Press Release

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — At last night’s City Council meeting, members of a coalition of faith, community and labor leaders called on the panel to pass a resolution to raise city workers’ wages to $15 an hour or more by 2021.

In a meeting on Friday, May 18, City Manager Lee Garrity shared an internal plan to reach $15 by the 2021 date. While advocates welcomed this plan, they called on the city’s elected leadership to make a far stronger commitment by passing a resolution.

Craig Schaub, pastor at Parkway United Church of Christ, said:

“We are eager to work with Winston-Salem City Council members ready to pass an employees’ resolution to guarantee wages of at least $15 per hour for all city workers by 2021, a three-year incremental increase.”

Catherine Walton-Ward, Working America’s North Carolina state director, said:

“The mayor and City Council members have signaled their intention to tackle poverty in Winston-Salem. The first place they should look is to the people who keep Winston-Salem moving.

City workers shouldn’t struggle to get by on the wages they are paid. That’s why it’s time to pass an ordinance to provide family wages of $15 an hour or more.

I am glad that the city is having a conversation around this and finally moving in the right direction. An internal plan is good, but what we really need is a resolution in which our mayor and City Council members affirm this commitment.”

Supporting organizations include: First Baptist Church Winston-Salem (Highland Ave), Forsyth County Association of Educators (FCAE), Goler Memorial AME Zion Church, Institute for Dismantling Racism, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity, North Carolina AFL-CIO, NC Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Council of Churches, NC Justice Center, Parkway United Church of Christ, Progress NC, Triad Central Labor Council, UE Local 150 Public Service Workers Union, Winston-Salem NAACP, Winston-Salem Urban League and Working America.