News & Views

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler (Photo: AFL-CIO)

North Carolina is and will, for the foreseeable future, remain a so-called “right-to-work” state in which laws make it extremely tough build workplace unions. Despite this enormous barrier, however, there’s growing evidence that interest in and support for organized labor in our state is enjoying a bit of a renaissance.

With wages in many companies remaining low and flat, even as corporate profits and executive pay have soared, many North Carolina workers– especially younger workers – are rethinking unions. This reality was on display recently in Raleigh as the state AFL-CIO hosted a large and energetic gathering at its annual convention. And right after she delivered a keynote address at the event, NC Newsline caught up with the national president of the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler.

Marcus Bass, NC Black Alliance

Election Day 2024 is now just a little over six weeks away and not surprisingly, there’s been a spike of late in the activity of nonprofits that are seeking to help potential voters get schooled on the issues and ready to cast informed ballots. And one of those groups is the North Carolina Black Alliance. For several years now, the Alliance has worked to enhance Black communities by developing and promoting systemic policy change, as well as youth and leadership development.

This year, the Alliance has been especially active and in the coming days it will sponsor a pair of statewide events – a “Long March for Unity and Justice” that will visit several cities in the coming days and, on September 28, a statewide “Rooted in Wellness” Day that will feature events in 13 cities. And recently NC Newline sat down with the group’s Deputy Director Marcus Bass to learn more.

Courtesy photo of Josh Cowen and his book THE PRIVATEERS: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers

One of the most significant developments in the world of K-12 education in recent decades has been the rise of the so-called “school choice” movement, and in particular, the action taken by several states, including North Carolina, to spend big dollars on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.

Proponents say vouchers are a tool to boost education and lift student achievement, but as Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University explains in a new book, that’s a claim that simply isn’t supported by the data. Indeed, Cowen’s research reveals that what’s really driving the expansion of vouchers isn’t a commitment to learning, but rather a Christian nationalist political movement that wants to fundamentally alter American society. The book is called “The Privateers – How Billionaires created a culture war and sold school vouchers” and Newsline recently caught up with Prof. Cowen for a special extended conversation.

Prof. Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University

The long-awaited presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump finally took place this past week, and according to most independent analysts, the evening went very well for Harris. While she projected an image of calmness and confidence, Trump seemed rattled at times and often uttered false statements and cited wild conspiracy theories.

Of course, as NC Newsline’s Rob Schofield discussed the morning after the debate in a conversation with Western Carolina University Professor of Political Science Chris Cooper, the most important audience for the debate was the small slice of American voters who remain undecided, and it’s not yet clear how things will break for that group – both with respect to the presidency and several other key races in North Carolina.

Kris Nordstrom

The North Carolina General Assembly returned to Raleigh last week to approve a Republican plan to dramatically expand the state’s controversial private school voucher program. The plan advanced despite strong opposition from the Governor, Democratic lawmakers and an array of advocates for public schools.

So what exactly will the plan do? How much will it cost? And what, if anything, is the legislature doing to help traditional K-12 schools that have been struggling with funding shortfalls, teacher shortages and that will soon confront another funding cut later this month when an important federal pandemic relief program dries up? Recently, NC Newsline posed these questions and others to one of our state’s most knowledgeable public education policy experts, the North Carolina Justice Center’s Kris Nordstrom.

Investigative reporter Lisa Sorg

The global imperative of dramatically reducing fossil fuel consumption is as urgent as ever, but that isn’t preventing private and public plans to build new fossil fuel infrastructure. See for example, a massive new facility under construction in Person County. As Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg reported this past week, the 74 acre Moriah Energy Center is designed hold 50 million gallons of liquefied natural gas in two pressurized tanks 160 feet tall and 600 feet around.

Read more: As the planet warms, activists in North Carolina mobilize to stop a gathering storm

Rep. Julie von Haefen - Photo: ncleg.gov

For several years now, the Republican leadership of the North Carolina legislature has appropriated millions of dollars to the state’s network of so-called crisis pregnancy centers. The centers give the impression that they provide healthcare services, but critics argue that they do no such thing. Recently, in an effort to learn more about these groups and what they do with taxpayer dollars, State Rep. Julie von Haefen of Wake County paid a visit to one of the centers and last week, she joined NC Newsline to discuss what she learned, as well as some thoughts that she has on the state of our public education system at the start of the new school year.

Ana Pardo (Courtesy photo)

On the whole, the U.S. economy has been faring well in recent years – especially when compared to the dark days of the pandemic. That said, the situation average workers find themselves in varies widely from state to state and one where things remain mired well below average is North Carolina. Indeed, a recent report by the group Oxfam America ranked North Carolina as the worst state in the country for working people.

As advocates at the North Carolina Justice Center point out in their new “State of Working North Carolina” report, however, it doesn’t have to be this way and the solutions here are not mysterious or complicated. What’s more, doing better by workers would actually lift the entire economy. Recently to learn more, Newsline sat down with the co-director of the Center’s Workers’ Rights Project, Ana Pardo.

Click here to read The Cost of Inaction — 2024 State of Working North Carolina