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Activists fight North Carolina law barring cities from raising minimum wage
Source: The Guardian
Activists fight North Carolina law barring cities from raising minimum wage
Across the south, state legislatures have passed ‘pre-emption laws’
stopping cities such as Democrat-run, majority-black Durham from
heeding the Fight for $15
Mike Elk in Durham, North Carolina
Wednesday 5 April 2017 15.35 BST
“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around,” sang the Rev Curtis Greenwood, field director for the North Carolina NAACP, as he led a chorus of 100 labor and civil rights activists on Tuesday evening.
The activists had packed the historic mahogany church at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham to commemorate the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King and hold a field hearing for low-wage workers as they renewed their commitment to King’s dream.
“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around,” sang the crowd. “I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’ / Marchin’ down to freedom land.” For North Carolina Fight for $15 activists, the march could be a very long one.
Unlike in other states, where urban progressive enclaves have raised their minimum wage, activists in North Carolina are legally barred from doing so. In 2013, the majority white Republican-held North Carolina general assembly passed a so-called “pre-emption law” that forbids cities, many of them majority black like Durham, from passing legislation to increase the minimum wage at municipal level.
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Across the south, state legislatures have passed ‘pre-emption laws’
stopping cities such as Democrat-run, majority-black Durham from
heeding the Fight for $15
Mike Elk in Durham, North Carolina
Wednesday 5 April 2017 15.35 BST
“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around,” sang the Rev Curtis Greenwood, field director for the North Carolina NAACP, as he led a chorus of 100 labor and civil rights activists on Tuesday evening.
The activists had packed the historic mahogany church at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham to commemorate the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King and hold a field hearing for low-wage workers as they renewed their commitment to King’s dream.
“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around,” sang the crowd. “I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’ / Marchin’ down to freedom land.” For North Carolina Fight for $15 activists, the march could be a very long one.
Unlike in other states, where urban progressive enclaves have raised their minimum wage, activists in North Carolina are legally barred from doing so. In 2013, the majority white Republican-held North Carolina general assembly passed a so-called “pre-emption law” that forbids cities, many of them majority black like Durham, from passing legislation to increase the minimum wage at municipal level.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/05/minimum-wage-north-carolina-pre-emption-law
