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Archive for “Labor Unions” news
National AFSCME Head Calls Michael Nutter a “Turncoat” in Closed-Door Meeting
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 2/11/2013
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This is sure to help contract negotiations. A source leaked to the Huffington Post that national AFSCME President Lee Saunders slammed Michael Nutter (along with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn) for being a FOLINO (it's a term I just coined that means 'Friend of Labor in Name Only'). Point Saunders for good metaphors.
I am sick and tired of the fair-weather Democrats. They date us, take us to the prom, marry us, and then divorce us right after the honeymoon. I am sick and tired of the so-called friends who commend us when they’re running for election, but condemn us after they’ve
Nutter Asks Supreme Court to Allow Him to Do Whatever He Wants
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 2/06/2013
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A few weeks ago, Michael Nutter told District Council 33 that if they didn't accept his final offer on a new contract, agreement he would take some form of unspecified action. That action? Asking a Common Pleas court to impose his terms on the union directly. (The city's blue-collar union has gone contract-less since 2009.) Now, just a week later, the impatient mayor is trying to skip that step altogether by asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear the case.
As the Daily News reports, Ed Rendell's Housing Authority tried to do exactly this in 1993, in an effort to impose
The Philadelphia Stagehands Strike Is (Almost) Over [UPDATED]
By Victor Fiorillo 2/01/2013
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Last night at 9 p.m., IATSE Local 8 business manager Mike Barnes told me that negotiations between his stagehands union and Philadelphia Theatre Company -- which the stagehands walked out of two weeks ago -- were ongoing and "not going well."
But this morning, Barnes reports that the Philadelphia stagehands strike is almost over, with a ratification vote expected this morning and a press conference to follow.
This news comes one week after the theater company went forward with its production of The Mountaintop without stagehands and days after we learned of the resignation of a PTC board member.
Barnes says that a
Nutter and DC 33 Disagree on Whether They’re Still Negotiating With One Another
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 1/31/2013
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A couple weeks ago, Mayor Nutter issued a vague but threatening ultimatum that if no contract deal between the city and DC 33, the city's blue-collar union, was reached, he would go ahead and take some sort of action himself. Well, yesterday night, Nutter's deadline passed without a deal. Or did it?
"We stick by our final offer," said Shannon Farmer, the city's chief negotiator. "They rejected it, and there's really nothing more that's being said to tonight."
Meanwhile, DC 33 President Pete Matthews interpreted things a little differently. "We're still negotiating; nothing has been decided tonight," he said. "We asked for
Website and Petition to “Save Philly Newspapers” Is Launched
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 1/30/2013
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A new website called "SavePhillyPapers.org" has launched. You can surmise its purpose. According to an email circulated by newspaper guild Executive Director Bill Ross, the site, along with an accompanying petition, is run by activist Marc Stier, and is backed by a "group of business people, labor unions, activists and citizens." They're asking the owners of the Daily News/Inquirer for a "fair deal" to prevent the layoffs of veteran journalists and threatened sell-off of the company's assets.
The website greets readers with this message:
Imagine getting up in the morning and walking to your front door and there is no Inquirer or
Why the GOP Really Wants to Cripple Labor Unions
By Christopher Moraff 1/29/2013
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If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try again. At least, that seems to be the motto of State Rep Daryl Metcalfe, the Butler County Republican who brought us voter ID and made his Tea Party bones by backing proposals to constitutionally ban gay marriage and require all candidates for office in Pennsylvania to prove their blood runs red, white and blue.
Philadelphia Theatre Company Board Member Resigns Amid Stagehands Strike
By Victor Fiorillo 1/28/2013
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Can Manufacturing Make a Comeback in Philadelphia?
By Gene Marks 1/24/2013
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Just last week, Mayor Nutter created a 25-person task force for the purpose of finding ways to bring manufacturers (back) to the Philadelphia region. I’m sure that the idea came from his recent trip to Tianjin, China, where he enviously observed the impact that government investment can have on a major industrial city. "Seeing what goes on here is a reminder of the things we can do and must do to maintain our presence on the world stage," Nutter said. It also underscores "what our federal government can do if we would have, at times, a little less debate and a whole lot more work and understand that investment brings job and activity and furthers American interests."
Union Rep: Philly Businesses “Will Be Targeted” [UPDATED]
By Victor Fiorillo 1/23/2013
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After Arson, Chestnut Hill Quakers Defend Labor Movement
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 1/23/2013
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The Chestnut Hill Quakers whose meetinghouse construction site was set ablaze last month revealed that some of the group were actually considering using union labor for the project, and that the decision not to wasn't made lightly. (READ: Police “Absolutely” Sure Chestnut Hill Meetinghouse Fire Is “Union Issue”)
During internal debates, three members were recorded either as opposed, a strong step, or as "standing aside," which means they did not agree with the decision [not to use union labor] but did not think they should stand in the way of the project.
The Chestnut Hill Friends also released a full statement documenting how
