By The PA. AFL-CIO

– E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

According to data released earlier this month, the income gap between the top 1 percent and the remainder of workers in Pennsylvania is the widest it has been since the 1920s. Wages for the middle class have fallen in recent years, and even looking back over the past 25 years, wages have only increased by about 7 percent, compared to a 61 percent increase in productivity.

For some of our lawmakers, however, middle class wages are not sinking fast enough!

This year a number of bills have been introduced in the State House which attack prevailing wage laws, seeking to open up the door for contractors to low-ball bids with unskilled and underpaid labor, so they can pocket more of our taxpayer money as profits.

In the spring, two of these bills were voted favorably out of committee, and now today, on only the third day back from summer recess, they are at it again.

HB 1538 was just voted out of the House Labor Committee on a party line vote. The bill would allow any municipality, political subdivision, authority or agency to opt out of the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act.

It is expected that HB 1538, along with anti-prevailing wage bills HB 665 and HB 796, will be brought up for votes by the full House next week!

It’s time to make sure our lawmakers in Harrisburg know that we are still paying attention and that we reject the idea that legislating lower wages is any way to help the middle class in Pennsylvania.

Again, E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

Also please note that HB 1538 was authored by Rep. Miller (R-York), who was just last month inducted into our Pennsylvania Hall Of Shame for his attacks on workers’ rights. The voting is currently open to induct more lawmakers into the Hall Of Shame for 2013, and it’s worth noting that two of our nominees from Cumberland County (Rep. Bloom and Rep. DeLozier) are members of the House Labor Committee who just voted for this latest attack on prevailing wage. If you would like to thank them by voting for their induction into the Hall Of Shame, you can do so HERE!

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2835

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder joined in leading a broad coalition of unions, business groups and state legislators of both parties in support of passage of transportation infrastructure funding to invest in all modes of Pennsylvania’s transportation systems including mass transit, roads and bridges and all other transportation modes.

The coalition is comprised of over 70 labor unions and business organizations representing thousands of workers and employers calling on passage of transportation and transit funding in the fall voting session.

We all agree that this needs to get done now to put Pennsylvania back to work modernizing and rebuilding our crumbling bridges roads and mass transit systems to provide a safe and efficient system for now and the future of Pennsylvania,” President Bloomingdale said.

“The longer the delay the more it will cost in terms of lost jobs, lost lives and lost business due to unsafe, inefficient and unreliable highways, bridges and rail systems,” Secretary-Treasurer Snyder added.

The coalition delivered a letter to Governor Corbett and all members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging them to act now to solve the state’s transportation funding crisis.

Pat Gillespie, Business Manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and Phil Ameris, Business Manager of Laborers District Council of Western Pennsylvania also spoke in support of a robust funding without strings attached to the plan.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2827

Attention Philadelphia Area Union Community and Supporters,

Just a Reminder that Today, September 24, 2013, is National Voter Registration Day!

In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote because they didn’t know how to register or they missed their state’s voter registration deadline. We don’t want any eligible voter to miss out again!

As union members, it is vital that we are registered to vote so that we can vote on election day for those political candidates that support workers rights. Our vote is the ONLY thing standing in the way of right wing politicians eager to pass anti-union legislation such as “Right To Work” (for less less) legislation as well as legislation that would destroy our collective bargaining rights, prevailing wage rates and project labor agreements all which would cripple our union industry and put us out of work.

Have You and your family Registered To Vote yet? If not, please do so today! Your union wages, standards and livelihoods depend on it!

In Solidarity,

PhillyLabor.com

Source – http://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/

By The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce

– Due in large part to an ample supply of low-cost natural gas, Greater Philadelphia’s manufacturing sector is growing, generating some $50 billion in sales and supporting more than 65,000 jobs in the chemical, defense, food, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Join us as we explore the future of manufacturing in the Greater Philadelphia region on the heels of the much-anticipated report from the Manufacturing Task Force due this fall. This program will feature Councilman Bobby Henon, Co-chair of the Task Force, who will explore next steps for the city and region, followed by a panel discussion.

Panelists include:
William Hunt
CEO, AgustaWestland Philadelphia

Kevin Patrick
VP of Research & Corporate Development, South Jersey Industries

Jeff Warmann
CEO, Monroe Energy

DETAILS:
WHEN: Wednesday, October 16, 2013
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM Registration
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Program
WHERE – Chemical Heritage Foundation Conference Center managed by THE HUB315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Source – http://www.greaterphilachamber.com/event/3558/state-of-manufacturing

By The Philly Public Record

– Union leaders in Pennsylvania are calling for changes to the Affordable Care Act. The AFL-CIO said it’s concerned about the affordability and accessibility of health insurance under Obamacare, and also worries that workers’ hours may be cut back as an unintended consequence of the law.

“There are still things that need to get fixed,” Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, said.

On the whole, unions’ biggest complaint with the ACA is the Feds would recognize so-called “multi-employer plans” as employer-based health plans. Those types of plans were legalized by the Taft-Hartley Act and are widely used by labor unions to pool insurance costs between unions and management.

The Treasury Dept. says it will view multi-employer plans the same way as other employer-based health coverage, so individuals enrolled in those plans will not be eligible for government subsidies. Without the subsidies, insurance would be more expensive.

“Our members have negotiated hard for 50 years to get the good health care provided by our plans, and they shouldn’t lose that,” Bloomingdale said.

He said the unions in Pennsylvania are waiting to see what compromise can be reached with the White House and Congress to address their concerns, before starting any grassroots efforts and telling members to contact their Congressmen.

But unions are not likely to join congressional Republicans and conservative Tea Party groups in calling for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Leaders in Pennsylvania say they still support the overall goal of Obamacare and want to see changes made that would address their concerns.

Wendell Young IV, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776, noted that the Obama administration made special concessions for the Catholic Church and delayed implementation of the employer mandate after opposition by business groups. Unions want the same kind of flexibility from the administration, he said.

“Labor is not against Obamacare. That is absolutely not true,” Young said. “We think that in the sausage-grinder that is Washington, some mistakes were made and those should be corrected.”

Business groups have warned for some time reduced hours would be one of the unintended consequences of the Affordable Care Act.

The labor unions say they want the federal government to institute a penalty for employers who cut hours just to avoid offering health insurance.

“It’s pretty crappy that a business would cut their employees hours in order to avoid giving them health care,” Bloomingdale said.

But there could be an upside, he said. Employees upset with their management for reducing hours might look to unionize.

Source: http://www.phillyrecord.com/2013/09/with-the-unions-pa-leaders-seek-obamacare-changes/
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