Labor Runoff: Please mark your calendars!!!! Tuesday, June 24th

Labor Commissioner Runoff between Mary Fant Donnan and John Brooks.

Every working family of North Carolina needs your informed vote and your help in getting others out to vote on June 24th (early vote 6/5-6/21).

Please make sure you cast your ballot in the Commissioner of Labor Runoff (the ONLY statewide runoff) on June 24th. Each vote is incredibly important – recall that only 80,000 votes were cast in the 2004 runoff for Public Instruction. As 1.2 million votes were counted in the primary in the Labor race I find it remarkable that such a potentially small number may determine who will challenge Cherie Berry in the general election. Not to devalue any single vote in the primary (especially since our race was barely five thousand votes behind John Brooks) – your informed participation in this particular runoff is critical.

Now that the dust has settled and there will not be a recount in the Labor race I am in the process of catching my breath. (And to reiterate – I cannot tell you how much your support meant to me in my campaign for the nomination). But it is time for me to move forward. My deep concern for the workers of North Carolina due to the failures of the current administration and my commitment to defeat the ‘elevator lady’ remains steadfast.

Therefore, I strongly endorse Mary Fant Donnan.

Mary Fant is more than imminently qualified to lead the Department of Labor -- to quote today’s endorsement by the Charlotte Observer – she is ‘a smart, capable choice.’

Mary Fant had also been endorsed during the primary by the AFL-CIO, Independent Weekly, and People’s Alliance and by Harry Payne, beloved former commissioner in labor and progressive circles, and I anticipate that she will be earning new endorsements over the coming weeks.

So please join me in supporting Mary Fant Donnan for Labor Commissioner on June 24th and encouraging every colleague, friend or family member to do the same.

A very good overview of Mary Fant’s positions can be found in her interview by the NC Center for Voter Education (both written and with a link to ‘in her own words’) at www.unctv.org/election/candidates/council_of_state/labor_bios/mary_donna....

Also, please check out her position on issues such as minimum wage, health & safety, ergonomics, farm workers and apprenticeship programs on her website at www.maryfantdonnan.com; as well as other issues addressed at www.progressivedemocratsnc.org (lower right link – where do candidates stand) and www.durhampa.org/endorse2008/Labor/questionnaire-MaryDonnan.pdf.

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In contrast, a snippet of pertinent information on John Brooks, 71:

From Charlotte Observer Ames Alexander April 17, 2008: The state's worst industrial accident -- the 1991 chicken plant fire in Hamlet that killed 25 workers -- played a pivotal role in ending Brooks' 16 years as N.C. labor commissioner. The labor department had never inspected the plant. Brooks lost his 1992 re-election bid to a challenger who said the Hamlet disaster revealed deep-seated problems at the labor department. Brooks has said the department didn't have the staff to inspect the plant before the fire, but contended the state responded effectively afterward.

And again from Yes Weekly Jordan Green March 28, 2008: Recent revelations of abuses in North Carolina poultry plants may ring familiar. In 1991, under the Brooks administration, a grease fire swept through the Imperial Food Products plant in Hamlet, killing 26 workers all told in the state's worst industrial disaster. The Hamlet plant lacked fire alarms and water sprinklers, and workers found themselves trapped because the doors had been barred to prevent them from stealing chickens.
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In my opinion there is only one choice - Mary Fant Donnan.