At its convention last September, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee voted to approve a boycott of VUSE e-cigarettes until their manufacturer, the Winston-Salem-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, agreed to allow all the workers in its supply chain to unionize. On April 9, the boycott began in earnest. Baldemar Velasquez, president of the FLOC, says protests […]
Sammy Hanf
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Durham Activists Want the City to Become the First in the U.S. to Condemn Exchanges Between Local Cops and Israeli Security Forces
Since 9/11, high-ranking American police officers from all over the country have been sent to Israel for counterterrorism training, a practice critics find problematic due to Israeli security forces’ record of human rights abuses. Demilitarize! From Durham2Palestine—a coalition of local activist groups—wants the city council to pass a resolution condemning these exchanges and provide assurances […]
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Inside-Outside Alliance, Alerta Migratoria Protest the Durham Sheriff’s Video-Visitation and ICE Detainer Policies
The Inside-Outside Alliance and Alerta Migratoria gathered just over thirty people in CCB Plaza Thursday to protest the Durham Sheriff’s Office’s planned implementation of video visitation and its policy of honoring ICE detainers. The group gathered outside of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners annual conference in an effort to pressure Sheriff Mike Andrews, […]
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The Legislature Gives Underpaid Home Care Workers Some Long-Overdue Relief
Workers who provide home care for seniors in North Carolina do a grueling, difficult job, and they’ve been doing it for very low pay for a long time. In a little-noticed provision in the budget approved by the General Assembly—over Governor Cooper’s veto—they’ll get some relief. The budget increases the Medicaid reimbursement rate for in-home […]
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Durham City Council Votes to Provide Grants to Some Southside Residents Struggling with Property Tax Bills
The Durham City Council voted Monday to sideline a program that would have extended loans to Durham homeowners suffering from the increased taxes that come with higher property valuations. Instead, on a 4–3 vote, the council approved a proposal from council member Steve Schewel to give residents of the Southside neighborhood grants for the difference […]
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Durham Will Have to Wait Another Week for Sunday Morning Drinks
Sorry, Durham, but you’ll have to wait a little longer to imbibe at brunch on Sunday mornings. Durham restaurants and residents had been calling on the Durham City Council to pass an ordinance allowing alcohol sales to start at ten a.m. on Sundays, but at its Thursday work session, the council declined to suspend its […]
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Bills in North Carolina, Congress Target Companies That Boycott Israel
North Carolina senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis have cosponsored a bill that could impose stiff criminal and civil penalties for engaging in a boycott of Israel or its occupied territories. A similar—albeit less draconian—state bill, passed in the General Assembly in June, currently sits on Governor Cooper’s desk. These bills target the Boycott, Divestment, […]
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Farmworkers Blast Governor Cooper for Signing a Bill They Say Hurts Their Ability to Unionize
Farmworkers were joined by other activists outside Raleigh’s Capitol building Tuesday to denounce a bill that they say threatens their ability to organize. Senate Bill 615, signed by Governor Cooper last Wednesday, makes it illegal for farmers to deduct voluntary union dues from their workers’ paychecks and also prohibits workers from reaching a legal settlement […]
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Twenty-two Percent of Durham County Contracts Awarded to Women, Minorities This Fiscal Year, Up from Just 6 Percent
Durham County is short of its goal to award 25 percent of its contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses but appears to be on track to do so by the end of the fiscal year, which concludes at the end of the month. Farad Ali, president of The Institute of Minority Economic Development (and a […]
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Durham County Has Awarded 22 Percent of Contracts to Minority-, Women-Owned Businesses So Far This Fiscal Year
Durham County is short of its goal to award 25 percent of its contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses but appears to be on track to do so by the end of the fiscal year. Farad Ali, president of The Institute of Minority Economic Development (and a candidate for mayor of Durham), gave a report […]