I’ve been a laborer in show business for 18 years, and I love every part of it. Everyday we’re creating experiences that last for a couple of hours in real time but provide memories that our patrons will keep forever. Our industry moves and grows in sync with Charlotte, and our work directly reflects the culture of our town.
The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is proud to announce the labor federation’s endorsements for the May 17th primary election in North Carolina—72 candidates who are dedicated to fighting for working people. Leading the slate of candidates is Cheri Beasley for U.S. Senate, who is 1 of 6 union members running for office this year.
What drew me to running for office was the need for working people to have a voice on the City Council, someone who would make sure democracy works in a way that treats workers fairly and justly. For me, that’s making sure we get paid livable wages and have safe places to live in homes we can afford.
We’re doing multiple virtual candidate town halls with our union member candidates! Up first at 7pm will be US Senate candidate Cheri Beasley (SEIU), followed by Fayetteville City Councilor Yvonne Kinston (CWA), and Charlotte City Councilor Braxton Winston (IATSE) at 7:30pm.
With so much on the line, we’ve launched a new website that will serve as a hub of election-related information for union members and their families in 2022. Visitors to NC Labor 2022 will find important information for union voters – including how to vote, a list of endorsements, and election materials like flyers and graphics – as well as ways you can help us get out the union vote and a calendar of events and deadlines.
The NC State AFL-CIO is proud to endorse Cheri Beasley in the Democratic primary election for U.S. Senate, as well as Justice Sam Ervin IV and Judge Lucy Inman for N.C. Supreme Court and Judge Darren Jackson for N.C. Court of Appeals. Republicans Pat McCrory, Ted Budd, and Mark Walker did not respond to an invitation to receive our endorsement in their primary election to replace Richard Burr, who has held the position of United States Senator for three terms and is not seeking re-election in 2022.
Elections are a process, and that process does not end until we have certified the results and sworn in the leaders that the voters have chosen in a peaceful transfer of power. This is the way American democracy has worked since the first presidential election ended in 1789, through the Civil War, the Great Depression, and two World Wars. It may take longer this year to obtain all the results, but the people of the American labor movement remain committed to seeing democracy endure.
For two decades, the health, safety, and wages of workers in North Carolina have all been neglected by the agency that sets standards for how employers treat and compensate their workers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, things have only gotten worse. The good news is that we have the power to elect a new Labor Commissioner this year, and unions of working people have endorsed Jessica Holmes.
Judicial races receive far less attention than the higher-profile races that appear higher on the ballot, but North Carolina’s judicial branch makes decisions that affect the lives of our state’s workers and our state’s democracy.
North Carolina union members and voters across the state are turning to safe and secure absentee ballots for the November election in increasing numbers this year because of the pandemic. Over 950,000 voters in our state have requested absentee ballots, more than 12 times the numbers in 2016, and over 150,000 ballots have been cast by mail already this year.
When it’s time to go to bed after a holiday with friends and family, let’s reflect on why many of us had the day off—to recognize the many decades that working people have spent organizing for and fighting to secure safe, good-paying jobs for all of us—black, white, and brown alike. Then let’s pledge that in November, we’ll elect Joe Biden, Cal Cunningham, Jessica Holmes, and other people to local, state, and federal offices who will fight for our rights and freedoms.
Over 100 union members gathered in a zoom meeting Thursday evening to participate in a virtual town hall with four statewide candidates in North Carolina. This town hall, the third and final in the state AFL-CIO’s “Labor 2020” series, featured Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction Jen Mangrum, candidate for State Treasurer Ronnie Chatterji, and candidate for State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. The event highlighted the importance of these races to working families in North Carolina and the opportunities for progress that new leadership will bring.
Working people don’t want food line handouts and presidential photo-ops. What workers need are presidential leadership and the passage of the HEROES Act, which would include the extension of the $600 per week federal supplemental unemployment benefit so that they can afford to buy their own food and take care of their families.
Over 140 union members gathered in a zoom meeting July 23rd to participate in a virtual town hall with two statewide candidates in North Carolina–US Senate candidate Cal Cunningham and NC Labor Commissioner candidate Jessica Holmes.
How you vote is a personal decision, but unions of working people like yours did the research, conducted interviews, and recommend these candidates in the November 3, 2020 general election.
