By Bill Hangley

– Teachers in the region’s Catholic high schools have rejected an “early bird” contract offer from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, setting the stage for a possible strike during the pope’s highly anticipated visit to the region this fall.

Rita Schwartz, the president of the Association of Catholic Teachers, said her members don’t want to strike. But if they do, she hopes Pope Francis will understand.

“He just spoke not too long ago with the Italian Catholic teachers union, and he told them how much he respected them, and how underpaid they were,” Schwartz said “So I wrote to him and I asked to meet with him while he’s here in Philadelphia in September.”

Schwartz said she hoped any strike would be over by then. “I hope I’m not meeting him outside — I’d rather meet him inside,” she said.

And while she insisted that she wasn’t trying to use the pope’s visit for the World Meeting of Families as leverage to get a better deal, she did say she was encouraged by the pontiff’s expression of support for organized labor and teachers alike, calling the Italian teachers’ low salaries “an injustice.”

Details of the latest proposal aren’t available. But Schwartz said that the “early bird” offer from the archdiocese — in which the parties agree to limit negotiations to only salaries and benefits — would have represented a net loss for her members.

“If they’re going ask us to pay more for medical, we understand that,” said Schwartz. “But we also need a salary increase to pay for that. We can’t go back to school at a loss. We can’t.”

Archdiocese officials didn’t want to comment, but did release a statement saying they remain “committed to a contract agreement that respects the needs of not only our teachers but also our school families who sacrifice to provide a quality Catholic education for their children.”

The archdiocese says it will continue to bargain in good faith in hopes of finding a deal that is “fair to all parties while recognizing that the needs and expectations of our students and school families are paramount.”

Negotiations between the union and the archdiocese will continue through the summer. The Catholic school teachers last struck for two weeks in 2011, winning a pay raise of about 8 percent.

A total of about 13,000 students attend the archdiocese’s 17 high schools in the five-county region.

Source – http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/82490-as-teachers-reject-offer-from-philly-archdiocese-union-leader-seeks-papal-intervention

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Every year the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO offers scholarships to affiliated union members and their families. The criteria for entering are broken up into two categories with different topics for each surrounding an opportunity for students to learn more about the importance of Organized Labor in America. Within each category there are three scholarships awarded in the amounts of $2000, $1000 and $500. We received 68 essays this year and can only hope this continues to build as we offer our scholarships for a higher education to our members and their families. This year’s winners consisted of union members and other family members from the following affiliates: Teamsters, USW, BAC, SMART and IBEW. We are happy to announce the winners of the annual scholarship essay contest for 2015.

The first category was geared towards graduating high school seniors regarding what makes unions appealing to young workers. The winning essays belonged to Jay Connor Davis, Ethan Frederick, and Tyler John Mathis. The second category was directed at all post-secondary students regarding how the decline of the middle class may be linked to union membership. Scholarships were awarded in this category to Madison Long, Brian Shields, and Jacob Potts.

Congratulations on a job well done and good luck in your future endeavors to all winners of this years’ scholarship essay contest! Keep your eyes open for the upcoming 2016 brochure as you may have an opportunity yourself in winning next year!

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5986

By BEN ALLEN

– Last week, Los Angeles City Council voted to raise the minimum wage in that city to $15 by 2020.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are trying to increase what businesses are required to pay their workers from the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to $10.10.

Discussions around the state’s minimum wage picked up last session, and a state senator from Philadelphia is trying to make sure the conversation continues.

Democrat Arthur Haywood is going on the offensive, arguing any who are earning minimum wage also have to rely on public assistance because they live near the federal poverty line.

Someone working 40 hours a week with no vacation earns about $15,000 a year.

Haywood says he’s confronted lobbyists for the business world when they argue a minimum wage hike would cost some workers their jobs.

“How many jobs were lost the last time the minimum wage went up? What did he say? ‘I don’t know.’

“So they’re so certain that we’re going to lose jobs this time, yet they have no evidence that we lost jobs last time,” said Haywood.

However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour nationally would likely mean a loss of some jobs.

The decrease could be very slight, or could also reach as many as 1 million jobs across the country, it said.

Source – http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/82199-haywood-continues-push-to-raise-pa-minimum-wage-to-1010?linktype=hp_impact

– On this Memorial Day 2015, as we gather to celebrate the start of the summer season with family and friends, let us always remember the reason why we are celebrating and pay homage to those members of our U.S. Armed Forces who gave all so that we may experience the freedoms that we enjoy everyday as Americans.

Let us also remember those military families who have watched their loved ones go off to war only to never return and let them know that their loss is also our loss and they too will never be forgotten!

It Is Our Duty To Remember!

In Solidarity!

PhillyLabor

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Thank Senator Casey for his courage in standing up for us. Senator Toomey votes to outsource more good jobs overseas. We can stop Fast Track in the U. S. House. Continue your in-district visits to your Representative in Congress.

On Thursday May 21 the U.S. Senate decided to consider the Fast Track bill that will cede congressional leverage to ensure U.S. Trade deals, including the TPP, help rather than hurt America’s working families.

We thank Senator Bob Casey for his courage to stand up for Pennsylvania and American workers by voting no on yesterday’s procedural vote that shuts off debate and shuts out working people. We are disappointed that Senator Pat Toomey voted to fast track the Fast Track bill. Although the bill is poised for eventual Senate passage, there is a ray of hope that some amendments can be made to reduce the harm it will cause.

Both President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder expressed their optimism and their gratitude to thousands of workers for their support for continuing the fight for fair trade policies that protect jobs and strengthen our economy. After the Senate vote our fight goes to the House of Representatives where we have a much better chance to defeat Fast Track. As members of Congress return home on their recess please continue making in-district visits to your members of Congress to build and maintain their support to stop the Fast Track. Also stay tuned for more information on a National Call-In Day opposing Fast Track and Free Trade on June 3rd.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5984