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Our Message to President Obama in Advance of the SOTU

Jeremy Sprinkle
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For Immediate Release

Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, Communications Director, [email protected], 336-255-2711

NC AFL-CIO’s Message to President Obama in Advance of the State of the Union Address

“Talk is cheap when what all North Carolina workers really need is bold action to raise wages.” -- MaryBe McMillan

RALEIGH, N.C. (January 20, 2015) – The North Carolina State AFL-CIO released the following statement from Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan in advance of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight.

“We applaud President Obama for recent steps he has taken on his own to require federal contractors to pay a higher minimum wage and for providing federal employees with more paid sick leave, and he is right to call on Congress to go further by raising the federal minimum wage. We appreciate what President Obama has done to help workers, but it is not enough.

“Talk is cheap when what all North Carolina workers really need is bold action to raise wages. We need not only to raise the minimum wage but also to guarantee that all workers can exercise the power of collective bargaining to win back the wage increases and profit-sharing too long denied to us by corporate America. And we need to keep good jobs in America - that means no ‘fast track’ for dangerous trade agreements that would only worsen inequality.

“The simple truth about the state of American workers today is that we are worth more than we get paid. Workers generate more wealth than we get to share in, and the resulting inequality undermines our economy and our democracy.

“Until we see elected officials from Washington, DC to Raleigh actually do something to put more income in the pockets of working people, we will continue to strike, rally, lobby, and vote for raising wages because the strength of our country’s union depends on it.”

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The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is the largest association of local unions and union councils in North Carolina, representing over one-hundred thousand union members, fighting for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of ALL working families.  PO Box 10805, Raleigh, NC 27605.