Groups rally for $15 minimum wage, better work conditions on Labor Day

To maintain social distance, the rally was held caravan-style, with two car parades in Raleigh at 11 a.m. and in Durham at 2 p.m.

Hosted by the North Carolina chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), participating groups include Raise Up for 15, the National Black Workers Center Project, UE150 the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, Black Youth Project 100 Durham Chapter and Black Workers for Justice, among others.

"It is so important because right now we are at huge risk of losing the progress that we’ve made over the past several decades to make things better for workers," said Lorri Nandrea with the Raleigh Workers Assembly.

The Raleigh caravan began at Washington Elementary School on Fayetteville Street and ended at the Food Lion on Cross Link Road, traveling through mostly Black neighborhoods in southeast Raleigh to "highlight the issues of workers organizing to the larger community."

"I am supporting all workers today who are exploited, who make low wages ... who have no benefits and are fighting for their rights," Nandrea said. "Especially our Black workers who are doubly suppressed in society."

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The 2 p.m. caravan event in Durham included stops at the County Courthouse, Duke University and the Rolling Hills apartment complex, where workers demanded improved workplace safety, better protections and benefits from employers and an end to the eviction crisis.

"We wanted to change the narrative on Labor Day ... we put our essential and frontline workers to the forefront and let them know, instead of going to the beach or cooking out, we are thinking about you – we’re knowing the sacrifices you are making everyday," said Isaiah Withers with the National Black Workers Center.

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"I am one of those people," said Mama Cookie from Raise Up for 15, a group pushing for a $15 minimum wage in the state. "I have been working for all of my life and I have never made $15 an hour. I worked for one company for 20 years and never got to $13 dollars an hour, and I had to raise two boys and it was hard."