We would like to wish all the fathers of the labor movement, who work hard and dedicate your lives everyday to standing up for what you believe in so that your children and future generations will have a better life, a Very Happy Father’s Day!
We would also like to remember our forefathers and those who are no longer with us who made it possible for us to enjoy the privileges we share and to continue the fight in their honor!
You are an inspiration to us all!
In Solidarity!
PhillyLabor.com
By Emma Jacobs
– All thirteen SEPTA Regional Rail lines have stopped operating due to a labor stoppage.
The 220 members of the Brotherhood of Local Engineers and Trainmen and the 210 members of Electrical Workers Local 744 walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
All city and suburban buses, trollies, subway service and the Norristown High Speed Line will continue to operate.
Saturday marked the expiration of a cooling off period mandated by the federal Railway Labor Act.
According to a statement released by SEPTA spokesperson, Jerri Williams, SEPTA offered to extend the cooling off period for a period of two weeks under existing rates of pay and working conditions. Representatives of the BLET and the IBEW rejected the offer.
The two unions have been working without a contract for several years while exhausting mediation requirements.
SEPTA plans to impose wage increases that were a part of its latest contract offer, of 11.6 percent for electrical workers and 8.5 percent for engineers, saying it seeks terms consistent with its other labor agreements.
The union had asked for pay increases to be retroactive and other changes to SEPTA’s proffered contract.
It has been a long time since the last regional rail shutdown, which took place in 1983 and lasted 108 days.
In this case, Pennsylvania Tom Corbett could still request the appointment of a Presidential Emergency Board, which would delay a work stoppage for 240 days.
60,000 commuters rely on SEPTA’s regional rail lines.
Out of what SEPTA spokeswoman called an “abundance of caution,” SEPTA began unrolling contingency plans this week in case of a strike, including plans to add additional trains and buses on operational lines and expanding parking outside stations around the city’s periphery.
Williams cautioned that rush hour service is already at capacity. “Therefore, we encourage passengers to flex their work schedules by coming to work earlier or later than their normal shifts.”
PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum said that PennDOT will adjust work crew schedules on major throughways to allow for longer commute times.
– SEPTA’s Service Interruption Plan is now available online, including parking and operational services: http://www.septa.org/service/service-interruption/rail.html
– Alternate service planner by station: http://www.septa.org/stations/rail/stations.shtml
Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/69231-no-deal-septa-regional-rail-workers-announce-strike?linktype=hp_impact
By The PA. AFL-CIO
– HARRISBURG, PA: Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder announced the endorsement of Tom Wolf for Governor in the General Election that will be held on Tuesday November 4, 2014.
Tom Wolf received a unanimous endorsement from the members of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Executive Council which represents over 800,000 union workers, the largest labor organization in Pennsylvania. The Council met in Harrisburg today.
In announcing the endorsement, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bloomingdale utilized a theme of the Wolf campaign of a fresh start for Pennsylvania’s working families. “Tom Wolf will provide a new direction for Pennsylvania one in which working men and women are part of the solution instead of being viewed as the cause of the problems. Tom Wolf believes as we do that the best is yet to come and by bringing people and institutions together we can recapture and regrow the good jobs and decent wages that provide economic opportunities for all workers,” Mr. Bloomingdale said.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Snyder added “Pennsylvania’s workers are fed up with the current administration, which has focused on everything except what matters most to them. Tom Wolf is raising the issues that workers care about – the need to restore funding for education and infrastructure investments as the keys to creating jobs and expanding the middle class. Mr. Wolf understands that you grow an economy from the ground up and not from the top down. We will work just as hard in supporting and electing Tom Wolf Governor, as we are doing to defend good jobs, defend decent pensions, and defend our rights to a strong voice in the workplace and in politics,” Mr. Snyder added.
Tom Wolf expressed his appreciation for the overwhelming support and said he is looking forward to working with the working families of Pennsylvania in restoring and strengthening our schools and our economy.
“Over the last four years, our economy has struggled, our schools have suffered from misguided cuts, and Pennsylvania has fallen to the bottom in job creation. If we are going to strengthen Pennsylvania’s economy, we need to rebuild our middle class by making sure our policies place them on level playing field. At my company, I paid my workers a living wage, gave them great benefits, and even shared 20 to 30 percent of my profits with them. I will bring this same level of fairness to governing, and I will restore Tom Corbett’s drastic cuts to education and give our Commonwealth a fresh start,” Tom Wolf said.
President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder also announced the endorsement of Democratic State Senator Mike Stack for Lieutenant Governor. Mr. Stack has a very strong record of supporting workers as a member of the State Senate and is also a member of the Philadelphia chapter of SAG-AFTRA.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO endorsements require a two-thirds majority of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Executive Council, comprised of representatives of labor unions and organizations affiliated with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO will be making endorsements in races for Pennsylvania’s congressional seats, the State Senate and the State House of Representatives on July 9, 2014.
Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=4184
By Phil Gregory
– Hundreds of public employee union members rallied outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton to protest Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to cut the state’s contribution to the pension system.
The language in a law enacted in 2011 requires the payments to be made, said Hetty Rosenstein, New Jersey director of the Communications Workers of America.
“No responsible leader actually recommends reneging on a debt as if he is stiffing a buddy on a sports bet,” she said to clamorous cheers.
Last month, Christie called for cutting $2.5 billion in planned state pension contributions for public workers between now and June 2015 because of flagging tax revenues.
But costs of the scheduled payments could be covered by reinstating a tax surcharge on millionaires and getting rid of tax subsidies for corporations, said Wendell Steinhauer, president of the New Jersey Education Association.
“Just those two things would be more than enough to make both of the pension payments that he’s threatening to withhold,” Steinhauer said.
Analilia Mejia, executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, said the governor is breaking the law by not making a full payment into the pension system.
A judge has scheduled a hearing later this month on a lawsuit filed by 14 unions that challenges the pension-payment reductions.
Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/69167-hundreds-rally-againt-christie-plan-to-cut-nj-payments-to-pension-system?linktype=hp_topstory
BY TONY WEST/The Philly Public Record
– The sun is shining again on the Delaware River over a fleet of rising commerce scattered from Tioga in Port Richmond down to Wilmington. The Great Recession is over, at least at sea. And that’s good news for Philadelphia, which has always lived off the sea, Bob Palaima reports. Palaima’s company, Delaware River Stevedores, is the largest employer of unionized longshoremen in our ports. It operates Tioga Terminal which brings in an array of products, from perishables likes fruit, cocoa and cattle to steel and plywood, delicate machinery and equipment.But when international trade is down – as it was, sharply, during the recession – then port economies are down. That fact hit Philadelphia hard in 2008. But Palaima says our ports have recovered nicely from the recession and are ready to leap ahead.
“After the Great Recession, volumes were down. But this past winter, we’ve seen an uptick in key commodities,” commented Palaima. “We live on hope, keeping our noses to the grindstone.” DRS’ biggest hit this year has been Fibria Celulose. This huge Brazilian eucalyptus harvester can raise vast tropical tree plantations at a rate competitive with Northeastern USA’s traditional suppliers in Canada. It beats the market for low-cost paper. Remember the last time you applied paper to your body? It will not be replaced by the internet. It’s a global growth industry.
Fibria Celulose is now shipping into North America via Philadelphia, at DRS’ Tioga facility. And it looks like an early hit. Volume is up and DRS is retooling Tioga to handle it. Much of that facility is set up to handle fruit, which is seasonal. But wood pulp is steady year-round business. But port business doesn’t rely on home runs like Fibria Celulose. A rising tide lifts all boats, and Palaima says the tide of commerce is rising in Philadelphia. That’s a good sign – even before Panamax.
“Panamax” is shipping slang for the widening of the Panama Canal, not far from finished now, which is guaranteed to change the face of world commerce for a century. When the newer, wider and deeper canal is opened sometime in 2016, huge merchant vessels from the Orient will soon be prowling the Eastern Seaboard looking to discharge their cargo. If they can do it here, we’ll get the business. If they can’t, they’ll dock at New York, Baltimore or Norfolk instead – to our loss. It looks like they’ll be able to by 2016, says Palaima. The Panama Canal enlargement has fallen behind schedule. That’s bad news for world trade but good news for Philadelphia marketers, because it guarantees they will be able to deliver on 2014 promises 0ur port will be ready by then. Steel is popping, says Palaima. That means construction is popping in the eastern USA. It’s a leading sign of corporate investment and a good omen for the Delaware Valley’s economy.
“We are shaking off the doldrums of the recent past but we have now notched solid victories,” Palaima asserts. Ports, by their nature depend, on the global economy. Many Americans imagine our nation’s economic problems since 2008 are caused by local misfortunes. But a shipping pro like Palaima knows better: His industry is utterly dependent on international realities. What he needs from his local community and its elected officials is a hard-nosed, practical commitment to follow through on developing the Port, Pennsylvania’s greatest transportation asset.
Palaima is pleased with the bipartisan commitment that has delivered federal and state bucks to complete 60% of the channel-deepening project. The end is in sight. Although rival ports still try to divert funding from the Delaware occasionally, they probably can’t stop it now (a very-real prospect as late as 2011). “I’m optimistic about the money to finish the project,” Palaima said. “We have a good bipartisan relationship with our House and Senate delegations.” The Delaware River ports have six Senators, which helps. And Philadelphia has a flexible, versatile stevedore workforce that can quickly be brought up to speed on tomorrow’s novel cargos. That’s what a port needs to beat the competition. Palaima knows Philadelphia will be at the table when the Panamax buffet opens its doors. That’s good for us, very good.
Source: http://www.phillyrecord.com/2014/06/port-tioga-terminal-operator-sees-boom-period-for-delaware-r/
