If you've ever had a job as a waiter or a bartender in North Carolina, you already know that an hour of your work is worth a mere $2.13—not even enough to buy a cup of coffee.
The minimum wage for workers who receive tips (yep, $2.13 an hour) is just one of the appalling statewide policies that remains unchanged since last year, when North Carolina was ranked dead last in a list of best and worst places to work in the nation.
This week, North Carolina once again came 52nd on that list, compiled by Oxfam, an international nonprofit that fights poverty.
The organization ranks states based on things like wages, worker protections, and paid leave. North Carolina, which not only has one of the lowest minimum wages in America ($7.25 an hour), but also prohibits local governments from raising that minimum wage in their own city or town, easily snagged last place.
In addition to the abysmal minimum wage—which amounts to about 20 percent of the wage it would take to support a family of four—North Carolina has laws on the books that actively suppress workers' ability to negotiate for higher pay. Our right-to-work law suppresses unions and unsurprisingly, the state does not provide comparable collective bargaining tools for workers.
Protections for workers are also practically nonexistent. North Carolina does not provide accommodations for pregnant or breastfeeding workers, paid family leave, or paid sick leave. There's not even a statewide law protecting workers from sexual...
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