Posts tagged Pennsylvania
Big labor torching World Cup tourism with sky-high hotel prices and looming layoffs
June 30, 2026 // HTC’s president may get the credit for negotiating this latest contract, but his nearly $1 million compensation package is largely insulated from these economic setbacks. Meanwhile, the workers whose dues pay his salary will bear the long-term consequences of the deal. World Cup visitors may be the first to feel the pain of higher room rates, but hotel workers could end up being hit the hardest by seeing their shifts reduced, or worse, having their jobs disappear.
PECO union will strike on July 4, three months after contract expired
June 25, 2026 // As a result of this impending strike, roughly 1,600 PECO workers responsible for maintaining gas and electric systems are expected to step away from their positions. The Union says that PECO is not offering serious counterproposals to their proposals, despite the months-long negotiations. They also say that the members of the Union are paid 30% less than workers at other utilities.
Some hotel workers in Center City go on strike amid World Cup, America 250 celebrations
June 22, 2026 // On Monday, union members marched around the perimeter of the hotel, calling for a minimum wage of $30 per hour for non-tipped workers by January 2028.
Whole Foods unionization upheld by U.S. Labor Board
June 16, 2026 // n a brief, unanimous order Monday, the members of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Whole Foods had raised “no substantial issues warranting review.” The order was issued by a pair of Republican board members appointed by President Donald Trump, as well as a Democrat appointed by his predecessor Joe Biden. Employees at the Philadelphia location voted 130 to 100 in January 2025 to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers union.
Former Philly union leader Chris Woods found not guilty of fraud
June 11, 2026 // Christen “Chris” Woods, the former leader of one of Philadelphia’s largest labor unions, was acquitted of theft and conspiracy charges Wednesday by a judge who rejected prosecutors’ allegations that he used a union-funded renovation project to secretly funnel money into local political campaigns. In delivering her verdict, Common Pleas Court Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman said prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Woods — who once led District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees — acted criminally when he hired longtime political operative Tracy Hardy to oversee the renovation of a bar inside the union’s Center City headquarters in 2019. The case against him, she said, relied on circumstantial evidence that did not definitively tie Woods to any wrongdoing.
Hershey union workers reject tentative agreement
June 6, 2026 // Hershey Resorts & Entertainment said in their statement that, "We have not been informed by union leadership of any plans to initiate a work stoppage, and our operations continue normally." Chocolate Workers Local 464 did not respond to requests for comment. Business owners in downtown Hershey, speaking off-camera, said they rely heavily on revenue from both tourists and park workers, expressing concerns about the broader effects of a strike beyond park operations.
Why Independent Workers — and the Companies That Hire Them — Need Portable Benefits
June 5, 2026 // Instead, one theme comes through clearly: Workers want benefits without giving up their current, flexible careers. Surveys say the same thing. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that only 8.3 percent of independent workers prefer a traditional employment arrangement, while more than 80 percent prefer their current work arrangement. At the same time, 4 out of 5 want access to benefits. That’s why it’s so encouraging to see portable benefits gain momentum and bipartisan buy-in: Kansas and Utah are among the eight states that have enacted reforms, Hawaii and Connecticut are among those considering it, and legislation has appeared in Congress as well. Reforms are advancing in states that prioritize the business environment and in others that focus on worker protection, because they expand access to benefits while remaining voluntary and market-oriented.
Report: The diminishing power of teacher unions
May 29, 2026 // The result is A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026. Building on our original study, the authors set out to gauge teacher union strength in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). Collectively, the 59 measures—which include 29 new measures that were not in the original report—seek to quantify union strength in five key areas: Resources and Membership; Involvement in Politics; Labor and Bargaining Policies; Policy Wins and Losses; and Perceived Influence, which draws from an original survey examining how stakeholders in each of the 50 states and D.C. perceive teacher union strength today. The states with the strongest teacher unions are Vermont, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Hawaii. The states with the weakest teacher unions are Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Mississippi. (See our interactive table on the report website for the overall rankings alongside the rankings for each of the five areas.)
Commentary: Mamdani Misreads What Gig Workers Want
May 21, 2026 // Arranged scheduling cuts directly against what gig workers value most: flexibility. More than 60 percent cite it as the main reason they chose this work, and few are interested in traditional, prescheduled jobs. They’re also more concerned about the lack of benefits than about wage rates. These realities underscore the wrongheadedness of Mamdani’s anti-gig campaign. A better approach would preserve flexible hours while expanding access to benefits. One promising model is a portable benefits system, in which workers and companies contribute to SEP IRA–style accounts that can be used to purchase health insurance, paid leave, or retirement plans. Numerous states—red and blue alike, from Tennessee to Maryland to Pennsylvania—have enacted portable-benefits systems for gig workers in recent years.
AFP Mobilizes Grassroots in Key Districts to Oppose the Faster Labor Contracts Act
May 18, 2026 // “This bill puts a 100-day stopwatch on one of the most consequential decisions a workplace ever makes — and then hands the final call to a stranger who has never set foot inside the building. That isn’t fairness, and it isn’t faster bargaining. It’s rushed bargaining, with an outside arbitrator deciding pay, schedules, and working conditions for people whose jobs and businesses they don’t know,” said Austen Bannan, labor policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity. “Workers deserve a contract they can actually live with — not one written under an artificial clock that benefits union leadership the moment the ink dries, because that’s when dues start flowing. AFP activists are showing up in Nebraska and Pennsylvania this week to tell Reps. Bacon, Bresnahan, and Fitzpatrick what real workers in their districts are saying: oppose this bill, and don’t sign the discharge petition,” Bannan continued.