Moving Forward in North Carolina

It’s never been easy to be a union member in North Carolina, which has one of the lowest union density rates in the country.

But the labor movement’s recent successes in mobilizing its members in support of pro-worker candidates is helping make the Tar Heel state a lot more worker-friendly.

IBEW North Carolina political coordinator David Haynes campaigns for Rep. Brad Miller, who has opposed bad trade deals that have devastated manufacturing and backed reforms to reign in
Wall Street excess.

The union movement is now looking to unseat incumbent Sen. Richard Burr, who has been widely criticized for putting the interests of big business and Wall Street over those of his constituents, says IBEW state political coordinator David Haynes.

Haynes, a Durham Local 289 member, says:

He has a nonexistant record when it comes to creating jobs or helping working families.

Burr most recently opposed a bill that would help local communities keep teachers, firefighters and police officers on the job by closing tax loopholes that benefit U.S. businesses that ship jobs overseas. 

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is running against Burr and she is catching up in the polls, despite his lopsided financial advantage. Democrats in this right-to-work state too often flinch when talking about workers’ rights, but not Marshall, says Haynes. She has opposed unfair trade deals that have devastated North Carolina’s manufacturing industry and supports investing in our nation’s infrastructure by updating the power grid.

She says on her Web site:

We need to put an end to trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA that destroy American jobs but reward shareholders … For too long, we have rewarded companies that send jobs overseas. We need to close these tax loopholes and instead reward companies that create jobs here.

Says Raleigh Local 553 Business Manager Ronald Cockman:

I’ve known Elaine for a long time and she is always on the right side of things when it comes to working men and women.

The state AFL-CIO organized one of its biggest get-out-the vote operations ever in 2008, helping to send Sen. Kay Hagan and more than a half-dozen pro-worker representatives to Congress, while swinging the state to President Obama.

Haynes – a retired technician from Frontier Communications Corp. – says he understands voters’ frustration with the pace of change in Washington.  Unemployment is still running high and many of the labor movement’s top legislative items, like the Employee Free Choice Act, remain stalled in Congress.

But he tells members to look at the situation on Capitol Hill like they would a first contract negotiation.

When we first sit down with the employer and make our demands, we usually don’t end up with everything we ask for. We come away with some things and fall short on others, but we make progress.  I tell our members that we have to recognize the steps forward our country has made in undoing some of the damage caused by the last administration.

He points to the stimulus package – supported by Hagan and labor-endorsed lawmakers like Reps. Brad Miller and David Price – which created or saved more than 25,000 jobs in North Carolina and the appointment of pro-labor representatives to the National Labor Relations Board – all opposed by Burr.

Says Cockman:

This election is about making a choice and when it comes down to defending our jobs and our livelihoods and curbing Wall Street and corporate excess, Marshall is on the side of working people.