State worker union efforts press forward

Backers of a movement to repeal a state law that prohibits collective bargaining rights for state employees are taking the issue to a higher ground.

At the Legislative Building on Wednesday, coalition members urged church leaders and labor officials throughout North Carolina to portray the law as an immoral issue rather than as an economic one.

“This is a matter of our moral foundation,” said the Rev. William Barber, pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro. “I hope that we will not fail in the mind of God. It is immoral to block more wages; it is immoral to block workers from engaging in collective bargaining.”

The drive is part of the International Worker Justice Campaign that’s being conducted by UE Local 150, the N.C. Public Service Workers Union.

The group will conduct a massive petition drive in hopes of gathering enough steam to organize the state’s 641,000 public employees.

Ashaki Binta, campaign coordinator, said the union’s grassroots strategy is to educate people about collective bargaining and hope it wins enough support to prompt politicians to overturn the statute.

The group presented its findings from a series of hearings in Chapel Hill, Durham, Rocky Mount and Goldsboro that heard from workers in struggling state hospitals, state agencies and public universities.

So far, the group has made inroads with some politicians.

The Chapel Hill Town Council voted unanimously to ask state lawmakers to draft a bill that would allow union activity.

“We answered the call,” said council member Sally Greene. “It’s an important statement to make.”

State workers, Greene added, told the Chapel Hill panel about a lack of pay raises. They also said they are treated unfairly and have no voice in disputes with management.

“A lack of due process translates into a lack of trust,” she said. “We need to make this happen.”

Binta acknowledged that it would not be easy to erase the anti-union sentiment embedded in the state’s culture.

But James Andrews, president of the N.C. AFL-CIO, said it is imperative for workers to be heard by state leaders.

“They’ve got a right to sit down not as trembling slaves but as equals,” he said.

Only one state lawmaker attended Wednesday’s press conference. State Rep. Larry Bell, D-Sampson, said that collective bargaining is not a popular phrase with his colleagues but that he supports the group’s efforts.

“We can’t wait forever to start this thing,” he said. “There needs to be some education in the General Assembly.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.