By the PA. AFL-CIO

The 54th annual Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Community Services Institute kicked off on Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South. Workshops and seminars continue through Saturday, as participants learn strategies for building community partnerships, planning community actions, and growing the labor movement while promoting the role of organized labor in their communities.

The opening evening included a keynote address by Community Services Chairman and AFSCME District Council 13 Executive Director Dave Fillman.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Community Services Director Carl Dillinger said that the attendance for this year’s conference is impressive and continues the growth that we have seen in recent years. “I’m especially encouraged to see higher participation by young activists and union members, among the 26 first-time participants that we have this year” Dillinger said.

One primary focus of this conference has been organizing and growing the labor movement. A well-received general session on Thursday was dedicated to this topic, and was led by a panel that was moderated by Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Snyder and included Rick Bloomingdale (President, PA AFL-CIO), Jack Shea (Allegheny CLC), John DeFazio (USW), Joe Molinero (Teamsters), Dave Vinski (Southwestern PA ALF), Bill Cagney and Keith Thurner (Operating Engineers), Gabe Kramer (SEIU), Nicole McCandless (UNITE-HERE), Patrick Young (USW/FBP), and Robin Sowards (Professor at Duquesne University).

Participants also attended rotating workshops on immigration and engaging young workers, and worked on planning for this year’s week of action in September. Other workshops and seminars covered public policy, communications, and building community alliances. The conference wraps up tomorrow with a general session on the Affordable Care Act, and a Graduation Luncheon with Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale.

Go To: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2335

From the PA. AFL-CIO

– Last summer, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai caused a national firestorm when he was caught on video at the Republican State Convention saying “Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the State of Pennsylvania, done!”

To View The Video, Go To: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2317

While many opponents of the new photo ID requirements saw Turzai’s statement as an outright admission of the political motivations that were truly behind the law’s passage, new evidence and statements from this past week paint an even clearer picture.

First, there is reportedly a newly uncovered memo from individuals within the Corbett administration, who last November expressed concerns that the Voter ID law, as written, would disenfranchise seniors and voters with disabilities. The memo, which was reportedly signed by officials from the Departments of State and Aging, expressed concerns about voters who are elderly, ill, or disabled being unable to obtain a valid ID, and asked Corbett’s office to allow such voters to cast absentee ballots. The request was reportedly denied. The report that members of Corbett’s own administration were raising red flags last year about the risk of disenfranchising legitimate voters demonstrates the rapidly shrinking pool of individuals who believe that this law can be implemented in a constitutional manner.

But even that is not the worst of it. Last week, Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman, Rob Gleason, appeared on the PCN show On The Issues, and made the most startling claim yet about Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law.

Question: “Do you think all the attention drawn to Voter ID affected last year’s elections?”

Answer (Gleason): “Uh, yea I think a little bit. We probably had a better election. Think about this, we cut Obama by five percent which was big. A lot of people lost sight of that. He won, he beat McCain by ten percent and he only beat Romney by five percent. I think that probably Voter ID helped a bit in that.”

Keep in mind, that the Voter ID law was not enforced in the 2012 election; however, the State was not required to stop their advertising campaign or mailings that continued to misinform voters that they would be required to present a valid ID at the polls. There were many opponents of the law that claimed, at the time, that the resulting confusion and misinformation itself could discourage some voters without ID and cause them to stay home if they believed that they would not be allowed to vote. Chairman Gleason’s remarks last week seem to indicate that he believes that is exactly what happened, and that the disenfranchising of voters through this misinformation campaign “helped.”

While Chairman Gleason did not indicate how much of the five percent drop-off in Obama’s performance he would attribute to misinformation surrounding Voter ID, it likely had a larger effect than simply reducing the President’s win number. There were five incumbent Republican house members who held off challengers to win their elections by margins of less than three percent, including Rep. Saccone (0.1%), Rep. Micozzie (1.3%), Rep. Simmons (2.0%), Rep. Kampf (2.3%), and Rep. Truitt (2.7%). Based on GOP Chairman Gleason’s remarks on PCN, it seems that he is acknowledging that voter disenfranchisement through misinformation allowed a few of these representatives to capitalize on their support of Voter ID before the law was even implemented.

The already overwhelming evidence continues to mount that this law was never about preventing voter fraud, and that it was always only about voter suppression.

To Sign The Petition Now And Tell Pennsylvania’s Lawmakers And Judges To Protect Our Right To Vote, Go To: – http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6838

Go To: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2317

From the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

This August will mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the massive rally initiated by civil rights and union leader A. Philip Randolph at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivered his extraordinary “I Have a Dream” speech. Despite the legal and social progress that we’ve made in the last half-century, we are a long way from the vision outlined by Dr. King and the other leaders and activists who joined the March 50 years ago.

Join the mass rally on Saturday, August 24th to commemorate the original March on Washington and to commit ourselves to achieving its goals of full employment and justice for all Americans! District 1199C has arranged for buses from their union hall to the rally on Saturday the 24th.

Buses to the 50th Anniversary March on Washington rally

Saturday, August 24th

Buses will depart from 1199C union hall at 7:00 AM

1319 Locust St, Philadelphia

To reserve a seat on the bus, RSVP to Nick Alpers, Philadelphia AFL-CIO Mobilization Coordinator, at Nalpers@philaflcio.org

Peter Van Allen: Philadelphia Business Journal

– A longtime leader of the one of the unions at Pennsylvania Convention Center has been appointed to its board.

Ed Coryell Sr. of the Carpenters union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America-Local 8, was appointed to the 15-member board just as contract negotiations heat up with the center’s labor unions.

Labor disputes and high costs have been at the center of customer complaints at the Convention Center, which expanded at a cost of $780 million in 2011.

The news was first reported by Tom Ferrick at AxisPhilly.

Board members are appointed by politicians at the state, county and local level.

Coryell’s appointment was made by state Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Senate minority leader.

“I as the chairman have no say in who a particular person names to the board,” Greg Fox, chairman of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, said Monday.

Coryell replaces Pat Gillespie of the Building Trades Council.

Go To: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2013/07/15/a-union-stalwart-joins-convention.html

Philadelphia Firefighters and Paramedics Union IAFF Local 22 is holding its 2nd Annual Summer Food Drive.

Local 22 has partnered with Philabundance to collect non-perishable food items from July 1st to August 31st.

Clear out your canteens, bring in your canned goods and non-perishable items and drop off all goods in the collection boxes at each Battalion headquarters and at the Firefighters union hall.

PHILABUNDANCE – Driving Hunger From Our Community

Any Questions, Contact: LT. Pete Garvin E-38/B – 215-776-2998, FF Greg Marshal L-14/A 215-350-2635, or FF Sean Sullivan L-15/D 215-514-2107