On April 28th, local workers, union members, and community leaders gathered outside the North Carolina State Capitol to mark Workers Memorial Day to remember workers who have died or suffered illness or injuries while on the job. Rev. Jennifer Copeland of the NC Council of Churches and Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue offered prayers for workers and their families. NC Department of Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson and NC State AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan pledged to work together to advocate for workplace safety. Crystal Maqueda, wife of the Bonner Bridge Collapse victim last year, spoke of her loss before joining other attendees in taking turns to ring a memorial bell 190 times, once for her husband and 189 other people who died on the job in North Carolina.
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April 21, 2022
NC AFL-CIO Announces May 17th Primary Endorsements
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.
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October 15, 2021
NC AFL-CIO Convention Brings 3 Days of Solidarity to Wilmington
The convention brought together more than 300 labor leaders from across North Carolina for three days of speeches, discussions, and workshops to create a better future through organizing, political power, and building solidarity through racial justice. This year’s convention also included the election of NC State AFL-CIO leadership to new 4-year terms and a forum for U.S. Senate candidates to answer tough questions about their commitment to empowering working people.
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September 29, 2021
BURNED ALIVE: NC Workplace Safety in Focus at Town Hall
Over 150 people joined the first-ever North Carolina Worker Safety Town Hall, September 28th. During the online event, workers shared powerful testimonies about workplace safety issues in their respective industries and advocated for better enforcement priorities, as North Carolina ranks as the worst state for workers (Oxfam, 2021), to newly elected NC Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson, who was in attendance to hear their concerns. The town hall was hosted on Zoom and broadcast live on Facebook.
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February 4, 2021
PRO Act is a Game-Changer for North Carolina Workers
All working people should have the freedom to join together in unions and collectively negotiate for better, safer working conditions. We strongly urge every member of our congressional delegation to sponsor the PRO Act and fight for its passage.
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November 3, 2020
As Election Results Come In, We Need to Count Every Vote
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.
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September 25, 2020
NC State AFL-CIO Holds 63rd Annual Convention @ Home
The NC State AFL-CIO’s 63rd Annual Convention was held online this year via Zoom, Thursday and Friday, September 24th and 25th. The two-day convention brought together labor, community, and political leaders from across the state to discuss ways to fight for a better future through organizing, political power, and community building.
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Today in an online town hall and press call organized by the state AFL-CIO, members and leaders from unions of working people in North Carolina called on Senator Thom Tillis to support the essential role of working people in this pandemic by passing the HEROES Act, legislation which the U.S. House passed on May 15th to protect the lives and livelihoods of working Americans still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, Senator Tillis declined an invitation to participate in the town hall.
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In “Workers First Caravans” rolling out across the country, union members are raising their voice to call for racial and economic justice, including this morning on a press call with Black frontline workers and labor leaders in North Carolina about the continued need for elected officials to address the triple threats of COVID-19, mass unemployment, and structural racism and to demand that Senator Tillis support the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act.
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April 28, 2020
NC Remembers 178 Workers Who Died on the Job
The most recent data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 178 workers were killed in North Carolina in 2018, and many more suffered from occupational diseases. This year, thousands more workers’ lives are being lost to COVID-19 because workers are not getting necessary protections at work—which would save lives and stop the spread of this very contagious virus.
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February 13, 2020
People’s Hearing Brings Workers, Candidates Together to Declare $15 Minimum Wage Central to 2020 Election
Raising Wages NC coalition held a public hearing at First Baptist Church in downtown Raleigh tonight to bring together dozens of workers and allies from across the state to testify directly to candidates for Governor and the North Carolina General Assembly about what life is like for a working person in North Carolina and the importance of adopting a $15/hr minimum wage statewide for all workers–white, black, and brown.
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December 9, 2019
NC State AFL-CIO Announces Endorsed 2020 Candidates
The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is proud to announce 16 candidates it has endorsed in the 2020 elections—politicians who are dedicated to fighting for working people.
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November 7, 2019
Union Members Elected to Local Office Across N.C.
A result of the NC State AFL-CIO’s efforts to build independent political power for working people across North Carolina, we are thrilled to congratulate Yvonne Kinston on her election and five other union members re-elected to local office in 2019.
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September 19, 2019
Honoring the Power of Working People at 62nd Annual Convention
The North Carolina AFL-CIO kicks off its 62nd Annual Convention in Charlotte, Thursday, Sept. 19. The two-day convention brings together labor, community, and political leaders from across the state to discuss ways to fight for a better future, together.
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September 2, 2019
Local Labor Movement Hosts 113th Canton Labor Day Parade
United Steelworkers (USW) Smoky Mountain Local 507, AFL-CIO, CLC proudly hosted the 113th Canton Labor Day Parade, North Carolina’s longest-running Labor Day parade, featuring a float by the Western North Carolina Central Labor Council marshalled by NC State AFL-CIO president MaryBe McMillan.