Posts tagged PHILADELPHIA
An FBI informant in Johnny Doc’s inner circle didn’t violate his right to fair trial, judge says
August 3, 2023 // Though recording someone outside of a law enforcement investigation without their consent is a crime in Pennsylvania, the FBI, based on those tapes, enlisted the cooperator to begin working as an official confidential informant out of concern that statements such as those were an attempt by Dougherty to intimidate witnesses in the case against him, Blake said. And for the next several months, the informant continued to record Dougherty at union meetings up to and throughout his 2021 trial. The labor leader learned of the mole’s existence only after his conviction and as he prepared for a second trial on extortion charges related to threats he allegedly made to a union contractor who tried to fire his nephew.
Fox Chase nurses who answer patient phone calls want to join the center’s new nurses union
August 3, 2023 // The nurses at the Temple-owner cancer center unionized in June. Twenty-one nurses who answer patient calls were left out of the bargaining unit.
Actors and writers on strike rally in Philadelphia and Chicago as union action spreads
July 24, 2023 // While Los Angeles and New York are the epicenters of strike actions, there are dozens of mid-sized and small locals across the country representing performers and writers. “We have the same issues,” said Nikki Izanec, president of the Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA local, on her way to Thursday’s rally. “Lots of people pay attention to L.A. and New York, but our issues are the same as theirs.”
Biden pushes a strong role for unions in tech jobs, even as potential strikes are on the horizon
July 20, 2023 // Biden spent part of this week focused on efforts to expand unionization into new industries. On Monday, he met with younger workers trying to unionize at Starbucks, minor league baseball, bus-maker Blue Bird and Sega. Labor Department data shows that workers younger than age 35 are much less likely to belong to a union than their older peers, meaning that the future of the union movement might depend on bringing in younger generations. Unions also aided Biden’s election victory over President Donald Trump in 2020. Just 16% of voters in 2020 lived in a union household. But 56% of people in union households backed Biden for president against Trump, a Republican, according to AP VoteCast. Union votes generally matter more in Northern states with an industrial legacy such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, key states for a Democrat seeking to win the electoral college. But there are few union votes in sunbelt states such as Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, where Biden hopes to compete in 2024 and where many of the investments in new computer chip and battery plants are being made.
iHeart Philadelphia Station Staff Move To Unionize
June 30, 2023 // The employees, including on-air hosts, disc jockeys, and producers, are seeking to organize a union to have a voice in the workplace. SAG-AFTRA’s Philadelphia executive director, Steve Leshinski, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “We don’t comment on ongoing organizing, but obviously we are very excited about broadcasters having a voice in the workplace and looking forward to welcoming them to the SAG-AFTRA family.” SAG-AFTRA already represents certain radio workers at other stations in the Philadelphia region, including Q102 (WIOQ), Total Traffic & Weather Network, 93.3 WMMR, 92.5 XTU, SportsRadio 94WIP, KYW NewsRadio, and WHYY. The union represents a wide range of professionals in the entertainment industry, including actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, and disc jockeys, with a membership of over 160,000 nationwide.
Biden tells union members that Republicans are coming for their jobs
June 27, 2023 // He warned union members that House Republican efforts to roll back his investments in domestic manufacturing to support the clean energy transition would cost labor jobs. “They are coming for your jobs. They are coming for your future and the future belonging to your kids and grandkids,” Mr. Biden said. The president hopes that argument will counter the brand of economic populism that buoyed Mr. Trump with some rank-and-file union members during his first two presidential campaigns.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Philadelphia at union leaders’ meeting
June 8, 2023 // Henry and Verrett introduced Harris by highlighting her lived experience as a woman of color and her track record of supporting unions and workers. “She's joined fast food workers on the picket lines, she's joined striking home care workers, and she's been to South Carolina with hospital workers, and the list goes on and on and on,” Verrett said. “Her street cred is real.” Harris, the chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, highlighted the recent accomplishments of local unions and thanked workers for their efforts.
PHL Guava & Java Employees Overcome ‘Widespread Union Intimidation Campaign,’ Vote Out Union
May 23, 2023 // Workers at the Guava & Java store in the Philadelphia Airport have voted to remove the UNITE HERE Local 274 union by an overwhelming majority. The vote follows a petition submitted by Guava & Java employee Shaneisha Brown with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Brown is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Brown filed the petition with the NLRB on March 30, 2023, with a significant number of her coworkers’ support. After the petition was filed and verified, the NLRB scheduled the election to be held on May 11. With an overwhelming majority of 32-9, the workers at Guava & Java voted to remove UNITE HERE Local 274 from their workplace.
Changing institutional culture from the inside out: why more and more US museum workers are forming unions
May 19, 2023 // Organising efforts at Storm King, the PMA, the Hispanic Society and elsewhere reflect a trend that has been growing in the US art and heritage sector over the course of the past five years and accelerated with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers at more than 20 institutions have formed a union since 2020 or are actively in negotiations for their first contract, including the Jewish Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Mass Moca in Massachusetts. In March, after 16 months of negotiations, workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art, who had formed a union in spring 2021, ratified their first contract. State of the unions: why US museum workers are mobilising against their employers Tom Seymour The issues prompting workers to form unions across the country and across a broad range of industry sectors are remarkably consistent: wages, benefits and working conditions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of wage and salary workers who belonged to a union in 2022 was 14.3 million, a 1.9% increase on 2021.
Philadelphia: Helen Gym’s campaign resolves dispute with union over Bernie Sanders rally
May 15, 2023 // On Saturday morning, the regional carpenters’ union and the Service Employees International Union 32BJ released a joint statement “condemning” Gym for not moving the rally to a venue that has a unionized workforce. Both unions are backing Cherelle Parker for mayor. SEIU 32BJ’s involvement was notable because it often backs candidates from the left wing of the Democratic Party who are politically aligned with Gym and Sanders. ADVERTISEMENT A spokesperson for the carpenters said Saturday morning that the union was considering picketing. But the plans were scuttled once Barnes said IATSE was satisfied.