THE VOICE OF LABOR 3RD EDITION

THE VOICE OF LABOR
1 SEPTEMBER 2021 3rd Edition

Welcome to the 3rd edition of “THE VOICE OF LABOR”. It is a comprehensive monthly publication of the North Carolina Democratic Party Labor Caucus that informs its members, union members, and working people, of events, organizations, initiatives, and current issues that affect our everyday lives. The sole purpose of this newsletter is to arm our members with information that will encourage them to be proactive. Please make this newsletter available in your local area to your local members.

The North Carolina Democratic Party Labor Caucus is an active auxiliary of the NC State Democratic Party that advocates for legislation and initiatives, addressing problems, and electing candidates that are sympathetic to economic and labor issues that affect working families, labor organizations, and union members.

The NCDP Labor Caucus is currently recruiting to find and establish leaders to represent the caucus in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties, and a leader for all of the 13 congressional districts. County labor caucus leaders will represent the caucus at their county Democratic meeting. Congressional caucus leaders will represent the caucus at their scheduled Democratic Party congressional district meeting.

The NCDP Labor Caucus is looking for individuals who are passionate about labor and economic issues and will make sure that labor and economic issues remain on the agenda of their county or district meetings. They will recruit members and will be asked to lead local mobilizations of actions taken in their respective areas. If you are interested in becoming a county leader or a congressional leader please contact NCDP Labor Caucus Secretary, Jan Nichols by email at nichjan@gmail.com

The NCDP Labor Caucus is currently actively lobbying to promote issues that affect working families, labor organizations, and labor unions. We invite you to come and play a part in this active growing organization. We are active and engaged on issues.

NEXT MEETING OF THE NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PARTY LABOR CAUCUS
HAS NOT BEEN OFFICIALLY SET
The NCDP LABOR CAUCUS MEETS QUARTERLY AND MEMBERS WILL BE SENT A LINK TO THE MEETING ONCE IT IS SCHEDULED

RECENT NOTABLE EVENTS—–

On Thursday, 5 August 2021 Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO died from a sudden heart attack. For over half a century Brother Trumka has been a tireless fighter for unions, working people, and the poor. His loss is mourned by all union members and we send our condolences to his family. The AFL-CIO has been quick to fill the vacant position of leadership by electing Liz Schuler, President of the AFL-CIO,

On Sunday, 7 August 2021 The North Carolina Democratic Party held an online State Executive Meeting. President Harton was there along with other members of the NCDP Labor Caucus. Additionally, President Harton has served on the NCDP Resolutions Committee in the Labor and Economics Subcommittee. The committees write and oversee resolutions before they are sent to the SEC (the North Carolina Democratic Party State Executive Committee) meetings for ratification. After ratification, they are incorporated into the party platform.

UPCOMING EVENTS—-

The NCDP Labor Caucus will maintain a table to recruit new members at the NC AFL-CIO 58th Annual Convention being held in Wilmington from Wednesday, 13 October 2021 through Friday 15 September 2021.

The next SEC meeting is scheduled for Sunday, 16 October 2021 at 9:00 AM. SEC members will be sent a link to attend before the meeting convenes.

CURRENT ACTIONS, INITIATIVES, and ISSUES

FIGHT FOR FIFTEEN— The NCDP Labor Caucus continues the fight along with our allies for raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. The current minimum wage of $7.25 has not been raised in over a decade and is totally out of touch with the reality of living in 2021. The labor caucus will continue to advocate for a living wage rate.

CHILD TAX CREDIT—The Democratic Party has provided a six-month child tax credit. Not a single Republican voted for it. From July 2021 for six months until December 2021 families with children will receive $300.00 deposited directly to their bank accounts for each child. Those families without bank accounts will receive checks or debit cards in the mail.

VERIFY4—The NCDP Labor Caucus has been actively lobbying to get the VERIFY 4 PROGRAM implemented in NC. To find out about the VERIFY4 Program go to our website at ncdplaborcaucus.org . The program allows people to use their work history at the NC Dept. of Labor to establish credit. This is not a partisan issue and it is a win/win situation for everyone. You can help move the legislature by calling or writing them and telling them to support VERIFY4.

EXPANDING MEDICAID AND LOWERING DRUG PRICES—the NCDP Labor Caucus along with our allies, Action NC, and the NC Alliance for Retired Americans continues our efforts to expand Medicaid and lower prescription drug prices. It is not hyperbole to say that people have died and are still dying because they are too poor to provide themselves with medical coverage. Hospitals have closed in rural areas because of this problem. North Carolina citizens are paying the taxes to expand coverage to 600,000 people and the money is going to other states because a Republican NC Legislature and Senate have consistently blocked expanded Medicaid for ideological reasons. They believe that if you are poor it’s your fault and you deserve it. They then turn around and pretend that they are Christians.

Call your state NC Representative and NC Senator and tell them to quit wasting your tax dollars and expand Medicaid. Additionally, tell them that you want Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices from the pharmaceutical companies.

HR-1, S-1 THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT—Is a much-needed bill in the house and senate to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders. Passing this bill is extremely important. Republicans are standing in the way of passage using the filibuster to keep the bill from passage. The NCDP Labor Caucus supports the passage of this bill and suggests that you call and write both US Senators Tillis and Burr daily until the bill is passed.

HR-4 THE JOHN LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ACT—With the FOR THE PEOPLE ACT stalled and not likely to acquire 60 votes for passage, Democrats have put forth the John Lewis Voting Rights ACT. It would create a pathway for citizens for the federal government to challenge new voter laws in the courts, particularly if parties can show the new law infringes on minority voting rights. Further, it would require public notice for any voting laws in a state or political subdivision. The bill would provide new rules for polling places on Indian Reservations that require states to pay for polling places at no cost to the tribes.

Finally, it would require many categories of changes in state or local election procedures to go through a process called preclearance—essentially, approval from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division before being implemented. The NCDP Labor Caucus supports the passage of this bill and suggests that you call and write both US Senators Tillis and Burr daily until the bill is passed.

HR-842 PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE ACT OR PROACT—This is the most important legislation for labor in over half a century or since the Department of Labor was established. Over the decade’s corporate management has found that they can break labor laws with impunity because the penalties are so mild, they simply factor it in as a routine cost of doing business. This allows them to intimidate workers during labor organizing drives creating an election atmosphere that is tilted in their favor.

The bill expands various labor protections related to employee’s rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace. Among other things, it clarifies the definitions of employee, supervisor, and employer to broaden the scope of individuals covered by the fair labor standards. It also permits labor organizations to encourage the participation of union members in strikes initiated by employees represented by a different labor organization and prohibits employees from bringing claims against unions that conduct such secondary strikes.

The bill also allows collective bargaining agreements to require all employees represented by the bargaining unit to contribute to the fees to the labor organizations for the cost of such representation, notwithstanding a state law to the contrary; and expands unfair labor practices to include prohibitions against replacement of, or discrimination against workers who participate in strikes.

The bill makes it an unfair labor practice to require or coerce employees to attend employer meetings designed to discourage union membership and prohibits employers from entering into agreements with employees under which employees waive the right to pursue or join collective or class action litigation.

The bill further prohibits employers from taking adverse actions against an employee, including employees with management responsibilities, in response to that employee participating in protected activities related to the enforcement of the prohibitions against unfair labor practices (i.e. whistleblower protections) Such protected activities include
*providing information about a potential violation to an enforcement agency
*Participating in an enforcement proceeding
*initiating a proceeding concerning an alleged violation or assisting in such a proceeding, or
*refusing to participate in an activity the employee reasonably believes is a violation of labor laws.
CONTINUED

Finally, the bill addresses the procedures for union representation elections and provides employees with the ability to vote in such elections remotely by telephone or the internet. The bill modifies the protection against unfair labor practices that result in serious
economic harm, and establishes penalties, and permits injunctive relief against entities that fail to comply with the National Labor Relations Board orders.

The passage of the PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE ACT is extremely important to American workers. The NCDP Labor Caucus supports the passage of this bill and suggests that you call and write both US Senators Tillis and Burr daily until the bill is passed.

NC STATE ISSUES—NC HOUSE BILL 951—Duke Energy has a tarnished history of trying to soak their customers in order to provide the CEO and shareholders with handsome profits. There was the time that Duke proposed a hefty rate increase based on the fact that they had to encumber the costs of coal to burn for their steam-fired plants. Then it was discovered that Duke owned the mine and was selling the coal back to themselves at an exorbitant rate that was several times over the standard rate for buying coal on the open market.

And just a few years ago, they were asking for a 15% rate hike to clean up their coal ash mess after they had been caught pumping coal ash into the Cape Fear River where the City of Wilmington gets its drinking water.

At a public hearing with the Public Utilities Commission in Wilmington, Duke presented a case that they were short on money and needed a rate hike to afford the clean-up of coal ash. President Harton attended the hearing and testified under oath that the idea of Duke pretending to be broke was a complete sham. President Harton then pointed out that Duke had recently done a stock buyback to the tune of 28 billion dollars that had boosted the price of their stock by a factor of three times. President Harton further pointed out that Duke could sell 1/10th of their company-owned stock and have enough to go around to do a complete clean-up and give customers a rebate. The Public Utilities Commission ended up denying the rate hike that Duke had requested.

But looking to soak the customers and reward the investors never gets old for Duke. This time around they have approached the NC Republican Legislature who wrote NC House Bill 951 in secret in the dead of night. The bill seeks to allow Duke to mandate rate hikes without going to the Public Utilities Commission by completely removing them from the
process.

This legislation is detrimental to the economic livelihood of working families who are already hard-pressed from the economics of the Covid pandemic. The NCDP Labor Caucus objects to the passage of this bill and suggests that you call your NC house and senate members informing them that you stand firmly against the passage of this bill

REFLECTIONS—-As stated earlier, Republicans are not happy with the last election and they don’t have much to show the American public to win the next one. For this reason, they have conjured up distractions to cover the damage that they have done and keep their misguided base in a fit of frenzy.

Critical Race Theory is a college-level class that is presented to students working on master’s programs at some universities. It has never been taught in any public school in our nation but Republicans have dragged it out to their misinformed sycophants. The distraction has made going to a school board meeting dangerous because of the hostility and threats. And the idea is to prevent teachers from introducing any history that involves racism. Our history is full of racism. The idea that we cannot teach our children history is preposterous.

Republicans are telling their misguided multitudes that COVID in the US was not a result of a President who ignored it, but it is being brought across the border by unvaccinated people and undocumented people from Mexico. Another lie! Trump’s border wall has never stopped a problem that has been there for over half a century and Mexico did not pay for it. We are addressing a COVID problem because Trump lied to the American People when he stated, “there are only 11 cases in the US and it will soon be down to zero”. Now the Trump toadies are refusing to get vaccinated and refusing to wear masks and a medical issue has been made into a partisan issue. Mother used to say, “You can’t fix stupid”.

Finally, there is the ending of the war in Afghanistan. Republicans and their media friends at Fox Noise are blaming the loss of the Afghanistan War on Joe Biden. I am a Vietnam veteran, and over half a century ago I went to a war in Southeast Asia. I left as a mama’s boy and came home a completely changed person. When I came home people spit on me and called me a “baby killer” even before I could meet my parents at the airport in Charlotte.

I left a battlefield where we never lost a major battle but came home to a county that gave up and public opinion pulled us out of Vietnam. Now over 58,000 boys are dead and I can’t tell you why and for years we were scorned for it. American troops had sacrificed for a country where its own citizens would not defend itself. We should have learned a lesson then but we did not.

In 1945 a young Vietnamese man named Ho Chi Minh met an American lieutenant colonel named Archimedes Patti who worked for Wild Bill Donovan at the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). Ho asked Patti for American money and help to form a democratic government. He was turned down so he went to the Russians for assistance and got it.

Does anyone remember the movie,” CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR” about a US Congressman from Texas who supplied the Taliban with arms to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan and then was turned down for additional funds to build schools? We never seem to learn. We talk about winning hearts and minds but don’t seem to have ever learned how to do it.

Twenty years ago, an American President forgot the lessons of Vietnam and got us involved in Afghanistan where thousands of lives and billions of dollars have once again been expended with the same predictable results. Donald Trump started the wind-down and released 5,000 Taliban prisoners which included the current leader. Joe Biden has finished what Trump started and Republicans are turning summersaults to tarnish Joe Bien with the expected results.

As a war veteran, I have experienced the pain, anguish, death and dying, the countless hours of stress, fear, guilt, and all of the other raw emotions of war. It was a time that molded and scarred me for life. Even today when some say, “thank you for your service” I want to yell at them, “Why? What did it accomplish?” The correct answer is that we should know that we cannot defend any country where its own citizens won’t take an active part. America is the proof that a small country of rebels can beat a large empire when the rebels are fighting on their own soil.

And I don’t put much stock in armchair generals who have never served a single day of active duty but feel it okay to opine because they have watched some combat on television. Then there are the ideological armchair generals like Hannity and Carlson who get paid to trash our duly elected Democratic President at every turn. At present, I can’t think of two more disgusting individuals.

I am thankful that President Biden has put an end to the madness and continuous funnel of men and money to a cause that was lost from the start. We should go after terrorists but I hope we have finally learned the hard lesson about nation-building.

Herb Harton, President
NCDP Labor Caucus
(910) 791-3643 Home/Office
maguspics@al.com