Posts tagged PHILADELPHIA
Employees at Eight Philadelphia International Airport Restaurants May Soon Vote Out Unite Here Union Bosses
July 11, 2024 // NLRB Region 4’s Decision and Direction of Election puts an end to nearly five months of litigation over Mulugeta’s petition. Unite Here union officials tried to argue that Mulugeta, who in addition to other restaurant duties often serves as a translator between managers and Amharic-speaking restaurant staff, was ineligible to submit the petition because she was an agent of the manager and not a rank-and-file employee. The union claimed she was ineligible despite the fact that she pays money to the union as a condition of staying employed. The NLRB Region 4 Director rejected these union arguments, stating that “the record is devoid of any witness testimony from employees showing their perception of Mulugeta’s authority, or whether they believed that Mulugeta spoke for and on behalf of the Employer…” “As such, Mulugeta’s role as a bilingual employee serving solely as the Employer’s interpreter is insufficient to elevate her status to that of an agent or apparent agent [of the employer],” the decision states.
How a Vote to Unionize Backfired on Coffeehouse Workers in Philadelphia
July 8, 2024 // “The union members are not conscious of the fact that their fate is tied up with the flowering of their employers’ enterprises,” Mises explained in Planning for Freedom. For many people who’ve only signed the back of checks, it’s easy to forget that to employ workers for any length of time, a business enterprise must be successful, something OCF Coffee House was not. President and CEO Ori Feibush told local news outlets that the coffee enterprise was already operating at a loss prior to the union vote. “You had an organization that was already at its limit,” Feibush told reporters. “It was at its limit, and it did not have the capacity to continue to burn an additional cost.”
President Biden cancels speech at teachers union convention in Philadelphia after union staff goes on strike
July 8, 2024 // Biden had planned to speak Sunday, but his campaign says the president is a “fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line.”
NEA’s Staff Union Is on Strike—Halting NEA’s Biggest Annual Gathering
July 6, 2024 // “We have witnessed excessive, even exorbitant, spending on just the NEA president’s physical appearance. Their failure to provide basic details about outsourcing makes us wonder what else the National Education Association is hiding,” NEA Staff Organization President Robin McLean said in a prepared statement. “For a public-service union that purports to oppose outsourcing members’ work, it is unconscionable that NEA would spend hundreds of millions of NEA member dues on contractors while union-busting and shrinking its staff unions.”
Former Local 98 President Brian Burrows Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Embezzlement of Union Funds, Filing False Government Reports, and Tax Fraud
June 28, 2024 // United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Brian Burrows, 64, of Mount Laurel, NJ, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to 48 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $135,689.11, an $1,800 special assessment, and restitution to be determined later, for crimes arising from his embezzlement of funds belonging to Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“Local 98”). Burrows had served as the President of Local 98 since 2008. The only person who held a higher office in the union was his codefendant, Business Manager John Dougherty.
Controversy brewing over abrupt closure of 3 OCF Coffee House shops in Philly
June 17, 2024 // In a letter to employees and patrons, the owner of OCF Coffee House, Ori Feibush, said rising costs and reduced sales led to the decision to close all three of his locations. He also pointed to administrative and legal costs associated with the staff's desire to organize. Feibush hosted a poorly attended non-mandatory staff meeting on Monday, and by 4 p.m., staffers received an email that all three coffee shops were shuttered, effective immediately.
Police responded to AFSCME District Council 33′s offices after union leaders allegedly got into a fight
June 5, 2024 // Greg Boulware, who is running to be president of the 9,000-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33, said he was in the offices of the union’s health and welfare fund Monday morning when his rival in the runoff election, interim president Omar Salaam, stormed in. Boulware said he eventually stood up and was injured above his eye when Salaam punched him and “got probably one good shot in.” Boulware said he fought back in self-defense and “locked him up.” The fracas left a hole in the wall, Boulware said, and Salaam had left by the time police arrived.
Aramark workers at Wells Fargo Center announce strike for 1st home game of Sixers-Knicks playoff series
April 22, 2024 // On Thursday, the Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution to support food service employees in their contract negotiations. The document "urges Aramark to negotiate fair and equitable contracts that provide these workers with a standard minimum wage and healthcare coverage." At Thursday's City Council meeting, union members announced another strike for Thursday, April 25 -- Game 3 of the Sixers-Knicks playoff series and the first time the Sixers will be at home in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Jury Selected in New John Dockerty Trial
April 18, 2024 // A jury has been selected in the third trial of former Philadelphia labor leader, John Dockerty. In December, Dockerty and a former union president were found guilty of corruption and embezzlement after stealing over $600,000 from the electrical workers union. “The Inquirer” reports that this trial is based on “conspiracy and extortion” charges.
Workers at Philadelphia sports stadium hit picket lines for one-day strike
April 11, 2024 // The union — which represents people who work at the Wells Fargo Center and neighboring Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively, play — say their wages and benefits are not keeping up with inflation. The union said some staffers who work at all three stadiums make different hourly wages at each site, and union members say they are treated as seasonal workers rather than year-round employees, based on each sport’s season.