By Jeff Blumenthal

– UPDATE: Newspaper Guild President Howard Gensler said that management asked 14 total employees from the Inquirer (7), Daily News (5) and Philly.com (2) to stay with the company until Dec. 27, when the 2016 payroll year begins. All of the Inquirer and Daily News employees work in copy desk/ layout/ assignment desk capacities. All accepted the offer save for three of the five Daily News employees, so Gensler said management asked two laid off reporters to work the copy desk during that time period and they accepted the offer.

Some of the 46 editorial employees laid off by Philadelphia Media Network last month have been asked to stay beyond their scheduled Dec. 4 departure date, Newspaper Guild Local 10 and company sources confirmed.

Guild leaders said about six copy editors from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have been asked to stay on into December. Some will leave earlier but their absolute last date is Dec. 27. None of the laid off reporters or digital producers were asked to stay beyond Friday.

“Though it’s not our usual policy to comment on internal personnel decisions, I can confirm that some staffers were asked, and accepted the offer, of working a few more weeks,” PMN spokeswoman Amy Buckman said.

All but one Daily News copy editor was laid off last month, so it could be possible that PMN needs more time to plan for how it will handle copy desk duties for both print publications as it implements its plan to combine its three newsrooms — the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com.

The Daily News copy desk is well known for producing attention-grabbing cover headlines, so it will be interesting so see if that tabloid sensibility remains once those employees depart.

The Inquirer was not hit as badly as its two sister publications, 17 of 29 Philly.com editorial staff were laid off, while 17 of 60 Daily News editorial staff were affected and 12 members of the Inquirer editorial staff — estimated to be between 150 to 200 people — lost their jobs.

Source – http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2015/12/03/inquirer-daily-news-pmn-layoffs-stay-thru-xmas.html

By Holly Otterbein

– Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican legislative leaders have finally cut a tentative budget deal, reports NewsWorks’ Kevin McCorry. It includes a historic increase in education funding, which is a major victory for Wolf. He promised to secure more money for the state’s schools during his gubernatorial campaign. Via McCorry:

The tentative pact includes what would be the largest increase in state education spending in at least two decades.

The basic education subsidy would see a $350 million increase, special-education and pre-K funding would each receive a $50 million boost, in addition to $10 million more for Head Start.

It’s not clear yet how much of that money would go to the School District of Philadelphia.

So what are Republicans getting from Wolf in return for supporting his top priority? Some pension and liquor reform, of course. Political insiders have long speculated that GOP lawmakers would only sign off on a sizable boost in education funding if Democrats agreed in turn to overhaul the state’s liquor system and pension fund.

The pension system for future state workers, including teachers, would be modified as a hybrid of a defined benefit and a defined contribution plan — placing a share of the market risk on future individual employees, while removing some from the state and local school boards.

The tentative pact also includes a compromise that would allow wine to be sold in supermarkets and restaurants.

In order to finance the plan, lawmakers would broaden the sales tax, according to NewsWorks. The tax would apply to more items and some exemptions would be eliminated. However, the sales tax rate would not go up. Neither would the personal income tax rate, and there would be no tax on Marcellus Shale drilling, which was a key component of Wolf’s proposed budget plan.

A word of caution: Wolf and Republicans said earlier this year that they reached a tentative agreement on key parts of the budget, only to have it fall through. But maybe this one will stick. After all, the swanky Pennsylvania Society gala — the political event of the year to see and be seen — is next weekend.

Source – http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/12/04/tom-wolf-budget-deal/

Originally Posted on 11/26/15 By Susan Snyder

– Temple University’s 1,400 adjunct professors will become part of the faculty union, after more than two-thirds of those voting approved the proposal.

The tally – 609-266 – came after years of efforts to unionize the adjunct faculty. The Temple Association of University Professionals will double in size as a result of the vote, whose results were released by both the university and the union.

Adjunct faculty become union members immediately but their work terms will have to be negotiated, and the vote has to be officially certified by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, said Art Hochner, president of the union and a professor in the Fox School of Business.

“This is a great step for all faculty at Temple,” he said. “With all faculty belonging to TAUP, we will be able to have a unified voice and achieve the professional respect they all deserve.”

The win for Temple, he said, “is a great first step” in the larger efforts by many of the 15,000 adjunct faculty at area college campuses to unionize.

The Temple administration had opposed the move. On Tuesday, administrators signaled their intention to accept the decision.
“Now that the vote is completed, it is time to move forward,” provost Hai-Lung Dai said in an email to faculty. “Soon we will begin working with TAUP to produce a collective bargaining agreement that includes adjunct faculty.”

Adjuncts across the country work without benefits or job security, often for little pay and with no stable career path, though they provide a substantial portion of the higher education workforce. Various efforts have been launched to unionize adjuncts in large cities, including Philadelphia.

At Temple, the union previously represented full-time faculty except in the Schools of Law, Medicine, Dentistry, and Podiatric Medicine.

Source – http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/education&id=353879811

By Dan Kelley

– Want to bend the new mayor’s ear?

You’ve got a few chances this week.

Mayor-elect Jim Kenney is holding a series of town halls every night this week to feel the pulse of the city.

Hundreds of people turned out for a one-hour event at Central High Monday night, and if the rest of them go the same way, the new mayor might want to keep a close eye on the school district.

Kenney listened, and said little as about 28 people got up to offer their suggestions, about half of them about education.

From parents and teachers opposed to the transition of a handful of district schools into charters to those who noted that buildings weren’t up to snuff — it’s clear that schools are a big concern for city residents.

One man told Kenney he was ready to start working for better schools, but he wanted to know when the incoming mayor was going to get to work.

Kenney noted that he’s been working since the primary on implementing his marquee schools plan, but he hasn’t been sworn in yet.

“Christmas is coming,” Kenney said.

Kenney also heard concerns about gentrification, pedestrian safety, gun violence, and litter.

One man told Kenney that there was no litter on the ground when Frank Rizzo was mayor, a fact that is perhaps challenged by the movie Rocky, shot in 1976 during Rizzo’s tenure when litter was pretty prominent.

More Town Halls:

Tuesday: 7:30 to 8:30 South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad Street

Wednesday: 7:30 to 8:30 School of the Future, 40th and Parkside

Thursday: 7:30 to 8:30, Mayfair Community Center, 2990 Saint Vincent Street

Friday: 7:30 to 8:30 Strawberry Mansion High School, 3133 Ridge Avenue

Source: http://www.metro.us/philadelphia/at-the-first-stop-on-kenney-s-listening-tour-schools-dominate-discussion/zsJola—BDsT9Pp0gZHr/

Pa. AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder, and the entire staff of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday!

Many of us will be traveling to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends. Please make it a safe trip and enjoy the Holiday. We all have plenty to be thankful for and please remember those families and people who are in need. Please help to share the blessings of this holiday with them.

Remember that when you are shopping for Thanksgiving, please support your fellow union members by purchasing Union-made, Pennsylvania-made, and American-made products and remind your family members to do the same. Also please support your union brothers and sisters when you do you’re shopping for the Holiday season and throughout the entire year by Buying Union, Buying Pennsylvania, and Buying American made products and services. Our purchases are the most direct way we can protect and create good jobs here in Pennsylvania and the United States. Let’s show our solidarity and support for each other.

The following two web-sites will help you Buy Union in Pennsylvania and in the U.S.A.
www.unionlabel.org and www.labor411.org; additionally, the AFL-CIO posted this Union-Made in America Thanksgiving Shopping List last November.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=6688