Hi John,
My name is Willie Brown. I’m a Stormwater Infrastructure Maintenance Specialist Senior in the Public Works Department for the City of Durham, NC and President of UE Local 150: North Carolina Public Service Workers' Union; I’m also the Vice President of UE 150 Chapter: Durham City Workers Union. Becoming an activist with UE Research and Education Fund’s Southern Worker Justice Campaign has been one of my most meaningful experiences. I want to tell you about it and invite you to join our fight.
When I was hired with the City of Durham, I felt hopeful. However, I started noticing things that felt a little off: You need a commercial driver’s license to drive many of the City’s trucks, but the city didn’t want to pay for commercial driver’s license training. They did not have and still don’t have a reimbursement policy or even compensation bonuses for employees they hire with such commercial driver’s licenses. I was like, “That’s not right!” We just wanted to get paid fair wages for our work and compensated for what we bring to the table like anybody that works. I started looking around for ways to improve our situation.
Commercial driver’s license training comes at a substantial cost, all of which is footed at the cost of the driver. I just kept my eyes opened and watched… I couldn’t wait to get off probation and the day I got off, I asked who was the Union Rep. Lol! They directed me to Donald Quick and The Mouth of The South ain’t shut up since.
That’s when I found the Union and the Southern Worker Justice Campaign. SWJC helps workers secure big wins for economic justice. The majority of Durham’s City Workers are Black, and we’ve been suffering for years. Our wages haven’t kept up with inflation… Who can? Our wages haven’t even kept up with the Living Wage Standards and our jobs are getting more dangerous due to the workforce shrinking and climate change — which means more work per person, in worse conditions, for those who stay. Last year, SWJC helped us organize and speak out at city meetings. But we got stonewalled.
I guess the people who disrespect you so much and refuse to pay you a living wage don’t want to hear you complain about it. But our community supported us, just like we support them every day. With SWJC’s help, we organized a stand down action and won $6.5 million in bonuses for Durham’s lowest paid workers in 2023 and $28 million in raises in 2024. I know that sounds like a lot, but when you do the math on the worker shortage and the downsizing of the workforce versus the volume of work and the funds allotted to positions that are never going to be filled, it’s only a drop in the bucket. It’s actually irresponsible and damn near a scandal of the public’s money that we are paid so little.
Let’s just say we kept pushing and won a city-funded commercial driver’s license program; however, we continue to fight for wage increases for commercial driver’s license holders. We more than understand that commercial driver’s license employees are the heartbeat of America and this is a fight we are not going to compromise in Durham or elsewhere.
I wasn’t always the fierce labor activist I am today. I’m a Southern boy with a college education and what I did know about unions I didn’t care for. In the South, they always told us the big lie: The company is just keeping afloat and we can’t afford to pay you the market rate or what you are really worth; work hard and you will be successful! Just work hard and keep quiet to get ahead. They say unions just want to take your money, drive up your taxes and company cost, in the name of protecting workers’ “right to work.” LOL! Maybe it was just me or have you heard some of those same things?
When I joined SWJC, I learned the real story. When they take away our right to unionize, like they have here in NC, they’re protecting their own pocketbooks while pushing working people like you and me down. Look at Durham: it’s a beautiful city that generates a lot of money through tourism. Who keeps Durham clean and vibrant? WE do! But then they turn around and tell us they can’t spare any of those nice tourist dollars to pay us enough to be able to live in the very city we serve. That’s not right.
When you get drinking water from the tap, city workers make sure it’s clean.
When you take out your trash, city workers pick it up and keep your streets clean.
When your street doesn’t flood in a storm, city workers maintain that infrastructure.
When you go for a run or walk, city workers keep the trail neat and the park clean for you.
The city only works because we do.
SWJC stands with Black, Brown, and immigrant public-sector workers across the South in our fight for rights and dignity in the workplace. We educate and empower working-class public-sector workers to stand up for workplace justice and take the lead in broader social movements for change. We bring rank-and-file workers together across states and industries in common cause, develop them into leaders, and build power for those who need it most. SWJC showed me how powerful our voices can be when we raise them together and demand what we need to live a good life. I want every worker across the South to take this opportunity to have their eyes, ears, hearts and mind opened to learn like I did.
We still have a long way to go to secure economic justice here in North Carolina and most certainly in The South. Can we count on you to stand with us in fighting for Black workers’ rights? Nothing worth having in this fight will come without a challenge or sacrifice. We may not win all of them but you can never win the ones you don’t fight.
Thank you for reading these few words… In solidarity!
Willie Brown,
President, UE Local 150
V.P. Durham City Workers Union: UE 150 Chapter
