North Carolina needs a Commissioner of Labor who is fair to workers’. Certainly cooperation between employers and employees is key. However, when thousands of workers’ are not being paid their duly-earned wages, we have a problem.

 

In 2014, the News & Observer published an article entitled “For Many Workers Cheated out of Wages, NC Department of Labor Offers No Help.” The article stated that “[f]or at least 2,011 workers’, more than half of the 3,694 who asked for help in the past fiscal year, the agency took no action. Employers didn’t get fined. No one was charged with a crime for not compensating the workers’’ time and labor.” When Berry ran for office in 2000, her campaign platform centered on how “[g]overnment should tread lightly in the lives of people and business . . . [w]hen her agency must get involved, Berry favored working in consultation with businesses rather than confronting them.” (see N&O article from 2014, and from 2015 “At NC Department of Labor, Little Help for Unpaid Workers”).

 

Fast-forward to 2016. Cherie Berry is now being criticized for accepting “improper contributions” from corporate executives who have cases pending before her agency. Berry accepted $20,000 from at least four companies which were recently being investigated by the Labor Department. In particular, one donor, Ronald Cameron, is chairman and CEO of Montaire Farms which investigated for a workplace fatality. Berry responded to the criticism by saying that “everyone gets treated the same.”

 

Former Raleigh mayor, Charles Meeker, is running against Berry for Labor Commissioner. Meeker’s campaign focuses on improving worker safety, accurate classification of workers’, and making sure that workers’ are paid what they are owed. Meeker also would like to remove Berry’s photo from all elevators and, in its place, put up photos of working people. Both candidates deserve serious consideration. I encourage you to evaluate them and be sure to vote for the candidate of your choice.