By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Protect The Middle Class, Oppose HB 1538

– Middle class wages have been sinking in Pennsylvania for too long, but some lawmakers seem to think they aren’t sinking fast enough! Rep. Miller has introduced HB 1538 which would all but eliminate one of the last wage protections that exist in Pennsylvania. This bill would allow any political subdivision or agency to opt out of the Prevailing Wage Act!

It is expected that HB 1538 will be brought up for votes by the full House next week! It’s time to make sure our lawmakers in Harrisburg know that we are still paying attention and that we reject the idea that legislating lower wages is any way to help the middle class in Pennsylvania.

Make no mistake, HB 1538 and other anti-prevailing wage legislation that was voted out of committee in the spring are not about saving taxpayer dollars. These bills would allow contractors to low-ball bids and complete projects with unskilled and underpaid labor, while pocketing more of our taxpayer dollars as profits.

To Contact Your State Representative and Tell Them To “VOTE NO” on HB 1538,

GO TO: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/contact.cfm?body=H

Source: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178

By Vince Lattanzio

A Pennsylvania judge has halted the demotion of more than a dozen recently promoted Philadelphia Fire Department lieutenants and captains pending a court decision.

Five captains and nine fire lieutenants were set to lose their titles on Wednesday after being promoted over the summer following a legal fight with the City of Philadelphia, according to the firefighters union.

However, Court of Common Pleas Judge Ellen Ceisler issued an order Tuesday evening putting a stop to the demotions until Judge Leon Tucker, who oversaw the first legal decision, reviews the case.

The officers were given their new positions after the International Association of Firefighters and Paramedics Local 22 sued the city for stalling on a set of promotions. The union won the court case and the department promoted the officers based off of a pre-assigned promotions list.

However, the city appealed the decision, arguing that the fire commissioner should be allowed to make promotions at his discretion. An appellate court agreed and reversed the ruling on September 18.

During the appeal, the fire department administered a new round of promotion tests for the lieutenant and captain positions. Since the 14 officers had already been promoted, the union says, the department excluded them from consideration.

“It’s just not fair,” said Local 22 rep Edward Marks. “There was a test that was given in early June and a new list has been posted from the lieutenant and captain’s test. And the fellas that are being demoted tomorrow weren’t eligible.”

City officials dispute that claim. Mark McDonald, Mayor Michael Nutter’s press secretary, says a number of the officers took the new test — some didn’t finish and others either failed or scored poorly.

McDonald says the personnel changes are being made to select the “best and brightest” for the captain and lieutenant positions.

The department is now using that new list of candidates to fill those 14 positions.

City officials said they told the union and those being promoted to be prepared to lose their jobs should the ruling be overturned.

“They had the right to take the test, they understood that this was all conditional from the beginning, so whatever they decided to do was up to their individual decision and the council, probably, that they received from their union,” Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison said.

Union president Joe Schulle said his members were lied to and told there would not be demotions.

“I will tell you that the commissioner lied and our human resources director lied and anybody else involved in the process that told our members that they were not going to be demoted, that this would be in bad taste. That this is not likely to happen,” he said.

The union says the department has since changed the testing requirements for the officer positions and those who may be demoted would have to wait a year to apply for the jobs once again.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

Source: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Fire-Department-Demoting-14-Officers-Recently-Promoted-225085842.html

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

According to data released earlier this month, the income gap between the top 1 percent and the remainder of workers in Pennsylvania is the widest it has been since the 1920s. Wages for the middle class have fallen in recent years, and even looking back over the past 25 years, wages have only increased by about 7 percent, compared to a 61 percent increase in productivity.

For some of our lawmakers, however, middle class wages are not sinking fast enough!

This year a number of bills have been introduced in the State House which attack prevailing wage laws, seeking to open up the door for contractors to low-ball bids with unskilled and underpaid labor, so they can pocket more of our taxpayer money as profits.

In the spring, two of these bills were voted favorably out of committee, and now today, on only the third day back from summer recess, they are at it again.

HB 1538 was just voted out of the House Labor Committee on a party line vote. The bill would allow any municipality, political subdivision, authority or agency to opt out of the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act.

It is expected that HB 1538, along with anti-prevailing wage bills HB 665 and HB 796, will be brought up for votes by the full House next week!

It’s time to make sure our lawmakers in Harrisburg know that we are still paying attention and that we reject the idea that legislating lower wages is any way to help the middle class in Pennsylvania.

Again, E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

Also please note that HB 1538 was authored by Rep. Miller (R-York), who was just last month inducted into our Pennsylvania Hall Of Shame for his attacks on workers’ rights. The voting is currently open to induct more lawmakers into the Hall Of Shame for 2013, and it’s worth noting that two of our nominees from Cumberland County (Rep. Bloom and Rep. DeLozier) are members of the House Labor Committee who just voted for this latest attack on prevailing wage. If you would like to thank them by voting for their induction into the Hall Of Shame, you can do so HERE!

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2835

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder joined in leading a broad coalition of unions, business groups and state legislators of both parties in support of passage of transportation infrastructure funding to invest in all modes of Pennsylvania’s transportation systems including mass transit, roads and bridges and all other transportation modes.

The coalition is comprised of over 70 labor unions and business organizations representing thousands of workers and employers calling on passage of transportation and transit funding in the fall voting session.

We all agree that this needs to get done now to put Pennsylvania back to work modernizing and rebuilding our crumbling bridges roads and mass transit systems to provide a safe and efficient system for now and the future of Pennsylvania,” President Bloomingdale said.

“The longer the delay the more it will cost in terms of lost jobs, lost lives and lost business due to unsafe, inefficient and unreliable highways, bridges and rail systems,” Secretary-Treasurer Snyder added.

The coalition delivered a letter to Governor Corbett and all members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging them to act now to solve the state’s transportation funding crisis.

Pat Gillespie, Business Manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and Phil Ameris, Business Manager of Laborers District Council of Western Pennsylvania also spoke in support of a robust funding without strings attached to the plan.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2827

Attention Philadelphia Area Union Community and Supporters,

Just a Reminder that Today, September 24, 2013, is National Voter Registration Day!

In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote because they didn’t know how to register or they missed their state’s voter registration deadline. We don’t want any eligible voter to miss out again!

As union members, it is vital that we are registered to vote so that we can vote on election day for those political candidates that support workers rights. Our vote is the ONLY thing standing in the way of right wing politicians eager to pass anti-union legislation such as “Right To Work” (for less less) legislation as well as legislation that would destroy our collective bargaining rights, prevailing wage rates and project labor agreements all which would cripple our union industry and put us out of work.

Have You and your family Registered To Vote yet? If not, please do so today! Your union wages, standards and livelihoods depend on it!

In Solidarity,

PhillyLabor.com

Source – http://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/