislators have turned a deaf ear to the concerns of their citizens.  The cacerolazo held in Raleigh today is evidence that people will raise a ruckus as loud as need be to call for the attention of the men and women elected to serve the people – all the people – of North Carolina.

People at the Pots & Spoons Protest sounded off for equality, for funding public education, for protecting workers rights, and against voter I.D.  They sounded off for a forward-moving North Carolina and against the forces of greed and rigid ideology who would take they state they love backward.

Despite election results one week ago which disappointed hundreds of thousands of North Carolina voters, the folks who came to Raleigh today made it clear they will not let their out-of-control legislature off the hook.  By coming together in a big, fun, new way, these North Carolinians made May 16, 2012 a day to remember in the ongoing struggle for economic and social justice in our state.

[FAVORITE] Vocal protesters greet returning state lawmakers, WRAL (CBS)
http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/11108188/

[FAVORITE] Video: Loud pots and pans protests greets lawmakers, News & Observer
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/video_loud_pots_and_pans_protests_greets_lawmakers

Pots and spoons protest targets General Assembly policies, News 14 Carolina
http://triangle.news14.com/content/657629/pots-and-spoons-protest-targets-general-assembly-policies

NC Legislature returns to work, met by protesters, ABC11
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8663556

Budget To Dominate Busy Short Session, WUNC (NPR)
http://wunc.org/programs/news/archive/sjj0517a12.mp3/view

Legislature returns to work, met by protesters, AP
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/ncwire/legislature-returns-work-met-protesters-1069117 

FIRST IN SCORE – LABOR, PROGRESSIVES TO PROTEST IN RALEIGH, Politico
http://www.politico.com/morningscore/0512/morningscore597.html

‘Pots and spoons’ protestors expected to greet NC lawmakers, NBC17
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/may/16/pots-and-spoons-protestors-expected-greet-nc-lawma-ar-2283409/

Pots and Spoons Protest – NC General Assembly today, The Progressive Pulse
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/05/16/pots-and-spoons-protest-nc-general-assembly-today/

N.C. Senate panels vote to reverse Gates Four annexation, bar Fayetteville from trying again for 12 years, Fayetteville Observer
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/05/16/1178248

Opponents make noise, literally, against state GOP policies, NCNN
http://www.ncnn.com/edit-news/7916-opponents-make-noise-literally-against-state-gop-policies

Working Families Bring Pots and Spoons Brigade to N.C. Lawmakers, AFL-CIO Now
http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/In-The-States/Working-Families-Bring-Pots-and-Spoons-Brigade-to-N.C.-Lawmakers

Video and photos

Several people who were at the Pots & Spoons Protest captured photos and video of the program. Here are some links:

NC: Join the Pots and Spoons Protest #May16NC by AFLCIONC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQmQ2e95dEM

Pots & Spoons protest greets returning NC legislators by TheProgressivePulse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d37Do2nZIFE

NC: Sights and sounds from the Pots and Spoons Protest #May16NC cacerolazo by AFLCIONC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGEIp8bq6S4

NC: MaryBe McMillan says forces of greed cannot silence democracy #May16NC by AFLCIONC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhhFUKEF9wc

[GOOD] NC: Raging Grannies perform at Pots and Spoons Protest #May16NC by AFLCIONC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWcSS2_rPhQ

[BETTER] Raging Grannies sing to “welcome” NC Legislature into session
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBNiM8CfPk

NC AFL-CIO Sec./ Treasurer at NC Pots & Spoons Protest by AjamuD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86idJXAvWRg

Pots and Spoon Protest by AjamuD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEzGzCqKHHE

Pots and Spoons Protest – NC General Assembly by NCHealthAccess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sROoXqN8dSU

Pots & Spoons Rally by ProgressNC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvDOUlqdu28

May 16 Protest Raleigh by rositaage (reporter w/News & Observer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1R5wfIcoJU

Mitt Romney made his fortune by selling out America’s workers. He did anything to build his wealth, including eliminating jobs, bankrupting businesses, and stashing money in overseas tax shelters. He admits that he likes “being able to fire people.”

Mitt Romney jokes that he’s “unemployed,” but he lives a life of privilege. He’s been hiding most of his tax returns, so we don’t know exactly how much he profited from his greedy tactics. It’s estimated he’s worth $190 million to $250 million.

Mitt Romney thinks the way to fix our economy is to give even more money to his mega-millionaire cronies. That’s why he wants to cut taxes for wealthy corporations. After all, he says, “Corporations are people.”

AFL-CIO has produced a short video to introduce the likely Republican nominee for President to union members and their friends, families, and supporters.

Click here to watch “Meet Mr. 1%”, and we are sure you’ll agree. Mitt Romney is out of touch with middle-class America. We hope you’ll screen “Meet Mr. 1%” at your next local union or council meeting [please let us know if you do!].

Sign up now for Carolina Labor School, the premier labor education program for members of AFL-CIO affiliates in the Southeast. Class will be back in session Sunday-Friday, July 15-20, 2012 on the campus of UNC Wilmington.

What: Carolina Labor School
When: July 15-20, 2012
Where: On the campus of UNC Wilmington

We are pleased to welcome to the faculty instructors from the Labor Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute for Economic Advancement.

Download the 2012 Carolina Labor School docs, including the call letter, the flyer, and the registration form:

• Call Letter for 2012 Carolina Labor School (PDF)
• Flyer for 2012 Carolina Labor School (PDF)
• Registration form for 2012 Carolina Labor School (PDF)

On Saturday, May 12, 2012, Campbell Soup Company will team up with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to collect food donations to give help to the millions of Americans who are struggling with hunger each and every day.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its start in 1993. In 2011, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected.

At a recent press conference, NALC President Fredric Rolando said, “Helping to end hunger is really pretty simple,”

“Just leave a non-perishable food donation at your mailbox before Saturday’s mail delivery, and we’ll do the rest. Letter carriers are committed to walk in your neighborhoods every day, delivering for America and Stamping Out Hunger.”

Click here to watch the PSA for Stamp Out Hunger 2012 with Nick Cannon:

“We can all help those in need by participating in the National Letter Carriers food drive. Collect non-perishable food. Leave it for your letter carrier, and you’ll help feed the people in your community that are struggling.”

This Saturday, May 12, you can do your part to fight hunger in the United States. It’s as simple as leaving few canned or otherwise non-perishable food items next to your mailbox. Your letter carrier will do the rest!

Helping Stamp Out Hunger is as easy as checking your mailbox. Just leave a bag of non-perishable food where your letter carrier normally delivers your mail on Saturday, May 12. Your letter carrier will then pick up and deliver the food to a local food bank. Examples of non-perishable items include:

• Canned soup
• Canned meats and fish
• Canned vegetables, fruits and juices
• Boxed goods (such as cereal)
• Pasta and rice

For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, ask your letter carrier, contact your local post office or visit either www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger

Help stamp out hunger, this Saturday, May 12!

On Wednesday, President Obama made history when he became the first sitting U.S. President to support marriage equality for same-sex couples, telling ABC News Robin Roberts ”at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

OBAMA: I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka issued the following statement:

TRUMKA: Working people believe in equality and fairness and that’s why we are happy to stand with millions of Americans and with President Obama in supporting marriage equality.

LGBT working people face numerous inequities in the workplace and in society as they struggle to care for their families. Civil unions do not guarantee the 1,138 rights, benefits and responsibilities that are triggered by the word “marriage” under federal law.

Most important, we should respect and honor our friends, neighbors, and family members who want to take care of their families and their loved ones – whatever their sexual orientation. We are proud to come together for a more just America.

Larry Cohen, president of the Communication Workers of America, which represents thousands of employees at AT&T and US Airways, said CWA will stand with the President and all those who support equality and human rights:

COHEN: We oppose all discrimination and recognize the direct linkage between civil and workers’ rights, and the attempts to divide Americans based on these issues.

Nearly ten years ago, CWA convention delegates called for full and equal rights including civil marriage, pointing out that far too many benefits and protections of civil marriage are denied to people on the basis of sexual orientation. These often include health care and survivor benefits as well as other legal rights for partners. It’s time to move forward.

Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents workers at Smithfield in Tar Heel, NC and chemical workers in Hickory, said UFCW commended, “President Obama for his support of marriage equality, and I’m proud to support him as he takes this historic stand for equality”:

HANSEN: Marriage equality is an economic justice issue, and a social justice issue – and that makes it a union issue.

In the UFCW, we have a long, proud history of standing up for fair and equal treatment for all workers – regardless of what they look like, where they come from, what language they speak, or who they love. These values are heartfelt. We work every day to fight discrimination and unfair treatment against LGBT people on the job. That’s why our union is a strong supporter of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would ensure justice in the workplace for LGBT workers. UFCW members have been negotiating equal health care coverage for same-sex couples into their union contracts all over the country for years. It’s the right thing to do, and the fair thing to do. I’m proud that the UFCW’s advocacy on behalf of families includes all families.

Mary K. Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents members of the State Employees Association of North Carolina as well as members of Workers United, said “The President understands what we do – marriage equality is about family, community, love and justice”:

HENRY: Across this country, right-wing Republican politicians are seeking to divide us with attacks on immigrants, the middle class, women’s health, the environment and the LGBT community – but the growing numbers of Americans who believe in marriage equality reminds us that we cannot live up to our promise as a nation until we extend equal rights to all.

To those who have chosen to stand on the wrong side of history, we say this: There is growing momentum for equality in this country. And with each American that believes in equality, we are reminded that the continued dream of equality is our birthright, our heritage and our promise.

For anyone who counts equality among the basic tenets of a free and just America, Pres. Obama’s announcement today is a victory.

AFSCME and the American Federation of Teachers also issued statements of support for President Obama’s “coming out” on marriage equality.

An issue for working families

The labor movement has a long, proud history of standing up for fair and equal treatment for all workers.

Marriage equality is a union issue, an economic justice issue, and a social justice issue.

Same-sex couples take a financial hit because their relationships aren’t recognized under federal law; they have less ability to care for and support their families in times of need; and it is a social justice issue, in recognizing equality for LGBT people.

As the Massachusetts state supreme court found in 2004, addressing the disparities between civil union and civil marriage, “Separate is seldom, if ever, equal.”

Federal laws grant 1,138 rights, benefits and responsibilities triggered by the word “marriage”. Many people may be unaware that same-sex couples receive disparate rights and benefits under current law – both because of lack of marriage rights at the state level, but also because of the federal DOMA or so-called Defense of Marriage Act.

Regardless of state laws, the federal DOMA means that same-sex couples are denied:

• Pension benefits for their surviving spouse/partner
• Social security survivor benefits
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or bereavement leave for their same-sex partner
• The right to sponsor their spouse / partner for immigration

State DOMA laws have also been used to undermine collective bargaining, such as in Michigan when the DOMA law was used to try to bar fairly-negotiated domestic partner benefits. (“Designated beneficiary” language is now often used to eliminate or at least limit the DOMA issues.)

In addition, same-sex couples must pay federal taxes on health care benefits for their spouse or domestic partner – because their relationships are not recognized under federal law. So even in states with marriage equality, those couples may file jointly at the state level and then must file as individuals at the federal level.

No marriage equality in North Carolina

On Tuesday, voters in North Carolina approved an amendment to the state constitution that makes “the marriage of one man and one woman the only domestic legal union” recognized as valid here [emphasis added] – no civil unions, no domestic partnerships.

The broad and vague language of the amendment actually takes away the rights of not only same-sex couples but every unmarried couple in our state. These couples are now, actually, strangers in the eyes of the law.

County commissioners in Mecklenburg are already moving to rescind health care and other domestic partner benefits to unmarried county employees and their children. Mecklenburg is just one of several municipal governments that have extended such benefits to unmarried couples.

When our out-of-control state legislature reconvenes to do the bidding of right-wing extremists and the 1%, let’s welcome them back with a sound they can’t ignore!

Can you hear that? That’s a sound only We the People can muster! Get ready for #May16NC.

RSVP on Facebook at on.fb.me/potsandspoons.

Click here to download the flyer (PDF).