By the AFL-CIO

– AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following statement in reaction to new rules to modernize workplace injury reporting and protect workers who report injuries.

The new OSHA injury reporting rules will bring workplace injury and illness reporting into the 21st century and provide important new protections to workers who report injuries.

Until now, most workplace injury records have only been available at the workplace, making it impossible to know which employers have bad or good injury records. Employers in high hazard industries will now have to electronically submit a summary of their firms’ injuries and illnesses to OSHA each year, and large employers will have to submit more detailed injury and illness information. OSHA, workers, and the public will have access to this information.

This new transparency will assist OSHA and workers in identifying hazardous workplaces. In addition, employers will be able to compare their records with other employers in their industry and public health officials and researchers will be able to identify emerging trends. Most importantly, this data will help prevent future injuries, illnesses and deaths.

We are pleased that the new rules also include important protections to ensure that workers can report injuries without fear of retaliation. For far too long, in an effort to keep reported injury rates low, employers have retaliated against workers for reporting injuries, disciplining them for every injury or creating barriers to reporting. Now these violations will be subject to citations and penalties. With these stronger protections, workers will be more willing to report injuries, which will help with overall prevention.

Source – http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/AFL-CIO-Welcomes-OSHA-s-New-Injury-and-Illness-Reporting-Rules

For Immediate Release:

05/10/2016 – The following statement is from Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union:

“U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan made the right call today, upholding the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to block a deeply flawed merger between Staples and Office Depot.

“Starting the day this bad deal was unveiled, our union has said it would be bad news for consumers, small businesses and the U.S. economy. If the merger had been allowed to go through, Staples would be the only office supply superstore chain left standing. That would have led to higher prices and fewer choices.

“The FTC and Judge Sullivan did the right thing by enforcing our anti-trust laws.”

Source: http://www.apwu.org/news/press-release/apwu-says-court-made-right-call-staplesoffice-depot-merger

By Martha Woodall

– Teachers at Agora Cyber Charter School – the second largest cyber in the state – have voted overwhelmingly to become unionized, a new local affiliate of the Pennsylvania State Education Association announced late Tuesday afternoon.

The National Labor Relations Board in Philadelphia, which tallied the mail ballots, said that teachers at the cyber based in King of Prussia had voted 312-46 in favor of being represented by the Agora Cyber Education Association.

Union organizers said that the vote came after a 10-month campaign that focused on changes to working conditions without notice and lack of teacher involvement in decisions about curriculum, classroom objectives or learning conditions for students.

“The teachers have demonstrated through this election that it’s time for change at Agora,” said Jill Phillips, chair of the middle school social studies department and member of the organizing committee.
“It’s time to work alongside administration and achieve a contract that ensures everyone is on the same page and we are doing what is best for our students,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Agora did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Union organizers said they will hold a transition meeting, elect officers and begin work on collective bargaining.

In early February, the Agora board had laid off scores of teachers, citing financial problems it blamed on the lack of a state budget.

The board initially refused to say how many staffers were let go, but in a Feb. 29 letter to parents and staff said that 136 jobs had been eliminated for a savings of $4.5 million.

Agora enrolls 8,500 students across the state who receive online instruction in their homes.

Teachers at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, Pa., are also unionized.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160511_Agora_teachers_vote_to_unionize.html

By Jane Von Bergan

– Two Philadelphia companies that did not pay temporary workers the minimum wage agreed to pay $763,000 in back wages and damages to be distributed among 797 workers.

Temporary workers who packaged jewelry at Stanley Creations Inc. in Melrose Park, were paid $6 an hour in cash and were not paid overtime when they worked more than 40 hours, the U.S. Labor Department said Monday.

Minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $7.25 an hour.

Asendia USA in Folcroft, part of a multinational Swiss and French direct mail and distribution company, paid overtime, but based the overtime on a base pay rate of $6.69 per hour, below minimum wage. Workers, hired by Northeast Staffing LLC, were paid in cash, the Labor Department said.
“The entire time we were paying our temp agency well above the minimum wage, and overtime,” said Michael J. Hastings, chief executive of the Asendia’s U.S. operations.

“The fact is that the temp agency did not use the funds in the correct way,” he said. “At no time did we benefit from this. We were trying to do the right thing.”

The settlements, announced Monday, are part of the U.S. Labor Department’s push to protect temporary workers hired by companies through temporary help agencies.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the temp agencies and the companies that use them are considered joint employees and both are responsible to pay proper wages.

“However, the staffing agencies often have limited resources, so the focus is on the companies that used the labor,” a spokeswoman from the U.S. Labor Department said.

At Stanley Creations, the workers were primarily Indonesian, Vietnamese and Chinese, she said.

The company, which distributes jewelry to retailers such as Kohl’s, Macy’s, JCPenney, and Boscov’s, hired temporary workers through International Labor Inc. from March 2012 to March 2015.

The company will pay $180,786 in back wages to 163 workers and the same amount in damages and has agreed not to intimidate any of the workers into repaying their portions of the settlement.

The agreement was signed in January by Stanley Creation’s chief executive, Randy Needles.

In its agreement, signed in February by Hastings, Asendia agreed to pay workers electronically and also to hire a human resources manager to monitor its arrangements with staffing agencies.

The company will pay $200,795 in back wages to 634 workers and an equal amount in damages, covering the period between the week ending Feb. 10, 2013 through the week ending Feb. 7, 2015. Asendia’s workers were were Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian, the spokeswoman said.

The Labor Department said both companies did not keep proper payroll records.

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160510_U_S__Labor_Department_fines_two_Philly_area_firms_for_failing_to_pay_minimum_wage.html

– On this Mother’s Day, 2016, PhillyLabor would like to acknowledge and thank all of the Mothers in the labor movement (present and past) for your eternal guidance, strength and love throughout the struggles of today and yesterday both on the front lines and behind the scenes! Your courage, example and inspiration keeps the fight going!

With Gratitude, Solidarity and Love,

Happy Mother’s Day To you All!

Everyone at PhillyLabor