For the purpose of providing the Philadelphia area union community a media and PR publication that will provide up to date news and information pertaining to the Labor movement, PhillyLabor.com was launched in 2012. Comprised of our email newsletter and social media presence, Phillylabor.com is also committed to being an activist for Worker’s Rights throughout the Delaware valley and is launching several new programs in 2013 that will provide valuable resources to area union members and their families.

Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President, Patrick Eiding Celebrates 2012 Labor Day Parade with Words of Encouragement in the Face of Challenges – “It’s true, the challenges are great: Unemployment is still dangerously high; state and local budgets are strained so services are cut and teachers, firefighters and police are laid off; and efforts to roll back our rights to have a voice at work and to collectively bargain continue”, said Eiding who added, “The good news is that in the last few years we have awakened and fought back like we haven’t for a very long time. Here in the region, we’ve seen remarkable things happen when workers stick together. Privatization attempts for our school employees and our Wine & Spirits Shop employees have failed because we’ve stood together. Refinery workers, refusing to believe something was impossible, joined together to save their industry and their communities in the process. And just three weeks ago, over 50,000 workers came to Philadelphia to Stand for America and to advance a proactive agenda – a “Second Bill of Rights” for all workers”

In what many contend was motivated by Republican efforts to suppress the traditionally Democratic minority vote in order to affect the Nov 2012 presidential election. Voter ID Legislation was introduced by national GOP leadership on the premise of avoiding wides spread voter fraud (which never existed in the first place). As a result, Organized Labor, in solidarity with countless other socially conscious organizations and the general public worked tirelessly to repeal the legislation prior to the presidential election. After tremendous efforts by organized labor throughout Philadelphia and vicinity and beyond, the legislation was blocked and ruled unenforceable in Pa in a ruling by Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on Octber 2, 2012, only one month before the election. The issue is still undecided.

Words can not adequately express the extent of the devastation incurred by the victims, the families, the entire town of New Port Connecticut and all of America on that dark day in December just a couple weeks ago when a deranged and cowardly gunman, broke in to a schoolhouse and tragically gunned down 20 small children and 6 adult teachers and administrates. The victims, the families and the courage demonstrated by the teachers that day in their attempts to protect the small children will never be forgotten.

Dec 2012 – In spite 12,000 protesting unionized workers protesting at the Republican-led state House of Representatives, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R), without public input, successfully executed his effort to enact anti-union “Right To Work” Legislation in the state of Michigan to make Michigan the 24th U.S. state to prohibit unions from requiring employees to join and contribute dues. In a rapid turn of events, Michigan moved from being a bastion of union influence to joining states, mostly in the South, that have weakened local protections for unions. As a result of his underhanded tactics, Rick Snyder’s popularity has dropped from 38% to 28% according to the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. (Reference – The Huffington Post  |  By Ariel Edwards-Levy)