BY Kevin Solari

– In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama outlined a plan to bring America in line with the rest of the industrialized world and provide paid sick and family leave for workers. Before the address, he had issued a memorandum granting federal employees six weeks of paid sick leave for the birth of a child and asked Congress to legislate another six weeks.

Although Obama’s measure only applies to employees of the federal government, he challenged Congress to address the issue on a national level.

“Today, we are the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers,” the President said in his address. “And since paid sick leave won where it was on the ballot last November, let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington. Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do.”

The President was referring to the Healthy Families Act, originally proposed by Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009, which would allow American citizens the chance to earn seven sick days a year. As of now, workers can use the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to take off 12 weeks for the birth of a child, to care for a family member or other medical issues. But this time is unpaid and, as the President said during his address, “that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home.”

On Monday, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D–New York) took the first step to expanding paid sick time by reintroducing the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. The bill gives federal employees access to six weeks of paid parental leave. Mahoney has consistently introduce paid parental leave legislation since 2000.
Benefitting workers is not the only reason the Congress would want to pass the legislation. Government is competing with the private sector for top talent, and work life balance is consistently a top concern for younger workers.

“More and more private employers around the world are offering parents paid time off so they can take care of their newborns,” Richard G. Thissen, president of the National Active and Retirees Federal Employees Association, said. “As a result, federal agencies can’t compete with the private sector for talented younger workers who, if electing federal employment, would have to use accrued vacation or sick time, which may be only a few days, or forgo pay in order to take time off after the birth of a child.”

According to Thissen, more than 30 percent of federal employees will be eligible for retirement in the next three years, creating the need to make these positions as attractive as possible to those the agencies would want to hire.

The Office of Management and Budget has said the extra weeks of paid leave would cost $250 million and would fit within the current budget.

Currently Papua New Guinea, Oman and the U.S. are the only countries in the world that don’t guarantee paid sick leave for workers.

Source: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17579/paid_sick_leave

By Tom MacDonald

– Philadelphia City Council will again take up the issue of paid sick leave for workers at a hearing Tuesday. And, after several go-rounds, the bill’s sponsor isn’t willing the water the legislation down any further.

Mayor Michael Nutter wants any law to apply only to employers with 15 or more workers. Councilman Bill Greenlee’s bill, however, calls for a 10-employee standard, and he’s not budging.

“We’ve already modified it, we’ve gone from five to 10, and we aren’t going any further,” Greenlee said. “Ten has been sort of the max in the bills that have been established around the country over the last couple of years.”

Should the mayor again veto the legislation, Greenlee said he’s ready with reinforcements.

“I will go for the override, and we will override if we have to,” he said, adding that he has at least 12 votes for an override. He said support is building for the bill.

Source – http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/77663-councilman-ready-for-override-if-nutter-vetoes-philly-sick-leave-bill?linktype=hp_impact

– Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Rules That School Reform Commission (SRC) Cannot Cancel Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) Contract

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– In a significant judicial victory for organized labor, the Commonwealth Court, on Thursday, January 23, affirmed a lower court ruling which had rejected the unilateral cancellation of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ collective bargaining agreement by the School Reform Commission.

PFT President Jerry Jordan stated that the decision by Commonwealth Court affirms what we have been saying for months: The School Reform Commission’s move last October to unilaterally cancel the PFT contract was unjust and a blatant violation.

“The decision is a victory for collective bargaining and the notion that contracts between parties should be negotiated not imposed,” Jordan said in a statement released by the union.

The PFT is calling on the school district to immediately resume negotiations. “It’s time to redirect the energy and resources wasted on litigation to negotiating a contract that will ensure our schoolchildren and educators are given the best possible tools for teaching and learning,” Jordan stated.

PA AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale congratulated President Jordan and the PFT on “this important judicial victory for working people. This is a fair and just decision that defends and recognizes our collective bargaining rights. It maintains a level field of play between both sides,” Bloomingdale said.

PA AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder stated that this decision is “important to school teachers and workers in school districts throughout Pennsylvania who are having to deal with the failed policies and underfunding and of public education by the previous administration. We are joining with all of our unions in pushing for restoration of the cuts and support for policies that support our students and improve educational opportunities,” Snyder said.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5736

By Bobby Allyn

– Workers at a medical marijuana dispensary in South Jersey are fighting their employer to unionize.

The employees’ complaint to the National Labor Relations Board states that Compassionate Care Foundation in Egg Harbor Twp. is blocking its workers efforts to form a union.

The 11 workers at New Jersey’s second medicinal pot dispensary say when they tried to unionize, their employer used “tricks from the usual anti-union playbook” to deny them.

According to the employees’ attorney Mark Belland, the company changed workers’ classification from “growers” to “agricultural workers” amid the unionization push.

The workers are pushing to join United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 152, which is based in Mays Landing.

Under federal law, agricultural workers are exempted fro some labor protections. The labor board has not yet ruled on how pot growers in New Jersey’s burgeoning medicinal marijuana industry should be classified. The decision will determine whether the workers are backed by union law protections.

In California, the Teamsters have strengthened their ranks by successfully unionizing dozens of pot workers, coming just as the union’s numbers have dropped in traditional industries.

Attorney Belland said as the pot industry blossoms, the union issue will become more central.

“Particularly when you have conditions like the employees are experiencing with Compassionate Care,” Belland said. The workers’ complaint accuses Compassionate Care of retaliating against pro-union workers by cutting back their hours and withholding pay.

More pot workers in New Jersey are “going to be reaching out to labor organizations to help them achieve job security and better their working conditions,” Balland said.

Compassionate Care representatives were not available to respond to requests for comment.

Late last year, New Jersey opened its third medical marijuana clinic, initiated by a 2010 state law legalizing medical marijuana.

Workers at the state’s other two dispensaries have not yet sought union representation.

The NLRB has scheduled a Feb. 4 hearing on the dispute.

Source – http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/77645-medical-marijuana-workers-hitting-roadblocks-trying-to-unionize-in-south-jersey?linktype=hp_impact

Via The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

The new Republican-controlled Congress isn’t wasting any time in pushing policies that will harm working families. How long will it be until they start pushing for Fast Track trade authority, potentially one of the most devastating ideas that has serious traction in Washington, D.C., right now? The good news is that you don’t have to sit around waiting for it to happen, you can take action now.

Starting today, working families are standing up and fighting back against Fast Track by participating in a national call-in week, telling members of Congress to “say no to Fast Track.” Call your member of Congress today at 1-855-712-8441. If you can’t call today, please call later in the week. Working families are depending on you to help prevent this extreme policy.

As we’ve mentioned before, Fast Track is a policy that sets up the process for bad trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement. Fast Track undermines democracy and will lead to more trade deals that harm working families. Previous agreements approved under Fast Track have cost the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributed to the closing of more than 60,000 factories. Fast Track shifts power and profits even further up the ladder, making the richest corporations and individuals even richer at the cost of working families.

Read more about why Fast Track is bad for the United States and call your member of Congress at 1-855-712-8441. Tell her or him to “just say no to Fast Track!”

Source: http://www.pa.aflcio.org/philaflcio/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=0AF71141-359E-4706-8734-206D2355B263