Posts tagged PHILADELPHIA
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.
Nurses at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital vote to authorize strike
June 16, 2026 // The Einstein Nurses United voted Monday to authorize a strike, weeks after nurses hit the picket line. They have been working without a contract for more than a month.
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.
PECO union “overwhelmingly” votes to authorize strike as contract negotiations continue
June 2, 2026 // Members of the union representing about 1,600 PECO workers voted Saturday to authorize a strike. The move would give union leaders the power to call a work stoppage if ongoing contract negotiations fail to produce an agreement. A spokesperson tells CBS News Philadelphia the strike was "overwhelmingly" approved with 94% of the votes in favor. More than 1,000 members voted. As of now, there are no plans to walk off the job Saturday.
Several Philly hotels could see workers strike next month as FIFA and America’s big birthday grow near
May 27, 2026 // Their strike deadline falls just before two long-anticipated tourism events. Philadelphia is hosting visitors for the FIFA World Cup games, which begin June 14. And Philadelphia is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence throughout the year, with events clustered around the July Fourth holiday. “If we have to, we are prepared to strike all the way through the World Cup, all the way through the 4th of July,” Maciah Magloughlin, who works at the Wyndham Historic District, said in a union statement. “We want this summer to be one for the history books. But its success will not be on the backs of hotel workers.” The remaining five hotels where a contract has not been reached are: Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, the Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, and Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City.
Johnny Doc took the stand and asked a federal judge to release him from prison early to care for his ailing wife
May 20, 2026 // Dougherty, 65, was sentenced in 2024 to six years in prison after being convicted in separate trials — the first in 2021, after a jury found that he had spent years bribing former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon, the second in 2023 over nearly $600,000 he and others embezzled from the union. The former leader of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Dougherty was known as a gregarious and chatty political player, with influence from City Hall to Harrisburg. And some of those traits were evident during Monday’s hearing, including the fact that one of the spectators in a crowded gallery was his brother, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty. John Dougherty’s testimony was also reminiscent of the freewheeling style he displayed before he was incarcerated. He delivered long anecdotes about his wife’s condition, which dates back to 1999, and described ways in which he sought to care for her, including by living with her at rehabilitation facilities for years before his federal indictment.
PHILADELPHIA: Prosecutors in District Attorney Larry Krasner’s Office move to unionize
March 24, 2026 // In addition to the ADAs, more than 100 paralegals and victim witness coordinators in the office are also seeking to unionize, according to people familiar with the plans, though it was not immediately clear which union would represent them. The unionization effort could represent a major shift in the culture at the district attorney’s office, where prosecutors make up a significant portion of the 600-person staff. It could also be a flashpoint for Krasner, a three-term progressive Democrat who has cast himself as a supporter of organized labor.