Union Leader: Nutter Drove City Workers Into Poverty
BY PETE MATTHEWS, President, AFSCME District Council 33/ Mayor Michael Nutter’s stubborn and vindictive refusal to settle fair contracts with AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47 is driving city workers ever deeper into poverty and negatively impacting the City’s ability to deliver vital services. Many Philadelphia neighborhoods are facing cuts in City services due to [...]
Bill Gault, President, IAFF Local 22, has lauded another court action favoring their contract efforts. He writes: “Philadelphia’s 4,000 active and retired firefighters appreciate Common Pleas Court Judge Idee Fox’s recently issued Opinion in support of her Nov. 19, 2012 Order denying the Nutter administration’s petition to vacate our most recent Act 111 award. “Judge [...]
AFSCME District Council 33 President Pete Matthews responded to a lawsuit filed by Mayor Michael Nutter in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court at a press conference last night. Mayor Nutter is seeking a ruling allowing him to impose the City’s last contract proposal on AFSCME District Council 33, the city’s largest union. President Pete Matthews and [...]
Long stung by Mayor Michael Nutter’s cost-saving measures, city workers have decided to sting back in court. The Center City law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson, representing AFSCME Local Union 2186 and AFSCME District Council 47, has filed suit with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking relief from the [...]
Stagehands Union IATSE Local 8 has taken its case to the Board Members of the Philadelphia Theatre Co. as it continues on strike despite many hours of failed face-to-face negotiations. “The employer will not agree to back off its demand to have the unrestricted right to hire as many non-union workers as they decide to [...]
The Port of Philadelphia may be crippled through no fault of International Longshoreman Association, Local 1291, if the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd., do not settle their differences by Dec. 30. If the Port of Philadelphia shuts down (the last East and Gulf Coast port strike was 1977), it would negatively impact every [...]
Mayor Michael A. Nutter finally reacted to pressure brought on him by the City unions, but in a way not to their liking. His suggested compensation/benefits package for approximately 5,500 City employees falls far short of what the leadership of those unions have in mind and for what they have been waiting for over three [...]
BY REBECCA GREENBERG, California Labor Federation Communications Organizer/ Most of us are familiar with the popular bumper sticker, “Labor Unions – The folks who brought you the weekend.” And yes, unions did play a pivotal role in the creation of the five-day work week. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Over the last 170 [...]
BY PRESIDENT PAT EIDING, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO/ On Monday, Sep. 3, the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO’s Tri-State Labor Day Parade & Family Festival will once again welcome thousands of union members and workers from across the region to Penn’s’ Landing. Labor Day is always a time for me to reflect on the work of the year past and [...]
BY RICK BLOOMINGDALE, President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO/ Labor Day is the one holiday on the calendar devoted to honoring and recognizing America’s workers and their families and the value we bring to the prosperity and strength of our nation. That’s pretty much all of us, whether we’re employed or looking for work. And no matter what we [...]
