We live in a time of massive income inequality where the majority of all wealth is owned and controlled by 1% of people. Since 2013, our lawmakers have continually cut taxes for the wealthiest North Carolinians, leaving the rest of us to foot the bill. Currently, big corporations are paying next to nothing in income taxes; the wealthy do not pay proportionately into social security, and CEOs have a lower tax rate than working people like us. To have a government that can work for working people, we believe that the wealthy must pay their fair share.

Our elected officials have not increased the minimum wage in North Carolina since 2009. That is the longest period without an increase since the federal minimum wage was established in 1938. With corporate profits and inflation skyrocketing, an hourly wage of $7.25 is unrealistic and unjust. We support an increase in the state minimum wage so that full-time workers can earn enough to afford decent housing, buy a house, and take care of our families. 

For generations, poor and working people have been treated differently than the wealthy by our law enforcement and courts. This punitive system makes it nearly impossible for people who have been through the criminal justice system to be successful.  A criminal record, major or minor, can prevent us from getting a job, renting an apartment, or applying for public programs. We support a reformed justice system that includes the elimination of cash bail, the legalization of marijuana and the expungement of records, and the end of mass incarceration by creating new policies that end minimum sentencing guidelines and have convictions that are appropriate for the crime.  

North Carolina is currently ranked as the worst state for workers' rights. We have outdated right-to-work laws that were passed during Jim Crow to divide white and Black workers from joining the same union, destroy worker solidarity, and starve labor unions of the resources they need. North Carolina lawmakers have passed statutes that prevent public employees from establishing collective bargaining agreements. Every North Carolinian should have the right to unionize and bargain with their bosses for better wages and working conditions without fearing retaliation. We believe that if more than 50% of workers sign union cards, the union should automatically be recognized without voluntary recognition or an election. 

In 2024, no one can effectively grow a career or attend school without a reliable broadband connection. However, many places in rural North Carolina still rely on satellite internet or outdated DSL, effectively cutting these people and communities out of our economy. Our lawmakers must make sure that all North Carolinians have access to affordable high-speed internet to keep up in our digital age and access opportunities. 

Today’s rural economy prioritizes big corporations over working people and is not meeting our needs. Lawmakers have incentivized corporate consolidated food systems, destroying family farms by driving farmers off their land and out of business. When family farms disappear, so do the opportunities, jobs, and communities they build. Our small towns are being decimated by national chains replacing local businesses.  These huge corporations have no interest in our local community and only care about their bottom line. Good policy would bring opportunities back to our hometowns, including investment in our small businesses, investment in affordable childcare and housing, and stopping handouts to big corporations.