Economy
June 9, 2020 -
Demonstrations against the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and police violence generally have spread to small towns like Siler City, North Carolina, home to a chicken-processing plant that's been hit hard by COVID-19. Residents connecting police violence to ICE violence came out by the hundreds to say that "las vidas negras importan."
June 3, 2020 -
The organizing drive at HCA Healthcare's Mission Hospital in Asheville is National Nurses United's largest labor campaign ever undertaken in a state with a long history of hostility to unions. A win could help shift the power dynamic in North Carolina and the rest of the South.
June 1, 2020 -
Poultry plants in Northwest Arkansas are seeing a surge in cases of the novel coronavirus. Worker advocates are demanding they be shut down, despite President Trump's executive order that they remain open.
May 22, 2020 -
Dominion Energy's and Duke Energy's need for gas was in decline even before the COVID-19 outbreak, which has further cut energy demand. But the companies are still pressing ahead with what critics warn could turn out to be an $8 billion-plus stranded fossil-fuel asset, even while the urgency of addressing climate change becomes clearer.
May 20, 2020 -
At the state and federal level, lawmakers are pushing legislation that would prevent some people from suing their employers if they contract the novel coronavirus at work. Labor leaders call the proposals an "outrage" and an attempt by businesses to skirt responsibility.
May 14, 2020 -
Hospitals in many rural Southern counties with COVID-19 outbreaks were financially vulnerable even before the crisis. What happens next?
May 6, 2020 -
Across the country, COVID-19 is impacting black people disproportionately. Many worry the disease could wreak havoc in the South, home to most black Americans, as several Southern states start reopening.
