By The PA. AFL-CIO

– This Monday we celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought for civil rights, dignity, and equal opportunity for all Americans.

While Monday is the official Martin Luther King Holiday, celebrations and remembrances of Dr. King and his work are kicking off this weekend, and will continue throughout the remainder of the month. All across Pennsylvania, we encourage you to take advantage by participating in these events and celebrations.

When Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, he was there in support of sanitation workers and their struggle to form a union. Throughout his life, Dr. King worked at building closer relationships and cementing partnerships between organized labor and the civil rights movement. He understood that unions were critical to achieving social and economic justice for all people. We need to keep building these partnerships if we are to build union density and expand economic opportunity for those who are too often marginalized in our economy and in our society.

On Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18, Labor and Community leaders and Clergy will join to honor the vision of Dr. King, and what he called a glorious partnership between labor and the civil rights movement.

Several representatives of our State Labor Table will receive honorary recognition for contributions to Dr. King’s Beloved Community, including Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale; PSEA President Mike Crossey; SEIU Local 668 President Tom Herman; AFSCME District Council 13 Director of Education Carla Insinga; and CBTU Chair Shirley Yates. These honors will be presented during the Sunday evening worship service on January 18th at the Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church in Harrisburg. The service begins at 6:00 PM and will be led by the Rev. Dr. Mark K. Tyler of Mother Bethel AME Church, Philadelphia. Bishop A.E. Sullivan and the Martin Luther King Leadership Development Institute are among other organizations and individuals who will be honored.

This event underscores the unity we continue to forge with partners across Pennsylvania to meet the challenges we face. These partnerships have played an important role in our recent legislative battles to stop attacks on workers’ rights, including paycheck protection, pension reform, and privatization; as well as on issues such as voting rights, when we fought together to overturn Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law. These relationships will continue to be critical as we fight for a proactive agenda of good jobs, better wages and benefits, and retirement security for everyone.

Also this weekend, hundreds of leaders and members of labor unions and civil rights organizations have come together in Atlanta, GA, the birthplace of Dr. King, to participate in the AFL-CIO’S 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. The event runs from Thursday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere A. Gebre is helping to lead the conference, which is featuring workshops, actions, and general sessions. You can follow the conference on Twitter @aflcio with the hashtag #1uMLK.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5724

By Jason Laughlin, Inquirer Staff Writer

– Is America’s oldest lager non grata to Pennsylvania’s newest governor?

Yuengling, from the Pottsville-based brewery, appears to have been left off the list of beverages to be served at next week’s inauguration for Gov.-elect Tom Wolf.

State Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery) said he learned from constituents and others that inauguration planners had specifically declared Yuengling not to be served. Vereb said Thursday he was not sure why, or if Wolf knew, but added that he didn’t think it was accidental.

Asked if Yuengling’s draft was getting the shaft, Wolf representative Beth Melena said: “We met our beverage needs, and we have a variety of choices for attendees from a number of breweries, including Pennsylvania-based breweries.” She would not elaborate.

One clue may be the company’s president, Richard Yuengling Jr.

As popular as his family’s beer may be – President Obama sent a case to his counterpart in Ottawa after Canada topped the United States in men’s hockey in the 2010 Olympics – Yuengling, a Republican, doesn’t have many fans among organized labor, one of the Democratic Party’s – and by extension Wolf’s – most reliable bases.

Two years ago, the now-74-year-old Yuengling became a target of union rallies after becoming a vocal proponent of “right-to-work” laws. At the time, he said the state would attract more business if it endorsed policies that ban mandatory dues and membership at unionized businesses.

Such laws are seen as union-busting by labor advocates. A year ago, the Teamsters voted to boycott Yuengling products.

Brewery officials did not return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment on Thursday.

Founded in 1829, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. competes with the company that makes Sam Adams for the title of America’s largest domestically owned brewery. It produces more than 2.5 million barrels a year, according to its website. It has been owned by the Yuengling family for five generations. Business Insider calls it Pennsylvania’s favorite beer.

And, like others, the brewery planned to offer the beer free at the inauguration, according to Vereb, who is also the Montgomery County GOP chairman.

“Turning down beer from America’s oldest brewery here in Pennsylvania is unheard of,” he said.

Wolf’s inauguration party Tuesday night is being billed as a celebration of Pennsylvania’s people, products, and culture – and Pennsylvania’s brewers will be well represented, according to a list of publicly announced product sponsors.

Philadelphia-based Yards contributed $2,000 in beer. Troegs, out of Hershey, offered $1,064 of its brew. Roy-Pitz Brewing Co. of Chambersburg, which describes itself as a creator of “liquid art,” is kicking in $114 in beer.

On Thursday, Wolf released the list of donors – from lobbyists to law firms to unions – who contributed $1.5 million to pay for his inaugural festivities Tuesday. Among the top givers were some of the state’s largest state employee unions, Comcast Corp., and Wolf’s family-owned business. All gave the $50,000 maximum.

When Gov. Corbett celebrated his swearing-in four years ago, his inaugural team offered a wide variety of suds, said his spokesman, Jay Pagni.

Including Yuengling.

“All Pennsylvania brewers were proudly represented at Gov. Corbett’s inauguration,” he said.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20150116_Yuengling_canned_from_menu_at_Wolf_s_swearing-in.html

By The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

– The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO will hold its annual conference in Atlantic City on January 25-27. The conference will feature a keynote address by Tefere Gebre, Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO, and sessions about how organized labor in Boston built a unified campaign that elected Marty Walsh of Laborers Local 223 as their city’s mayor, strategies for community engagement, and improving member mobilization. Download the conference registration form below and register for a hotel room at our special, group rate until January 13th!

Source: http://www.pa.aflcio.org/philaflcio/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=92BFD914-A0B0-4F8D-A8B3-C6457D600231

By Tom MacDonald

– The city of Philadelphia held a public remembrance Monday for a firefighter who died on the job.

The ceremony comes about a month after the funeral for Joyce Craig, Philadelphia’s first female firefighter to be killed in the line of duty.

Lt. Diane Mercer, one of the first women hired to fight fires in the city, said Craig was a trailblazer who commanded respect.

“We took an oath to do whatever it takes to be there to help the citizens of Philadelphia in their time of need. We are there when our brothers and sisters need a hand. We just wanted to be treated equally and fairly,” she said.

All firefighters could learn from Craig’s example, said Joe Schulle, firefighters union head.

“Her demeanor and professionalism will certainly help to ease the process of assimilation for all who follow, and we are all grateful to know and to have worked with Joyce,” he said.

Mayor Michael Nutter added that Craig and every other public safety worker should be honored for the work they do every day to keep people safe.

Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/77223-fallen-philly-firefighter-remembered-at-city-hall-?linktype=hp_impact

Help Make It A Great Year Of Progress And Growth For Our Unions And For All Working Families

By The PA. AFL-CIO

President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder again express their thanks and appreciation to all of our unions and our allies for coming together in unity and strength throughout this past year in meeting the many challenges that we all faced. Let’s continue building unity and solidarity among our ranks and in our public outreach efforts to even better serve and promote the rights and the well-being of all workers.

Thanks to your activism, we were able to stop paycheck deception legislation from gaining the support for holding session days, and passing a bill before Governor-elect Wolf was sworn into office. Your quick response – phone calls, e-mails and text messages – helped to prevent this bad legislation from becoming law, in a maneuver that would have involved an outgoing lame duck governor.

However we need to be ready to act should this threat rise again. Even with a new governor who supports working families and has pledged to make sure working families have a level playing field we will need to work just as hard in 2015 as we did in 2014 to prevent bad legislation from passing the legislature. We cannot rely on someone else to fight all of our battles. We need to continue standing together and building even greater solidarity not only to defeat bad legislation, but also to move a pro-active legislative agenda that creates good jobs, increases wages and retirement security, and expands our middle class.

2015 is a new start with more optimism to build on the progress we have already achieved through our collective strength. We will also have to continue fighting to defend what we already have. Nobody can do this for us; we have to do it for ourselves and our families.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5711