Op-Ed: Working people are under attack in our country
By Rep. Pricey Harrison
With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments in the case of Janus v. AFSCME later this month, North Carolina State House Representative Pricey Harrison wrote an excellent defense of our freedom to join in strong unions for an op-ed published recently by the Greensboro News & Record:
American workers are working longer hours for less money and fewer benefits, despite being more productive than ever.
No matter how hard North Carolinians work, many are finding it more and more difficult to get by and provide for their families. Corporate profits are at record levels, and Congress just passed a massive tax cut that vastly benefits corporations and the wealthiest. Workers, however, are only seeing one-time bonuses if they see anything — many of those companies are laying people off after the tax cut passed.
This is not by accident.
Executives at big corporations and the wealthiest have abused their power, manipulating our economy and political system to benefit themselves, not the people who work hard every day to create the wealth in our country. We must take this system head on.
The first thing we can and should do is to protect and strengthen the freedom of American workers to join forces in strong unions. When working people speak up together through unions, we make progress that benefits everyone. Study after study shows that unionized workplaces, even those where every worker does not participate, pay higher wages and have better working conditions than non-union workplaces.