BY Cole Stangler

– From the debt-ceiling showdown to the “fiscal cliff” to the government shutdown of 2013, self-induced budget crises have become something of a hallmark of today’s Congress. In keeping with that tradition, Washington is now rapidly approaching the “transportation cliff.”

In October, the nation’s two-year transportation funding law will expire. That means the federal government won’t be allowed to finance upkeep of federal highways and bridges beyond what’s allocated before the deadline, or to award grants to states for new public transit projects like the expansion of Dallas’ light rail system.

Even before that, in late August, the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is the main source of money for these projects, is projected to go broke. Thousands of transit projects across the country will grind to a halt and 700,000 construction jobs will be put at risk, according to the White House.

As the squeeze nears, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), whose members include public-transit operators and maintenance workers, are calling on Congress to get its act together. But they want more than a bare-bones bill. On Tuesday, hundreds of ATU and TWU members rallied at a park across the street from the Capitol Building, demanding that legislators expand federal investment in public transit.

“We need a long-term mass transit highway reauthorization bill, one that has real money to finance America’s infrastructure, highways, bridges, mass transit systems, so we don’t sink into a Third World in terms of mobility for tens of millions of people every day,” says Harry Lombardo, president of TWU. “Two years ago, instead of coming up with a comprehensive program and financing it to rebuild the infrastructure of America and expand mass transit or at least maintain it as we know it, they kicked the can down the road.”

Well-funded public transit, unions and their supporters say, is good for workers, riders and the environment. “It is one of those issues that is a true win-win in every regard,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said at the rally.

But in order to invest more, the government needs more revenue. That’s why the ATU and TWU back legislation sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that would double the gas tax from 15 cents per gallon to 33.4 per cents per gallon. The current tax rate has stayed the same since 1993—the main reason for the Highway Trust Fund’s shoddy state.

“Right now, America’s running on fumes with its infrastructure,” Blumenauer said at the rally. “We really do need to raise the gas tax to give you the bill that you need and to avoid a food fight between transit and truckers and between red states and blue states. Put the money on the table; everybody can be satisfied.”

Larry Hanley, president of ATU, says a tax hike isn’t as controversial as it sounds.

“People don’t understand that they’re paying half today of what they did [20] years ago, per mile in gas taxes, because the gas taxes remained static [while] the amount of miles per gallon has gone up,” Hanley tells In These Times. “I think that if people take the time to explain that something has to be done to support our bridges, our roads and our transit, then the people will accept it. …The idea that the United States Congress can’t act and increase the tax to fund all these important programs is ridiculous.”

The AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce both back such a measure. And with the prospect of federal transit grants drying up, a number of states have already moved to increase their own fuel taxes.

The administration, however, has expressed opposition to a federal gas-tax hike. Instead the White House wants to generate revenue through a temporary corporate tax reform proposal. Larry Hanley says the ATU is open to additional means of raising revenue for transit projects, but says there’s no reason why any such measure needs to be temporary.

Blumenauer wasn’t the only member of Congress to make the one-block journey across Constitution Avenue. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and representatives Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) also spoke at the rally.

So too did Reverend Al Sharpton, who connected public transit funding to the civil rights struggle.

Noting that poor people and people of color are more dependent on public transit than other Americans, Sharpton told the crowd of trade unionists, “Labor rights for transit workers is civil rights for American people. …. When you cut off transit workers, you cut off the legs of people that live in the bottom 99 percent of this country, and we are not going to let you stand by and scapegoat transit workers to immobilize Americans. This is a fight for Americans everywhere.”

In 2005, Sharpton famously supported TWU Local 100’s three-day strike in New York City, blasting then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s use of the word “thuggish” to attack union leaders.

Mac Urata, inland transport section secretary for the United Kingdom-based International Transport Workers’ Federation, an international labor federation which has over 4.5 million members, connected the push to secure U.S. government financing with struggles against privatization and deregulation in Europe.

“It is about time that we find ways to promote public transit systems for the benefit of the workers and for the riders, and put the money where the system operates, and not into the pockets of these bosses,” Urata told the crowd. “It is about time that all national governments reverse their cuts in public transit and promote the most environmentally friendly mode of transport. … Your fight is our fight. You are not alone.”

Last week, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed a bill to maintain federal spending on highways and mass transit at current levels, an attempt to replace the transportation legislation that expires in October. But that bill did not address the Highway Trust Fund’s funding crisis—which means it’s unlikely to pass the full Senate and House without a corresponding revenue-raising plan. As the shortfall looms, other committees in Congress are soon expected to move forward on measures to boost the Trust Fund.

Source: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16732/as_transportation_cliff_nears_unions_rally_for_public_transit

By Daniel Denvir

– A first-grade student died today after falling ill at Jackson Elementary School in South Philadelphia, where no school nurse was on duty. Philadelphia schools have suffered dramatic staffing cuts to nurses and other positions in recent years.

“We had a very tragic day at Jackson Elementary,” says School District of Philadelphia spokesperson Fernando Gallard. Gallard says that the boy showed signs of distress in the classroom and was given CPR by one of three trained adults in the classroom. They called 911 immediately and an ambulance arrived to take him to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was pronounced dead an unknown time later.

The details of the boy’s condition (the student has not yet been identified) are unclear. But Ann Smigiel, Jackson’s nurse, worries that she might have been able to prevent it had she been on duty.
“There is no net for the staff or the children,” she says. “There’s no requirement to have any kind of medical team. It’s my job as the nurse to make sure there’s an emergency plan, and basically it is 911…The equipment isn’t there, nothing is there for them.”

Smigiel works at Jackson only on Thursdays and every other Friday. Until five years ago, Smigiel says that she was present at Jackson every single day. Smigiel says that she has worked at Jackson for 12 years, and worked for 15 years prior in an emergency room.

“If I were there would it have made a difference? I don’t know. But I’ve done CPR in the past and that little girl has a heart transplant now,” says Smigiel, who believes that student would have died had she not been present. “The benefit of having immediate medical care, immediate response, [and] clear decision-makers is absolutely a part of why she made it.”

Philadelphia public schools have long lacked necessary funding, but recent cuts by Gov. Tom Corbett have sent the District into an increasingly dire fiscal crises. As of last fall, there were 179 nurses working in public, private and parochial schools, down from 289 in 2011. In September, sixth-grader Laporshia Massey died of what her father described as an asthma attack after falling sick while no nurse was on duty at Bryant Elementary School. The death caused an outcry against school budget cuts, and Corbett soon released $45 million for the District that had been withheld on the condition of teachers union concessions. Corbett denied that the funding was related to Massey’s death.

School District Chief of Student Support Services Karyn Lynch says there will be psychologists and bereavement specialists at Jackson tomorrow. Many students will likely find out about the boy’s death when they arrive for school in the morning.

“This came completely out of the blue for the teaching staff as well as the students,” Lynch says. “Many of the students and certainly the teachers and the staff are very very upset about this.”

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan said he is “absolutely shaken” by the death, and says it marked “another example of another under-resourced school.”

Jordan said it was “very upsetting to lose another child and know the nurse wasn’t available in the building, who could have been there to assist him.”

Two other Jackson students have also died off campus in recent years, says Smigiel, one from street violence and another from asthma. The school has been hit hard.

“The kids that we service are dying and it’s wrong. And it’s preventable in a lot of ways.”

Source: http://citypaper.net/article.php?Another-student-dies-after-falling-sick-at-Philly-school-with-no-nurse-on-duty-20397

Phillylabor.com Commentary – This situation is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE! Having a school nurse on premise during our children’s times of need should not be a budgetary issue. It IS a life safety issue. This is the second child we have lost in a school without a school nurse available to assist the child during a medical emergency. We need a solution to this situation immediately!

There is no excuse for our generation to be the first in modern times to NOT make viable public educational resources (including life safety resources) available to them in their time of need. WE ARE FAILING OUR CHILDREN AND WE NEED TO GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT BEFORE THIS HAPPENS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!

– Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder congratulate the winners of the primary elections and to all of those candidates who campaigned on issues important to the working families of Pennsylvania.

“Regardless of the party affiliation we congratulate all of the candidates, who raised the issues that are most important to the working families of Pennsylvania – the need to restore funding for school districts and infrastructure investments as the keys to creating good jobs and expanding our middle class,” President Bloomingdale said. “We congratulate Tom Wolf and State Senator Mike Stack for their success in leading as well as all of the candidates for U.S. Congress and State Legislature who have taken strong positions in support of working families,” Bloomingdale said.

President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder are very pleased with the success rates of COPE endorsed candidates in Congressional and State Legislative contests. “Our COPE endorsed candidates won in 35 of 39 races for a success rate of 90%,” noted Secretary-Treasurer Snyder.

“The results speak for themselves,” Bloomingdale said. “Our members helped these candidates secure their nominations as well as wage competitive challenges against candidates that attack good jobs, decent wages and benefits, and our rights. We are proud of the great work our volunteers did in many important primary contests,” Bloomingdale said.

“We have a solid base of volunteers and resources to build a very effective grassroots education and mobilization program to reach the work sites and households of workers in every region of Pennsylvania. Today we begin expanding the mobilization and education program needed to take back our State for the working men and women of Pennsylvania,” Snyder said. “This election will be won or lost on voter turnout. We’ve learned the consequences when working families don’t vote. It’s time to stop playing defense and go on the offense and that will only happen if we all vote in November,” Snyder added.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=4121

Below are the results of races involving local candidates supported by statewide and Philadelphia area labor unions:

US House

CD 1 – Robert A. Brady (D) – Uncontested
CD 2 – Chaka Fattah (D) Uncontested
CD 13- Brendan Boyle 40.56% of the vote over – Marjorie Margolies

PA State Senate

SD 2 – Christine M. Tartaglione (D) 9609 (50.73%) Defeated Danny Savage-
5,542, 29.26% Thomas Sanchez – 3,790 – 20.01%
SD 4 – Leanna Washington (D) 13,440 33.68% – Lost to Art Haywood – 15,874 – 39.78%

PA House

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives:

HD 170 – Brendan Boyle – Uncontested

HD 172 – Kevin J. Boyle (D) W- over Jeffrey Voice with over 91% of the vote

HD 173 – Dennis Kilderry (D) lost To Mike Driscoll who had 62.87%

HD 179 – James W. Clay Jr. (D) lost to Jason Dawson 50.96% to 49.04% (Undecided 80 votes)

HD 180 – Angel L. Cruz (D) – Won over Quetcy Lozada with over 67% of the vote

HD 181 – W. Curtis Thomas (D) Won with over 61% of the vote

HD 188 – James R. Roebuck (D) Won over Algernong Allen with over 69%

HD 198 – Rosita C. Youngblood (D) Won over John Connelly with over 76% of the vote

HD 200 – Cherelle L. Parker (D) Won Uncontested

HD 201 – Stephen Kinsey (D) Won over Lamont Thomas with 54% of the vote

HD 202 – Mark B. Cohen (D) Won over Jared Soloman – 51.49% to 48.51% (By 128 Votes)

Philadelphia City Council – Special Election
At-large – Ed Neilson (D) – Neilson defeated Republican attorney Matthew Wolfe and Nikki Allen Poe of the Libertarian Party

– Philadelphia International Airport is expanding and the airlines are making record profits. Yet nearly 2,000 Philadelphia airport workers live in deep poverty, making as little as $7.25/hour. One out of five subcontracted airport workers reported going hungry last year.

On May 20, I will cast my vote for airport workers who are fighting to improve jobs and get the economy moving again.

For Our Economy: When Philadelphia workers earn a living wage, they spend more money at small businesses and boost our local economy.

For Fairness: Airport workers deserve the city’s minimum wage of $10.88/ hour.

For Our Schools: Higher wages mean higher tax revenues, and that means more public education money that could be used to hire back teachers or support school programs.

Vote “YES” on ballot question #1 on May 20 for good jobs in Philadelphia!

Source – http://action.fightforphilly.org/page/s/voteyesonmay20