10 Easy Ways to Support Workers around Labor Day

10 Easy Ways to Support Western North Carolina Workers Around Labor Day

  1. Show your appreciation for working people through our pandemic version of Love Letters to Workers. So many people from grocery workers to CNAs have put their health at risk, working through this pandemic with low wages and little acknowledgement.  Use this template to spread gratitude for other workers.  Print it out, add a handwritten note, and hand it out to the workers you come across daily.
  2. Tip a random service worker.  While many service workers are back at work, bars and restaurants are not back to full capacity, and many local service workers are just scraping by. You can do a random act of kindness with a random tip here: https://avl.tips/
  3. Fight for $15 for Asheville Firefighters. The City of Asheville raised starting worker pay to $15/hr except for 77 firefighters.  Firefighters work long, 24 hour shifts protecting our communities and saving lives.  Read more about the firefighters here and send an email to Asheville City Council using this address: ashevillenccouncil@ashevillenc.gov
  4. Show your support for nurses organizing a union at Mission.  The nurses at Mission Health are working to organize a union to advocate for better working conditions allowing for better patient care. Watch/share this video & use this FB frame
  5. Sign the petition to raise North Carolina’s minimum wage. While 29 other states have a higher minimum wage than the federal, North Carolina’s minimum wage is still stuck at the federal $7.25/hr and has been for ELEVEN YEARS!  Support the campaign to raise the minimum wage here:  https://raisingwagesnc.org/take-action
  6. Thank a Living Wage Employer.  When employers pay a living wage, workers start out making a wage they can live on and can grow from there. Encourage businesses to become Living Wage Certified Employers and thank the ones who are.  Use the list here to put a note of thanks on their facebook page or in their reviews or email.
  7. Support Pro-Worker Public Policy and Organizing Efforts.  You can learn more about issues like paid sick days, paid family leave, living wages and others through organizations like Just Economics, Down Home, or the NC Justice Center and coalitions like NC Families Care (give them a like on FB).  Check out up to date policy action alerts here:  https://www.ncjustice.org/take-action/
  8. Pledge to Vote.  Voting is one way we can use our collective voice to speak up for working people.  Check your voter registration here.  Sign this pledge to vote  And throughout this election cycle ask questions and listen to policies and ideas and their impact on working people.
  9. Support Mutual Aid.  Mutual aid is a term used to describe taking care of each other.  Throughout this pandemic (and before), groups like the Asheville Survival Network, Beloved Asheville, Rural Organizing And Resistance and others have been sharing food and supplies with people in need.  Check them out and donate money or supplies.
  10. Share Information about Worker and Community Organizing.  Just Economics has a free, 8 week community organizing and leadership training called Voices for Economic Justice.  Share this flyer about the training.  There is also a WNC Workers’ Assembly beginning to meet monthly, share this interest form with workers you know.
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