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Donate to the Progressive Caucus of the NC Democratic Party
I Pledge to Support a Living Wage
Public sector workers are critical to the success of government, handling both day-to-day functions and the on-the-ground implementation of policy. Yet their contributions go either unnoticed or unappreciated as seen by their low, often stagnating salaries. At this time of skyrocketing housing costs and inflationary pressures, many employees are now facing the difficult decision between serving their communities or shifting to the private sector to afford being able to live. A full-time working person should - at a minimum - be able to afford a basic standard of living within their own community without experiencing personal financial fragility and the mental and physical health impacts that come along with it. Local governments must lead by their values in working to solve this critical problem.
"I pledge to use my office to raise and maintain the starting salaries of all public employees to a living wage. I pledge to increase the local teaching supplement for teachers and school staff to cover the gap between the state salary schedule and the local annual cost of living. I pledge to advance and support a resolution establishing a living wage ordinance for all public employees in my local government."
2024 living wage numbers are shown below for ease of reference; click on your county to see how much an employee must make to afford the local cost of living. The exact formula for calculating living wage can be found at the bottom of this webpage.
Sign the Pledge
The Progressive Caucus, Labor Caucus, and Young Democrats of North Carolina have worked together to create a pledge directed at officials and candidates currently holding or running for local office. Our three organizations require signing this pledge as a prerequisite to endorsement consideration for city/town council and mayoral candidates, county commissioner candidates, and school board candidates. Please use the below linked Google Form to digitally sign the pledge.
Living Wage Definition:
Living wage is a defined salary level at which a full-time employee spends no more than 30% of their gross annual income on their housing costs. Modeled off the successful living wage ordinances adopted by the cities of Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh as well as the Orange and Wake County governments, housing prices are determined by averaging the Department of Housing and Urban Development's four most recently published years' one-bedroom FMRs (Fair Market Rents) for the relevant HUD metro area. Living wage is only enough to cover basic needs and expenses and is a well defined but minimum standard that should not be an over-interpreted measure of success. In signing this pledge, I am committing to use my office to advance increases to the local budget in order for local government employees to make an annual or hourly salary indexed to the above definition of a living wage or $15 an hour, whichever is higher.
Please email endorsementschair@pcncdp.org with any questions about our joint living wage candidate pledge.
Elected Officials
Pepi Acebo
Asheville Board of Education
Denise 'D.D.' Adams
Winston-Salem City Council
Nida Allam
Durham County Commission
Nate Baker
Durham City Council
Drew Ball
Buncombe County Commission
Mario Benavente
Fayetteville City Council
Michelle Burton
Durham County Commission
Marilyn Carter
Orange County Commission
Greg Cheatham
Buncombe Board of Education
Amanda Dumas
Huntersville Town Commission
Rob Elliot
Buncombe Board of Education
Sean C. Ewing
Mebane City Council
Arthur Griffin
Mecklenburg County Commission
Adam Hege
Watauga Board of Education
Bo Hess
Asheville City Council
Jennifer Horton
Buncombe County Commission
Matt Hughes
Hillsborough Town Commission
Wendy Jacobs
Durham County Commission
Bettye JenkinsÂ
Guilford Board of Education
Vivian Joiner
Winston-Salem City Council
Christina Jones
Raleigh City Council
Veronica B. Jones
Cumberland County Commissioner
Judy Justice
New Hanover Board of Education
Vilma D. Leake
Mecklenburg County Commission
Lethia Lee
Sampson County Commission
Mike Lee
Durham County Commission
Charles Martin
Buncombe Board of Education
Tim Merrick
New Hanover Board of Education
Megan Patton
Raleigh City Council
Phyllis Portie-Ascott
Orange County Commission
Gregory 'Dee' Rankin
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
Gary Redding
Halifax County Commission
Susan Rodriguez-McDowell
Mecklenburg County Commission
George Sieburg
Asheville Board of Education
Jimmie C. Silver
Halifax County Commission
Parker Sloan
Buncombe County Commission
Yvette Townsend-Ingram
Mecklenburg County Commission
Sage Turner
Asheville City Council
Stephen J. Valentine
Durham County Commission
Tara Waters
Wake County Commission
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