NC labor commissioner race: More than just an elevator photo
Running the North Carolina Department of Labor is about more than putting your photograph in elevators, though that certainly raised the profile of longtime Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry.
Berry, a Republican, isn’t seeking a sixth term, and the race to replace her is between two candidates already familiar with public office.
The North Carolina labor commissioner is in charge of the administration of state laws about labor and the workforce. The job includes oversight of workplace conditions and safety, which has become even more important during the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican state Rep. Josh Dobson of McDowell County has served four terms in the House, including on the powerful Appropriations committee, and said the only statewide office he’d want is labor commissioner. When he found out Berry wasn’t running again, he decided to run.
He faces Democratic candidate Jessica Holmes, a Wake County commissioner who has served as chair. If Holmes wins, she’ll be the first African American labor commissioner. She would also break ground on the Council of State — she and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Yvonne Lewis Holley would be the first African American women on the Council of State, which is the 10 statewide elected officials that includes the governor.
Minimum wage, workers’ rights
Holmes is from Pender County and said she knows what it is like to grow up with a parent making minimum wage and to be on free and reduced lunch. Holmes said during a recent candidate forum that many people do not make enough money to make ends meet.
“The reality is we need to increase the minimum wage,” she said.
Holmes also advocates for Medicaid expansion, a major sticking point between Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly, who would have to pass a bill for it to happen. The legislature also sets pay raises for state employees.
Dobson said he supports increasing wages “where and when we can,” and while on House Appropriations, the budget included raising state employee wages to $15 an hour.
North Carolina has the second lowest union membership in the country, second only to South Carolina.
As in other states, minimum-wage and lower-wage workers have protested for years to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour — but the labor department doesn’t control that. What it can control are some benefits for its own state employees.
Holmes said that she would grant Labor Department employees the paid parental leave that Gov. Roy Cooper, also a Democrat, urged state agencies to provide a year ago. It was encouraged, but not mandated, and Labor opted out. That would change under Holmes, she said.
Dobson stopped short of saying yes to paid parental leave for Labor employees, but said he wouldn’t rule it out. He said he would want to know more about what it would entail before agreeing to implement it for the agency’s workers.
Some companies have fought a higher minimum wage, saying they can’t afford it. But Holmes said a higher minimum can be good for businesses, depending on who you talk to.
“We don’t have to choose between being pro labor and pro business,” she said.
Holmes said she is very concerned about having voices of workers at the table about labor issues, and making sure they have a process for any workplace grievances.
Dobson said that North Carolina has been what is known as a right to work state, with restrictions on union organizing, under both Democratic and Republican administrations and is “one of the best states for business in the country.”
He said he supports the current state law that bans collective bargaining for state employees, which legislative Democrats want to overturn.
A former county commissioner, Dobson said that while most people associate the department with elevators, there is more to it, like the Wage and Hour Bureau. The bureau is meant to help employees with wage disputes.
Dobson said if he is elected he wants to focus on making sure that when the department gets a wage and hour complaint, that it is resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Holmes said in the News & Observer’s candidate questionnaire that the Labor Department should be setting the standard for family-friendly policies.
“Each year, thousands of workers turn to the department with little to no success in recovering earned wages. My office will more aggressively investigate and seek to recover unpaid wages owed to workers,” Holmes said.
As far as that elevator photo, both candidates have said previously they would consider it.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "NC labor commissioner race: More than just an elevator photo."
.jpg)