2025 Convention Resolution Four: Racial Justice

RESOLUTION #4

RACIAL JUSTICE, IMMIGRANT JUSTICE, AND WORKER JUSTICE ARE ONE

The NC State AFL-CIO remains committed to the fight for racial justice. Working class solidarity is essential to building worker power, and we remain committed to representing all workers. 

Under the Trump administration, immigrant workers and communities have been under attack. Immigration enforcement tactics like raids have bred fear in our communities and violated basic rights in the workplace. Workers, regardless of their citizenship status, have been detained and not provided with due process. The fight for immigrant justice and worker justice are not separate, without one, there is not the other. As the labor movement, we must stand in solidarity with immigrant workers. 

Recent federal budget policies under the Trump administration will hurt many marginalized communities. The new budget and tax law contains massive cuts to Medicaid and food assistance benefits. Both of which disproportionately affect families of color and children. Alongside these steep cuts, the new law will give tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy. The law will also fund large-scale deportation efforts. The federal administration’s priorities are clear: billionaires and CEOs will continue to gain and hoard wealth while working people suffer. We must continue to fight back against these federal policies that hurt workers. 

We also must protect the freedom of all workers to organize and join a union. Unions have historically been instrumental in advancing racial equality, reducing the racial wealth gap, and offering economic stability, particularly for people of color. We must continue our efforts to invite diverse groups of workers to join the labor movement and expand our movement’s reach.

Many of our members live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities as people of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ workers, and more. Communities of color still face economic inequities and disparities because of structural racism in housing, health care, education, and employment. Racism, the cornerstone of white supremacy, directly threatens workers, our unions, and our democracy. We call for bold action to promote equity, safety, security, and dignity for all people. 

The future of the labor movement depends on us celebrating and embracing our differences. Our power and strength grow out of our solidarity. To advance racial justice and build a united labor movement, the NC State AFL-CIO is committed to doing the following:

• Stand in solidarity and support immigrant workers.
• Actively and aggressively grow our unions by creating pathways to quality union jobs for workers of color and building multiracial, working-class unity.
• Bring a racial justice lens to all the federation’s policy, political, and organizing work.
• Encourage all members to adopt these principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, in the decision-making process at their workplace and in their unions.
• Continue to offer training programs to educate members and allies about how structural racism impacts working people.

Submitted by NC State AFL-CIO Executive Board

Adopted by September 12, 2025