UE Local 150-North Carolina Public Service Workers Union held their annual political action day on May 13. Local chapter members met at the state legislative building to demand a stop to recent attacks on the state health plan, pay, and safe staffing.
The members of Local 150 began the day with an orientation and training, then held meetings with their legislators throughout the morning and afternoon. The members finished the day with a rally to make their demands heard and to call for the overturn of the Jim Crow-era ban on public-sector collective bargaining. The previous month, Local 150 members held rallies at their workplaces in several cities across North Carolina on April 23 to oppose price hikes and service cuts to the state health plan.
Local 150’s executive board reported that they talked to 11 assembly members on May 13 during the day of action. They discussed their “unified political action program” which includes demands to freeze the corporate tax cuts which are set to reduce corporate tax rates to zero percent by 2030 in the state. As public-sector workers, the members of Local 150 work for cities, state hospitals, and public universities across the state. The members explained to elected representatives that if the tax cuts continue, public-sector workers will be forced to accept rising health insurance premiums and increased deductibles.
On the day of action, the Local 150 members also targeted state assembly members who sit on higher education appropriations and state education committees to discuss demands related to the UNC system, where two chapters of the local represent workers. The UNC system recently passed a prohibitive gathering policy that penalizes protests and other events on campus. UE members made it known that this policy is a violation of their rights to freedom of assembly. They demanded that the policy be reversed. They also brought up the lack of competitive pay within UNC. The members explained that this is a barrier for top class talent interested in coming to North Carolina.
The executive board of Local 150 reported that some representatives were eager to help and suggested other state representatives to talk to. However, other representatives claimed their hands were tied because of the Republican majority in the House. Local 150 members said that they are determined to uphold the principle of independent political action and will follow up with the politicians who offered concrete information, advice, and support and pressure those who did not.