City Worker Action Wins $24 Per Hour in Charlotte, $22 in Durham

Charlotte City Worker Union chapter of UE150 members rally at City Hall on May 12, 2025

This spring, city workers across the state pressed forward the campaign to raise wages. The goal? $25 per hour for all and fair pay.

While we did not yet win both, the union did successfully secure millions of dollars of wage increases in Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Raleigh, including an increase to $24 per hour for city workers in Charlotte.

On Monday, May 12, Charlotte City Worker Union members spoke out at the budget hearing, alongside members of the People’s Budget Coalition for raising the minimum wage to $25/hr, 6% raise, affordable housing, criminal justice reform and more.

“We are living in such a time that it is difficult to dedicate ourselves to city work and then and come home and afford all the other things that everyone else is afforded,” Robert Davis, President Charlotte UE150 chapter, told reporters.

On June 3, in a super narrow vote of 6 to 5, we lost the vote on raising wages to $25 per hour.

Last year, UE150 won a $2 million fund for city workers to get down payment assistance to buy a

home. Yet, according to UE International Representative Kass Ottley, “A lot of them have tried to apply for the home down payment assistance program, and they don’t make enough money to be able to qualify, and that’s heartbreaking.”

Workers in other cities also won this year

Durham UE150 members won 11.8% raise for lowest wage earners, bringing the minimum to $21.90 per hour and a Step Pay Plan bringing up all other workers by 6.45%. Workers in Durham had fought to change the language of the Universal Living Wage Ordinance, which is based on HUD Housing rates for the last four years.

Raleigh City Worker Union members won an 11% raise, the highest in many years. Due to our organizing, this is also the first time, in many years, that police did not receive a higher wage increase compared to general employees.

Willie Brown, George Bacote, Gerald Wallace meet with Durham City Council members

On March 17, the City of Durham held their first budget hearing. Three union members - Chris Benjamin, Gerald Wallace and Rob Wilkerson - waited up until 11:00pm at night to be called on to speak. This level of commitment should be applauded.

Rob Wilkerson, a street sweeper in Public Works told the council, “It’s workers like myself that worked last month during the snow storm, to prepare and plow the roads to help make sure everyone else could get to work safely. Yet, it still seems we are not paid enough for our essential work.”

Greensboro City Workers Union has also been busy this spring. They hosted a rally for

“Living Wages, Safety and Respect on the job”. While they demanded a higher raise there, they did secure a 4% raise for our members. They also participated in nationwide actions on January 25 to reject

Trump’s attacks on workers. Union members met with several Greensboro City Council members along

with the City Manager Nathaniel “Trey” Davis to present their budget proposal. Workers shared economic statistics to show what a real living wage looks like and why they deserve to be paid more.

“We deserve to be able to live in the city we work for’, they stated.

This article was first published by UE Local 150.