Democrat Braxton Winston (left) and Republican Luke Farley (right) face off in debate at Johnston County Community College. (Photo: Greg Childress)
The candidates of state Commissioner of Labor — Republican Luke Farley and Democrat Braxton Winston — squared off Tuesday in an ostensibly cordial debate that grew heated at times as the candidates attempted to define how he would lead North Carolina’s chief worker protection agency.
The candidates interspersed pointed political jabs among discussions of severe staff shortages at the Department of Labor, workplace safety, and the department’s role in the lives of the state’s more than five million workers.
Farley took shots at Winston, claiming that he had sought to defund the police department when he served on Charlotte’s city council. Winston pushed back with claims that Farley plans to follow in the steps of former Republican labor commissioners who he contends mismanaged department staffing and failed to protect workers.
“Don’t be fooled by Mr. [Luke] Farley,” Winston said. “He has said that he will model his administration behind commissioners of labor that have reduced the amount of workplace safety inspections and are not holding bad actors accountable.”
Winston is a former three-term Charlotte city council member who works as a union stagehand and grip. He said he has worked with Charlotte police officials to provide “alternative response models” to crisis. Those efforts, he said, have made law enforcement jobs and the city of Charlotte safer.
Farley has said that he plans to be a commissioner in the mold of current commissioner Josh Dobson and Dobson’s predecessor, Cherie Berry, who Farley said provided commonsense leadership that promoted job growth. Berry, a Republican, served in the office for 20 years and embraced the label “elevator lady” because her picture was plastered on certificates hanging in every elevator in the state.
In her final term, Berry faced criticism for her tepid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a ruling that the virus wasn’t a workplace hazard, and that no rules were needed to protect workers. Berry was also the subject of several media investigations during her tenure in which she was accused of failing to protect the health and safety of workers. Farley features her image and endorsement prominently on his website.
Donna Williams was an attendee at Tuesday’s debate between Labor Commissioner candidates Braxton Winson and Luke Farley. (Photo: Greg Childress)
Tuesday’s debate was hosted by the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership at Johnston County Community College. Spectrum News reporter and anchor Loretta Boniti moderated the event, which was attended by several dozen people.
Donna Williams drove the 40 miles or so from Raleigh for the debate. Williams, decked out in a red, white and blue dress she bought off from Amazon with American flags and “Land of the Free” printed on it, said she knows Farley and traveled to Smithfield to show her support.
“I’m a grandmother and I just want to see things from both sides,” Williams said. “That’s how you learn.”
Braxton Winston and Luke Farley have collected competing, if mostly unsurprising endorsements in their contest to lead the state’s Department of Labor.
Winston, who it is believed would be the first union member to serve in statewide office, collected the endorsement of the North Carolina Building Trade Council on Wednesday.
The organization, which represents about 5,000 tradesman and women, cited the Democratic nominee’s commitment to worker safety and his background as a union member at Tuesday press conference in Raleigh.
“The Labor Commissioner is supposed to work on issues that benefit workers, not policies that solely benefit employers at the expense of workers,” said Sebastian Feculak, political coordinator for the International Association of Iron Workers Mid-Atlantic.
Speakers highlighted a number of recent workplace incidents in North Carolina’s construction industry, including construction fires, scaffolding collapses, and heat-related incidents, that have led to worker deaths and injuries. They also criticized the state’s Department of Labor for being reactive rather than proactive in addressing safety issues.
“We need someone in this seat who will prioritize the well-being and indeed the very lives of working people,” said Aharon Segal, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 553. “Braxton Winston is that man.”
Construction deaths have risen in North Carolina over the past decade, with nearly 360 workers losing their lives on the job, according to a report earlier this year by the Charlotte Observer. In 2022 alone, 47 construction workers died on the job – that’s more than any time in the past decade.
In his speech, Winston blamed the increase in deaths on a decline in workplace inspections by the Department of Labor. “We’ve gone from a high of over 5,000 workplace inspections per year to less than 2,000,” he said.
The International Union of Operating Engineers, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council were all present in this morning’s press conference.
Farley, in contrast, has collected the endorsements of an array of prominent Republican politicians, including his two immediate predecessors and Republican Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, as well as a handful of conservative-leaning business and labor groups, including the Police Benevolent Association, NC Fraternal Order of Police, ABC Carolinas Associated Builders and Contractors, and the National Utility Contractors Association of the Carolinas.
The labor commissioner is a constitutional officer elected statewide. The commissioner serves a four-year term that runs concurrently with governor and other members of the Council of State. The commissioner is head of the Department of Labor and is charged by statute to promote the “health, safety and general well-being” of the state’s more than four million workers. The laws and program administered by the department affects every worker in the state.
At Tuesday’s debate, Farley, a lawyer whose practice focuses on construction law, continued to cast himself as a “commonsense conservative” who will approach the job of labor commissioner without a political agenda. He said businesses and workers should both be treated as customers by the Labor Department.
“If a worker has a complaint, you’re our customer,” Farley said. “If you’re a business owner and come to us to ask how do I implement this regulation, you’re our customer.”
Winston pounced, reminding the audience that Farley said he planned to take a “conservative” approach to running the department if elected to the office next month. That, Winston said, has been the approach taken by previous Republican commissioners, which has led to a reduction in Department of Labor inspections.
Farley pledged to strike the right balance between workers and employers if elected to serve as commissioner.
“If you really care about workers, you care that they have good, safe jobs to go to, and so as labor commissioner, I’ll always be focused on striking that right balance,” Farley said.
Farley added that he will aggressively pursue employers who violate labor laws but extend a hand to help employers with education and training to meet their legal obligations to workers.
Winston said that it’s important that the state takes care of workers because a strong workforce attracts businesses.
“The idea of being first [in the nation for business] and workers is not mutually exclusive,” Winston said. “Businesses want to go places where the workforce is strong, where it’s educated, where it’s diverse and resilient.”