AFL-CIO gets funny

The state chapter of the AFL-CIO labor union has apparently hired a comedy writer. It sent out a news release this week announcing the first annual Tilly Awards.

State House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, was awarded at the fictional event a chess set for the "Stop Treating Workers as Pawns in a Game" award. It's a reference to the GOP-controlled General Assembly tying up an unemployment benefits extension in its budget battle with the governor.

Co-conspirators Together NC awarded Tillis with the "Broken Gavel Award for Divisive Leadership." Other groups that chipped in their own awards included Planned Parenthood of NC, Democracy NC, and the NC Health Access Coalition.

"North Carolina has been the best place in the South to live, work and do business," the AFL-CIO said in a news release. "Speaker Tillis has worked hard to undermine that, and his hard work to take North Carolina backward deserves acknowledgement."