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Union Directory || Phila. Council AFL-CIO Buy-Union Directory |
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PhillyUnions.com News Archive - 2009 Current News December '09:
October '09:
September '09:
June '09:
April '09: March '09:
February '09:
December 30, 2009: Invitation to Sponsor the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO's 7th Annual Leadership Conference We invite you to be a sponsor of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO's 7th Annual Leadership Conference, to be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on January 31 - February 2, 2010 at the Sheraton Atlantic City. The conference is planned for the decision makers of the more than 140 locals affiliated with the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. Last year over 130 labor leaders participated. This is an excellent opportunity to meet and get acquainted with Philadelphia's labor community. There is a variety of sponsorships available, including hosting a cocktail reception, dinner, lunch, continental breakfast or setting up an exhibit. The fee for an exhibit table is $1000 unless you are a Preferred Partner (draped tables are provided.) The cost of the social functions varies in price (please contact Joni). Sponsors are invited to participate in a raffle to be held on Feb 1st at the dinner session of the conference; however, your attendance is not a requirement. Prizes may include a television, DVD player, iPod, digital camera, dinner certificates, gift cards, or sports items or any other ideas you may have. For accommodation purposes, we have reserved a block of rooms for the nights of January 31st and February 1st. Reservations can be made online at http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/aflcio2010 or you may contact the hotel directly at 1-888-627-7212 and identify yourself as a member of "The 2010 Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Leadership group" to receive the negotiated rates. To ensure you get the special rate of $129 per night, you must reserve rooms before December 31, 2009. Please note that reserving a room at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel does not automatically register you for the leadership conference. All participants must register individually by completing and returning this registration form for those who are NOT Preferred Partners or this form for Preferred Partners. If you have any questions, please contact Joni Bernard at 215-665-9800 ext. 206. Sincerely, Patrick J. Eiding December 8, 2009: Part Time Volunteer Writers and Content Providers Wanted As part of our commitment to provide the Philadelphia area union community with important news and information, PhillyUnions.com is seeking part time volunteer writers and content providers to work as part of our PhillyUnions.com e-newsletter team. Individuals must have a passion for our Philadelphia area union community and an interest in being part of the official online communication network and media platform of the Philadelphia area union community. Minimal time commitment required and individuals work mostly out of the home via email. Interested individuals, please email your contact info to: joedoc@phillyunions.com. December 4, 2009: Nominate a Union leader for A Tribute to Labor Leaders Honor For the purpose of honoring, celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of Philadelphia's premier union leaders who have continued to strive to keep Philadelphia and vicinity one of America's top union regions, PhillyUnions.com is launching our Tribute To Labor Leaders Honor. This outstanding honor recognizes worthy union leaders who are nominated by their members or peers based on excellence in the following areas: contributions, achievements, and dedication towards their own union/membership, the Philadelphia area union community, and/or the Delaware Valley area community. NOMINATE A UNION LEADER: If you would like to nominate a union leader that you feel is worthy of this honor, please submit their name, union name and local number, and a reason why you feel they should be acknowledged for this honor to info@phillyunions.com. October 6, 2009: Health Care Reform National Call In Day Wed. October 7 CALL CONGRESS at 1-877-323-5246 and let your Senator and Representative know that you want Health Care Reform that controls costs; doesn't tax our benefits; includes a public option; and holds insurance companies accountable. Insurance companies have been making their voices heard in the halls of Congress, now we must do the same. Please take a minute on Wednesday October 7th to call 1-877-323-5246 and make your voice heard on Healthcare Reform! UPDATED October 1, 2009: AFL-CIO Endorsed Judges For your information we are posting an updated list of AFL-CIO endorsed judges and candidates for judicial positions in PDF format (free Adobe Reader required to view this file). Please click here to view or download the list. October 1, 2009: Flyers Union Night 10/10 There will be a Flyers Union Night Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $25 and $86. For more info and to reserve tickets contact Tony Sukanick at 215-218-7537. September 21, 2009: Big Insurance: Sick of It Rally Tues. 9/22 On Tuesday, September 22 join AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and other union members and healthcare activists for the "Big Insurance: Sick of It" rally targeting CIGNA in Philadelphia. Tuesday, Sept 22 This is one of many nationwide events on Tuesday, September 22nd. Join together to show the Insurance industry that people, not profits, should come first. RSVP to the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO at 215-665-9800. September 16, 2009: 2009 City of Hope Spirit of Life Award Reception Once again it's time for the annual City of Hope Spirit of Life Award Reception, taking place on Monday, September 21, 2009. This year's Labor Honoree is Wendell Young, IV, President, UFCW Local 1776. Please click here to view the informational flyer. Click here for RSVP form. September 16, 2009: Bikini Bike & Car Wash for Breast Cancer Awareness on 9/19 Ironworkers Local Union 401 Presents Bikini Bike & Car Wash in support of Breast Cancer Awareness on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 12 PM - 5 PM at Bridgeman's Hall, 11600 Norcom Rd. Proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Please click here to view the informational flyer for full details. June 3, 2009: Office Space Available GCC/IBT District Council 9 has office space available for lease. Numerous combinations of square feet are available. Included items are off street parking, meeting room for up to 125 people (ideal for Executive Board, Shop Delegates and General Membership), ability for private bathrooms, wired for DSL internet, additional storage space. District Council 9's building is located at 1310 East Sedgley Ave. just off Kensington and below Erie Avenues. Call the Union Office and ask for Kurt Freeman at 215-533-9262. June 3, 2009: Join Philadelphia Jobs With Justice to Support EFCA 6/3/09 5 PM Philadelphia Area Jobs With Justice is holding a protest today, Wednesday June 3, at 5 PM at The Bellevue Hotel, 200 S. Broad St., to protest the Chamber of Commerce's campaign of lies against the Employee Free Choice Act. For full details about the event, please visit the Phila. JwJ web site at http://www.unionvoice.org/Phillyjwj/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=26046691. June 3, 2009: Stuff the Bus 2009 It's Time to Get on Board! Organized labor and the United Way of SE PA are joining forces again to help make a positive impact on the lives of school aged children living in shelters. This year our goal is to collect enough supplies to fill 2,500 book bags. We will deliver the book bags to shelters located in Philadelphia, Delaware, Bucks and Montgomery counties. Here are three suggestions on ways you may support this effort: * Send a monetary donation to support this effort. Checks made payable to the United Way of SE PA. What are we collecting? Book bags, notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, three-ring binders, loose leaf paper, composition books, folders, glue sticks, crayons, calculators & flash drives. Stuff the Bus Hotline: 215.665.2641 Janet H. Ryder, Coordinator April 24, 2009: Labor Singer Anne Feeney in Concert at Temple University ANNE FEENEY IN CONCERT! SATURDAY NIGHT, MAY 2 at 7:30 TAUP (Temple Association of University Professionals, AFT Local 4531), along with CLUW (Coalition of Labor Union Women, Philadelphia Chapter), Jobs with Justice, Temple AFSCME (District Council 47, Local 1723), Temple Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), and TUGSA (Temple University Graduate Students Association, AFT Local 6290), will sponsor a musical evening on May 2, featuring labor singer extraordinaire, ANNE FEENEY. The concert will be made possible in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Labor Education Center, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, of the PA State System of Higher Education (http://www.iup.edu/laborcenter). Pittsburgh-based agitator Anne Feeney performs music designed to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." For the past 35 years she has lived her life on the front lines, performing at thousands of demonstrations, rallies and picket lines. Learn more about Anne Feeney's songs, work and CDs at annefeeney.com, and sign up for her wonderful "Fellow Travelers' Advisory". Anne Feeney has been called "the best labor singer in North America" by Utah Phillips, and "a catalyst in the topical song movement" by Peggy Seeger. Please come, enjoy the music and spread the word. Temple's Student Center South is on 13th St. between Cecil B. Moore and Montgomery. From the CB Moore stop on the Broad St. SEPTA Line, walk one block east, and turn left on 13th St. The Student Center South is the second building on the right. See you on May 2! For information: March 31, 2009: "Why Union?" -- Your Responses Last week we sent out an email newsletter asking "Why Union? Tell Us in 50 Words or Less." We wanted to hear from you, our union brothers and sisters, why you believe in the union concept and why you are proud to be union. We got some outstanding replies. Here are some of the best: "Being a member of Plumbers 690 allows me access to the best state of the art training available at no cost. The training available to me would cost my non-union competition thousands of dollars a year. I also have excellent health coverage and a pension and annuity that is not interrupted if I change employers. I am always assured that my Union would never allow me to work in an unsafe environment or be unfairly treated by an employer." "We can no longer ask the thousands of workers of the years gone by. The suffering silent who endured under unfair and sometimes brutal working conditions. They can no longer tell of their day to day struggles, the often brutal conditions and the tremendous courage it took to stand and fight for the union. Today we have a new generation, sadly silenced by ignorance. Ignorance of the hard fought gains of the previous generations. We have neglected to tell the stories and pass on the wisdom of the union battles lost and won of previous generations. More than ever we must energize, educate and empower this new generation about why Unions are absolutely vital to their families and the future." "There are a lot of misconceptions of what a union is supposed to be. In my opinion there have been quite a few people that thought getting into the union would be their way of getting a free ride. But the majority of members that I have had the experience of working with in my career have been conscientious of the fact that the better the effort made by them, the easier it is to get people to believe in unions. Unions work to protect our rights and to negotiate fair wages for us. Is it wrong that after working at our career for 30 or more years that we have a retirement fund--annuity--health care for our members? We work at a very hazardous profession. The safety requirements that are in place today came from the union side of labor. These companies are held to a higher standard than they were when I started in 1968. Many times I have witnessed non-union contractors violating OSHA Rules and wondered why they were not being watched and fined by OSHA. I am now convinced that we are held to a higher standard, because we as union workers made them create the standard. Should you be proud to be a union worker, do you speak up when someone says that the union wages are hurting this country? I hope so. Think of where you would be without your union. Would you have received the opportunity to train as you work, for a decent wage as an apprentice? Would you have the health insurance you have? Would you have an annuity, and a retirement fund that is to secure your future? Guess us old guys have too much to say, sorry about the fifty words. My father was a union carpenter for thirty years. He died of asbestosis. With today's safety conscious environment I feel comfortable that my two sons, Millwrights out of Lancaster PA, are safer and I am proud to hand down my union heritage to them." "My whole family were active union members and involved as officers of our union (insulators and asbestos workers) and I myself was a high school dropout. They afforded me the chance to get my high school diploma and get a good job with good wages and great benefits including a great pension and great skills and knowledge of something I would have never figured out on my own. Thank you Local 14 Phila. for the brotherhood." "I feel a great pride stepping on a job site as a union craftsman. I know that job is getting the best of the best with the skilled trades in our construction industry. In today's ever changing world, we are trained in so many different ways to continue to keep up with the technologies of tomorrow. We started this country united as one, so we should continue to build this country united as one with Union, skilled, professional tradesmen, trained to be qualified in today's ever changing construction industry. Brotherhood and fraternal fellowship have proven to keep us united as workers, instead of as strangers." "The rich can not get richer if the little guys like me are not working, and working for fair wages and benefits. It has to trickle up. This way we all have money to spend. The more we spend the more people it takes to make the things we need and want. If the people at Walmart had a union and could afford to buy a house and spend more money at Walmart, I think Walmart could get even bigger. PS: That goes for all the other companies. This country would be booming." "Unions give us strength through unity: the voice and the power necessary to demand a place at the political table and a rightful share of the fruits of our labor. Real democracy is impossible when working people are an underclass, or nothing more than commodities to use and throw away." Thank you all for your great responses! February 25, 2009: SavePFD.com - Sounding the Alarm on Dangerous Cuts to the Phila. Fire Dept. Philadelphia Fire Fighters' Union Local 22 urges all Philadelphia area residents and union members and families to visit our new web site, SavePFD.com, to learn about the dangerous impact of Mayor Nutter's cuts to the Fire Department and what you can do about it. This is a critical situation that directly affects your safety and that of your family. Thank you. February 25, 2009: Phila. Art Museum Security Guards Need Your Help "Mrs. Harrity, The Museum Must Obey The Law." The Philadelphia Museum of Art used to treat its security guards right. In 1994, the security guards that protect our city's most priceless artifacts earned $14/hour and were protected by a union. Then, during a budget crisis like the one that we now face, then Mayor Ed Rendell sub-contracted them. Overnight, more than 100 good, union jobs disappeared and were replaced with jobs that paid poverty wages, lacked any meaningful health care, career opportunities, fair annual raises, job protections or pensions. A decade of exploitation has not deterred the guards' desire for justice and fair treatment. Last year security guards at the museum began organizing and agitating for the basic human right to take time off to recover from illness or injury without being penalized. Last year, one week after Labor Day, a representative of museum CEO Gail Harrity announced that for the first time in 14 years the security officers would have paid sick leave. Soon after this victory the guards had signed up a majority of their co-workers on union recognition cards. Now they need your help to make museum leaders do the right thing by 1) publicly recognizing the PSOU as the voice of the guards at the museum; 2) publicly making a plan to comply with the Philadelphia prevailing wage law; 3) publicly insuring that workers will play a role in the process of bringing the museum into legal compliance. We need to make sure that our city government enforces the worker protection laws that they pass and that our city's institutions do not shirk their responsibilities to normal working people. Please visit the following site for full details and to take action: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/museum_guards/explanation February 24, 2009: Comey Classes, Int'l Women's Day Celebration, More For detailed news and information about the All Star Labor Classic, St. Joseph's 2009 Comey Institute Spring Class Schedule, the International Women's Day Celebration 2009 and more, please visit the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO's news page at http://phillyunions.com/aflcio/index.php?pageid=news. February 24, 2009: Employee Free Choice Act - Part II This Thursday, February 26, 2009 join The Big Talker 1210 for the second of a special 3-part series on the Employee Free Choice Act. The panel and Town Hall event takes place from 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM at the Painters and Allied Trades District Council 21 hall located at 2980 Southampton Rd., Philadelphia, PA. National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka will be the keynote speaker and the panel will include Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding, CWA National Secretary-Treasurer Jeffrey Rechenbach, and UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young, IV. The event will feature a LIVE Town Hall Radio Show from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM which will be hosted by The Big Talker 1210 AM's Rasa Kay. You MUST register to attend this event by going to the website at www.thebigtalker1210.com or by calling the Big Talker 1210 AM at 610-688-5988. February 4, 2009: Phila. AFL-CIO Council Pres. Pat Eiding to Speak at Discussion on Employee Free Choice Act Thurs. 2/5 Attention: Philadelphia Area Union Community Please Attend -- Employee Free Choice Act Discussion This Thurs., Feb. 5 (7:30 AM - 9 AM) The Employee Free Choice Act would allow unions to organize a workplace if 50 percent plus one employees sign a card indicating that they want a union - without an election. Experts say the bill has a good chance of passing in the first 100 days of Obama's presidency. We encourage you to attend and support Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President Patrick Eiding as he represents organized labor as part of a panel of experts, some supporting the bill and some who are against the bill, that will speak on the EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT. Industry experts include representatives of business, trade associations, unions and the legal profession. Featured Speakers Include: * Donna Allie, President and Founder, Team Clean, Inc. * Bob Battista, Shareholder, Littler Mendelson & Past Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board * Jim Devine, President & Chief Executive Officer, MidAtlantic Employers' Association * Patrick J. Eiding, President, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO * Gus Perea, President, Adams-Bickel Associates, Inc. When: Thursday, February 5, 2009, 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM Agenda: 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM - Registration, Networking and Breakfast Ticket Information: * Single Ticket - $75.00 To register to attend or for full details go to: http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/event/5526 |
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