2025 Convention Resolution Two: Fighting for Pro-Worker Policies

RESOLUTION #2

FIGHTING FOR PRO-WORKER POLICIES

Unions and collective bargaining are responsible for so many of the economic and political gains workers have made in this country, but the current political environment threatens our mission to secure our freedom to thrive and to contribute to shared prosperity.

We live in a time where unions are more popular than they have been in decades, but we find ourselves under increased pressure and attack from the federal government. Unions have faced significant threats from executive orders that attempt to weaken our ability to organize and represent federal workers. Additionally, North Carolina has one of the lowest unionization rates in the country with just 2.7% of workers being members.

Actively pushing for legislation that makes unionization easier is vital to improving the conditions for workers in our great state. With greater political and economic influence, unions can win passage of the following policies and create a better future for all working people:

• Give workers a voice on the job and protect our freedom to join together in unions to improve our working conditions.
  • Repeal NC General Statute §95-98 so that public employers and employees have the freedom to negotiate and enter into collective bargaining agreements.
  • Repeal the “right to work” law, which makes it harder to form and sustain unions of working people and collectively negotiate for better working conditions.
  • Repeal Section 20.5 of the Farm Act of 2017, which strips farmworkers of the basic freedom to organize and negotiate union contracts or collect union dues.
• Help jobless people and our economy by restoring fairness and adequacy to our unemployment insurance system.
  • Extend the maximum time of employment benefits from 12-20 weeks to 26.
  • Make it easier for more part-time workers to qualify for benefits and repeal the waiting period for benefits to begin.
  • Extend benefits to striking workers or workers locked out by employers.
• Eliminate barriers that prevent workers from accessing good jobs.
  • Prevent expansion of voucher programs, increase funding for our public schools, and fight efforts to undermine the freedom to receive a quality public education.
  • Increase subsidies to allow working families to access affordable childcare and to improve the working conditions of providers.
  • Prohibit non-compete agreements and other methods preventing low-wage workers from being able to pursue higher paying jobs and better opportunities.
• Raise wages and increase the standard of living for all workers—whether urban or rural, white, Black, or brown.
  • Raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to at least $20 per hour and recalculate it based on inflation. Eliminate the sub-minimum wage for domestic and agricultural workers and the lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
  • Reinstate the state Earned Income Tax Credit that is refundable and set at 20% of the federal credit.
  • Require licensure for building trades workers to ensure adequate training and avoid the abuse of shared contractor licenses and misclassification of workers.
  • Require employers receiving tax incentives or infrastructure projects to provide jobs that will raise, not lower, the standard of living of working families.
• Keep North Carolinians safe and healthy.
  • Maintain funding for Medicaid expansion, provide care to everyone enrolled, and repeal requirements enacted to deny coverage to otherwise eligible people.
  • Guarantee a minimum number of paid sick days for workers to care for themselves and their loved ones with an inclusive definition of family so every caretaker can access paid sick leave.
• Provide disaster relief and protect consumers from predatory housing and lending.
  • Appropriate additional hurricane relief funding to ensure that working families can stay in their homes and begin rebuilding their communities.
  • Protect renters and homeowners in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene by enacting protections against evictions.
  • Oppose increased rates and fees and looser regulations on consumer loans.
• Ensure all citizens have a voice in our democracy.
  • Ensure every person can exercise their right to vote by expanding access to voter registration, voting by mail, and combating voter suppression efforts which often target new voters, our elders, and communities of color.
  • Reinstate public campaign financing so that working people, including union members, can afford to run for office.
• Address systemic racism in our criminal justice system and other institutions.
  • Provide due process to every person detained by ICE and protection from ICE raids in hospitals, schools, private workplaces, and union halls.
  • End the unjust cash bail system, excessive court fees, and debtor’s prisons.
  • Extend voting rights to people on probation, parole, or post-release supervision for a felony conviction.

We ask that delegates say “count me in” to fight for this policy agenda by educating members on these issues, supporting candidates who champion our cause, and lobby elected officials at the federal, state, and local level to promote pro-worker policies. The majority of the public is on our side, so we must make an effort to have our politicians represent that opinion. Through the power of our voice and our vote, we can win better jobs and better policies for all working people.

Submitted by the NC State AFL-CIO Executive Board

Adopted September 11, 2025