– PFT General Vice President Arlene Kempin sets the records straight on the District’s plans to privatize Philly substitutes.

Arlene Kempin has a letter in today’s Inquirer challenging the District’s notion that there is a shortage of substitutes. You can read the edited letter here.

But for a more complete perspective, I wanted you to see the original version of the letter which discusses how the district has ignored the PFT and neglected to include retired teachers who are willing an able to act as substitutes in our schools:

To the Editor:

The SRC’s vote to outsource School District substitutes on June 18 compels me to share some recent history and some truths regarding the outsourcing of substitute teachers.

In the midst of the chaotic environment that School District’s management team has created, there has always been one concept that both the District and the PFT agree upon: Philadelphia’s retired teachers are a valuable resource to our schools and our students. Their experience, knowledge of the system, credentials, and willingness to serve has always been acknowledged by the union and the District.

But for the past three years, the District has blatantly and without reason blocked any new retirees from joining our substitute pool. Repeated requests—from the PFT and the individuals themselves—to allow more retirees to sign on were rebuffed. The District’s response was that our substitute pool is big enough, and we don’t need any more retirees.

In addition, the PFT has continued to stress that as long as positions were posted first for non-retirees (with a time limit for acceptance), retirees could be offered the unfilled positions without violating PSER’s regulations. This input was ignored by the District time and time again.

We must also be mindful of the dedication and commitment of hundreds of Long Term and Per Diem Substitute Teachers who had never been retired as appointed teachers from the District. Many have devoted their entire professional careers to servicing our students either on a day-to-day or long term basis.

Now we learn that the District has valued all of our substitutes so much that they must farm them out to a private company so that they may be offered bonuses for accepting designated positions. In over two years of contract talks, the District never proposed any such incentives, nor did they ever mention a shortage of substitutes.

Once again, they have ignored, disrespected, and insulted the very people that directly service our children.

Sincerely,

Arlene Kempin, General Vice President,

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

Source – http://www.pft.org/blog.aspx?id=139

On this day, as we gather with friends and family to celebrate the 4th of July weekend and the Summer of 2015, let us also remember the true meaning of Independence Day and the brave forefathers of our great nation, who on July 4th, 1776, gathered in our great city of Philadelphia and officially adopted the Declaration of Independence and thus declared the then 13 colonies, a new nation, the United States of America! The Rest is hard fought and very important history that has made it possible for us to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today and everyday!

God Bless America and Happy Independence Day to all Americans including the patriotic men and women and families of the Labor Movement and particularly to all of those brave men and women who have served this great nation in our American Armed Forces!!

In Solidarity!

Your Friends From PhillyLabor!

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– With the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, we wanted to encourage everyone to support their fellow union members. This is the perfect opportunity to fill your cookouts and picnics with union-made products. To take some of the stress away, we’ve put together a short list of some of the many products that are available. For more information about union-made products, visit www.labor411.org on their “Union Made Products” page. We hope you have a great Fourth of July overflowing with goods made by your very own members!

Meats:

Ball Park Franks (UFCW)
Boar’s Head Deli Meats and Cheese (UFCW)
Hebrew National (UFCW)
Oscar Meyer (UFCW)
Tyson (UFCW)

Condiments and Sides:

French’s Mustard (UFCW)
Heinz – all brands (UFCW)
Hidden Valley Salad Dressing (UFCW)
Hershey’s Syrup (BCTGM)
Kraft Foods (UFCW, IBT, IAMAW, BCTGM)
Land O’Lakes Butter (UAW)
Tostito Salsa (BCTGM)
Vlasic – Pickles, Peppers, Relish, and Sauerkraut (UFCW)

Snacks, Chips, Etc.

Cheetos (UFCW)
Chex Mix (BCTGM)
Doritos (UFCW)
FritoLay – Chips and Snacks (BCTGM)
Lay’s Potato Chips (BCTGM)

Breads, Hot Dog and Hamburger Buns:

Holsum Bakery (UFCW)
Stroehmann Bakery (BCTGM)
Pillsbury (BCTGM)

Ice Cream:

Breyers Ice Cream (UFCW)

Beverages:

Coca-Cola (UFCW, IAMAW)
Pepsi (IBT, UFCW, IAMAW)
Minute Maid (UFCW)
Sprite (UFCW, IBT, IAMAW)
Folgers Coffee (UAW, IAMAW)
Maxwell House Coffee (UFCW)

Beer:

Budweiser (IBT, IAMAW)
Busch (IAMAW)
Coors (IBT, IUOE)
Miller (UAW, IAMAW)
Rolling Rock (IAMAW)
Stella Artois (IAMAW)

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=6128

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Vote will blow a huge hole in the budget, and eliminate 5,000 family-sustaining jobs.

– In what was an expected move today, the PA State Senate voted in favor of House Bill 466, which would shut down the entire system of publicly owned Wine and Spirits Stores in Pennsylvania, and massively expand alcohol sales.

The Wine & Spirits Stores are a valuable public asset, one which provides more than $550 million to the general fund annually in profits, taxes, and services. Alternative proposals to modernize, rather than give away, the system would have added an additional $185 million per year in revenue. Just two days ago, Senator Chuck McIlhinney, Chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, acknowledged “the liquor system gives us money every year for our budget… so it is a positive revenue asset for us.” Today senator McIlhinney joined 26 of his Republican colleagues in voting for this destructive legislation.

This was a vote to give away the store, literally – it is unlikely that new permit fees will even cover the cost of shutting down the public stores, and every year moving forward, if this bill became law, the Commonwealth will have to make up hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from new sources.

This was also a vote to destroy 5,000 good family-sustaining jobs all across Pennsylvania. Even the previous administration acknowledged that no jobs will be created by liquor sales in grocery stores and other new retail outlets, and the re-training funds made available by HB 466 will do nothing to help the families whose lives will be turned upside down by this bad legislation.

This is nothing but an ideological attack by small-government extremists, and it is one that the State Senate refused to even debate in the previous legislative session. HB466 now moves back to the State House for a concurrence vote. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, and our affiliated unions, have made it clear to ALL members of the State House and State Senate that we oppose this legislation, and that we consider it to be an unconscionable attack on working families.

Three Republicans joined all Democratic Senators in opposition of HB466 this afternoon. They were Senators Brooks, Greenleaf, and Scavello.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=6105

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– The push for so-called pension reform has been a red herring for conservative lawmakers for years. By deliberately sabotaging the system through under-funding, and then misrepresenting to the public the dire state of the resulting unfunded liabilities, the right wing has been able to convince many people that the problem is with pensions. In reality, the problem has been one of mismanagement and irresponsibility on the part of our legislature.

The amended version of SB1 does nothing to address the budget, provides for no new sources of revenue to help pay the unfunded liability, and the supposed savings are dwarfed in comparison to the $26 billion that Act 120 will save over the next 25 years.

Act 120, passed in 2010 to address the unfunded liability in the pension system, made real reforms, and was the result of careful negotiations and shared sacrifice. As a result of the changes – taxpayers are no longer on the hook if fund performance dips when there is a recession. Employee contributions were increased and benefits were reduced – all to pay for the shortfalls caused when the ultra-conservative legislature stopped making full payments into the system.

The State House vote on SB1 today was one driven by ideology, not facts. In a race to the bottom, there is pressure to strip hard-earned benefits from workers, instead of looking for ways to expand opportunity and retirement security to all workers. But we should not engage in a race to the bottom. The labor movement in Pennsylvania has always maintained that a rising tide lifts all boats. Through our unions, we will continue to fight for fair wages, good benefits, and dignity in retirement for ALL workers. We make no apologies for social and economic justice in the workplace.

After final passage in the House by a vote of 106 to 89, SB1 now heads back to the State Senate for a concurrence vote. It reflects poorly on the proud history of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that we are now at a time when the legislature takes action to restrict, rather than expand, workers’ rights – and to reduce, rather than improve, the standard of living for working families in Pennsylvania. We will urge Governor Wolf to veto this misguided attack on workers.

To Tell Your State Senator To VOTE NO When SB1 Comes Back To The Senate For Concurrence
Comments, Go To: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/take-action-tell-the-senate-to-reverse-course-and-reject-sb1

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=6110