By Holly Otterbein

– A group of public interest attorneys in Pennsylvania say they have reached a settlement with Sunoco after it violated a little-known law that limits the criminal records that employers can consider while hiring.

Pennsylvania bars employers from taking into account an applicant’s past crimes if they are not related to the job in question. They also can’t consider arrests that did not lead to convictions.

In 2012, Sunoco denied employment to a woman because of an arrest five years prior, according to the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity and other legal aid attorneys. Stephanie Settles, a longtime worker in the customer service industry, was applying for a job at a gas station in Philadelphia.

“I felt really bad because I knew that I was able to do the job and all I needed was an opportunity to prove myself,” she said.

Settles declined to say why she was arrested, and has since had her criminal record expunged.

Michael Hardiman, an attorney with Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, says the group’s members are putting other companies on notice. Their goal is for the law to ultimately be enforced, which they say would benefit not only the individual applicants but also Pennsylvania residents at large.

“Numerous studies show that if you continue to be unemployed, you are much more likely to commit crime in the future than if you get a job,” said Hardiman. “It’s just good for society.”

He argues that it is also a civil rights matter, since minority men account for 61 percent of Pennsylvania’s inmates but only 16 percent of the state’s population.

The legal aid attorneys say Sunoco independently changed its hiring practices after the incident. They also say the company vowed to comply with the law in the future.

Jeffrey Shields, a spokesman for Sunoco, declined to provide details, saying that the public interest attorneys’ news release about the settlement speaks for itself.

Neither party is disclosing the full details of the settlement.

Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/66353-sunoco-promises-to-stop-violating-law-about-job-applicants-and-criminal-records?linktype=hp_impact

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – March 28, 2014 (WPVI) — Teachers and other educational professionals in West Chester have finally reached a contract deal with the school district after more than a year and a half of negotiations.

Union members approved the tentative agreement at an after-school meeting Friday.

It will need to be ratified by the school board on Monday.

The deal is retroactive to the 2012 school year, when the previous contract expired and would last until summer of 2017.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=9484111

By the PA. AFL-CIO

– President Obama has made clear his goal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour – but so far, Tea Party opposition and dis-proven talking points seem to have killed the momentum for this change at the national level, even while the overwhelming majority of Americans support the plan.

Some state lawmakers, however, are not willing to wait for Congress to give a raise to millions of hard-working Americans, and they are taking the issue into their own hands. The National AFL-CIO has supported both national and local efforts to lift workers out of poverty. President Richard Trumka joined the “Give America a Raise” bus tour yesterday, when it stopped in Philadelphia to rally for an increase in PA’s minimum wage. They were joined by State Senator Tartaglione, who has introduced legislation to raise the PA minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Also speaking at the rally were Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding, and minimum wage workers, who shared stories of the economic hardships they endure while trying to survive on poverty wages.

Many recent polls have found an overwhelming majority of Americans, including a large majority of Pennsylvanians, want the minimum wage increased. Several polls have even found a majority of Republicans and a majority of small business owners who favor increasing the minimum wage to as much as $10.10 and tying it to the rate of inflation.

In spite of the widespread support, any such increase in Pennsylvania faces a difficult uphill climb. Republican Governor Tom Corbett has said that he opposes increasing the minimum wage, an issue which is certain to get much more attention in this election year. There are still positive signs out there however. Just this week, Connecticut became the first state to pass a law raising their minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

The “Give America a Raise” bus tour is being organized by American United for Change, and is covering ten states. The tour began on Monday in New England, including a stop in Connecticut, before arriving in Pennsylvania for events on Wednesday and Thursday, including the Philadelphia rally. You can follow the tour online as it continues into the Midwest and on to Washington DC. Photos and information on their stops is online at www.raiseto1010.com.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=3669

– The Senate moved a bill to restart unemployment insurance payments to the long-term jobless.

By Gabrielle Levy

The Senate took another step towards passing an extension on emergency unemployment insurance Thursday, voting to begin debate on the bipartisan bill that would extend insurance for long-term jobless for five months.

10 Republicans joined with all 55 members of the Democratic caucus to support moving the bill forward: Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Dan Coats of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey or Pennsylvania, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Dean Heller of Nevada.

Heller, along with Jack Reed, D-R.I., led the bipartisan group of 10 senators who hashed out the deal that would not only extend payment of emergency unemployment benefits for five months, but also would retroactively pay out benefits to those long-term jobless whose payments were cut off when insurance expired in December.

Majority leader Harry Reid said the Senate would formally take up the bill Monday evening.

But despite bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill faces a significant stumbling block in House Speaker John Boehner, who last week indicated his unwillingness to take up the bill. The Ohio Republican cited concerns from state workforce agencies, who said the requirements of the Senate bill would place too-high burdens on their offices.

Supporters of the bill have called Boehner’s concern “an excuse.”

Should the measure pass, the $10 billion cost would be offset by an expansion of fees on goods coming through U.S. Customs and a change in how corporations pay into pensions. The legislation also increases job training requirements for beneficiaries and prohibits benefits to those who made $1 million in the previous year.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/03/27/Unemployment-insurance-passes-test-vote-in-Senate/3421395948243/

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– The Pennsylvania Labor Movement in 2014 has been defined by the fight against anti-union legislation that would interfere with negotiated dues deduction.  Backed by out-of-state billionaires and corporate lobbyists, House Bill 1507 and Senate Bill 1034 would make it illegal for public sector unions to collectively bargain for automatic deduction of union dues.  This is widely understood to be a critical step towards making Pennsylvania the next “Right to Work” state.

Over the past two months, union members and allies have taken this threat seriously.  There have been hundreds of in-district meetings with legislators, thousands of doors knocked, and tens of thousands of letters delivered to State Senators and Representatives – and the intense focus on this issue seems to have at least temporarily stalled the bills at the state level.

But last week we raised the alarm about the fight against “Right to Work” heating up at the local level in Pennsylvania.  This month, a few Republican-controlled counties passed resolutions in support of so-called “Paycheck Protection” legislation; then they took this local strategy to the next level.  The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) met in Harrisburg this week for the Spring Conference Business Meeting.  On the agenda – and recommended by the CCAP Resolutions Committee – was Resolution No. 1, which “supports legislation to prohibit the collection of membership dues, legal defense fund contributions or fees, and political/campaign contributions by government as a matter for collective bargaining with public sector unions.”

In Pennsylvania, 53 of our 67 counties are Republican controlled, but The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO led the charge, along with many affiliates, local unions, and Central Labor Councils across the state, and asked union members to reach out to their County Commissioners and ask them to oppose Resolution 1.  Thousands of members responded, in what was an unprecedented Statewide effort to mobilize union members to lobby their local elected officials.

We are pleased to report that yesterday, the County Commissioner who introduced Resolution 1 chose to withdraw it from consideration, rather than allow it to be voted on by the body.  Thank you to County leaders from across the Commonwealth for rejecting this misguided resolution.

“This week’s events further demonstrate the solidarity and engagement which have allowed Pennsylvania’s Labor Movement to hold off many of the most egregious attacks on our fundamental rights” said Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale.  “Regardless of the strategies that the other side uses, the Labor Movement will not be divided, and we will not be caught off-guard, giving new meaning to ‘rapid response’,” added Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=3662