FIREFIGHTERS LOCAL 22 MEDIA ALERT

On Friday, November 22, Firefighters Local 22 President Joe Schulle and members of his board of directors hosted a Press conference outside city hall to detail perjury allegations the union has leveled against Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and Fire Department Human Resources Manager Karen Hyers, stemming from their September 25, 2013 testimony before Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker regarding Ayers’ controversial demotions of 14 recently promoted Philadelphia firefighters. The union has formally asked District Attorney Seth Williams to launch an investigation to determine whether Ayers and Hyers perjured themselves before Judge Tucker. The District Attorney is currently reviewing notes of testimony to determine whether an investigation is warranted.

CONTACT: Frank Keel at 484 410 4932.

By The Philly Public Record

– More than 140 locals affiliated with the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO will gather at its 11th Annual Leadership Conference in Atlantic City, Feb. 2-4 at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel.

President Pat Eiding said there is a variety of sponsorships available, including hosting a cocktail reception, super bowl party, dinner, lunch, continental breakfast or setting up an exhibit. The fee for an exhibit table is $1000.00 which includes all of your meals, a draped table, and chairs which are provided. The cost of the social functions varies in price.

Sponsors are invited to participate in a raffle to be held on Feb 3rd Dinner session of the conference.

For accommodation purposes, a block of rooms have been reserved for the nights of February 3rd and February 4th. Reservations can be made online http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/aflcio2014 or you may contact the hotel directly at 1-888-627-7212 and identify yourself as a member of “The 2014 Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Leadership group” to receive the negotiated rates. Reserving a room at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel does not automatically register you for the leadership conference. All participants must register individually. Fr further information, contact Joni Bernard at 215-665-9800 ext. 206.

Source: http://www.phillyrecord.com/2013/11/with-the-unions-afl-cio-hosts-leadership-conference/

By Josh Eidelson

– Kutcher slams retailer: “You should be proud of your associates but I’m not sure if they should be proud of you”

– Celebrity actor/producer Ashton Kutcher and retail giant Wal-Mart had a spirited Twitter debate Tuesday over Wal-Mart workers’ wages.

Kutcher (@aplusk) kicked off the dust-up by tweeting about the news that an Ohio Wal-Mart took up an employee-to-employee food charity collection “so Associates in Need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.” He wrote, “Walmart is your profit margin so important you can’t Pay Your Employees enough to be above the poverty line?”

Fourteen minutes later, the company’s @WalmartNewsroom account, echoing its replies to others on the topic, tweeted back at Kutcher, “It’s unfortunate that an act of human kindness has been taken so out of context. We’re proud of our associates in Canton.” After 10 minutes, Kutcher shot back, “you should be proud of your associates but I’m not sure if they should be proud of you.”

Wal-Mart then offered Kutcher a video on “Opportunity and Benefits at Walmart,” saying, “We know you believe in opportunity like we do & we’d love to talk to you more about it.”

Kutcher quickly countered, “you had 17 billion in profits last year. You’re a 260 billion$ company. What are we missing?”

That set off a trio of tweets from Wal-Mart, starting with, “We think you’re missing a few things,” and then touting that “The majority of our workforce is full-time and makes more than $25,000/year”; that “about 75% of our store management teams started as hourly associates”; and that “every year, we promote about 160,000 people…”

Kutcher told Wal-Mart the company “does a lot of great things but it needs to be a leader on this issue as well.” In its final tweet to Kutcher – so far — Wal-Mart answered, “We know we can always get better as a company. This year we’ve made providing more opportunities for our associates a top priority.”

Kutcher returned to the topic an hour later, linking a blog post on a study estimating the cost of Wal-Mart workers’ use of public assistance, and saying “Walmart should be the leaders not the low water mark.”

Source: http://www.salon.com/2013/11/20/ashton_kutcher_vs_wal_mart_epic_twitter_clash_rages_over_poverty_wages/

Support the Friends of Labor of Laborers’ Local 332 “Coat Drive”

Donate a coat in good condition, so Laborers’ Local 332 can distribute these coats to the needy in homeless shelters throughout the city of Philadelphia! Come support the effort…drop off a coat in good condition at the Laborers’ Local 332 Union Hall on 1310 Wallace Street and help someone in need!

The “coat drive” deadline is Monday, November 25, 2013.

Thank You For Supporting Those Less Fortunate!