Canton Labor Day Parade
Canton’s Labor Day's 113 celebration is the oldest in the United States! I am always proud to join in on this fantastic tradition celebrating our country’s workers and the rights and benefits they have worked so hard to earn for us all.
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I joined a great crowd of AFL-CIO Union members before the start of the Canton Labor Day Parade.
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The Local 61 Teamsters had a float at the Canton Labor Day Parade as well. It was wonderful to see so many union members in solidarity supporting their fellow workers.
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Another fantastic Canton Labor Day Parade in the books. Thanks to everyone who came out to support and celebrate our workers!
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Balsam Range is the greatest closer you could want for the greatest Labor Day Celebration in the country!
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Smoky Mountain Folk Festival
We enjoyed the historic
50th anniversary
of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy this celebration of traditional mountain music and dance.
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J Creek Cloggers, figure four!
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This Labor Day let’s all thank our great American tradition of
organized labor
for our rights to:
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Decades of union organizing played an instrumental role in passing several pieces of positive legislation between 1935 and 1940, creating Fair Labor Standards, Unemployment Insurance, and our Social Security System, which more than
70% of our nation’s retirees
rely on for more than half of their income. This era ushered in many of the worker’s rights we enjoy today like the
40-hour workweek, a Federal minimum wage, and overtime pay.
Similarly, many of our aging population wouldn’t have access to the healthcare they need without
Medicare and Medicaid,
which were created three decades after the Social Security Act, again with instrumental help from the organized labor movement.
Throughout our history, we can see that
organized labor has helped move our country forward.
We have a lot to thank our unions for, and there is much to be said about their continuing role in creating a society that allows us all to be
productive and prosperous, happy and healthy.
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Early last week I learned that the Communication Workers of America were striking in response to unfair labor conditions at AT&T.
I was proud to let the workers in my district know that they have my support.
On Wednesday, the union reached an agreement with AT&T, and the employees went back to work that afternoon. We are better off when labor has a seat at the table, and I am glad that AT&T listened to the CWA and agreed on terms that were
vetted, discussed, and approved by the workers!
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Instead of joining us at the negotiating table, legislative Republican leadership is playing games with our budget process. Taking a page from the book of D.C.-style dysfunction, they have resorted to running bits and pieces as separate bills. Instead of wasting time with these mini-budgets, we would all be better served if they would just join us at the negotiating table to hammer out our differences and
come to terms on
real
solutions for a
real
budget to provide for the
real
needs of our growing state.
On the bright side, the first three bills that they ran contained the exact funding from Governor Cooper's proposed compromise budget. These three bills provided salary raises for certain designated state employees, correctional institution employees, NC Highway Patrol officers, the State Bureau of Investigations and Alcohol Law Enforcement. Employees in these categories will receive the 5% raise proposed in the Governor's budget and the Republican Conference Budget.
The downside is that
these raises only represent 27% of state employees,
leaving many, including our teachers, community college employees and university employees out. While the
Republican Conference Budget leaves the other 73% of state employees behind,
Governor Cooper's proposed Compromise Budget would treat all of our state employees with the respect they deserve, providing raises for all 100%.
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We will not leave them behind!
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The
next step
down this road should be a good raise for our teachers and a true 2% Cost-of-Living-Adjustment for state retirees. What we really should be spending our time doing is negotiating and passing a complete budget. Budgets are not piecemeal by definition. They are whole and balanced.
Stay tuned for more
as we continue to work for a good budget that will work for
ALL
of North Carolina.
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I think about it like this. If you want to help the Business Community, the two best things you can do for them are to give them a
Better Employee and a Better Customer.
That's an employee that is well-trained, well-educated, and productive, and that is why I support public education at every level. And, a customer with more money in their pocket is a well paid customer making a living wage. It means affordable healthcare for all, lower utility costs for everyone, public support for homeownership, and a tax system that is fair to working families.
We're all in this together, and the economy should work for everybody.
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All Working People Have The Right To :
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- A good job and fair wages
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- Freedom from discrimination
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I think that we can all agree that everyone who works hard should be able to
earn a living wage,
affording a roof over their heads, food on the table, and the care they need. Everyone should have the opportunity to retire with the confidence that they can afford to meet their personal needs as they grow older. Everyone should have the opportunity to reach a true work-life balance, so they can come home and enjoy personal time with their family, rest, and be active members of their local community.
We have organized labor to thank
for how far we’ve come, and we need to work together in solidarity to prevent our state, and our country, from sliding back into old habits that take advantage of workers.
North Carolina can do better.
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Please
share
this with your friends!
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P.S. check out our legislative web page at
www.joesamqueennc.com
. You can find all of my previous newsletters and more!
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