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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Berry Berry Contrary
The N.C. Department of Labor's mandate: protect the "health, safety and general well-being" of more than 4 million workers in the state.
Cherie Berry's purpose in life, as the current N.C. Secretary of Labor: help N.C. businesses avoid the "burdens" of protecting the health, safety, and general well-being of more than 4 million workers.
And she has the gall to brag to business leaders that she stood up to the Charlotte Observer's investigative series on malfeasance in the Department of Labor: "I stood firm and took the heat from The Charlotte Observer."
Mary Fant Donnan, who wants to actually carry out the mandated functions of the department, is running against Berry this fall.
Cherie Berry's purpose in life, as the current N.C. Secretary of Labor: help N.C. businesses avoid the "burdens" of protecting the health, safety, and general well-being of more than 4 million workers.
And she has the gall to brag to business leaders that she stood up to the Charlotte Observer's investigative series on malfeasance in the Department of Labor: "I stood firm and took the heat from The Charlotte Observer."
Mary Fant Donnan, who wants to actually carry out the mandated functions of the department, is running against Berry this fall.
Labels: Cherie Berry, Mary Fant Donnan
Monday, July 28, 2008
Give 'The Elevator Lady' the Shaft!
Besides getting to put her name inside every elevator in the state, Berry oversees many worker-safety issues. One of her major responsibilities ... worker safety in chicken processing plants, of which N.C. has many, where working conditions have been notoriously rotten.
A Charlotte Observer investigative series of articles exposing unsafe working conditions in the poultry industry prompted the state legislature to give additional money to Berry's department to hire four new poultry plant inspectors. On July 18 Berry announced that she would accept the four new positions but not use them for the purpose lawmakers intended. A cheeky response to the NC General Assembly, no doubt, and its message was clear: the chummy relationship between Berry and the chicken-plucking industry is gonna remain chummy.
Which sorta pissed off the editorial board at the Charlotte Observer:
"We're going to continue doing business the way I imagine we've always done it," said Delores Quesenberry, spokeswoman for Ms. Berry. "We've been doing a good job with that [poultry plant inspections] all along. And we're going to continue that."
A good job? What has Ms. Quesenberry been smoking? ...
...lax regulations and weak oversight have made it easy for a dangerous industry to exploit illegal workers, underreport injuries and get around a regulatory system that lets companies police themselves....
...Yet when confronted with that evidence, here's what Ms. Berry said: "We're going to keep doing what we're doing because it's working," she said. That's not the voice of someone who's intent on looking out for the state's workers....
...Rules and policies at the state labor department have tilted toward business instead of worker safety. Inspections and fines at poultry plants are at record lows....
Fortunately for voters this is an election year....
The Observer editorial then endorsed Democratic Labor Commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan.
Labels: Cherie Berry, chicken industry, Mary Fant Donnan, North Carolina Department of Labor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
People Who Vote in Primary Run-Offs...
...are few and far between, but there'll be an important run-off June 24 for the Democratic nominee for Secretary of Labor, between Mary Fant Donnan and John C. Brooks.
The State Board of Elections made the decision today to eliminate the other two candidates (who were in this race on May 6th and who ran 3rd and 4th), one of whom was Robin Anderson. We'll miss Anderson especially since she's credited with dubbing the ruling Secretary of Labor, Cherie Berry, "the elevator lady" for her selfless devotion to sharing her pic with every elevator rider in North Carolina.
One of the jobs the Secretary of Labor oversees is the inspection of elevators.
The State Board of Elections made the decision today to eliminate the other two candidates (who were in this race on May 6th and who ran 3rd and 4th), one of whom was Robin Anderson. We'll miss Anderson especially since she's credited with dubbing the ruling Secretary of Labor, Cherie Berry, "the elevator lady" for her selfless devotion to sharing her pic with every elevator rider in North Carolina.
One of the jobs the Secretary of Labor oversees is the inspection of elevators.
Labels: John C. Brooks, Mary Fant Donnan, Robin Anderson
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Run-Off for the Secretary of Labor Spot
A run-off for the Democratic Secretary of Labor candidate now seems more than likely. The winner will face incumbent Republican Cherie Berry ("the elevator lady").
The four Democratic candidates on the May 6th primary ballot finished so close to one another, and there were so many provisional ballots to certify and count, the outcome is still clouded. Mary Fant Donnan, who had about 27.5 percent of the vote, is the front-runner. Former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks, who was in second place, has already filed for a runoff. Only 2,584 votes separated Brooks from the third-place finisher Ty Richardson.
The four Democratic candidates on the May 6th primary ballot finished so close to one another, and there were so many provisional ballots to certify and count, the outcome is still clouded. Mary Fant Donnan, who had about 27.5 percent of the vote, is the front-runner. Former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks, who was in second place, has already filed for a runoff. Only 2,584 votes separated Brooks from the third-place finisher Ty Richardson.
Labels: John C. Brooks, Mary Fant Donnan, Ty Richardson
