Roy Cooper Joins Canvass as Unions Mobilize to Get Out the Vote
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 19, 2026
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Roy Cooper Delivers Remarks at Canvass Event Alongside National and State Labor Leaders as Unions Mobilize to Secure Victories for Pro-Worker Candidates
CHARLOTTE, NC – On Sunday, U.S. Senate Candidate and Former Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper rallied alongside National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and other unions before members knocked doors around Charlotte in support of pro-worker candidates.
Photos and videos from speeches can be found here
With less than three weeks until Election Day, union members around the state are mobilizing to activate voters around the issues affecting working families, including the cost of living crisis, affordable health care access, and the freedom to organize for fair wages and dignity at work.
“As a result of the chaotic policies coming out of Washington D.C., our state’s workers and their families are being left behind as the cost of groceries, utilities, rent, health care and childcare are skyrocketing and for too many people, the middle class feels like a distant dream,” said Roy Cooper. “I’m running for the U.S. Senate to stand up for working people and make stuff cost less.”
“There’s no sitting this [election] out,” National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said in his remarks to union volunteers. “Our future is on the ballot. Our freedoms are on the ballot. The freedom to join a union. To earn a living wage. To access health care. The very freedom to vote….It all comes down to us. Every door, every call, every vote….Let’s secure a future that works for all of us. Everyone included. No one left behind.”
The worker-to-worker conversations being facilitated by the North Carolina State AFL-CIO are part of a larger nationwide union-powered Get Out the Vote program that’s surging across the country in the wake of a staggering affordability crisis, outright assaults on union contracts, voting freedom roll backs, and other attacks on working people.
Since Labor Day, union volunteers with the national, state and local AFL-CIO have knocked on more than 700,000 union doors, made more than 2.5 million calls and had conversations at jobsites where unions have unique access to talk to our members. These are in addition to voters contacted through affiliated unions’ field programs, including independent expenditure operations.
“Workers in this state are sick and tired of politicians putting billionaires first while we struggle to make ends meet,” said North Carolina State AFL-CIO President Braxton Winston. “Through forging partnerships with faith communities and mobilizing around the kitchen table issues that matter the most to voters, our labor movement is playing a key role in electing candidates who will truly fight for working families. We’ve been knocking doors since spring to build the decisive momentum necessary to send Roy Cooper to Washington D.C. so he can deliver for the workers who power this state.”
“Working families are struggling to afford groceries and rent while big corporations rake in profits and get tax breaks. Roy Cooper has a record of standing with working people against powerful special interests. Now we’re joining together to send him to the U.S. Senate. This past weekend, students at North Carolina A&T and UNC Greensboro showed what determination looks like marching together to cast their ballots after losing their campus early voting site. Working people across North Carolina are also bringing that same resolve to this election. We’re voting for paychecks that cover the bills, affordable health care, and leaders who respect us and listen to our concerns. We won’t let anyone silence our voices,” said SEIU Executive Vice President Joseph Bryant.
"The places where big corporations can count on weak labor laws are shrinking and they are scared. Look no further than Charlotte, North Carolina. Corporations have been working overtime through Republican elected leaders to chip away at workers’ rights and keep wages low—all to protect their profits—while their employees sleep in cars and struggle to afford groceries and basic healthcare,” said Jaime Contreras, Executive Vice President of SEIU Local 32BJ. “They are right to be scared. Workers are fed up and are rising. We will use our power to elect leaders like Roy Cooper who will stand up to corporate greed and work for the people who have made Charlotte’s growth possible.”
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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 a hundred thousand union members, fighting for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of ALL working people.