BY PETE MATTHEWS, President, AFSCME District Council 33/ Mayor Michael Nutter’s stubborn and vindictive refusal to settle fair contracts with AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47 is driving city workers ever deeper into poverty and negatively impacting the City’s ability to deliver vital services.

Many Philadelphia neighborhoods are facing cuts in City services due to the policy decisions of Mayor Nutter. It is not the members of AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47 who decide to brown out firehouses, close libraries and recreation centers and diminish the quality of service delivery due to chronic understaffing.

These are the policies of an Administration whose guiding principle is making due with less while cutting the tax burden of the richest 1%. That policy direction results in a demoralized, overworked and underpaid workforce unable to deliver services ordinary taxpayers expect. We now have proof to support that assertion.

A recent study written by Michael Bognanno, PhD, an associate professor of economics at Temple University, entitled “Poverty Thresholds and Rates of Poverty Within AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47”, contains valuable information that the citizens of Philadelphia need to know.

This study shows almost 42% of the employees represented by both District Councils 33 and 47 earn less than the US Dept. of Health & Human Services Poverty Guideline of $35,310.00 for a sole wage-earner in a family of four in Philadelphia.

Even more alarming, the study shows fully 58% of District Council 33 members are working below the poverty line.

In 2007, the last time members of District Councils 33 and 47 received a raise, the portion of DC 33 and 47 members beneath the poverty guideline at that time was 21%, so that the number of members of both Councils living in poverty has doubled over the last six years.

Under the scale used by the US Census Bureau, a more accurate barometer of the proportion of our population living in poverty, the portion of District Council 33 and 47 members living in poverty is 54.2% for those who have no mortgage and are the sole wage earner in a four-person household. This figure rises to 75.8% for renters and 76.7% for homeowners with a mortgage.

The Women, Infants & Children program insures proper nutrition for poor mothers and their children, and 69% of city employees represented by District Councils 33 and 47 earn less than the Pennsylvania WIC cutoff of $42,643.

These figures dramatically show the horrible effects the Mayor’s imposed contract would have on a large proportion of our members who are increasingly becoming poverty-stricken.

They prove that up to three-quarters of our members now live beneath the accepted definitions of the “poverty level” in Philadelphia – and Mayor Nutter has accelerated that trend.

If the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allows the Mayor to impose his version of a contract, this will force all of our members to contribute much more of their falling income than they already do to obtain decent health-care insurance coverage, to be subject to an increased contribution rate for an inferior pensions, to earn salary increases that amount to about less than two-thirds of one percent per year (far below the rate of inflation) over the life of the proposed contract and, to top it off, to lose at least an additional 6% salary reduction when they are furloughed.

Mayor Nutter is again trying to balance the City’s budget on the backs of our members, who are falling farther and farther behind the cost of living even as more are becoming poverty-stricken.
To force this on a workforce that is predominantly poverty-stricken is inhumane. It is a badge of shame that a significant portion of city workers are forced to work under these conditions while withstanding the rigors of poverty that increasingly claim them and their families as victims.

To continue to deny these hardworking members of our city community a fair and reasonable contract is an embarrassment that can only result in the continued deterioration of city services.

The post Union Leader: Nutter Drove City Workers Into Poverty appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

AFSCME Secretary Treasurer Laura Reyes, District Council 33 President Pete Matthews, District Council 47 President Cathy Scott, along with leaders of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades as well as religious and community supporters will kick off two days of protests at the National Conference of Mayors Innovation Summit being hosted by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter in Philadelphia today, Wednesday May 22, 2013.

The purpose of the rallies will be to call attention to the failure of Mayor Nutter to settle contracts with City worker unions for the last five years.

Both rallies will be held at the Westin Philadelphia, 99 South 17th Street.

Wednesday’s rally will start at 2:00 pm. Thursday’s rally will start at 8:00 am and be followed by a march to City Council.

Tentative list of speakers:

Pat Eiding – President, Philadelphia AFL CIO

Liz McElroy, Sect-Treas, – Philadelphia AFL-CIO

Jerry Mondesire – NAACP

Pat Gillespie – Philadelphia Building Trades

Jerry Jordan – PFT Local 3

Cathy Scott – DC 47

Henry Nicolas – DC 1199C

Pete Matthews – DC 33

Laura Reyes – AFSCME International Sect-Treas

For Additional Information:

Contact: Bob Wolper, 215-896-2970

Kevin Hanes, 412-330-9930

Source: AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47

The post Unions and community groups to protest today and tomorrow at National Conference of Mayors meeting hosted by Mayor Nutter appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

As is historically the case, many predict a low turnout because today’s election does not feature races for higher political offices such as Mayor, Governor etc. What better time for the labor movement in the region to get our vote out and let our voice be heard while others are taking a break.

It is important for organized labor to gain political ground on every election day. Thus when you are on your way to or from work today, don’t forget to stop by your polling place to support the candidates that your union is supporting AND VOTE LIKE YOUR UNION LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON IT, BECAUSE IT DOES!

To Find Your Polling Place And get Addition Voting Information, Go To:

www.seventy.org

The post Today is Election Day, Vote like Your Union Livelihood Depends On It, Because It Does appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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).

The post Reminder: This Tue, May 21, 2013 is Election Day. Make Your Voice Heard and Your Vote Count! appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

The post Grinding To A Halt: Take Action! To Let The NLRB Do Its Job appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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/

The post L&I, Police Show Up at Post Brothers’ Goldtex VIP Party appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

The post Through Union Ties: Remembering 9/11 Victim Peter Ortale as Spire Tops Off New Trade Tower appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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 post Protest to be held at the GAP Store at 34th & Walnut appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

The post Around the World – Garment workers permitted to form unions after more than 1,100 die appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

PhillyLabor.com

The post Happy Mother’s Day From Philly Labor.com appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

The post UNION PRIDE – What Terrorists Took Away Briefly, Union Labor Gave Us Back Forever appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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

The post Sprinklerfitters Local #692 Reaches Tentative Contract Deal appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

- 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!

The post In a Perfect World – Workers Rights and Why the Need for Unions Will “ALWAYS” Exist. appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

AFSCME District Councils #33 and #47 along with the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and other unions as well as community allies will be holding TWO DAYS OF ACTION Against Mayor 1% Nutter

Location – Both Rallies will be held at the Westin Hotel Philadelphia

Time(s) – Wednesday May 22 at 2pm, Thursday May 23 at 8am

MARCH TO CITY HALL – After the Rally on Thursday morning, there will be a march to City Hall for the final vote by City Council on the Philadelphia City Budget

ATTIRE AND GUESTS – Union Members are encouraged to “Wear Your Union Colors and Bring Your Family, Friends and Neighbors!”

PURPOSE: Make Your Voice Heard!

MESSAGE – It is time for Mayor 1% Nutter to Settle Fair Contracts with AFSCME DC #33 and #47 and honor the arbitration award for Firefighter Local #22

Go to – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151349129016367&set=a.470571811366.254290.87479501366&type=1&theater

The post Unions to Rally Against Mayor Nutter at National Conference of Mayors Meeting appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

BY Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers President

A century ago, workers were a lot more “flexible” than they are now. Veritable Gumbies in the mills and mines and factories they were, distorting their lives to slog 10 or 12 hours a day, for six—even seven—days a week.

Then came the 40-hour week. And weekends. And eventually sick days. And paid vacation days. Now, bosses at mills and mines and factories regard these rules as coddling and believe the workers accustomed to them are resisting corporate demands.

The GOP has an app for that. It’s called the Working Families Flexibility Act. This legislation that the Republican majority in the U.S. House is expected to pass this week would force some old-time flexibility into 21st-century workers. The forced flexibility act would award bosses the power to “offer” compensatory time off instead of overtime pay. Bosses, not workers, would determine when the comp time could be taken. The proposal puts control in corporate hands, obliging wage earners to bend over backward for bosses exactly like their Gumby ancestors were compelled to.

Trade unionists and labor rights activists died to achieve the goal of eight-hour days and 40-hour weeks. They were shot and beaten in the streets during demonstrations organized by the eight-hour movement. Their slogan was: “Eight hours for work; eight hours for rest; eight hours for what we will.”

Finally, in 1938, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as part of the New Deal, which gave workers and families rights and security that previously had been exclusive to the wealthy.

FLSA enforces the 40-hour week with a simple measure. It requires employers to pay time and a half to wage earners for each hour worked beyond 40 in a week. That creates a financial disincentive for bosses to order work beyond 40 hours. That also creates a financial incentive for companies to avoid overtime pay by hiring more workers. That was a significant bonus during the Great Depression.

Employers still could require overtime when they needed it, but it cost them, the way it costs workers who must pay extra for child care or miss coaching a Little League game or forego Sunday dinner with parents.

Now, Republicans want to relieve corporations of their share of the cost. In fact, the GOP scheme enables corporations to profit on overtime at the expense of workers. It would reduce the financial disincentive of requiring work beyond 40 hours, which means it would also reduce the financial incentive to hire more workers. That would be a tragedy during the Great Recession.

The forced flexibility act would enable employers to give workers comp time off instead of overtime pay. Republicans contend it would be the worker’s choice, but in reality bosses foreclose options when they make it extremely clear they want comp time selected.

And they’ll want workers to “choose” comp time. That’s because workers won’t be able to specify when they’ll take the compensatory time off. Bosses will have veto power on those requests. And as workers accrue more and more hours of overtime—up to 160 a year—to be compensated later as time off, the corporation retains an increasing share of the value of their labor.

With overtime pay, the worker gets the money in the next paycheck and spends or saves it as he pleases, earning interest if he banks it. Under the GOP forced flexibility proposal, the boss can deny time off requests for as long as a year, after which the company must pay the wage earner for the extra time worked. By then, the corporation has kept the workers’ earnings, and the interest on them, for 12 months.

And if the company goes bankrupt before paying for the accumulated overtime, the GOP provides no protection for workers. Workers would lose the earnings that they would have received immediately if they had been paid time-and-a-half in the next check.

The GOP is hyping their forced flexibility bill as a measure to help women. On websites and blogs popular among women, the GOP bought ads asking Democrats if they will “stand up for” working moms by forcing women to contort themselves to employers’ whims. The same party that defeated equity measures for women like the Equal Rights Amendment and the Paycheck Fairness Act now wants the women who voted against them big time in the last election to believe the GOP forced flexibility act is good for them.

Republicans are right that women need flexibility it their work lives. The flexibility to earn 100 percent of what men do in the same jobs, instead of 23 percent less, would be great. But not so great would be a federal law giving bosses the flexibility to force women to work extra hours with a vague promise of compensatory time off some day in the future if the boss feels like granting it.

The GOP forced flexibility act is part of a list of proposals House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, calls “Making Life Work.” That’s right, Republicans intend to make life nothing but work. No eight hours for sleep. No eight hours for anything you will. Just work, Gumby, just work.
Go To – http://inthesetimes.com/article/14957/gop_forcibly_making_working_families_flexible/

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It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the death of Sister Elinor Glenn (SEIU), a founding member and original officer of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Karen J. See, CLUW National President said , “CLUW’s legacy is that much richer as a result of Elinor Glenn. Her leadership, strength and wisdom contributed to CLUW’s growth and will inspire young leaders in the future.” She served as the CLUW National Vce President – West Coast from 1974-1975 and continued as a National Executive Board Member for several years. She was elected the National Corresponding Secretary from 1982-1991. Elinor had this to say about CLUW, “The beautiful part of CLUW is the sense of sisterhood that it set up while we were fighting for the goals for women.” Elinor was instrumental in organizing the Los Angeles chapter. Maggie Cook, LA Chapter President recalled that Elinor remained active in the chapter until 5 years ago and was a mentor to every woman that knew her. In the photo Elinor is 2nd from left (with blonde hair) and at the far left is Ruth Martin (with coat over arm) who served as chapter president from 1974-1999. Photo taken in 1980 of LA CLUW members protesting Litton.

Elinor was born in Brooklyn New York, the 3rd of 4 children, to politically progressive parents who supported the union movement. Her mother was an activist suffragette who was involved in many organizations and who Elinor remembered as a wonderful organizer; her father was a union tradesman (a member of the painters’ union) and builder who believed that boys and girls were entitled to the same education, a view not popularly held at that time. Elinor skipped several grades and entered New York University at 15. She majored in Economics and Drama.

Her first love was acting, starting before high school and performing in summer stock and Off Broadway. While in college she met the author Herman Wouk at a summer camp for theater artists and is supposed to be the model for the character Marjorie Morningstar in the book of that name.

During her college years Elinor led a successful student protest and this experience caused an awakening in Elinor that led to a life of activism. During this time she and other NYU students volunteered at the seafarers’ union.

She graduated college in 1934 at 19 years old and after being unable to find a job in theater, got a job teaching English and remedial reading in the public schools thru funding thru the WPA (Works Progress Administration) under Roosevelt’s New Deal. She became a Vice President of the WPA Teachers Union. She later became a private school teacher at Pleasantville Cottage School run by the Jewish charities.

Elinor moved to Los Angeles with her first husband in 1944 in the hopes of working as an actress. She also studied law for a year at Southwestern Law School. Elinor joined an acting troupe that performed in union halls. This experience made her realize that “she was on the wrong side of the footlights”. To earn money, she worked as a clerk with the Office of Price Administration (OPA). She organized a local union and was fired three times for union activity, but was reinstated each time. She was promoted to an Economist. She moved up the ranks of the National Federation of Federal Employees Local from steward to chief steward. When the Local merged with several state, city, and county locals, she was elected president of UPW (United Public Workers), Local 246, a position she held until 1945-6, when she began to work as an organizer-representative at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital.

However, becoming an organizer was not easy for a woman. As Elinor tells it, “Each time I went up the ladder it was a fight to recognize that a woman could do the job. And in each case, I suggested a temporary probation period to see whether I would make it or not…” After successfully organizing and handling grievances at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, she began to organize workers at the other Los Angeles County hospitals. In 1953 UPW, Local 246 merged with SEIU Local 347. Ten years later they were chartered as Los Angeles County Employees Union, Local 434, and eventually Elinor became the General Manager. She was the first woman to achieve that position of any SEIU local. As a leader of 434, she organized thousands of employees and helped forge major gains for county workers, including a collective bargaining ordinance in 1969 and leading the first strike to protect wages and seniority rights of county workers.. She was elected to the SEIU International Executive Board in 1972 and retired from her union employment in 1979, although remained active in SEIU for years.

Amongst her honors: United Long Term Care Workers of SEIU established the Elinor Glenn Scholarship and the Jewish Labor Committee established the Elinor Glenn Leadership Award.

Kerry Newkirk CLUW National VP (SEIU) felt that, “Elinor was the most beautiful woman–inside and out–in any room she was in. She was a champion of women’s rights and responsible for mentoring and supporting a countless number of women labor leaders and activists. As a leader of SEIU, she is largely responsible for the organizing of public sector workers in California. Her warmth, humor, inspiration, and generosity will be deeply missed but she leaves a huge legacy–it can truly be said that she made a difference in the world.”

Elinor was married to Hack Glenn for many years; he died before her. They had a son, Norman Gleichman who died in January. He had served as the Deputy General Counsel of SEIU. Survivors include her daughter-in-law, Marie Ritzo and 2 grandchildren, Nick and Eve. A June memorial service is being planned. More details to follow.

Thanks to Wayne State Reuther Library, SEIU Interview 1994, plus other SEIU archives, 1986 interview, California State University, Long Beach and CLUW NEWS for information and photos.

Go to – http://www.cluw.org/?zone=%2Funionactive%2Fview_article.cfm&HomeID=280246

The post Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Mourns Passing of Elinor Glenn – Founding Officer appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

It has been reported that today Sheet Metal Worker’s Local Union #19 and their contractors association have reached a tentative agreement. There will be a ratification meeting set for this coming Monday May 6th at 7pm for Local #19 members to vote on the agreement.

Local #19 leadership would like to thank the membership, who stood up for each other even during such uncertain economic times. You have proven that solidarity really works!

The post Tentative Agreement Reached Between Sheet Metal Worker’s Local #19 and Contractors Association appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

It is crucial that all card carrying members who are not working for contractors that have signed retro-actively come out tomorrow morning at 6:30am and support your Brothers and Sisters!

These 9 contractors are being picketed:

In New Jersey
ADS, SSM, AerDux, Luthe Sheet Metal, Fisher Balancing

In Pennsylvania
Thermo Design, Donovan, Air Concepts, Ernest D. Menold

If you need directions to any of the Shops, please contact Joe Rispo at the Union Hall starting at 6am tomorrow.

After all these years of working together to advance our industry, all the hard work that Local 19 Members put in year in and year out this is what we get from the Contractor’s Association.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568640379823942&set=a.162571487097502.30537.133026076718710&type=1&theater

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Believe it or not, May 1 has more significance than a cute “it’s gonna be May” meme featuring Justin Timberlake.

Perhaps you’ve always wondered about references to May Day. A Huffington Post contributor explains May Day celebrations “were born more than a century ago out of a struggle by American workers for the eight-hour day.”

In the late 1800s, times were tough for workers in the U.S. You can blame the growing rise of corporations, which didn’t always create the best work conditions. Workers’ campaign for an eight-hour work day reached a milestone on May 1, 1886.

The aforementioned blog post notes:

Gradually, plans took shape for a day of worker protests demanding the eight-hour day. And on May 1, 1886, protests erupted all across the United States, with some 340,000 workers taking part. An estimated 190,000 went out on strike.

May Day celebrations later spread to Communist governments, which naturally didn’t make the U.S. government too happy. That’s why in 1958, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as Law Day. The History Channel explains, “May Day had communist overtones in the minds of many Americans, because of its celebration of working people as a governing class in the Soviet Union and elsewhere.”

Law Day encourages Americans to focus on the rights established “in the fundamental documents of American democracy,” it adds.

For what it’s worth, after the 1886 protests, it still took decades for many Americans to finally see an eight-hour workday.

So what’s up with references to maypoles on May 1? Remember, May 1 was a celebration of spring in medieval and modern Europe, according to Encyclopædia Britannica.

May Day dances still take place in some communities.

The New York Times explains, “The May Day dance may seem a trifle outdated, but every spring in communities here and there across America, celebrants follow the ancient custom, erecting a maypole, usually cedar or birch, and dancing around it, typically weaving colorful ribbons around the pole as they go.”

One more May Day tradition worth noting: Wikipedia notes that in some parts of the U.S., people fill baskets with goodies on May 1. They put a basket on the recipient’s doorstep, ring the doorbell and try not to get caught. Believe it or not, I did this as a child.

Fun times.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/04/30/2485595/may-day-2013-everything-you-need.html#storylink=cpy

The post May Day 2013: Everything you need to know about May Day history, Law Day and maypoles on May 1 appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Phillylabor.com calls for the support for local #19 and it’s members and will follow this situation closely and provide updates as they come in!

The post Sheet Metal Worker’s Local #19 Contract Expires as of 11:59pm April 30, 2013 appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

“Governor Corbett has overseen a Pennsylvanian economy in decline,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn. “The last economic report just further illustrates how disastrous Tom Corbett’s economy has been for the middle-class. Tom Corbett is more focused on giving tax breaks to corporations than he is on investing in education, lowering property taxes, and stemming rising tuition costs.”

Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate Is Higher Than The National Average. “The Department of Labor and Industry said Friday the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.9 percent in March, down from 8.1 percent in February.The national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in March. [Associated Press, 4/19/13]

Pennsylvania Labor Force Falls Biggest Amount In 30 Years. “The size of Pennsylvania’s labor force shrank in March by the biggest one-month amount in almost three decades, as unemployment and payrolls also fell. A survey of households showed the number of people working or looking for work fell in March by 33,000 to just above 6.5 million. That’s the largest one-month drop since 1983.” [Associated Press, 4/19/13]

When Tom Corbett Took Office, Pennsylvania Was 7th in Job Growth.
[Job Growth USA, 01/11]

Now, Pennsylvania Ranks 49th In Job Growth. “Where’d everybody go? Earlier today I spoke with Mark Price, a labor economist with the Keystone Research Center. He noted — with the caveat that numbers can fluctuate from month to month — that in March Pennsylvania ranked 49th in the nation in job growth, ahead of only Wyoming.” [Philadelphia Daily News, 4/23/13]

Pennsylvania Is The Only State In The Nation With An Over-The-Year Percentage Decrease In Employment.
“The only over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Pennsylvania (-0.1 percent).” [Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 04/19/13]

The post Pennslvania Drops to 49th in the Nation in Job Growth appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

– The Stagehands of IATSE 8, who have been on strike against Philadelphia-based Electric Factory Concerts for the past month, having set up picket lines outside the concert venue (located at 421 North 7th Street) over area wages and standards, put their strike on hold, however, during The Hooters concert at the Electric Factory, this past Friday, April 27th, 2013 because the enormously popular and influential band – some of whose members come from families steeped in the labor movement – secured an agreement with IATSE Local 8 stagehands for their Philly shows.

“IATSE Local 8 would like to thank Dave Uosikkinen and the all the members of The Hooters for their support of workers issues,” said Michael Barnes, Business Manager of IATSE Local 8.

Thus the union ceased all picketing, hand billing and social media activities as part of the settlement for last Friday’s Hooters show only.

“IATSE Local 8 looks forward to working with The Hooters on all their future shows in the Philadelphia area in venues that maintain the area standards established by stagehands over the last fifty years” Barnes concluded, “IATSE will be contacting every act scheduled for the Electric Factory to offer a one time pass for their scheduled event. This will prevent any disruption to fans that have already purchased tickets.

Going forward, the union has committed to work with the Hooters and all the acts to bring the best experience to the fans at venues that maintain the area standards. We hope more acts will follow the lead of The Hooters and The Drop Kick Murphy’s (who previously also supported the union) in supporting working men and women.

The post PHILLY BAND, THE HOOTERS, SUPPORTS UNION STAGE HANDS AT ELECTRIC FACTORY CONCERT appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Voters aren’t keen on Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to privatize the state’s liquor stores, according to a poll commissioned by the labor union most vocally opposed to the proposal. The survey was conducted by a Republican pollster.

47% oppose the plan and 41% support it. It’s the first publicly released survey to show privatization at a net negative. Its results are a contrast from overall attitudes about privatization; respondents said they favored privatizing government services 40% to 38%.

GOP firm Harper Polling surveyed 500 likely Pa. voters via interactive voice response from April 8-10. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.38%.

Update: several readers emailed me and noted in the comments below that partners with Long, Nyquist & Associates – which represents UFCW 1776 – are also partners in Harper Polling. Add that grain of salt to the one described below.

The results paint a bleaker picture for privatization than did a recent survey commissioned by the the conservative Commonwealth Foundation which found 61% support for it.

The latest independent poll on the issue, from Franklin & Marshall in February, showed 53% of voters supported privatization while 34% opposed it.

In the Harper poll released by UFCW, 60% said the issue shouldn’t be a priority for officials in Harrisburg. Ranked among other issues, liquor placed last (9%) among fixing the economy (41%), funding education (38%), and transportation (12%).

In the memo, pollster Brock McCleary said the intensity of opposition surpassed that of supporters.

“It’s the difference between the guy who wouldn’t mind having another liquor store in his neighborhood and the guy who’s going to lose his job if they privatize the store where he works,” he wrote.

UFCW President Wendell Young IV agrees.

“What this poll shows is very low intensity from the voters on this,” he said.

He said he initially commissioned the poll to be internal, but decided to release it on seeing the numbers.

“I needed a credible poll, a poll that wouldn’t just tell me what I wanted to hear,” he said. “This is a Republican firm, the mostly work for Republicans, they’re gonna give me a good, hard, conservative look.”

The United Food and Commercial Workers local 1776 labor union represents the employees of the current wine and spirits stores. The Governor’s plan would provide incentives for private spirits sellers who hire them, but critics like UFCW 1776 say that the proposal would exchange well-paying union jobs for minimum wage clerk positions.

The poll also tested some of the negative messaging against liquor privatization. A majority of respondents said they would be less likely to support Corbett’s plan if it meant easier access to booze for teenagers, lead to job losses, reduce revenue for the state, or cause booze to increase in price.

“The Governor, Lt. Governor and others like to say that 70%, 80% of people support this. But that’s not true,” said Young. “It comes in cycles. The public perception of this issue is one way, but when it comes to the clear light of testimony,” public support tends to drop, he said.

Just as with internal polls commissioned by campaigns, the results of internal polls from advocacy groups should be taken with a grain of salt. Typically, the group commissioning a poll has final say over the questions asked and the language therein.

In this case, the pollster asked about “Governor Corbett’s plan.” Given the Governor’s low approval ratings, it’s likely attaching his name to the question brought down its numbers.

Not to mention, the bill passed by the state House and has noteworthy differences from the plan Corbett proposed – as will likely be the case in the state Senate should the measure reach a vote there.

“It might have affected it by a few points,” Young conceded, “but this is nowhere near the 70, 80 points you hear,” from supporters.

Corbett has taken as prominent a role on the liquor issue as any during his tenure so far.

51% of respondents identified as Democrats and 39% as Republicans. 15% identified as liberal versus very conservative (19%), somewhat conservative (27%) and moderate (35%).

Here’s the poll questions and topline results:

Liquor Privatization Poll Toplines

Go To – http://www.politicspa.com/ufcw-poll-voters-oppose-corbett-liquor-plan/47660/

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The strike has long been labor’s most powerful weapon. Strikes put pressure on the employer – which needs the employees’ labor to run the business – to agree to employees’ demands for fair wages and working conditions.

Strikes are also a public form of expression. Seeing striking workers marching in front of a workplace sends a message to the employer, to the public and to the workers themselves. It says that the workers stand together to fight for decent working conditions and that their dispute with the employer is so important that they are willing to lose pay to fight for a fair workplace. It tells the public and other workers that they might not want to patronize, or work for, the employer unless changes are made. Strikes build solidarity among the workers and help them maintain their resolve under the severe pressure of losing income while on strike. Strikes are also an expression of control by the workers, who may feel that the employer treats them as if they were nothing more than a live form of raw materials.

Congress understood the importance of the strike to labor unions, so it protected strikes in two ways in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). First, strikes are covered by the broad protection Section 7 gives to all group actions directed at improving terms and conditions of employment. Despite this broad protection, which includes strikes, Congress thought it important to repeat in Section 13 that nothing in the law “except as specifically provided for herein, shall be construed so as either to interfere with or impede or diminish in any way the right to strike.”

This week’s installment in our series on the NLRA discusses permanent replacement of strikers, while next week’s installment will discuss other judicially created limits on the right to strike.

Although Congress made it clear that it viewed the strike as a right of utmost importance, the Supreme Court wasted no time in limiting and weakening the right to strike. In 1938, just three years after Congress approved the NLRA, in NLRB v. Mackay Radio (NLRB is the National Labor Relations Board),the Supreme Court said that employers had the right to permanently replace strikers. In other words, the court gave employers legal cover to fire strikers, despite the clear protection for strikes under Section 7 and 13.

While permanent replacement is not precisely the same as discharge, the fear of permanent replacement hangs over the right to strike.

What, you might ask, is the difference between replacing a striker and firing a striker?

A permanently replaced employee has the right to return to the job if, and when, the replacement worker leaves, creating a vacancy. This right may be important to a worker with long service whose replacement leaves soon after the strike ends.

But for many workers, replacement is no different than being fired. It means the replaced strikers must find other work to support themselves and their families. Even though they have a possible right to return to the job months or years later, that right is essentially worthless. Some people call striker replacement “industrial capital punishment.”

Most important, however, is that just the threat of being permanently replaced damages the right to strike. It takes away this important legal right because the great risk that striking workers may lose their jobs may discourage them from striking at all.

Where did the court in Mackay Radio find the right to permanently replace striking workers? It is nowhere to be found in the NLRA. It cannot be found written in any law. The court just presumed that the right to operate a business carries with it the right to replace striking workers permanently. The court did not even require the employer to prove that it could not continue to operate the business with supervisors or temporary replacements before taking the extraordinary step of permanently replacing the legally striking workers. The court gave this presumed right of employers more weight than the employees’ right to strike expressly granted to them by Congress.

In the last 30 years, employers have frequently used permanent replacements to defeat strikes. Just the threat of permanent replacement can destroy solidarity among striking workers. Those who are more easily replaced will be tempted to return to work when a threat is made, while workers with skills that are harder to find will be more able to resist the threats and remain on strike. As a result, bitter divisions can occur, further damaging the workers’ power. Although striker replacement is not the only reason strikes are far less common today, it is certainly an important factor. The reduction in the power of strikes has contributed to the view that the NLRA has outlived its usefulness. One reason for passage of the NLRA was to reduce widespread labor unrest and provide a peaceful method for settling labor disputes. With no realistic strike threat, employers have little need for the NLRA, and many would be happy to see its elimination. Without the judicial amendments, however, the language of the NLRA shines out as a powerful law intended to protect both management and labor alike.

Go To – http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/15913-strike-and-youre-out-the-supreme-courts-destruction-of-the-right-to-strike

The post Strike and You’re Out: The Supreme Court’s Destruction of the Right to Strike appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

We’ve all seen the charts. As union membership rates go down, so goes the middle class and people’s ability to bargain for living wages and a voice on the job.

David Madland and Karla Walter from the Center for American Progress (CAP) say, in Top 6 Policies to Help the Middle Class that Won’t Cost Taxpayers a Penny, that strengthening people’s ability to organize unions and to bargain collectively will go a long way in rebuilding the middle class.

If unionization rates increased by 10 percentage points—to roughly the level that they were in 1980—the typical middle-class household, unionized or not, would earn $1,501 more per year, according to research conducted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Madland and Walter suggest the following to ensure workers can form unions:

• The National Labor Relations Board should help put an end to needless election delays and modernize the union election process.
• Congress should pass comprehensive labor-law reform that establishes a fair process for workers to decide on union representation that expands coverage so that more workers are provided the right to organize; establishes meaningful penalties and remedies for workers who are fired or discriminated against for exercising their right to organize; and includes measures to promote productive bargaining between workers and companies.
• Congress should also make the right to join a union a civil right. This would give workers who are discriminated against in exercising their right to organize a private right to sue, just as workers have a right to sue if they face other forms of workplace discrimination.

Other fixes to boost the middle class include raising the minimum wage, allowing workers to earn paid sick leave and lowering monthly housing costs by providing homeowners with principal forgiveness. Read the rest on CAP’s website.

Go To – http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/Want-to-Build-the-Middle-Class-Make-Sure-Workers-Can-Easily-Form-and-Join-Unions

The post Want to Build the Middle Class? Make Sure Workers Can Easily Form and Join Unions appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

It currently is perfectly legal in America to fire someone for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT. Rather than being evaluated on their skills, qualifications, and ability to contribute to the job, LGBT workers are all too often not hired, not promoted, or, in the worst cases, fired from their jobs solely due to their sexual orientation and gender identity—characteristics completely irrelevant to job performance. And in a majority of states and under federal law, these employees have no legal recourse to challenge this discrimination.

This week, however, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives are planning to introduce a bill to change that. If passed and signed into law, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013, or ENDA, would prohibit most employers from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It would finally put in place uniform and comprehensive protections for the LGBT workforce in all 50 states.

Considering the high rates of discrimination that LGBT workers experience, this law is sorely needed. Discrimination can force LGBT workers into unemployment, leaving them without an income to pay the mortgage, buy groceries, and otherwise make ends meet. Workplace discrimination is not only a problem for workers though; it also presents problems for businesses by introducing inefficiencies and costs that cut into profits and undermine businesses’ bottom lines.

While ENDA has been introduced in every session of Congress save one since 1994, the last time it received a vote in the Senate was in 1996. More than a decade and a half later, there still isn’t a federal law in place protecting LGBT workers from bias and discrimination. Luckily, earlier this year Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) vowed as Chairman of the Senate HELP committee—which oversees ENDA’s introduction—to move the bill forward this year. It’s high time the senate takes up this important bill once again for a vote.

With the bill’s introduction this week, here are the top 10 things you need to know about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

LGBT workers experience high rates of discrimination

LGBT employees continue to face widespread discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Studies show that anywhere from 15 percent to 43 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people have experienced some form of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Specifically, 8 percent to 17 percent of LGB workers report being passed over for a job or being fired because of their sexual orientation; 10 percent to 28 percent received a negative performance evaluation or were passed over for a promotion because they were LGB; and 7 percent to 41 percent of LGB workers encountered harassment, abuse, or antigay vandalism on the job. Rates of discrimination are especially high among people of color who identify as LGBT.

Transgender workers in particular experience high rates of employment discrimination. An astonishing 90 percent of transgender people report some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job or report having taken action such as hiding who they really are to avoid it. As with LGB employees, rates of employment discrimination are especially pronounced among transgender people of color.

Employment discrimination is bad for both employers and employees

Employment discrimination is a lose-lose situation for both the employees who are discriminated against and for the employers who allow discrimination to go unchecked.

For employees, discrimination often means being forced into the ranks of the unemployed, leaving them without an income to support themselves and their families. In this way, discrimination is largely to blame for many of the economic insecurities among LGBT families, who, contrary to commonly held stereotypes, report lower annual earnings and higher rates of poverty than non-LGBT families.

For employers, discrimination is an economically unwise business practice. Discrimination cripples a businesses’ ability to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. It diminishes overall job performance and productivity and closes businesses off to potentially profitable consumer markets.

The vast majority of Fortune 500 companies support these policies

When you consider the fact that discrimination hurts businesses, it is not surprising that nearly all Fortune 500 companies have taken steps to protect their workers. Companies that don’t protect and support LGBT workers are increasingly out of step with corporate America. Of the Fortune 500 companies, 87 percent of businesses have established nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation, and 56 percent include gender identity. That number increases as you climb the fortune ladder: Of the Fortune 100 companies, 93 percent include sexual orientation and 82 percent include gender identity in their corporate nondiscrimination policies.

No federal law prevents workers from being fired because they are LGBT

No federal law currently exists to prohibit employers from discriminating against LGBT people. Unfortunately, 9 out of 10 voters mistakenly believe LGBT workers already have federal protections against employment discrimination. A majority of states similarly do not offer employment protections to the LGBT workforce. Only 21 states and the District of Columbia prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; 16 and the District of Columbia do so on the basis of gender identity.

ENDA would provide comprehensive protections to LGBT workers in all 50 states

If passed and signed into law, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would protect private and public employees from employment discrimination on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation and gender identity. ENDA is similar to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which already protects workers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, as well as to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which protects against employment discrimination based on disability status. ENDA would only apply to employers with 15 or more employees, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, would enforce it.

Small businesses report having LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policies

A Center for American Progress poll reveals that many small businesses already have policies in place that prohibit discrimination against LGBT employees. Seven out of 10 small businesses prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 6 out of 10 small businesses already prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. What’s more, small-business owners report that there were virtually no costs associated with implementing and maintaining these nondiscrimination policies. In fact, most research indicates that nondiscrimination policies are a net positive for large and small businesses.

ENDA enjoys broad public support

In a Center for American Progress poll, nearly three-fourths—73 percent—of the American public supports protecting LGBT people from workplace discrimination. This support cuts across political party affiliation, with 81 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of independents, and 66 percent of Republicans supporting workplace nondiscrimination laws for LGBT people. Looking at key demographic groups, Catholics and seniors solidly favor employment protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity with 74 percent support and 61 percent support, respectively. Even among people who identify themselves as feeling generally unfavorable toward gay people, a full 50 percent support workplace nondiscrimination protections for the LGBT population. The small business community also strongly supports enacting ENDA: 63 percent of small-business owners have voiced their support for the bill.

ENDA contains an exemption for religious organizations

In addition to advancing workplace equality for gay and transgender employees, ENDA also includes a critical provision that safeguards religious organizations’ constitutional rights and religious freedoms. Specifically, Section 6 of ENDA provides religious organizations, which are broadly defined, with a substantial exemption that allows them to continue to take sexual orientation and gender identity into account when making employment decisions. In this way, ENDA’s religious exemption is broader than other laws that provide exemptions to religious organizations with respect to employment. ENDA’s religious-protection language is partly why dozens of faith-based communities and religious organizations support ENDA.

ENDA explicitly prohibits quotas, preferential treatment, and federal data collection

Looking technically at the bill, Section 8 of ENDA explicitly prohibits employers from giving preferential treatment to LGBT workers. It similarly prevents employers from establishing quotas for employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It simply protects LGBT workers from unfair or biased decision making in matters of employment, which would level a currently very uneven playing field.

ENDA also prohibits the EEOC from collecting data about employees’ sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s worth noting, however, that the bill does not prohibit employers from collecting data about their LGBT employees themselves. Should they choose to do so—as some businesses in the private sector already do—they can then provide those statistics to the EEOC.

President Obama can sign an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers

While the Senate can and should vote on ENDA in this session, it is unlikely that the conservative House of Representatives will take up this critical piece of legislation, let alone put it to a vote. Given ENDA’s dismal chance of becoming law in the near future, President Barack Obama can and should issue an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers. Presidents from both political parties have issued similar executive orders that prohibit federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. As the chief executive of the federal government, President Obama should make it clear that discrimination against LGBT workers will not be tolerated if you want to do business with the government.

At its core, ENDA’s premise is simple: Nobody should be denied employment or forced out of a job due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. Americans from all demographic and political backgrounds support this bill. It’s time for Congress to take action and finally turn it into law.

Go To – http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2013/04/24/61294/10-things-to-know-about-the-employment-non-discrimination-act/

Winnie Stachelberg is the Executive Vice President for External Affairs and Crosby Burns is a Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress.

The post 10 Things to Know About the Employment Non-Discrimination Act appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Click Here (http://nysaflcio.org/overtime/) To Sign and SHARE PETITION: Hands off my 40 hour work week!

The House of Representatives has renewed its decades-old attack on the 40-hour workweek. Once again, some members of Congress are pushing so-called “comp time” legislation that would allow employers to stop giving workers any extra pay for overtime work.

H.R. 1406, the so-called “Working Families Flexibility Act” would take away “Overtime Pay” and replace it with “Comp Time”.   This bill is not about providing employees with greater flexibility, but rather about providing employers with greater flexibility to not pay overtime!

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established the 40-hour workweek to allow employees to spend more time away from work and encourage employers to hire more staff when workloads increase. The “Working Families Flexibility Act” however would encourage employers to demand longer hours because it would allow employers to receive the benefits of overtime work at no additional cost. Employers could pay workers nothing at all for overtime when the work is performed, and schedule “compensatory time” only at their convenience. Under H.R. 1406, mandatory overtime would become cheaper for employers and result in more unpredictable work schedules and higher day care costs for workers.

Send the letter below to your congressperson today!

The post Tell Congress: “Don’t mess with the 40-hour workweek. Hands off my overtime!” appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Here’s a little advice in case he’s wondering. If the Mayor doesn’t want large crowds showing up at City Hall and interrupting his speeches, he should try working with people instead of against them. Being at odds with one or two organizations in the course of a four year term is typical, but all four organizations on a constant basis? Well then, it brings up the question that is on everyone’s mind: Why Does Mayor Nutter Hate Unions So Much?

Is it because he’s against collective bargaining, or the 40-hour work week, fair wages or benefits or the other conditions that unions have achieved that have made them the voice of the middle class in America?

Is it because he didn’t get union support during his initial mayoral campaign as area unions split their vote among several other of the candidates and the Mayor walked on in under the union community’s radar?

Here we have a lame duck Democratic mayor in a largely Democratic city who doesn’t have to worry about re-election or setting the table for his party to ensure the next Mayor is a Democrat, so what does he really have to lose, right?

Well, maybe the legacy of his administration, which will be over soon enough, thankfully, and which will go down in the minds of working families as one of the least popular in the history of Philadelphia.

Point of information to our Philadelphia area unions: unlike the first time Nutter won, the next time we have a mayoral election, let’s please unite in solidarity together to support the one candidate who best supports and respects our union standards before we get stuck with another nutter like this mutter!!

The post A Story Worth Re-Posting – Why Does Mayor Nutter Hate Unions So Much? appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

We welcome everyone to stop back daily to the new PhillyLabor.com website and stay plugged in to the Philadelphia area labor movement!

Enjoy!

PhillyLabor.com

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CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE – http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6176

Today the House Labor and Industry Committee voted two anti-prevailing wage bills out of committee so that they may be considered by the full house.  These were just two of a large package of new anti-prevailing wage bills that have been introduced this session, and represent a bold new set of attacks on workers by this misguided anti-worker agenda.  We have already seen that this legislature is willing to pass anti-worker legislation, as demonstrated by the recent vote to privatize the state Wine and Spirits stores.

As a unified labor movement, we must draw a line in the sand.  We must continue to fight the privatization battle in the state senate and win; we must make our voices clearly heard in the state house on prevailing wage; and we must leave no doubt that right-to-work is a non-starter in Pennsylvania.  We must do all of these things as a united labor movement, and prove to those who would take away our rights that they will not succeed in their ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.

CLICK HERE (http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6176) to e-mail your state legislator today, tell them to oppose HB 665, HB 796, and any other anti-prevailing wage legislation that comes before the state house.  Share this page with your friends, co-workers, neighbors, and social networks and encourage them to join you in opposing this latest attack on middle class working families.

Here is a look at the current prevailing wage bills that have been voted through committee:

HB 665 would change the definitions of “construction” and “maintenance” projects, so that more public projects would be classified as “maintenance” and therefore be exempt from prevailing wage laws.  “Maintenance” projects under this proposed legislation would include full replacement of guide rails, curbs, pipes and other road  equipment as well as repaving up to 3 1/2 inches of road surface, including associated milling.  This would exempt a huge number of construction crews from prevailing  wage protections.

HB 796 would amend the Prevailing Wage Act to raise the threshold from $25,000 to $100,000 for projects that would be subject to prevailing wage laws.  This bill is a transparent effort to undermine prevailing wage laws in Pennsylvania, which have protected workers from exploitative labor practices for generations.

These bills represent a misguided attack on workers by contractors who are more concerned with having a low-wage workforce than providing the Commonwealth with quality products and services.

A number of other bills attacking prevailing wage laws have been introduced and referred to the House Labor and Industry Committee, including:

HB 63 (F. Keller) which would increase the threshold for public works projects to $190,000 adjusted annually with increases in CPI;
HB 590 (Baker) which would exempt work performed on projects by or on behalf of a health care facility or any entity subject to Article IX of the Public welfare Code;
HB 662 (Milne) which would exempt work on any historic property or any property maintained by a land trust operating under the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Act;
HB 664 (Marsico) which would exclude political subdivisions from the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act and allow a political subdivision to elect to place itself within the jurisdiction of the Act by ordinance or resolution;
HB 666 (Marsico) which would opt school districts out of certain prevailing wage requirements, and provide for opt-in referenda;
HB 999 (Marsico) would exempt any project in a keystone opportunity zone from the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act;
HB 1095 (Bloom) which would amend the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act and provide that it have no application from June 30, 2013 through July 1, 2016;
HB 1155 (Miller) would require the Secretary of Labor and Industry to require contractors, trustees, or third parties managing benefit payments under a collective bargaining agreement to maintain and provide records of such benefits to the Secretary;
HB 1191 (Delozier) Which would raise the threshold for projects from $25,000 to $500,000 with an annual adjustment thereafter.

The post UPDATE: Anti-Prevailing Wage Legislation Approved By House Labor & Industry Committee appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

WHAT IS THE UNION PROTEST LIST? As part of the Pro-Union Label Campaign, which Identifies and promotes businesses and entities who are friends of labor, the Union Protest List is an informational resource for Philadelphia area union community to reference businesses or entities who are being protested by area unions.

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UNION PROTEST LIST

- Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 – Bannering Croydon House Appartments at 49th & Locust against the developers Orens Brothers

- Anti-Prevailing Wage Legislation Approved by House Labor & Industry Committee – HB 665, HB – 796 – Pa. AFL-CIO – Take Action – Stop Anti-Prevailing Wage Laws – Go to: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6176

- Governor Corbet – For Proposing State Lottery and Liquor Privatization Legislation that would cause thousands of union members to lose their jobs.

- Post Bros – For Standards and Wages (12th and Wood Sts Construction Site) By Various Phila Construction Trades Unions

- Electric Factory Concerts – By IATSE #8  – For Wages and Standards

- Mayor Michael Nutter – by DC #33 & #47 (Contributing to City Unions Working Without Contracts for Extended Periods of time

Please Click Here to go to our Pro-Union Label Do Buy List

The post Union Protest List appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

In Solidarity We Are Proud To Be With You Boston!

The post All PhillyLabor Posts Today Will Be Dedicated to the Victims of the Senseless Tragedy Yesterday in Boston! appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

The post Update: Explosions in Boston Killing 2, Injuring 46 and Counting; Thoughts and Prayers With The Victims appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Phillylabor Wants to Know?

The post Question for those people who have a problem with unions appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

The flames broke out around 6:00 Saturday night on the 700 block of South 4th Street and spread to several row homes.

Heavy smoke filled the area and could be seen from miles away. Several people were evacuated.

Philadelphia firefighters had to rescue one of their own who was trapped in the debris.

Firefighters stood side by side and saluted 53-year-old Captain Michael Goodwin from Ladder 27b. He was killed in a fall from the third floor roof to the second.

The fire roared out of control for hours from the three story building on the stretch known as “Fabric Row.”

Neighbors say the fire started in the basement of a business called Jack B Fabrics and spread to other parts of the business and apartments upstairs.

Another firefighter 28-year-old Andrew Godlinski, suffered burns while trying to save his fallen captain. He was treated at a local hospital and is expected to survive.

The fire forced several residential evacuations and sent several blocks into darkness.

At one point PECO reported more than 300 customers without power as firefighters worked to contain the blaze but service has since been restored.

The Red Cross is assisting at least 17 people. Anyone affected can go to the Nebinger School at 6th and Carpenter streets for assistance.

Captain Goodwin, a 29 year veteran of the department, leaves behind a wife and two children.

He also has a brother who works as a Philadelphia police officer.

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers described Goodwin as “a really good person, a friend of mine.”

Nearly a year ago on April 9, Philadelphia firefighters mourned the loss of Lt. Robert Neary and Firefighter Daniel Sweeney, who were killed battled a 5-alarm warehouse fire in Kensington.

Mayor Michael Nutter has ordered flags to be at half staff for the next 30 days in honor of the fallen hero.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9055293

The post Philadelphia Fire captain killed, firefighter injured in Queen Village blaze appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Next Step – Getting it Overwhelming Passed and adopted by a full vote of the City Council!

We will keep you posted!

The post Councilman Bob Henon’s Proposed Ordinance on Construction Contractor Licensing and 1099 Employees Takes First Step and Passes Unanimously in City Council Committee appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

NEED A REASON to drink? How about improving the futures of Philadelphia’s schoolkids?

Mayor Nutter and City Council are rarely on the same page these days, but the possibility of increasing the “liquor-by-the-drink” tax to help pay for the School Reform Commission’s request for $60 million seems to be gaining traction on both sides.

City Council President Darrell Clarke has pledged support for increasing the tax, which now adds 10 percent to your bar tab (on top of the sales tax) and sends it to the schools. Nutter said Thursday that increasing the tax by half (to 15 percent per drink) an option his administration is considering.

In 1994, then-Councilman Nutter voted in favor of creating the tax, which now brings in more than $45 million per year.

“President Clarke and I have talked about that and I am certainly interested in that kind of proposal, but my track record on that one is pretty clear,” Nutter said. The 1994 bill “was a tough vote for a lot of folks but I thought it was the right thing to do then and it’s certainly something that we should explore now.”

Clarke spokeswoman Jane Roh wrote in an email that the Council president “supports increasing this tax to bolster an annualized revenue stream for the schools.”

Pat Conway, president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, said that while businesses don’t like the tax, it’s the customers who usually absorb its cost.

“It would be a tough pill to swallow for restaurants and taverns and for the entire hospitality industry, but it’s actually more of a consumer issue,” Conway said.

Increasing the tax is no silver-bullet cocktail shaker for fully funding the schools’ request, so Council and the mayor would have to find money in other places to reach the $60 million the schools say they need to plug their enormous budget gap.

Nutter supports funding the request but has been elusive as to how he wants to get that done. On Thursday he addressed criticism that his administration hasn’t yet presented a plan, saying he wants to first develop one with Council.

“We don’t have a plan today and we certainly don’t have all the answers today, and we don’t have to have a plan and all the answers today. Our budget process, at least under the charter, is completed by the end of May,” he said.

Some in Council, including Clarke, have not committed to providing the full $60 million, arguing that after two years of city property-tax hikes for the schools, it’s Harrisburg’s turn.

Nutter, however, said Thursday that he thinks Philly needs to show its commitment first to get more money out of the state.

“It would put us at that much worse of a situation from a discussion or negotiation standpoint to somehow seek additional funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . . . while some might suggest that the city would not be putting dollars on the table,” he said. “I have to reject that kind of strategy.”

- PHILLYLABOR.COM Editorial – It’s hard enough for establishments to make ends meet with the current 10% liquor sales tax, if the city adds another 5% or 10% on top of that, without exaggeration, establishments will be dropping like flies and jobs will be lost by the thousands both in bars and restaurants.

This would be the Nutter Administration devastating another industry, The Hospitality Industry.

The post City considers hiking liquor-drink tax to 15 percent, (PhillyLabor.com Editorial – Jobs and Businesses To Be Jeopardized) appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

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This is in Prep for the May Day Celebration taking place on May 1st. All Are Welcome To Come Out and Help As We’d Appreciate All the Help We Can Get!

Supplies, Food and Drink Provided.

The post USW 10-1 Preps For May Day Celebration appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.

Cadbury Eggs

Jelly Bellies

Laffy Taffy

Necco Wafers

Mike and Ikes

Thin Mints

Tootsie Rolls

Peeps (BCTGM)

Ghirardelli chocolates (BCTGM)

And don’t forget to pick up a union-prepared Easter ham or lamb:

Appleton Farms Ham
Black Forest Ham
Butterball Ham
Chiappetti Lamb
Cook’s Ham
Farmland Old Fashioned Pit Ham
Farmland Original Pit Ham
Fischer Meats Lamb
Hormel Honey Roasted Ham
Tyson Ham

Go To – http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Other-News/Made-in-America-Union-Made-Easter

The post Made in America: Union-Made Easter appeared first on PhillyLabor.com.