For Immediate Release
NC STATE AFL-CIO RESPONDS TO REPUBLICAN NOMINATION OF THOM TILLIS FOR U.S. SENATE
“Organized greed has its best champion in Thom Tillis.”
Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, jeremy@aflcionc.org, 336-255-2711
RALEIGH, N.C. (May 6, 2014) – The North Carolina State AFL-CIO released the following statement from President James Andrews in response to the outcome of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
“Organized greed has its best champion in Thom Tillis, and his choices tell us why.
“As Speaker of the State House, Thom Tillis chose to make deep and permanent cuts to unemployment insurance benefits in order to repay a temporary debt caused by recession and years of underfunding by employers. Then Tillis cruelly chose to enact those cuts in such a way as to needlessly deprive long-term jobless North Carolinians of their federal emergency extended benefits.
“Thom Tillis chose to repeal North Carolina’s tax on inherited wealth to benefit just 23 wealthy estates at the cost of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which provided tax relief for over 900,000 hard-working families.
“Despite record income inequality and the increasing concentration of employment in economic sectors that pay poverty-level wages, Thom Tillis chose to campaign against raising the federal minimum wage, going so far as to declare the very existence of a minimum wage ‘dangerous’.
“The real danger would be having in Thom Tillis a second U.S. Senator from North Carolina who can be bought by Art Pope, the Koch Brothers, and their corporate front-groups, which is why between now and November 4th, organized workers and their families will work hard to re-elect Senator Kay Hagan.”
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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.
Thom Tillis
Organized greed? Greed doesn’t need a union anymore than the VW plant in Tenn. “Needlessly deprive long term jobless North Carolinians”??? Yes! Instead of creating good high paying jobs, the liberal attitude of this government has created an attitude of governmental dependency using funds borrowed from other countries. Yes we need to wein a percentage of able bodied folks off of the goverent’s hind tit and give them a sustainable opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. As for the inheritance tax, if you earn (look it up) anything and pay your taxes on those ?earnings you should not have to pay tax on it again regardless of whether you are ditch it poor. I paid vehicle tax twice on the same day for a vehicle because my dad passed away February in North Carolina. Excessive taxes birthed this great country and you want to turn it into the same tyranny we escaped almost 240 years ago? A federal minimum wage is a dangerous thing. It creates minimum standard of living dictated by an over reaching government. There needs to be a minimum wage regulated on the state and local level. If your emphasis were shifted to education,minimum wage would become a mute point. The best thing that could happen for the people of N.C. would be to dissolve the AFL-CIO completely. Rich people are not the problemnor are they the enemy. They were merely more successful than you were and that does not give you the right to steal from them no matter how jealous you are.;