And five reasons we should all be grateful.

By Gene Marks

– This week, and by an overwhelming 83% margin, the union representing Philadelphia’s high school principals agreed to enormous pay cuts, a 10-month work year, and to contribute more toward their health insurance. We are grateful. We thank you.

“There’s not a cavalry coming,” union president Robert McGrogan said. “With a new fiscal year on our doorstep, we needed to do something to help right the district. We’ve ratified a contract, but we’re hardly celebrating.”

The pay cut amounts to 16% of their salaries so it’s easy to understand how they feel. A 16% pay cut (for some principals it’s as much as $20,000 per year) is unthinkable for most of us.  It hurts a lot. It’s a step backward. It’s frustrating and upsetting.

True, the typical principal makes between $124,000 and $149,000 a year and that’s more than many. But at best it’s middle class. I know some teachers in suburban school districts who aren’t earning much less. And for most in the business world, this is not as much as you think — a typical CEO running an organization the size of a Philly school usually makes significantly more than that. Don’t believe me?  The CEOs of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and VisitPhiladelphia make $356,000 and $425,000 per year, respectively.  Most of our principals didn’t create today’s school district’s problems — they were started long ago. But now they’re anteing up. Thank you.

And thank you for pretending that your jobs are only for 10 months. They’re not and we know that. Maybe teachers can take the summers off. But principals can’t. Paid or unpaid, I know for a fact that most principals will feel compelled to work through the summer in order to keep their organizations running. They can’t just leave in June and show up in September. This is not a 10-month-a-year job. I hope some of these principals really do take some time off to recharge — they deserve it. Or use that time to work other jobs, like summer camps or consulting or speaking or writing to earn a few extra bucks. They deserve that too.

And thank you for recognizing reality and agreeing to pay more for your health insurance. Those of us in the private sector are in disbelief when we learn about the kinds of benefits provided to today’s government employees — generous pension plans, early retirement ages, top-quality, fully paid health benefits, favorable overtime, substantial vacations, etc. etc. My business can’t afford to offer these perks, and neither can most of my clients. It’s out of whack with the rest of the universe. By agreeing to take on more of this burden from the taxpayer our principals are bravely admitting this.

Most importantly, thank you for your leadership. As principal, you are the CEO of your school. When times are good you can benefit. But when times are bad you unfortunately must make hard choices, even if it personally affects you. This is what CEOs do. They sacrifice when needed. They lead by example. And our school principals are making a statement to everyone else in the school district. They are saying “we are doing the right thing, will you?”

Because in the end, it’s about the kids in this district, not about them. And you are showing that you do care. Like past leaders of our district, you are not demanding more and more from the taxpayer, or jumping ship and taking big severance payouts. You understand that the money you receive is money that could be used to buy books or fund after-school programs. Schools are about the kids, not about personal profits. This is the life educators choose, for better or worse. They choose to put the kids’ needs in front of their own. Our principals are re-affirming that choice. I am grateful there are people willing to do this. They make up for people like me. Thank you.

Unfortunately, thank yous only go so far. The principals’ pay cuts will sting them for years to come, well after they’ve been forgotten by the rest of us. So before these acts of leadership are forgotten, let’s take the opportunity to really thank them. Let’s encourage our political and educational leaders to do just one thing. And what’s that?

Give these principals the ability to really do their jobs.

Allow them to hire and fire without recourse.
Let them build their own teams of great teachers and create their own kind of teaching environments without bureaucracy, lawsuits, excessive rules and micromanagement from the district or its unions.
And let them fire those teachers that don’t want to comply.

If we’re asking them to take such a significant cut in pay and benefits, the least we can do is offer them a better professional life. The district has many, many great teachers and staff. And unfortunately more than a few lousy ones. Principals shouldn’t have to deal with lousy, lazy, unresponsive, entitlement-heavy staff. They don’t deserve that. They deserve more.

Will the rest of the district, still facing close to a $400 million deficit, follow?  We’ll see. But for now, let’s just say thanks to these principals.

Source: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/03/20/thank-philadelphia-principals-pay-cut-benefits-union/

By ANDY MEDICI

– The Postal Service plans to shrink its workforce by 10,000 positions in fiscal 2015, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.

The reductions will be entirely through attrition — there will be no buy-outs or reductions in force— Donahoe said at a media roundtable at the annual National Postal Forum at the National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Md.

“We have been good planners and we use overtime and other things to work our way through that,” he said.

He said the Postal Service has been able to reduce its workforce by about 320,000 since fiscal 2000 and avoid reductions-in-force because its average employee age is 52 and through careful management.

He said the ultimate goal is for the Postal Service to reduce its career workforce from about 485,000 to around 400,000, with about 65,000 full-time non-career workers. But the Postal Service can do that only with the added flexibility provided by legislation pending in Congress.

That Senate bill would waive the requirement that the Postal Service pre-fund its retiree health benefits — about $5.5 billion a year — and would give it greater flexibility to reduce the size of its workforce and end Saturday delivery. The bill does not allow the Postal Service to break off from the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program as the Postal Service had suggested previously.

Donahoe said the concept of a separate health plan for postal employees is also a ‘dead issue’ and while he thinks it would have provided a better plan at a lower cost it was not worth it if it would get in the way of broader postal reform making its way through congress.

“I am fine walking away from it. I am more than happy to compromise and get that bill across the finish line,” Donahoe said.

While the Postal Service and postal employee unions disagree on issues such as the five-day delivery week he said they have been able to come together on issues such as increased automation and lower starting salaries for career jobs.

“I think the unions also understand that postal jobs are good jobs and that sometimes you have to make changes in order to maintain a certain standard of living in those jobs,” he said.

Source: http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20140317/MGMT03/303170011/Postal-Service-reduce-workforce-by-10-000

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– For the Wisconsin labor movement, March marks a bitter anniversary. Three years ago, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed Act 10, stripping most of the state’s public employee unions of their ability to collectively bargain. For union members in Pennsylvania, this is a cautionary tale as we face a similar fight in the form of paycheck deception.

Act 10 included many aspects of the worst anti-labor bills Pennsylvania workers have been fighting here. It stripped all public employee union members of their rights to bargain over issues other than pay (which was capped to rise no faster than the rate of inflation), required employees to pay half of their pension contributions, and dumped 12.5% of health insurance costs onto public employees. It took 25 days – less than a month – for Governor Walker to introduce the law in the state legislature and finally sign it into law.

Marty Beil, head of the Wisconsin State Employees Association, said afterwards that Wisconsin should be seen as a warning to other state labor movements. “I speak to union officials in other states, and I tell them, ‘Don’t be misled,’ ” Mr. Beil said. “We thought this could never happen here. But it did. You have to stay vigilant.”

What can we learn from Wisconsin, to ensure that Pennsylvania lawmakers don’t employ the same dirty tricks here?

• Early and consistent pushback is critical: If we want to keep paycheck deception out of Pennsylvania, we need to defeat this bill before it ever starts moving in the Legislature. Like Pennsylvania, the attacks in Wisconsin were pushed by a Republican governor and Republican majorities and greased by millions of dollars from Koch-funded right wing groups like Americans for Prosperity. That means that the bill could move at any moment. We need to be ready.

• Once the onslaught begins, it’s over: Once legislators found the political will to push these bills, they could not be stopped. How fast did Act 10 move? On February 14, 2011, Governor Walker introduced it in the Legislature. Despite massive protests and mobilization by Wisconsin unions, the law passed both Houses just one month later, in the middle of the night on March 10^th. A day later, the governor signed Act 10 into law.

• Always watchful: If HB 1507 and SB 1034 move, they will likely be when we least expect it. The speed with which legislators rammed Act 10 through caught even the watchdogs in the Wisconsin labor movement by surprise. Governor Walker likened Act 10 to “dropping the bomb.” With the same forces are at work here in Pennsylvania, we must be prepared for the other side to take any opportunity to push this bill through – whether it is now, before campaign season heats up, or in November, when the Commonwealth Foundation will be pressuring “lame duck” legislators to act before they leave office.

Our strong collective voices, including a rally of thousands at the state Capitol in January, have forced a stalemate on paycheck deception, pensions and the other attacks facing Pennsylvania working families. Yet we cannot afford to let our guard down.

Governor Corbett has said he will sign HB 1507 or SB 1034 if either come to his desk. Let’s make sure it doesn’t get that far.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Go to our action page on paycheck deception to learn about all the ways you can help us prevent another Wisconsin and keep paycheck deception out of Pennsylvania. Take 5 minutes now to donate, write a letter to your legislator, write a letter to the editor, share content on social media, and more! Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=3621

– As part of the Union Leader Meet and Greet Event Series, the PhillyLabor Business To Labor Network is excited to feature DC-9/Graphics Communications Union 14-M President, Kurt Freeman and Graphics Communications Union 16-N, President, Joe Inemer as the guest speakers at the upcoming Philly Labor Meet and Greet Event.

Kurt Freeman and Joe Inemer are 2 of Philadelphia’s premier labor leaders with reputations as passionate advocates for their members and staunch supporters of the entire Philadelphia area labor community. Both Graphics Communications locals 14-M and 16-N are part of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and include approximately 1200 members.

EVENT DETAILS

WHAT: An Exclusive Union Leader Meet and Greet Event Featuring Guest Speakers, DC-9/Graphics Communications Union 14-M President – Kurt Freeman and Graphics Communications Union 16-N, President, Joe Inemer

When: Wednesday, March 19, 2014, from 6p-8p
Where: District Council 21 Painters and Allied Trades Union Hall located at 2980 Southampton Road Philadelphia, PA 19154.

Cost: A “BY INVITATION ONLY” Event, FREE To Invitees

PhillyLabor is a Media and PR Resource, Serving the Philadelphia Area Union Community.

By DONALD C. SIEGEL International Vice President IBEW, Third District

– With his approval ratings sagging and Pennsylvania ranking 46th in job growth, Gov. Tom Corbett needs to distract voters as he faces re-election. That seems to be at least part of his motivation for supporting bills in the Legislature that would prevent public workers from voluntarily having their union dues deducted from their paychecks. What a crock!

Payroll deduction of union dues is accomplished with almost zero cost. Yet the bills’ supporters make ridiculous claims that they are motivated by fiscal responsibility. Contrary to misinformation spread by some of the bills’ supporters, dues collected from public workers cannot be used to contribute to political campaigns or directly support candidates for public office.

So why are Mr. Corbett and some legislators spending so much time and effort trying to keep public employees from having their dues automatically deducted?

Maybe they want to please wealthy and powerful donors to their campaigns — right-wing, out-of-state donors like the Koch brothers and groups like the Commonwealth Foundation.

Of course, the bills won’t touch deductions that are made to big banks and insurance companies even though they use the money to spend heavily on lobbying and politics. Gov. Corbett wouldn’t want to alienate the wealthiest 1 percent, the beneficiaries of all income growth in Pennsylvania since 2008. Most members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are in the private sector. But we refuse to be silent as Gov. Corbett and his allies attempt to undermine dedicated public employees and their rights to collectively bargain by weakening their unions.

Rather than pushing divisive measures that hurt the state’s wage earners like right-to-work laws, cuts in education funding and the privatization of the state’s liquor stores, Gov. Corbett and his allies in the Legislature should reach out and bring citizens together. Isn’t that what we elect leaders to do?

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/03/17/Corbett-is-undermining-public-worker-unions/stories/201403170015