By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press

– Hours before hundreds of workers were to hold a prayer rally as three casinos are set to close, New Jersey officials issued a final closure order for another one.

The state Gaming Enforcement Division gave final approval to Revel’s shutdown on Sept. 1 and 2, signing the order on Tuesday night and releasing it on Wednesday.

Employees of Revel, the Showboat and Trump Plaza will attend a prayer service at a church near the casinos on Wednesday.

Showboat and Revel are due to close over Labor Day weekend, with Trump Plaza shutting down on Sept. 16.

The shutdowns are part of a rapid unraveling of Atlantic City’s gambling market, which began the year with 12 casinos, but will have eight before summer ends.

The Atlantic Club closed in January.

Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/71807-revel-shutdown-okd-as-prayer-service-nears-?linktype=hp_topstory

By Joel Mathis

– Sure Gov. Corbett is far behind Democratic challenger Tom Wolf in this fall’s election campaign. But Pittsburgh Tribune columnist Brad Bumsted says the governor could still win.

The scenario:

For one, there needs to be low voter turnout statewide, especially in Philadelphia, where the most Democrats in the state live. Republicans are good at getting out the GOP vote even in unexciting elections like this one. There’s no presidential race, no big draw other than Wolf-Corbett (yawn).

President Obama’s unpopularity continues to play out on health care and the “war on coal.”

Corbett needs to define Wolf before Wolf really defines himself further.

Mostly, though, Bumstead says the governor needs to campaign hard on a big reform initiative — say, like calling for term limits — and pray voters don’t notice he didn’t totally deliver on his previous reform promises. “Still,” Bumsted writes, “a win is not out of the question.”

Source: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/08/18/gov-corbett-still-win-thing/

PhillyLabor Editorial: Now more than ever, it’s very important not to listen to poll results telling us that Tom Wolf has a commanding lead over Gov. Corbett and we have no worries. We can absolutely take nothing for granted in this 2014 gubernatorial election. As a labor community, who would would be washed away if it was up to the current Corbett Administration, we need to get engaged, keep engaged, push to the to the end and most of all Vote for Tom Wolf on November 4th like our union livelihoods depend on it because they do!

By David P. Gaibis

– The Republicans’ war on labor has taken American workers from a moderate lifestyle story to a rags story. In the beginning, before the labor movement, employers worked their “captive labor” 12 hours a day, seven days a week for 25 cents an hour with no safety rules or regulations.

These employers are directly responsible for the creation and need for labor unions, the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, just to name a few.

In the 1980s, then President Ronald Reagan abolished the cost-of-living adjustment, citing it as inflationary, thus freezing wages as the cost of living skyrocketed. This move alone was instrumental in creating what is now known as “the working poor.”

This brings us to 2014. We have Republican governors quoted as saying they want no labor unions in their states. Labor unions are the only real path for the middle class to secure a profitable wage. Poverty is not self- inflicted; just go to your local grocery store or gas station. What do you think a worker should be paid, not only to survive, but to profit?

It’s a fact that corporate America and the wealthy white Republican male has tried to buy and run our country with their money and are responsible for all the big government in Washington, D.C. These people would like nothing better than to go “back to the beginning” when everything was stacked in their favor and the American workers were left with nothing. With the recent Republican majority Supreme Court decisions, they are well on their way to just that.

American workers need to wake up. Save collective bargaining so you can retire with dignity. Our constitution says “for the people, by the people.” It does not say “for the rich, by the rich.”

David P. Gaibis, New Castle, Pa.

Correction

Dr. Mark C. Vopat, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University, notes that his letter published in Tuesday’s Vindicator contained two errors:

First, he listed the cost of cellphones for the YSU’s Athletic Department as $175,000. The correct cost is $17,500.

Second, 44 percent — not 48 percent — of overhead lighting in Bliss Recital Hall must be replaced.

Source: http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/aug/14/republicans-war-on-labor-is-gaining-stea/?newswatch

By Joel Mathis

– CBS Philly reports that SEPTA has come to contract terms with Regional Rail electric workers — but that negotiations remain “tense” with Regional Rail engineers.

If ratified, the electrical workers would get an 11.5 percent raise — this, after a four-year contract dispute.

CBS Philly reports on the engineers:

“We are aware that our brothers in the IBEW have resolved their dispute with SEPTA. However, we remain as far apart as we were when PEB 246 rendered its recommendations. I would not characterize the discussions as negotiations. Our discussions are best described as, ‘tense’,” Stephen J. Bruno, Vice President of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said in a statement.

In June, the engineers and electricians walked off the job together for a day only to be forced back to work a day later by presidential order.

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/08/14/septa-settles-regional-rail-electric-workers/

Los Angeles, CA (August 11, 2014)—SAG-AFTRA joins the world in mourning the sudden passing of Robin Williams. A two-time Screen Actors Guild Award recipient, Williams was consecutively honored for Outstanding Performance by a Cast for The Birdcage and then for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his inspirational portrayal of Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting.

After spending time at the prestigious Julliard School, Williams became a union member in 1977. He first rose to fame as the beloved alien Mork in the popular series Mork & Mindy and entertained and inspired generations as a stand-up comedian before moving audiences in the classic Dead Poets Society.

Said SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard, “I am deeply saddened to hear of Robin Williams’ death. He was a performer of limitless versatility, equally adept at comedy and drama, whether scripted or improv. With his incomparable manic style, he could appeal to adult sensibilities in a stand-up comedy routine or elicit giggles from children as the voice of Genie in Aladdin. Outside of his career, he used his considerable talents to raise money for charity. He was not only a talented man, but a true humanitarian. It’s such a tremendous loss.”

Source: http://www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-statement-loss-robin-williams