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Several cities and counties in North Carolina have granted some form of paid leave to their public employees.

• Do you support this? Why or why not?
• If elected, would you push for paid leave for your city/county’s public employees? Why or why not?

Several cities and counties in North Carolina have raised the minimum wage for local public employees. Doing this puts more money into local economies, while encouraging private employers to raise their wages to stay competitive.

• Do you support the decision by some North Carolina cities and counties to raise their wage floor for local government employees? If not, why?
• If elected, how will you advocate for higher wages for public employees in your city/county?

At some point all of us will need to heal from a major illness or accident, welcome a new baby home, or care for a family member. Several other states have passed guaranteed paid family and medical leave policies, but in North Carolina more than 3.6 million working people have no access to paid leave.

• Would you support a statewide paid family and medical leave policy for working North Carolinians? If not, why?
• Would you support legislation that allows paid family leave through a public insurance program that lets working people pay into the system so that they can take time off with pay when they need it? If not, why not?
• Paid family and medical leave boosts women’s participation in the workforce and benefits both working families and the overall economy. Would you fight to ensure access to paid family and medical leave as part of improving women’s workforce participation?
• If elected, how will you advocate for working North Carolinians’ access to paid family and medical leave?

Several states have passed laws that give paid sick days to all working people. Here in North Carolina, there have been attempts at the state level to pass paid sick day legislation each session for the past 16 years, but none have ever come to a vote.

• Do you support allowing working people to earn paid time off to use when sick, for preventative medical care, or when caring for a sick loved one? If not, why?
• In 2021, two out of three hourly workers reported coming to work sick because they didn’t have paid sick time or were afraid of losing their jobs. If elected, how will you ensure that all working North Carolinians have access to paid sick time?

States across the country, including some in the South, have raised the minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25/hour. In North Carolina, there have been multiple attempts to pass legislation to raise the minimum wage. None of these have been successful. There has been a demand for a higher minimum wage, especially as inflation drives North Carolina’s cost of living up. 

• If elected, how will you work to make a $15 minimum wage a reality for all working people in North Carolina?
• If you don’t think we should have a $15 per hour minimum wage, why not?
• If elected, how will you make sure all working people are able to pay their bills if their jobs don’t pay enough to make ends meet?
• What would you tell working people who aren’t able to afford the basics in North Carolina despite working full-time?

North Carolina used to have an unemployment insurance program that was comparable to the programs of other states. But in 2013, cuts were made to our unemployment insurance program, and countless jobseekers across the state lost crucial support. Since then, North Carolina’s unemployment insurance system has been ranked among the worst in the country.

• If elected, how will you work to make North Carolina’s unemployment insurance program stronger?
• Do you think our elected officials in North Carolina should do more to help working people get back on their feet after losing a job?
• If elected, what will you do to support the thousands of North Carolinians who lose their job each year through no fault of their own?

Quality, affordable, appropriate, and safe childcare is essential to keeping parents in the workforce. But North Carolina is facing a childcare crisis. Parents are struggling to find and afford care, especially in rural areas, and many childcare centers in our state are at risk of shutting down.

• Do you support increased investment in our state’s childcare system? If not, why not?
• If you are elected, how will you work to address the childcare crisis and ensure that North Carolina has a robust childcare system?
• If elected, how will you support efforts to make childcare more affordable for working parents?