NC State A.F.L. – C.I.O.

Together, the NC State AFL-CIO and Central Labor Councils endorsed a total of 34 candidates with primary opposition in the May 6 election. Based on unofficial primary results, 79% of our candidates won their primary election.

Nine candidates competed for statewide office, and of that group, 77% will advance to the general election November 4. The remaining 25 labor endorsed candidates competed for local or legislative office, and 80% won their primary.

In the race to be the Democratic nominee for Governor, in which we made no endorsement, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue defeated Richard Moore 56% to 40%.

Our candidate for Lt. Governor, Hampton Dellinger, lost to Sen. Walter Dalton 34% to 46%.

One candidate, Mary Fant Donnan, will face a runoff election to be the Democratic candidate for Labor Commissioner. As of this writing, who her runoff opponent will be is too close to call.

James Wynn and Kristin Ruth, our candidates for the Court of Appeals, both advanced and will face Jewel Farlow and Sam Ervin IV, respectively, in November.

Congratulations to the Winners

These labor endorsed candidates won their primary (sorted by region, office, and name):

The 2008 session of Carolina Labor School will be held on the campus of UNC-Wilmington on Sunday, June 22 - Friday, June 27.

Download the flyer and registration form.

Because of limited meeting space, we put a cap on the number of registrations we accept. Confirmations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. The deadline to register is May 30, 2008.

For more information, contact Jeremy at (919) 833-6678.

Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan elections reform organization, called for an investigation of an automated phone message that it says is designed to depress participation by black voters in North Carolina’s May primary.

The Lie: The “robo” calls are from a “Lamont Williams” and tell voters to wait for a voter registration form to come in the mail, which they need to complete and mail in - THEN they can vote on Tuesday. Listen to the call: http://www.democracy-nc.org/nc/spprncall.wav

The Truth: anyone not already registered who wants to vote in the NC Primary can go to any One-Stop Early Voting location through Saturday, May 3, register to vote on the spot, and cast a ballot.

It is a Class I felony in North Carolina “to misrepresent the law to the public through mass mailing or any other means of communication where the intent and the effect is to intimidate or discourage potential voters from exercising their lawful right to vote.”

Said Bob Hall, Executive Director for Democracy NC:

“This is another in a long line of deceptive practices used in North Carolina and elsewhere that particularly target African-American voters. In our view, this phone message plainly violates North Carolina law. We ask the Attorney General, State Bureau of Investigation, and the State Board of Elections to investigate, expose, and prosecute the sponsors of these calls.”

Voter Protection Hotlines

If you believe you or someone you know is the victim of voter intimidation or interference, call toll-free to 888-OUR-VOTE or 866-OUR-VOTE or the State Board of Elections hotline: 866-522-4723.

You only have until Saturday to vote early by absentee ballot with no excuse. If you haven’t registered, you can - for the first time ever in North Carolina - take advantage of our state’s new same-day registration law. Same-day registration allows voters to register and immediately cast a ballot at any one-stop early voting location.

Same-Day registration is only available during Early Voting - not on Primary Day, May 6.

For One-Stop Early Voting locations in your area, visit the State Board of Elections online or call (919) 733-7173 to get the number for your county board of elections.

The Southern Piedmont Central Labor Council is organizing a special welcome party for Sen. John McCain as he makes a stop in North Carolina on Monday, May 5.

What: Union welcoming party for Sen. McCain

When: Monday, May 5, 2008 at 4:45 PM

Where: The Westin, 601 South College St, Charlotte NC

Download the flyer for this event.

For more information contact CLC President Will Cashion at 704-953-3033.

Our members at PASS (Professional Airways Systems Specialists) of NC need our help to secure passage in the Senate of FAA Reauthorization (S. 1300).

The House has passed its version of FAA Reauthorization back in September 2007. It is time for the Senate to stop dragging its feet and pass the Senate version before several important provisions of FAA reauthorization can become law.

We encourage our members to take action to support PASS. You can fire off a letter to your Senators here.

Dozens of students at UNC Chapel Hill have staged a sit-in since April 17, 2008. The students are protesting Chancellor Moeser’s refusal to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a program that would ensure that Chapel Hill branded apparel is not produced in sweatshops.

The DSP works by certifying only those producers that comply with UNC Chapel Hill’s code of conduct for factories that produce apparel with the UNC logo. In order to become a designated supplier, factories must provide workers with fair wages, guarantee freedom of association, eliminate forced and unpaid overtime, and provide safe working conditions.

According to a posting on their website, Chapel Hill students began their sit-in after similar protests at other universities:

“After it became clear that the UNC administration was unwilling to engage in honest and respectful discourse about the human rights concerns of students, faculty, and staff, after three years during which workers have been losing their lives and livelihoods for manufacturing UNC licensed apparel and daring to stand up for their rights, 10 UNC students began a nonviolent occupation of the lobby of South Building, 10 feet away from Chancellor James Moeser’s office. Though he cannot see the workers who suffer to make our Carolina apparel, he will see us every day until he adopts the DSP.”

Take Action in support of Students Against Sweatshops at Chapel Hill

Union members in North Carolina know all too well the suffering caused by the apparel industry’s race-to-the-bottom to produce at the lowest possible cost. Thousands of textile workers lost their jobs when textile companies in our state moved shop to places with inferior wages and working conditions.

As workers in these new production zones have stood up for their rights, organized and formed unions, apparel companies have closed factories and moved elsewhere to exploit other more desperate and impoverished people, leaving devastated communities in their wake - just like they did in NC.

Why, then, would the flagship public university of our state - with arguably one of the most recognizable brands of any college or university in America - refuse to join the DSP and end this cycle of exploitation by apparel companies?

Take a Stand for Sweatshop Free UNC-CH

The NC State AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the students at UNC Chapel Hill as they continue their non-violent protest of a university administration which ignores that UNC apparel is made in sweatshops. We encourage our members to support them by:

1. Calling Chancellor Moeser at (919) 962-1365
   email him at chancellor@unc.edu
   fax him at (919) 962-1647
2. Calling his boss - the Board of Trustees
   (http://www.unc.edu/depts/trustees/member.html)
3. Sign the petition demanding UNC Chapel Hill adopt the DSP
   (http://www.petitiononline.com/uncchdsp/petition.html)
4. Donate food
5. Learn more about the campaign for a sweatshop free UNC and other ways you can take action
   (http://dsp4unc.wordpress.com/take-action/)

Next Tuesday, April 29th, members of the Alliance @ IBM, a division of CWA, and their supporters will take action with a picket line and rally outside the IBM shareholders meeting in Charlotte.

What: IBM Stockholder action and picket line

When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Time: 8:30 am picket line and 12:30 pm rally

Where: Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College St, Charlotte, NC

Download the flyer for this event.

2008 will surely be the most expensive election in history, and political parties at every level will need to raise and spend vast sums of money to secure victories in November.

But when Theresa Kostrzewa, contract lobbyist for Smithfield Foods and Smithfield Packing, came with check in hand, the NC Democratic Party said, “Thanks but no thanks.”

In typical fashion for a company that profits from the abuse of their workers, Smithfield responded with threats and intimidation. Well the NCDP is apparently not to be cowed by Smithfield.

Party Chair Jerry Meek wrote a scathing indictment of Smithfield and the company’s history of law breaking, union busting, and malicious corporate behavior. You can view the letter in PDF here.

Decades of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions. But the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs. The unions of the AFL-CIO remember these workers on April 28, Workers Memorial Day.

In Raleigh, a ceremony will be held at the Employment Security Commission at 12 noon, 700 Wade Ave, Raleigh, NC.

In the Fayetteville area, the Greater Sandhills CLC is sponsoring an event Monday from 2pm-3pm in front of the Smithfield Packing plant, 15855 NC Highway 87 West, Tar Heel, NC.

Since there is no parking at the plant, people can carpool from the Subway restaurant on Highway 87 in Tarheel. Be at the Subway by 1:30pm if you want to carpool.

Raleigh ACORN is bringing a foreclosure fair to the campus of NC State this Saturday. ACORN chapters across the country have hosted similar foreclosure prevention and assistance seminars.

What: Foreclosure prevention and assistance fair

When: Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Where: Witherspoon Student Center, NC State University, 3810 Cates Ave, Raleigh, NC

ACORN Housing will be available to provide free advice to first time home buyers or for those facing foreclosure on their part of the American dream. Participating lenders include Countrywide, Option 1, Home EQ, and others. The event is free and open to the public.

An education session at the fair on how to prevent foreclosures will begin at 12 noon. Participants can get personal help from non-profit housing counselors, learn about refinance opportunities, and meet with their lender about loan restructuring.

For more information about this important service to working families - even if you don’t live in the Triangle, call Raleigh ACORN at (919) 833-6194 or send an email to acornraleigh@gmail.com.

Each day in North Carolina, folks, seniors especially, find themselves the unwitting targets of scams that would seek to defraud them of their identity or their life savings.

NC Attorney General, Roy Cooper and Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, in cooperation with AARP, the Better Business Bureau and the Area Agency on Aging will hold a free, 3-hour seminar on ID theft, Medicare fraud, investment scams, charity fraud, and online scams.

What: Scam Jam seminar on avoiding fraud, scams, and theft

When: Wednesday, May 7 , 2008 from 9:00 am to 12 noon

Where: Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 US Highway 15 501, Pinehurst, NC

Download the flyer for this event.

The Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) represents a continuation of the Bush administration’s failed trade policies, an agenda that has contributed to the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, skyrocketing trade deficits and shrinking paychecks.

The Columbia deal was drafted and signed by the Bush administration before the expiration last summer of its “fast-track” trade authority - authority that required the House and Senate to vote up or down without amendments on trade agreements within 90 days of their being introduced to the Congress, which the President did last week.

Unable to amend the language of the Columbia FTA, the Democratic controlled House voted to change House rules and eliminated the deadline, without which this dangerous “free trade” agreement hopefully will just die in the Congress.

How did your Congressman / Congresswoman vote on the rule change?

Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world for union members–39 trade unionists were murdered in 2007 and another 17 to date in 2008. Of the more than 2,500 murders of trade unionists since 1986, only some 70 cases–about 3 percent–have resulted in convictions.

Balanced trade agreements must guarantee the right to organize, lift the lives of workers in both countries and prevent exploitation. But this can’t happen in a country where workers who try to organize are killed.

Sen. John McCain has a long history of supporting the kind of trade deals like the Columbia FTA that have devastated our economy and sent our jobs overseas. He continues to proclaim his support for new trade agreements despite evidence of how harmful agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA have been. He supported allowing China to enter the WTO despite its horrible worker safety and product safety record, exposing our children to toxic toys and our families to contaminated food. McCain has added insult to injury by voting against measures intended to help stem the flow of jobs lost due to these agreements.

Sen. McCain has not protected workers from the ill-effects of these trade agreements:

McCain Supported President Bush’s Outsourcing Efforts. McCain voted to allow overseas outsourcing of government contracts after President Bush’s economic advisers released a report saying America should outsource its jobs. [S.1637, Vote #32, 3/4/04]

McCain Voted Against Limiting Tax Breaks to Companies That Re-Import Foreign Manufactured Goods. He voted against a bill to tax multinational companies on income from foreign factories when goods are shipped back to the United States and to require companies to notify employees and give a reason before they move their jobs overseas. [S.1637, Vote #83, 5/5/04]

McCain Supported Waiving and Weakening Buy American Laws. McCain voted to allow the Secretary of Defense to waive Buy American laws for defense systems and place our defense manufacturing industry in jeopardy. He also voted to exempt defense goods from six European countries from Buy American requirements that traditionally have required most military equipment and defense systems to be manufactured in the United States. [S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03]

McCain Voted to Allow Unsafe Foreign Trucks on U.S. Roads. McCain voted against an amendment to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating beyond a limited border zone because they are not held to the same safety standards as U.S. trucks. [H.R. 2299, Vote #252, 7/26/01]

McCain Abstained from Voting to Protect Steel Jobs. McCain abstained from a vote to filibuster a bill to protect steelworker jobs from illegal dumping after 10,000 steelworkers lost their jobs. [H.R. 975, Vote #178, 6/22/99]

McCain Voted Against Providing Health Insurance for Employees and Retirees of Bankrupt Steel Companies. McCain voted against a measure that provided temporary health insurance assistance to retirees of bankrupt steel companies. [S.Amdt. 3433, Vote #117, 5/21/02]

Starting Thursday, April 17, North Carolinians can vote early by absentee ballot with no excuse. Simply go to any one-stop early voting location in your county between April 17 and May 3 to cast your ballot.

Would be voters that missed the April 11 deadline to register to vote on May 6th can - for the first time ever in North Carolina - take advantage of our state’s new same-day registration law. Same-day registration allows voters to register and immediately cast a ballot at any one-stop early voting location.

For One-Stop Early Voting locations in your area, visit the State Board of Elections online at www.sboe.state.nc.us or call (919) 733-7173 to get the number for your county board of elections.