Still healing from years of back-to-back disasters, a hostile government that shows contempt for poor and working people, and an economy built on exclusion from economic prosperity and justice, the growing labor movement in Western North Carolina is showing us that a just and sustainable economy for all is within reach — if workers lead the way.

Across our region, workers are organizing in unions, assemblies, and workplaces to confront threats that are both constant and inescapable. They’re fighting back against threats like widespread wage theft, the lowest federally allowable minimum wage that hasn’t increased since 2009, and the $2.13 tipped-subminimum wage which is a relic of slavery.

They’re pushing back against state laws that still bar North Carolina public employees from collecti

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