- "We're going to have a plan coming out in the next few weeks that we say will Make Elevators Great Again," said NC Labor Commissioner Luke Farley.
North Carolina Labor Commissioner Luke Farley unveiled the new elevator inspection certificate with his picture and signature Wednesday morning at the Department of Labor. In an exclusive interview with Carolina Journal, he explained that the certificate holds significance as one of his campaign promises to North Carolinians.
“My priorities for elevators in North Carolina are both safety and accountability,” he said. “The people of North Carolina deserve to know who is accountable to them for elevator safety. That’s why I made a promise during this campaign to bring back the commissioner’s picture to the certificate because I wouldn’t put my name or my signature or my picture on a certificate unless I was willing to stand behind the work of the department.”
The first of the new certificates was installed in the Labor building on Wednesday with plans to install them across the state. However, Farley told CJ that the certificates would be changed only when an elevator was due for inspection, as changing them all at once would be a waste of taxpayer money.
This is the first step in the department’s plan for elevator modernization that will be rolled out in the next few weeks.
“We’ll address current and future needs,” Farley said. “People get on an elevator, and a lot of times, they’re supposed to be inspected annually, but they see that it’s not, and that’s not acceptable to me. So, we’re going to have a plan coming out in the next few weeks that we say will Make Elevators Great Again (MEGA).”
Farley believes elevator inspections that are years out of date undermines confidence in the government overall and indicates whether the government can perform efficiently and effectively.
“We’re very serious about bringing those up to date, and not just restoring confidence in elevators, but the ability of the government in general to perform the jobs that it’s been tasked with doing,” Farley said.
His new moniker of “Elevator Guy” (reminiscent of former labor commissioner Cherie Berry’s nickname of “Elevator Queen) is alright with him.
UPDATE: The Council of State is going back to monthly meetings. Thank you to @NC_Governor for hearing our concerns. #ncpol pic.twitter.com/UeFgxeD8ac
— Luke Farley (@LukeFarleyNC) February 11, 2025
At the February Council of State meeting Farley pointed out that only six meetings were originally scheduled for the year and called for reinstating meeting dates for each month. While he understood that former governor Roy Cooper would cancel some, having so few meetings didn’t sit well with him.
“I instantly saw that and was not happy because I know how much work we have to get done, including things like approving insurance payments for Helene,” Farley said. “State government buildings that are damaged are part of this State (Property) Fire Insurance Fund. Payments out of that fund are approved at Council of State meetings.”
In the February meeting, the ten elected Council members were approving nearly $3 million for two western North Carolina universities; Western Carolina University and Appalachian State University. However, Farley said that approval should have taken place in January, right after they were sworn in.
Farley is glad that Gov. Josh Stein heard his and others’ concerns and changed the meeting schedule.
“I give the governor a lot of credit for hearing these concerns and making sure that we are taking care of people’s business timely, and I think that bodes well for our working relationship together,” he said. “I’ve never worked with the governor before. He has never worked with me, and we’re going to have to get to know each other a little bit, but I think the fact that he heard our concerns and is willing to address them is a good sign for our ability to work together going forward.”
Looking ahead, Farley said his office is working on a plan to improve worker safety in North Carolina, which has been his top priority and campaign pledge, as most of the department’s work concerns Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety.
“We’re working hard to implement our three-point plan to fill our safety inspector vacancies,” Farley said. “We’re doing that by proposing a 10% pay raise for those folks. These are hard jobs, and there are perpetual vacancies there, and when you have jobs that just are going unfilled, you have to ask yourself, am I paying benefits competitive with the market because that is the number one reason a job will not get filled.”
The department is also looking to improve its educational programs.
“Instead of just wagging a finger at businesses, we want to help them do the right thing,” he said. “We have wait times right now that are 95 days. That is unacceptable to me. We need to cut them to 45 because if you’re a responsible business and you want to see the Department of Labor there helping you, we need to be there much more quickly than we are.”
Finally, the department is looking to expand its recognition and incentive programs.
“Most of what you hear are the stories of people who didn’t do what they were supposed to,” he said. “There are many people out there who are doing right by their employees.”