One of the challenges of being a swing state is that presidential campaigns tend to suck up a lot of attention in North Carolina – to the detriment of other important statewide races on the ballot that don't get as much coverage. In an ongoing series, we’ll break down the statewide races here, on the WUNC Politics Podcast, and in the WUNC Politics Newsletter.
The labor commissioner is best-known for being the elected position pictured on elevator placards (remember Cherie Berry?). But overseeing the agency that inspects elevators and carnival rides is just one part of the job.
This race pits Republican Luke Farley against Democrat Braxton Winston.
Winston says the Department of Labor has been too “employer-centric” under GOP leadership to the detriment of workers. Farley says the department needs to strike a balance between safety needs and regulatory burdens to prevent jobs from being moved outside North Carolina.
What does the Labor Commissioner do?
The Department of Labor also does workplace safety inspections and enforces wage-and-hour laws, looking into complaints about workers getting shortchanged by their employers.
Both candidates are concerned that staffing shortages in the Department of Labor are resulting in backlogged workplace and elevator inspections. Farley wants state lawmakers to approve a 10% raise with retention bonuses for department employees, and Winston is also calling for better pay. Both candidates also say they’d restore the commissioner’s photo to elevator placards. That’s something Dobson eliminated, but the candidates argue makes them more accountable and can help raise awareness of the agency’s work.
Current Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson – a Republican who beat Jessica Holmes by less than 100,000 votes in the 2020 race – isn’t seeking re-election and isn’t running for another office.
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Who is Braxton Winston?
A Democrat, Winston, 41, is a former Charlotte City Councilman and theatrical workers union member who works as a stagehand and a camera operator for the Charlotte Hornets. He holds a degree in anthropology from Davidson College.
Who is Luke Farley?
A Republican, Farley, 39, is a workplace safety attorney who’s making his first run for elected office, after winning the GOP primary over a better-known Republican state lawmaker – former state Rep. Jon Hardister. He’s running with the support of longtime Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Farley has a law degree from Wake Forest.
In their own words…
On why they’re running and what they’d bring to the job:
Farley: “This race is really a choice between a Defund The Police activist with a criminal record and a workplace safety attorney who's been boots on the ground, understanding what it takes to keep workers safe, healthy and employed. I've worked with the regulations my entire career. I understand how to effectively implement them and how to do it in a way that isn't overly burdensome.”
Winston: “My background is being in the labor movement in North Carolina, as well as my ability to sit in the room with Fortune 500 CEOs. I tell everybody, you don't get to be the mayor pro-tem at the city of Charlotte without having good relationships with the business community. So, as I kind of stepped back and thought about what I should be doing with my time, running for this Commissioner of Labor race made very practical sense.”
On the balance between worker safety regulations and the needs of employers:
Farley: “Reasonable regulation attracts jobs to the state, and unreasonable and overly burdensome regulation drives jobs out of the state. … I think the best tool that the department has for keeping workers safe and healthy, is to do what they call consultative visits. The Department of Labor will come into your place of business, will point out places where you're not living up to your obligations in terms of safety, maybe something's not up to code, but if you correct it within a certain amount of time, it's no-harm-no-foul, and it's a collaborative approach to safety. So, on average, the wait time is about 95 days. I think that needs to go to 45 days or less.”
Winston: “For at least the past 24 years, you've had a Department of Labor that has been kind of employer-centric, so we really need a Department of Labor that is focused on making sure workers are coming home with paychecks, with the money that they earned at work, making sure that they're going to work in healthy and safe situations. … We were doing over 5,000 (workplace safety inspections) a year, Commissioner Berry changed that to reduce the amount of inspections that we've been doing, so now we're only we're doing less than 2,000 safety inspections per year. That's despite all the growth that has occurred in North Carolina.”
On how to regulate heat safety for workers:
Farley: “The Biden administration is pushing a one-size-fits-all mandate for the whole country. I would prefer a North Carolina-based solution that accounts for our climate, our workers and the jobs that they're doing. I think the broad outlines of it would be based on rest, water and shade. Those are the things that are shown to be the best ways to fight against heat stress.”
Winston: “I applaud the Biden administration for starting that process on the national level. … But there certainly needs to be a parallel and intersecting state heat safety standard rule, and I certainly intend to create that table where businesses, workers and other governments can come to the table and make one that it takes into account the diverse environments and industries that North Carolina has.”
On whether the labor commissioner should put their photo on elevator inspection placards:
Farley: “It's a unique North Carolina tradition. I say it is as North Carolina as pulled pork barbecue and Cheerwine, and so the picture is coming back. It's fantastic for government accountability. I would not put my picture, my signature or my name on something, unless I was willing to stand behind the work of the department. But I also think there's a benefit to it, that it encourages people to ask, ‘what else does the department do?’”
Winston: “I think it's important that people are able to put a face and name to their government, and I think it's a great thing that so many people are familiar with the Department of Labor and the Commissioner of Labor in that way. I think there's more that can be done with that certificate. Is this a way that you can use technology to learn more about your rights or communicate directly with the Department of Labor? What if you could use a QR code in your phone to communicate with the Department of Labor directly?”
For more on Braxton Winston, Luke Farley and the North Carolina Labor Commissioner race in 2024, read and subscribe to the WUNC Politics Newsletter and listen to full conversations with them on the WUNC Politics Podcast.
