Posts tagged PHILADELPHIA
Philly strike updates: Negotiations to resume as trash piles up; city worker charged in tire-slashing incident
July 2, 2025 // DC 33 worker charged with vandalism for slashing PGW tractor tires A Philadelphia Parks and Recreation employee and member of District Council 33 has been charged with slashing the tire of a Philadelphia Gas Works digger loader amid the municipal worker strike, police said.
Philadelphia, city’s largest blue-collar workers union to continue talks Sunday as strike looms, union says
June 30, 2025 // CBS News Philadelphia asked if any contingency plans were being made, but the mayor didn't answer that question. If an agreement is not reached, the strike would start at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning, which is only days before the city's Wawa Welcome America July Fourth Festival.
Philadelphia teachers have voted to authorize a strike. Here’s what to know
June 20, 2025 // Ten percent of the district’s budget comes from federal dollars, and the Trump administration has threatened various cuts to those funding streams. The district is also facing a fiscal shortfall of more than $300 million for 2026. Superintendent Tony Watlington and other officials decided to extract 40% of the district’s rainy day fund to cover the difference and stave off budget and programming cuts for one more year, but the deficit is set to keep ballooning in size. The district in March blamed inflation, employee salaries and benefits, and charter school payments for the growing expenses. The union has stood staunchly in opposition to charter expansion, with President Steinberg harshly criticizing the Board of Education for approving a new charter school in recent weeks.
Protests Go Beyond Immigration to Include Array of Left-Wing Causes
June 15, 2025 // “In this moment we must all stand together,” said Becky Pringle, the head of the National Education Association, the largest individual union in the country and one of the groups that sprang into action as the protests emerged in Los Angeles. Local chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Communist Party offshoot of the Workers World Party, have also played a leading role, working with local leftist groups to post information about new demonstrations from California to Maine.
Philadelphia’s largest city workers union schedules strike vote
June 6, 2025 // A social media post urges members of AFSCME District Council 33 to attend a meeting at union headquarters to take a strike vote. One of Philadelphia’s largest labor unions is calling for a strike vote next week in what is being billed as an “Emergency General Membership Meeting.”
Whole Foods Union Certified by US in First for Amazon’s Grocer
June 1, 2025 // Employees at the Philadelphia site voted 130 to 100 in January to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers union. Whole Foods argued the result should be overturned, alleging the union made promises and provided free car rides to workers that prevented a fair election, and that a ruling by the labor board’s Democratic members deprived the company of its rights. The union has denied wrongdoing.
May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda
May 4, 2025 // Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns. In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers’ Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration’s sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees.
Dual enrollment students’ classes could be disrupted by looming community college strike in Philly
March 19, 2025 // Over the weekend, 97% of the community college’s staff and faculty union members voted to authorize a strike, should their union and the college’s administration fail to reach a contract agreement. The union is demanding pay raises that keep pace with inflation and class size reductions, the return of a child care center on campus, and subsidized transit passes for staff and students. The vote means union members agreed to allow their leadership to call a strike at any time, but the faculty are not on strike.
Philly congressman, union leaders, workers protest Trump’s federal layoffs
February 27, 2025 // “As to how we’re doing, the only answer is poorly,” Alex Berman, the executive vice president of the National Treasury Union Chapter 71, which represents Philly-area IRS workers, told NBC10 on Monday. “I have been on my phone constantly talking to the more than 400 people at my chapter alone who were let go under false pretenses. Now we’re looking at, if you don’t do X, you’ll be fired.” Berman referred to an email that was sent to federal workers last week asking them to detail their work. Monday’s rally took place at Independence National Historical Park where two employees were recently laid off, according to a union official.
IBEW Local 98 fined $25,000 for Dougherty lobbying
February 24, 2025 // Prosecutors alleged Henon, who worked as the union’s political director while also serving on City Council, was essentially on retainer to the union leader, using his council position to help Dougherty attack rivals in other unions and pressure large companies to hire union electricians. In November 2021, they were convicted on the majority of counts they faced. The jury found both men guilty of conspiracy and honest services fraud and Henon guilty of bribery.