NORTH CAROLINA AFL–CIO: HOW A SMALL STATE FEDERATION BUILDS POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE POWER WITHOUT MONEY OR NUMBERS

North Carolina connects with the two main themes laid in the other case studies explored in this Working USA issue. Like New York, the labor movement went through the New Alliance process facilitated by the national American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO). As with Atlanta, labor leaders have wrestled with how to build power in the hostile climate of the American South. This case adds a new dimension in that the focus for coalition building and an expanding political program has been through the state federation. Unlike New York or Georgia, low union density and geographical dispersion make resourcing local and regional AFL–CIO bodies difficult—establishing the state as the natural level to develop strategies for building power.