Posts tagged Pennsylvania
Black worker’s use of anti-Black slur not protected under Title VII, judge holds
October 14, 2025 // “The results of such a rule would be impossible to apply,” Weilheimer wrote. “How is a manager to know whether the person who just used an anti-Semitic slur is Jewish, or who used a homophobic slur is homosexual? The questioning required to get to the bottom of those sorts of determinations would be sure to lead to more discrimination, not less.” Recent case law has produced mixed results for employees who allege discrimination over the use of racial slurs by others in the workplace. In 2024, a Louisiana federal court held that a plaintiff’s alleged overhearing of one co-worker calling another a racial slur did not rise to the level of harassment, in part because the plaintiff was not the target of the slur. And last month, a Michigan federal judge found that a manager’s use of a single ethnic slur was insufficient to show that the plaintiff faced unlawful discrimination.
Pa. House approves bill opening unemployment benefits to striking workers
October 13, 2025 // New York and New Jersey have similar laws concerning unemployment compensation, and workers in nine other states are eligible for the benefits while on strike under certain circumstances, such as an employer breaking a contract, according to the state representatives. The legislation, which passed in the House 106-97, now moves to the state Senate for consideration. A similar bill sponsored by state Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, passed through the House in 2023 but died in the Senate.
VOLUNTARY RECOGNITION IN POLICE COMMANDERS’ BID TO UNIONIZE
October 8, 2025 // Today, Mayor Ed Gainey and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police’s 12 Commanders are pleased to announce that the Administration has agreed to voluntarily recognize the commanders in their effort to form a union. The Commanders unanimously opted to form a union with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Marriott, Hilton workers strike in Philadelphia
October 7, 2025 // Union employees at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown and the Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City are calling for higher pay and improved benefits.
HACC faculty reject administration’s latest contract offer, potential strike on horizon
October 2, 2025 // HACC faculty voted 91% against the college’s contract proposal, citing pay and working condition concerns. Union leaders will meet Monday to consider next steps. Withrow emphasized that the union’s goal was not about one side winning. Rather, she said, "a strong contract ensures that the people who teach and support students every day have a fair voice in the conditions that make learning possible." The union is affiliated with the Pennsylvania State Education Association and represents faculty at HACC campuses in Adams, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
Temple University Hospital union pushes back planned strike
October 1, 2025 // Under the provision, members would have had to pay double their current costs for treatment provided outside the Temple Health system, according to PASNAP. Some employees do not live near a Temple facility or have longstanding relationships with other doctors, union officials said. Putting off the strike deadline will allow Temple to hold onto a $4.5 million payment that was scheduled to go out Monday to an agency providing fill-in nurses, PASNAP said.
Former central Pa. postal union official sentenced for embezzling $74K
September 30, 2025 // Miller is barred from union office or employment for 13 years. Miller pled guilty this year to one count of embezzling labor union assets, one count of falsifying a labor union annual report, and one count of falsifying labor union financial records. While serving as the treasurer of American Postal Workers Union Local 95 of Lancaster, Miller signed and cashed at least 137 unauthorized checks worth $68,818 between December 2019 and December 2022. She also made at least 128 credit card purchases for personal use totaling $5,441 on her union credit card.
AHN closing primary care office in New Kensington as workers vote to unionize
September 17, 2025 // Allegheny Health Network officials said a decision to shutter a longtime primary care office in New Kensington is unrelated to its office staff voting to unionize. United Physicians at 305 Seventh St. is expected to close by the end of the year, said Sarafina James, AHN senior public relations analyst. “That office has only one physician in it, and that physician has informed us he is leaving the organization,” James said. “As a result, that primary care office will close.”
Philly campaign consultant Tracy Hardy pleads guilty to $2M pandemic loan fraud, union hall scheme
September 16, 2025 // He also pleaded guilty on Thursday to his role in a scheme in which he created fake bids for a union hall bar renovation job in Manayunk for District 1199C, a local chapter of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees. This made it seem like his construction company, Manayunk Construction & Development Corp., offered the best price for the job even though he inflated the price by $45,000. As part of the federal court agreement, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office will drop state charges against Hardy related to the union hall matter, so his codefendant, Christen Woods, the former head of District 1199C, is expected to be charged alone.
PENNSYLVANIA: Nurses last week voted 402-305 to join the union.
August 28, 2025 // Nurses, elected officials and more will rally at 1pm today at Zulema Parklet, across from Magee, urging the health care giant to begin contract talks without further delays. Roughly 60 advanced practitioners at the hospital, from nurse practitioners to midwives, will hold their own union vote on Sept. 6 and 9.