– City Council passed a resolution sponsored by Councilman Kenyatta Johnson to hold hearings that would discuss raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. There are questions as to whether Council has such authority. If it does, would you support the higher wage?

Is raising the minimum wage in Philadelphia to $15 an hour a good idea?

To Vote, Go To: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/pulse/poll/is-raising-the-minimum-wage-in-philadelphia-to-15-an-hour-a-good-idea/16172101

Brief PhillyLabor Editorial: Yes, providing low income workers the opportunity at a living wage will not only provide them with a better life, it will help give those people working in poverty the chance to get off of public assistance and thus will also help all tax payers.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/pulse/poll/is-raising-the-minimum-wage-in-philadelphia-to-15-an-hour-a-good-idea/16172101

By The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

– On December 10, 2014 the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO unanimously passed resolutions supporting 2 labor peace bills before City Council. One bill pertains to subcontractors at Philadelphia International Airport; the other to hotels in which the city has a direct financial interest. City Council passed both bills the following day.

Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Resolution
In Support of City Council Bill #140860 on Labor Peace

WHEREAS Philadelphia is a world class city in a convenient location, with a unique place in our national history, great restaurants and an expanded convention center; and

WHEREAS our national AFL-CIO and its affiliated 57 national and international unions spend millions on conventions and meetings each year; and

WHEREAS labor unions strive to hold their events at unionized hotels with a labor peace guarantee, rather than run the risk that a labor dispute might mar their event; and

WHEREAS Philadelphia is losing out on an additional $30 million in union convention business, according to the Convention and Visitors Bureau as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer (9/7/10); and

WHEREAS AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka AFL-CIO wrote to the City Council last year, urging a labor peace agreement at the W/Element hotel, adding “Labor peace enhances the marketability of Philadelphia as a meetings destination, especially for progressive groups such as ours;”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the AFL-CIO urges the Philadelphia City Council to pass Bill #140860 to require labor peace agreements at hotels where the City retains a proprietary interest.

Approved unanimously, December 10 2014

Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Resolution
In Support of City Council Bill #140829 on Labor Peace

WHEREAS, the Philadelphia City Council recently introduced an ordinance, marked Bill No. 140829, Amending Section 18-201 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Leases of Airport Facilities,” by requiring Ground Handling Service providers under service contracts with air carriers, including subcontractors providing such services, who are operating at Philadelphia International Airport to secure labor peace agreements to minimize the risk of service disruptions and lost revenue to the City generated from enplanements.

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia has a strong proprietary interest in protecting the substantial revenues it receives from the efficient operations of air carrier transportation at the Philadelphia International Airport (“the Airport”) and the volume of passenger enplanements at the Airport; and

WHEREAS, The poor working conditions of contractor employees who perform Ground Handling Services at the Airport has elevated the risk of strikes, boycotts and other forms of service disruptions due to labor disputes among these employees which directly threatens the critical volume-based revenues the City receives from efficient operations at the Airport; and

WHEREAS, A requirement that air carriers who lease Airport terminal space from the City retain only those Ground Handling Service contractors who have a proper Labor Peace Agreement in effect to ensure the continuity of such services at the Airport effectively protects the City against any loss of volume-based revenues the City receives from Airport operations by preventing labor disputes among these employees; now, therefore

RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO supports airport workers in their ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at the Philadelphia International Airport; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO urges all Philadelphia City Council members to support and vote for passage of Bill No. 140829 as introduced by City Council on October 23, 2014 ; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO will support any effort on the part of city officials to encourage a fair resolution to current labor disputes at the Philadelphia International Airport and to grant airport workers long-term job security; and be it finally

RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO shall transmit this resolution to all relevant elected officials in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the Governor, members of the State Legislature, the Mayor of Philadelphia, and members of the Philadelphia City Council
Approved unanimously, December 10 2014

Source: http://www.pa.aflcio.org/philaflcio/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=847921df-9080-4d97-ba0d-b2eef1b11e5b

– RESOLUTION: On Stopping Attacks on Workers by Crown Metal Packaging

WHEREAS over 120 workers, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9176 in Toronto, Canada, have been on strike since September 6, 2013, against Crown Metal Packaging Canada LP (Crown), a subsidiary of the giant multinational Crown Holdings, Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aluminum and steel cans with 149 plants worldwide;

WHEREAS Crown Holdings is headquartered in Philadelphia and has a significant union presence nationwide: including sister locals of affiliates of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO such as IAM, SMART; IUE-CWA and the Teamsters;

WHEREAS after over fourteen months on strike, the strikers and their families are suffering and there is still no end in sight to the dispute despite the strikers’ willingness to compromise and return to work;

WHEREAS Crown is now proposing that even if the strikers agreed to settle the strike by taking huge concessions, the company would keep the scabs hired during the strike and prevent over 75% of the strikers from returning to work; and

WHEREAS Crown is now facing an unfair labor practice complaint from the USW on the basis that, among other things, it is avoiding reaching a collective agreement by making unjustified demands that are designed for rejection by the USW;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the USW strikers from Toronto by bringing their struggle to the attention of our membership; in particular on the occasions when USW road warriors come to Philadelphia to publicize their labor dispute;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO supports the USW’s demand of action by the Crown Holdings Board of Directors and is CEO and Executive Officers to end the dispute and reach a fair deal allowing all of the strikers to return to work.

Approved unanimously, December 10 2014

Source: http://www.pa.aflcio.org/philaflcio/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=f8f7427a-a01b-40cd-9d5c-4dc035061f91

By Jared Shelly

– Go to college. Get an internship. Get a job.

That’s been the pathway to success for many young adults for years. But these days, student loan bills are crippling, and many employers are looking for candidates with specific kinds of experience.

Enter apprenticeships, something that U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez calls “the other college” but without the debt. On Thursday, he was in town to announce the creation of a $100 million apprenticeship grant competition to promote the expansion of the Registered Apprenticeships program meant to bring recent high school graduates into high-demand, high-tech careers. ( Apply for apprenticeships here.)

No, apprenticeships aren’t just for electricians and construction workers anymore. They’re a great way towards careers in technical fields like IT and health care, said Perez. And the ability to earn while you learn is a big draw.

“Today I met people who are excited about their work, following their passions and making real money,” said Perez in an interview after he left Philadelphia. He held a press conference at the School District of Philadelphia and met with Computer Support Specialists from the Registered IT Apprenticeship program run by the Urban Technology Project. A few months ago he visited the Finishing Trades Institute.

“There are multiple pathways to prosperity” said Perez, who hailed apprenticeships for their ability to give young people real-world experience, upward mobility and because “some people work better by doing as opposed to simply sitting in the classroom.”

For example, Perez pointed to Germany, where apprenticeships are “a major explanation why youth unemployment is half of what it is in United States.”

Perez said that Philadelphia is a natural fit to promote the apprenticeship grant program because of its budding startup scene in a wide array of sectors. Plus, employers in Philadelphia are excited to have the opportunity to train somebody in the specific competencies they need – rather than rolling the dice with a candidate just because they majored in a certain subject.

While in Philadelphia, Perez said he met a woman who had already gone to college but dropped out to become an IT apprentice.

“She said she was spending too much money,” said Perez. “Now she’s thrilled that she’s on a path to an IT career.”

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2014/12/thomas-perez-apprentice-philadelphia.html?page=all

By TOM RAUM

– WASHINGTON (AP) — In a victory for unions, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday that employees can use their company email accounts for union organizing and other workplace-related purposes, if they do it on their own time.

Once an employer gives an employee access to the company email system, then the business cannot restrict what the employee emails, so long as it is generally workplace-related and isn’t during working hours, the NLRB ruled. The NLRB is a government agency that investigates unfair labor practices.

The ruling said that “the use of email as a common form of workplace communications has expanded dramatically in recent years.” The ruling could give unions a powerful organizing weapon.

The three Democrats on the five member board voted “yes,” while the two Republicans abstained.

The ruling reverses a 2007 board decision that employees don’t have a legal right to use their employers’ email for union activity or discussing wages or other workplace issues.

It also upholds an opinion by the NLRB’s general counsel, who suggested that workers had a presumed statutory right to use company email to discuss a range of workplace issues — so long as they did it on their own time and unless an employer could demonstrate that doing so would hurt productivity of office discipline.

The decision was a victory for the Communications Workers of America, which brought the case in 2012 after it was unable to use company email to organize employees of Purple Communications in Rocklin, California, a company that provides interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing. The union contended that prohibiting Purple workers from using company email for to organize interfered with its efforts.

Bernie Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA and a vice president of the Communications Workers of America, called the ruling “a big victory for workers in general. Basically the board is saying that there is a wide berth for that kind of discussion, that it can’t be prohibited. There are limitations. This is something where people are supposed to be doing this not on the work time. And they can’t be obstructive to the productivity of the company. But the flat-out prohibition of any discussion of forming a union or acting collectively, basically to board has said that’s fair.”

Joel Barras, a lawyer who represents employers in collective bargaining and labor arbitration matters, said that the NLRB in its ruling “once again elevated employee protected activity over employer property rights. Not only will employees now have the ability to use their work emails in their efforts to unionize or discuss terms and conditions of employment with co-workers, an employer’s communication system may also become an incredibly effective tool used to recruit members to form or join class-action cases.”

In Thursday’s ruling, the board majority said the earlier decision “was clearly incorrect. The consequences of that error are too serious to permit it to stand.”

“By focusing too much on employers’ property rights and too little on the importance of email as a means of workplace communication, the Board (in its earlier ruling) failed to adequately protect employees’ rights … and abdicated its responsibility ‘to adapt the Act to the changing patterns of industrial life.”

A number of weighty issues have yet to be decided by the board, and it seems likely to tackle some of them before the Dec. 16 departure of one of its Democratic members, Nancy Schiffer, when her term expires.

There will still be a 3-2 majority on the board with the GOP takeover of Senate control next year after the Senate voted 54-40 earlier this month to confirm Lauren McGarity McFerran, a Democrat, to fill the vacancy.

Pending decisions include whether college athletes on scholarships have the right to unionize. The case stems from an effort by Northwestern University scholarship football players to organize.

Online: NLRB Case 21-CA-095151

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/labor-board-oks-personal-company-e-mail-190927158–finance.html