A message to union members and families throughout the Philadelphia region and everywhere:

In order to maintain the union standards and wages that we have fought so hard to obtain over many generations, it is vital that each and every union member along with your family members and supporters, go out on election day and vote for the candidates that support union standards.

Make no mistake about it, THE most effective way to ensure the future of the union movement and our livelihoods is to exercise one of the most important rights we enjoy as Americans, our right to vote. It is our duty as card carrying union members to make our votes count and our voices heard!

To find your polling place call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

- By The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

Anti-worker politicians in Washington and their corporate donors are striking at the rights of workers. Again.

They’re threatening to shut down the National Labor Relations Board, the independent agency that protects workers’ rights, by holding up President Barack Obama’s nominations to the Board.

If the NLRB nominees aren’t confirmed, thousands of workers—who are waiting for the Board’s decisions in key workplace cases—won’t get their cases decided.

To tell your senators to confirm President Obama’s NLRB nominations to make sure workers’ rights are protected:

Go To – http://go.aflcio.org/stop-the-power-grab

Extremist lawmakers have held multiple hearings attacking the NLRB for doing its job. In 2011 alone, they introduced 25 bills and amendments to defund the board, weaken workers’ rights to free and fair union elections, and undermine the board’s enforcement authority.

This attempt to score cheap political points with deep-pocketed special interests has real consequences for all of us. Working families have suffered enough, and this will kill one of the few protections they have left.

The NLRB has been critical in standing up for the rights of all working families. CEOs have too much power as it is. Let’s not let them grab any more.

Your senators need to hear from you. Tell them to confirm President Obama’s NLRB nominations and stop the corporate power grab.

To Read More, go to: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=1840

- By Victor Fiorillo 5/16/2013 –

It’s been a long, hard road for the Pestronk brothers’ (aka Post Brothers) development of the Goldtex site at 12th and Vine streets. There have been shoving matches, picket lines formed, slashed tires, and a host of other disturbances thanks to a labor dispute over the $38 million project.

But according to this invite that I just received, the Post brothers are ready to show off their latest apartment building. The accompanying email promises “Veuve Clicquot, catering from Ruth’s Chris Steak House, pearls, and plenty of other delightful surprises.”

And, perhaps, the Rat-Mobile?

Updated [12:40 p.m., 5/16/13]:

Pat Gillespie, business manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents over 50,000 construction workers, sent the following comment via email:

The Pestronk brothers enjoy self-promotion at the expense of the truth. That clap-trap apartment building is nowhere near ready for occupancy, that’s why they’ve only been showing the model apartment under the cover of darkness, so potential renters won’t see the true, unfinished condition of the building. They’re nine months to a year from completion. This sham “Preview Party” is a desperate attempt to lure suckers into putting deposits down because the company is having major cash flow problems. The Pestronks aren’t what they appear to be and neither are these chintzy, half-finished apartments.

Mike Pestronk, CEO of Post Brothers Apartments, responds to Gillespie as follows: “Pat Gillespie has long since proven to be completely un-credible. No further response needed.”

Updated [12:50 p.m., 5/16/13]:

And now, Gillespie responds to Pestronk’s response to Gillespie: “My word is credible, unlike the Pestronks, who have repeatedly gone back on their word. And, for the record, ‘un-credible’ isn’t a word. No wonder these two dopes are losing their shirts. They don’t know the language and they don’t know how to build.”

Updated [10:00 p.m., 5/16/13]:

According to union spokesman Frank Keel, tonight’s VIP party did not go as planned. Here is an email he sent this evening:

PHILADELPHIA DEPARTMENT OF LICENSES & INSPECTIONS SHUTS DOWN POST BROS. PLANNED ROOFTOP “VIP PARTY” AT ITS GOLDTEX APARTMENT COMPLEX AT 12TH & VINE; POST BROS. CITED FOR HAVING NO CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY, NO FIRE ALARM, OTHER VIOLATIONS

PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Post Brothers LLC, the controversial, out-of-town development firm that has been at odds with the member unions of the Philadelphia Building Trades for nearly two years, had attempted to host a “VIP Party” tonight on the rooftop of its still-under-construction Goldtex Apartments site at 12th & Vine, the epicenter of union protests over Post Brother’s anti-union position and tactics. Then the Philadelphia Department of Licenses (L & I) showed up and shut it down.

L & I cited Post Brothers for havinf no Certificate of occupancy (required to allow persons into the building), having no fire alarm in place, and other violations. Far from being “ready to rent,” the Goldtex apartments are months away from completion. The Pestronk Brothers and their guests were forced to move the scaled-down party to the ground fllor courtyard. It continues tonight until 11 pm.

“The Pestronk brothers enjoy self-promotion at the expense of the truth,” said Building Trades Business Manager Pat Gillespie. “That clap-trap apartment building is nowhere near ready for occupancy, that’s why they’ve only been showing the model apartment under the cover of darkness, so potential renters won’t see the true, unfinished condition of the building. They’re nine months to a year from completion. Tonight’s sham ‘VIP Preview Party’ is a desperate attempt to lure suckers into putting deposits down because the company is having major cash flow problems. The Pestronks aren’t what they appear to be and neither are these chintzy, half-finished apartments.”

L & I officials and police officers remain on-site to ensure that the Pestronk brothers do not attempt to enter the building again.

Go to: http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2013/05/16/post-brothers-building-12th-vine-pearl-bikini-models/

- With the recent celebration of the the Spire being placed atop One World Trade Center by union iron workers signifying the culmination of a job well done by all of the union workers who were there both as first responders after the initial collapse of the World Trade Centers as well as to proudly rebuild the current tower, I could not help but to think back to the below story that I published this past 9/11 remembering and celebrating an old classmate, Peter Ortale, who lost his life on that tragic day back on 9/11/2001.

I hope Peter and all those who tragically lost their lives were looking down as the Spire was placed so beautifully atop the new Trade Center Tower and were just as proud as the rest of us with the knowledge that the rebuilding of the new tower symbolizes the spirit of the United States of America and the proud legacy they left behind!

This is for you Pete, one more time!

Today, as we remember and pray for the all of victims and the families who lost loved ones on 911, I’d like to dedicate a personal tribute to an old classmate and teammate of mine in my one year at Penn Charter H.S, Peter Ortale. Although, I only spent one year with Peter, we became pretty good buddies during that freshman year. We played freshman football together, we had some of the same classes together and for a brief time, we were on the wrestling team together. Maybe we got along so well because we came from similar backgrounds as we both came from union families, my father, Joe, and Peter’s uncle, Pete McDonough, were both union iron workers out of (the union that I would eventually join) Iron Worker’s Local 401 and ironically they would also both serve together as union officials at 401 years later.

When I think back to the brief period of time we spent together, I have several fond memories of Peter. I remember he was a good student in the classroom and a fierce competitor on the athletic fields, I remember he was a really cool guy and he was fun to hang out with but, as I think back to those days of our early youth, the 2 things that I will always remember most about Peter Ortale were his smile and his positive energy. He was always an up beat type of kid that made you feel good about yourself. No matter the situation, he was a smiling face that you could always depend on for encouragement.

Case in point, the Freshman year wrestling team. Pete and I had just finished playing football in the Fall and had looked forward to having the winter season off before baseball and lacrosse tryouts in the Spring. Unfortunately, the freshman wrestling coach at the time, I think it was Mr. Mellor, had other plans for us when he approached us both in the hallway and recruited us to fill the voids on the freshman wrestling team where they needed 2 guys to wrestle at the 147 LB and the 139lb weight classes. Well, as much as I didn’t want to do it, Peter was pretty diligent in his efforts to convince me that, for some reason, it was a good thing. I remember telling him, Pete, there’s one thing your forgetting, the wrestling season starts in like one week and neither one of us has ever wrestled a day in our lives. Are you crazy? Well, Pete won out and some how convinced me to give it a shot and I wish I could tell you that the rest is history and we both went on to have stellar high school, college then Olympic wrestling careers but this is not ESPN or the Biography Channel and this sports moment had a much different, albeit more humorous conclusion.

The next thing you know we were struggling at our first wrestling practices, which by the way, were so hard that they made football practices seem like a day at the beach. Finally, after a week of the practices from hell, it was the day of the big first match and we sat next to each other on the chairs watching, talking and waiting for our turn to wrestle. We were competing against the number one wrestling team in the public league, Simon Gratz, and from what I remember, it was a real tough match. We won some of the early matches and we lost some. Anyway, finally it came down to the last two matches, Pete’s and mine. Pete went first and he used his athletic ability to wrap up and pin his opponent in the middle of the second period just like that. It was awesome. I was thinking man, that doesn’t look too hard. I can do that! Well, as it was, the fate of my short lived wrestling career would take a vastly different turn than Peter’s as I went out on to the mat on that cold winter day and gave it the best 47 seconds of my life. Ultimately, I ended up in some kind of pretzel move that had me staring face to face with my lower extremities LOL! I remember when I got back to the bench, I was pretty dejected and Pete was the first to greet me with a pat on the back and encouragement saying that it was OK and that I almost had the guy or something like that!!! It was classic Peter Ortale, exactly the way I remember him. He didn’t want me to feel bad about myself.

After my freshman year, I transferred to Roman Catholic HS and Peter stayed at Penn Charter and we saw each other only occasionally at H.S. sporting events and he was still the same great guy that gave you a warm hello and friendly smile. After high school, we kept in touch only via well wishes at the union hall through his uncle Pete McDonough, Hey Pete, Tell Peter I said, hi! Hey Joey, Peter Ortale said to say hello!

The last time I saw him, I ran into him randomly at the Cottman Mall in Northeast Philadelphia and we talked about old times and mutual friends from Penn charter for about 15 minutes like time had never skipped a beat. As we said our good byes, I can still remember his warm and comforting smile that once again made you feel better for the experience.

Peter Ortale was 37 and working for Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. After the attack, he made three phone calls: to his wife, his mother and a friend in California before heading for the stairs. He did not reach the bottom.

Peter you are missed by many but never forgotten. Our prayers are with you, your family and all of those taken from us on that unthinkable September Day!

Rest In Peace Old Friend!

Sincerely,

Joe Dougherty
PhillyLabor.com

For a remembrance of Peter Ortale, go to – https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#search/Ortale/1326a2be8c7a65bc

- TODAY/Wednesday 5/15 at 1pm — A protest will be held at the Gap store at 34th and Walnut. The Gap purchases clothing made in Bangladesh, where the death toll from the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse now stands at over 1,000 lives lost.

Join us today at 1pm to demand that the Gap sign a legally-binding fire and building safety agreement for their suppliers.

Organized by Students Against Sweatshops and the International Labor Rights Forum.

Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/134475483408361/?fref=ts

Back Ground

Since 2005, 1762 people have been killed in preventable factory fires and building collapses in the Bangladesh garment industry alone.

The Gap can help end the rising death toll in the Bangladeshi garment industry by signing on to a legally-binding fire and building safety agreement. Instead, the apparel giant insists on sticking with the same old self-regulation that is already failing workers.

Luckily we know how to get Gap’s attention: by taking this fight to Gap stores around the world.

We will meet at the corner of 34th and Walnut at 1pm.

Go to http://gapdeathtraps.com/ to learn more.

The Associated Press:

Around the World – Bangladesh military says it is ending its search for survivors in the wreckage of an eight-story garment factory building that collapsed last month.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder says the army will stop working to pull bodies from the rubble on Monday evening.

He said soldiers and other workers have recovered 1,127 bodies from the April 24 collapse and expect to find no more. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building is the worst tragedy in the history of the global garment manufacturing industry.

Earlier Monday, Bangladesh’s government agreed to allow the country’s garment workers to form trade unions without prior permission from factory owners, the latest response to a building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people and focused global attention on the industry’s hazardous conditions.

The cabinet decision in Dhaka came a day after the government announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid some of the lowest wages in the world to sew clothing bound for global retailers. Both moves are seen as a direct response to the April 24 collapse of an eight-story building housing five garment factories, the worst disaster in the history of the global garment industry.

How can you tell if your shirt was made in a sweatshop?

Government spokesman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the cabinet approved an amendment to the 2006 Labour Act lifting restrictions on forming trade unions in most industries. The old law required workers to obtain permission before they could unionize.

“No such permission from owners is now needed,” Bhuiyan told reporters after the cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “The government is doing it for the welfare of the workers.”

Local and international trade unions have long campaigned for such changes.

Though the 2006 law technically allowed trade unions — and they exist in many of Bangladesh’s other industries — owners of garment factories never allowed them, saying they would lead to a lack of discipline among workers.

There was no immediate comment from owners or union leaders on Monday’s decision.

On Sunday, the government set up a new minimum wage board that will issue recommendations for pay raises within three months, Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiky said. The Cabinet will then decide whether to accept those proposals.

The wage board will include representatives of factory owners, workers and the government, he said.
3rd biggest exporter

The collapse of Rana Plaza has raised alarm about conditions in Bangladesh’s powerful garment industry.

Bangladesh is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy. There are 5,000 factories in the country and 3.6 million garment workers.

But working conditions in the $20 billion industry are grim, a result of government corruption, desperation for jobs, and industry indifference. Minimum wages for garment workers were last raised by 80 per cent to 3,000 takas ($38) a month in 2010 following protests by workers.

Since 2005, at least 1,800 garment workers have been killed in factory fires and building collapses in Bangladesh, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.

In November, 112 workers were killed in a garment factory in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. The factory lacked emergency exits, and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.

The Rana Plaza owner and eight other people, including garment factory owners, have been detained in the collapse investigation. Authorities say the building owner added floors to the structure illegally and allowed the factories to install heavy equipment that the building was not designed to support.
Still removing rubble

As of Monday, rescue workers said 1,127 bodies had been recovered from the ruins of the fallen building, where thousands were working at the time of the disaster. Teams has used hydraulic cranes, bulldozers, shovels and iron cutters to uncover bodies.

Maj. Moazzem Hossain, a rescue team leader, said they were trying to identify badly decomposed bodies by their identity cards.

On Friday, the search teams received a much-needed morale boost when they found a seamstress who survived under the rubble for 17 days on dried food and bottled and rain water.

The Textiles Ministry has also begun a series of factory inspections and has ordered about 22 closed temporarily for violating safety and working standards

Go To – http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/05/13/bangladesh-garment-unions.html

On this Mother’s Day, 2013, PhillyLabor would like to acknowledge and thank all of the Mothers in the labor movement (present and past) for your eternal guidance, strength and love throughout the struggles of today and yesterday both on the front lines and behind the scenes! Your courage, example and inspiration keeps the fight going!

With Gratitude and Sincerity, Happy Mother’s Day To you All!

PhillyLabor.com

A crane lifted the last of a 408-foot tall spire on top of One World Trade Center on Friday, a capstone to an emotional 12-year effort to replace the twin towers destroyed by terrorists.

The 18-piece silver spire will top out the tower at a symbolic 1,776 feet, a nod to the year America signed the Declaration of Independence. The new building, proudly erected with union labor, is just north of the original towers, now the hallowed ground known as Ground Zero.

For More on the story and video, Go To – http://www.today.com/news/cheers-erupt-spire-tops-one-world-trade-center-1C9870947

It has been reported that Sprinklerfitters local #692 has reached a tentative contract deal with their contractors association effectively putting an end to their strike of over one week!

PhillyLabor congratulates the leadership and membership of Local #692 on a job well done!

A Phillylabor.com Story Worth Remembering and Re-Posting

- In a perfect world there would be no need for unions.

- People would treat each other with respect, fairness and dignity in the work place.

- Businesses would offer employees fair wages, benefits and working conditions in exchange for a fair day’s work. 8 for 8 we call it.

- Corporate greed would not exist

- CEO’s would not be taking multimillion dollar bonuses while laying off hundreds and some times thousands of employees

and so on…..

After all, there are labor laws, attorneys and the US Dept of Labor to protect people from unfair labor practices and in a perfect world, if ever a person’s rights were violated at their job, that person could just call their attorney who could file a grievance with the Department of Labor and a representative from the department would contact the employer and resolve the issue within a day or so right? Voila, problem solved correct? So why in the world do we need unions to do the job that attorneys do and that we have laws to regulate that the U.S. Department of Labor enforces? Oh if life were only that perfect!

There ‘s an old saying that my brother sometimes refers to that goes something like this….the cleanliness of theory is no match for the mess of reality. What does that have to do with unions, worker’s right’s and the topic at hand? Well let’s think about it for a second, As a member of a union, you have union representatives that communicate daily with union members and employer(s). If there’s a problem on the job, there’s a process to follow. Typically, the member informs the shop steward, the shop steward calls the union rep (some are business agents, others presidents and/or business managers) and within a day or two in most cases, there is a resolution to the situation. It’s not always that cut and dry but basically you get the picture.

On the other hand, let’s look at a real scenario that actually occurred in a non-union work place not long ago. A dedicated, hard working woman from Philadelphia Pa. (with standard monthly/weekly living expenses including a car payment, utilities, food, a rent etc) gets in an auto accident on her way to work. After being taken to the hospital ER by ambulance, her boss via cell phone in the emergency room informs her to please take as much time as she needs to get better because her health is the most important thing and her job will be waiting for her when she recovers. Wow, the injured women really appreciated the support from her employer. In her time of extreme pain and anxiety, her car may have been totaled and she may be in physical pain, but at least she’s alive and still has a job right. All’s well that ends well right? Fast forward approximately 10 days later, the day after the female employee was released from her doctor’s care for treatment of a severe concussion and facial lacerations, upon returning to work with a doctor’s note, this employee was notified by the same boss who told her to “get well” that she was terminated for missing work. Keeping in mind that the woman got in the auto accident on her way to work and it was the same boss that instructed her to take as much time as she needed to recover and that her job would be waiting when she got back, what recourse did the woman have to get her job back?

First, she asked the boss why she was mislead and told to take the necessary time needed to get better before coming back to work? Her boss told her that it was an upper management decision and there was nothing could be done. Then she approached the human resources department and then ownership but still no help. Finally, after unsuccessfully exhausting all avenues to resolve the situation at her work, she packed her things and left the office alone and devastated. Literally no-one at her former place of work would help her.

What were her options?

Ultimately, in her case, over the next week or so, after contacting several attorneys about her situation, finally one took the case. They then contacted the Dept of Labor and filed a law suit against the employer and started the legal process to both get her job back all the while she was unemployed and falling farther and farther behind on her bills.

In the long run, it’s been over a year since the incident and this woman still has yet to receive justice from the Dept of Labor and the lawsuit is still pending, she’s lost her apartment and her ability to pay her bills, not to mention her dignity and self esteem.

The Bottom line is that although there are laws, attorneys and government agencies that are suppose to represent people who are unjustly treated by their employers, these solutions often take time and by the time the person ends up filing a lawsuit and/or complaint, going through the investigation and litigation, and obtaining justice if they are lucky, the person could be adversely effected both financially and emotionally in the process.

In the end, if you are not a member of a union, you may very well be at the mercy of a ruthless employer and be forced to do whatever necessary to keep your job or lose it. Without representation or collective bargaining, as an employee, you have very little immediate recourse! It is like the old Bruce Springsteen song says, when your alone, your alone, when your alone, you ain’t nothing but alone.

In closing folks, if you want to understand more about the need for the Labor Movement in America and around the world and the reason they are worth fighting for now more than ever, all you have to do is open your eyes and go to http://www.labourstart.org/ and look around the world at places who either don’t have them, are trying to organize them or are fighting to keep them. Don’t kid your self for one minute that in this day and age extreme work place violations don’t still happen everyday and it can’t happen to you, that only happens in a perfect world and god knows nothing in this world is perfect!