John Kane launched his first television ad of the State Senate campaign running on broadcast and cable TV, and on the internet. The ad features John’s family, including his wife of 24 years, Lori; his daughters Gabby, 17, Sam, 22, and Maddie, 14; and his son Johnny, 20, literally inviting viewers into meeting his family. A plus effort.

In the ad, Kane says he is running for State Senate to “put back the $1 billion Corbett cut from education and make sure corporations and natural-gas drillers pay their fair share.” Kane goes on to say, “It’s time to close to loopholes for the tax cheats.”

The ad can be viewed at: http://youtube/J4E16ur54ds.

“I am incredibly proud of this ad, and so happy that my family was able to join me in making it,” said Kane. “As I cross the district, knocking on doors and talking to voters, I hear over and over again that people are angry that their schools are not getting the funding they need and their property taxes are going up, while corporations and shale drillers are getting sweetheart deals.”

Kane is the Democrat running for State Senate in the 26th Dist. that lies in Delaware and Chester Cos. His opponent is Tom McGarrigle, County Council Chairman. The 26th Dist. is viewed as the most-competitive legislative race in Pennsylvania this year. The seat is held by Republican State Sen. Edwin “Ted Erickson” who is retiring.

Source: http://www.phillyrecord.com/2014/09/pols-on-the-street-kane-tv-ads-stress-family/

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PhillyLabor.com Editorial – John Kane is the labor endorsed candidate for state Senate in the 26th Senatorial District, which includes parts of Chester and Delaware Counties, who will bring a perpetual voice for working families to Harrisburg. Too often, working people support candidates who forget where they come from when they get in office. This will certainly not be the case with John Kane because, as Business Manager of Plumbers Local 690, John is already a voice for working people everyday. This is an opportunity to elect him and send him to Harrisburg and give him the opportunity to have a seat at the table to represent the needs and rights of ALL working men and woman throughout PA.

In order to accomplish our objectives and protect our rights as working men and women now and for years to come, we need a strong showing at the pols. Thus, on election day, Nov 4, 2014, get out to the pols and vote for John Kane and other labor endorsed candidates like your union livelihood depends on it BECAUSE IT DOES!

See Below for links to John Kane’s platform and endorsements:

John Kane Platform – http://phillylabor.com/plumbers-business-manager-john-kane-candidate-for-pa-state-senate-seat-introduces-platform/

PA. AFL-CIO Endorsed Candidates – http://phillylabor.com/pa-afl-cio-announces-endorsements-for-2014-general-election/

Philadelphia Building Trades Endorse Plumbers Local 690, Business Manager, John I. Kane For Pa. State Senate – http://phillylabor.com/philadelphia-building-trades-endorse-plumbers-local-690-business-manager-john-i-kane-for-pa-state-senate/

Coalition demands vote on education charter amendment

By The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

– Today, Philadelphia City Council failed to heed the call of 40,000 Philadelphians who have signed a petition to amend the City Charter to demand local control of the School District of Philadelphia. After a PA Working Families press conference this morning, announcing an expected council vote on a ballot measure demanding the General Assembly abolish the School Reform Commission and return Philadelphia schools to local control, Council tabled the resolution, denying Philadelphians the chance to vote on the first-ever citizen-initiated ballot question in November.

“PFT members have been at the forefront of the effort to give Philadelphia’s citizens the power to determine what happens in our children’s schools,” said Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan. “We surveyed over 3,000 Philadelphia residents and our members collected over 17,000 signatures to get local control on the ballot in November. City Council’s failure to vote on this measure is a disappointing setback, but we will keep fighting to bring our schools under local control.”

“Philadelphians from all walks of life came together to say they want a chance to have a voice in their schools. Council needs to listen to their voices and vote immediately to place the local control charter amendment on the ballot.” said Pat Eiding, President, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

“We went to City Council today to say that Harrisburg should fund our schools—and Philadelphia should run them. City Council put up a responsible vote to add local funding by taxing cigarettes, and Harrisburg hasn’t even scheduled a vote to approve that—it’s time for us to get a vote on taking back local control of our schools,” said Kati Sipp, director of Pennsylvania Working Families

“1199c members support a local voice in Philadelphia’s schools. Health care workers know the importance of dignity and decision-making. We want Council to show some courage in securing the health of our children’s education by approving the local control ballot measure.” said Henry Nicholas, President of District 1199c.

PA Working Families has been part of a historic 10-month long campaign gathering 40,000 signatures in favor of letting the entire city vote on local control of Philadelphia schools. Canvassers with PA Working Families, Fight for Philly, SEIU 32BJ, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, PCAPS, and others have been collecting signatures since April, turning in 40,000 signatures to Council in May. The last step in bringing the question of local control to all the voters of the city is Council approving the ballot question.

“We filed 40,000 signatures months ago. Now, time is of the essence for Council to vote to put local control on the ballot in November,” said Gabe Morgan, PA Director of 32BJ SEIU. “There is no good reason for Council to delay. The future of Philadelphia schools is too important to put on hold.”

Pennsylvania Working Families is an independent political organization standing up for Pennsylvania’s working class and middle class families.

Source:https://www.facebook.com/notes/philadelphia-federation-of-teachers/press-release-philadelphians-denied-the-chance-to-vote-for-local-control/890370414326370

– Download and Listen to the Podcast from this week’s 9/10 Today in PhillyLabor Radio Broadcast Featuring Jerry Jordan, President, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and Pa. State Rep. Mike O’Brien.

To Listen To and/or Download Podcast, Go to: http://wwdbam.com/2014/09/10/jk091014_mono/

– Today, and every year on September 11th, as we remember and pray for the all of victims and the families who lost loved ones on 911, It is my privilege to share a personal tribute to an old classmate and teammate of mine from my time at Penn Charter H.S, Peter Ortale. Although, I only spent one year with Peter at P.C., we became pretty good buddies. We played freshman football together, we had some of the same classes together and, for a brief time, we were on the wrestling team together. Maybe we got along so well because we came from similar union backgrounds, as my father, Joe, and Peter’s uncle, Pete McDonough, were both union iron workers out of Iron Worker’s Local 401 (which is the union that I would eventually join) and ironically, they would also both serve together as union officials at 401 years later.

When I think back to the brief time we spent together in the days of our early youth, I still have several fond memories of Peter; I remember he was a good student in the classroom, a fierce competitor on the athletic fields and he was a really cool guy who was easy to hang out with. However, the 2 things that I remember most about Peter Ortale, were his smilish grin and his positive energy. He was always up beat. No matter the situation, he was a smiling face that you could depend on to brighten up even the worst of days.

Case in point, the Freshman year wrestling team. Pete and I had just finished playing football in the Fall and I personally had looked forward to having the winter season off before baseball tryouts in the Spring. Unfortunately, the wrestling coach at the time, Mr. Mellor, had other plans for me and Pete when he approached us in the hallway and recruited us to fill the voids on the freshman wrestling team at the 147 LB and the 139lb weight classes. Well, as much as I didn’t want to do it, Peter was pretty persistent in his efforts to convince me that, for some reason, it was a good thing. I remember telling him, Pete, there’s one thing your forgetting, the wrestling season starts in like one week and neither one of us has ever wrestled a day in our lives. Are you crazy? Well, Pete somehow persuaded me to give it a shot and I wish I could tell you that the rest is history and we both went on to have stellar high school, college then Olympic wrestling careers but this is not ESPN or the Biography Channel and this sports moment had a much different, albeit more humorous conclusion.

The next thing you know we were struggling at our first wrestling practices, which by the way, were so hard that they made football practices seem like a day at the beach. Finally, after a week of the practices from hell, it was the day of the big first match and we sat next to each other on the chairs watching, talking and waiting for our turn to wrestle. We were competing against the number one wrestling team in the public league, Simon Gratz, and from what I remember, it was a real tough match. We won some of the early matches and we lost some. Anyway, finally it came down to the last two matches, Pete’s and mine. Pete went first and he used his athletic ability to wrap up and pin his opponent in the middle of the second period just like that. It was awesome. I was thinking man, that doesn’t look too hard. I can do that! Well, as it was, the fate of my short lived wrestling career would take a vastly different turn than Peter’s as I went out on to the mat on that cold winter day and gave it the best 47 seconds of my life. Ultimately, I ended up in some kind of pretzel move that had me staring face to face with my lower extremities LOL! I remember when I got back to the bench, I was pretty dejected and Pete was the first to greet me with a pat on the back and encouragement saying that it was OK and that I almost had the guy or something like that!!! It was classic Peter Ortale, exactly the way I remember him. He didn’t want me to feel bad about myself.

After my freshman year, I transferred to Roman Catholic HS and Peter stayed at Penn Charter and we saw each other only occasionally at H.S. sporting events and he was always the same great guy that gave you a warm hello and friendly smile. After high school, we kept in touch only via well wishes at the union hall through his uncle Pete McDonough, Hey Pete, Tell Peter I said, hi! Hey Joey, Peter Ortale said to say hello!

The last time I saw him, I ran into him randomly outside the Cottman Mall in Northeast Philadelphia and we talked about old times and mutual friends from Penn charter for about 15 minutes like time had never skipped a beat. As we said our good byes, I can still remember his warm and comforting smile that once again made you feel better for the experience.

Peter Ortale was 37 and working for Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. After the attack, he made three phone calls: to his wife, his mother and a friend in California before heading for the stairs. He did not reach the bottom.

Peter, you are missed by many and never forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, your family and all of those taken from us on that unthinkable September Day!

Rest In Peace Old Friend!

Sincerely,

Joe Dougherty
PhillyLabor.com

For a remembrance of Peter Ortale, go to – http://today.duke.edu/2011/09/ortale

9/10 – Tonight’s Featured Guests on Today In PhillyLabor Radio are PFT 3 President, Jerry Jordan and State Representative Mike O’Brien.

Tune in to WWDB 860AM at 6pm Tonight (Listen online at: http://wwdbam.com/streamer/) and See What All The Talk is About!