Thomas Avery Nye Jr. (born May 3, 1940) is an American politician who served as North Carolina Commissioner of Labor from 1975 to 1977.

Thomas Avery Nye Jr. was born on May 3, 1940, in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States.

He graduated from Orrum High School in 1957 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina State University in 1963.

[7] He later worked as a general contractor and was vice president of T. A. Nye & Sons Construction Company.

[4] Governor James Holshouser, a Republican, appointed Nye to become North Carolina Commissioner of Labor in September 1975 to fill a vacancy created by the death of the previous incumbent, William C.

[10] The following month he fired six Democrats in the labor department's Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) Division on the grounds that they had been hired solely for political reasons.