http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/study_more_unions_means_more_moneyReps. Paul Luebke and Ty Harrell support $483 million coming into the state's economy.
That figure was the centerpiece of a news conference the Democrats held Tuesday to express their support for the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the card check bill.
Luebke and Harrell said in what is sure to be a polarizing claim that if 5 percent more of the state's workers were in unions, they would earn $483 million more in wages, assuming that union workers make eight percent. Those workers would then have more money to spend in the economy.
"We are always happy to have more people working and working at higher wages," said Luebke, of Durham.
The estimates on new wages come from a study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The center is a liberal think tank that supports the card check bill.