CEO Harrity Displays Similar Show As Last Year But There Is New Reason To Be Hopeful-
Philadelphia, PA- A delegation of security guards and supporters were turned away from the staff entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art without achieving their goal: delivering a letter to the office of CEO, Gail Harrity.
The delegation included security guards Cecelia Lynch, Juanita Love and Thomas Robinson and supporters; Paul Dannenfelser (President of AFSCME Local 2187), Lance Geren, Esq.(Freedman and Lorry), Fabricio Rodriguez and Eduardo Soriano (Jobs with Justice) and members from the Students for Democratic Society (Robin Markle and Jeff Rousset) and the Student Labor Action Project (Kate Harkins and Amanda Ahlesmeyer).
The small group arrived at the Perelman Annex of the museum at 8:50 a.m. and spoke with the AlliedBarton security guard at the front desk. They were quickly referred to the captain of daytime security.
The captain took the group’s request into Perelman Annex, but returned to announce that Ms. Gail Harrity had left for a meeting a few weeks prior. He offered to accept the letter on her behalf.
“We decided that it was not acceptable to leave the letter with the security captain since the letter concerned the company that he worked for. There were dozens and dozens of people working in the building. We figured that some one could take a minute and accept our letter,” stated Fabricio Rodriguez, Executive Director of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice.
The captain returned into the annex to speak with personnel from the office of Robin Procter, Director of Human Resources. He returned a few minutes later with new instructions from Procter’s office.
“I was ordered to not accept your letter and to tell you to set up an appointment,” said the captain.
The group, which has been requesting a meeting since December 2007, departed a few minutes later.
“We expected to be treated this way,” says Thomas Robinson, Chairman of the Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union.
“Since we expected to be ignored again, another group of Jobs with Justice activists in Cleveland had agreed to make an appearance at Timothy Rub’s office in Cleveland,” states Robinson.
Mr. Rub, the incoming director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and current CEO of the Cleveland Museum of art, oversees a unionized security work force at his institution and will take charge of the Philadelphia museum on September 1st.
At approximately the same time this morning, Debbie Kline and Elizabeth Pangrace of Cleveland Jobs with Justice met with Mr. Rub’s secretary, who assured the activists that the letter would be handed to him as soon as he got out of his meeting.
The Philadelphia activists are committed to reaching out to Mr. Rub, and are hopeful about the possibility of new labor relations at the Philadelphia Museum of Art upon his arrival.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
New Museum CEO Rub Welcomed By Philadelphia Security Guards: Guard Union Requests Talks
Philadelphia, PA- A delegation of security guards from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and their supporters in Cleveland, Ohio and Philadelphia, PA plan to hand-deliver a letter to Timothy Rub the newly-named, incoming CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art asking for a dialogue about working conditions.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art named Mr. Rub the new director on June 30.
The Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union began its campaign to organize the security guards at the museum in 2007. The union was able to win paid sick-leave in September of 2008 and is now hoping that Rub will be more open to dialogue that his predecessors.
“We have been reaching out to museum leaders but they have never agreed to meet with us,” states Thomas Robinson, Chairman of the union.
Union members talk about many problems facing security officers at the museum: from unaffordable health care to the lack of training and low-wages, including a recent role back of the expected annual $.25/hour raises.
“I hope that Mr Rub is sympathetic to how unfair it feels to have your raise taken away,” States Jennifer Collazo a union member and guard at the museum.
“The most that we could have gotten with our raise was $520 per year. Mr Rub lost more than that last year” said Collazo, referring to media reports that Mr. Rub had to have his pay reduced by 15% last year from $400,000.
The Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union will be supported by local labor support group Jobs with Justice as well as by the Jobs with Justice affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art named Mr. Rub the new director on June 30.
The Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union began its campaign to organize the security guards at the museum in 2007. The union was able to win paid sick-leave in September of 2008 and is now hoping that Rub will be more open to dialogue that his predecessors.
“We have been reaching out to museum leaders but they have never agreed to meet with us,” states Thomas Robinson, Chairman of the union.
Union members talk about many problems facing security officers at the museum: from unaffordable health care to the lack of training and low-wages, including a recent role back of the expected annual $.25/hour raises.
“I hope that Mr Rub is sympathetic to how unfair it feels to have your raise taken away,” States Jennifer Collazo a union member and guard at the museum.
“The most that we could have gotten with our raise was $520 per year. Mr Rub lost more than that last year” said Collazo, referring to media reports that Mr. Rub had to have his pay reduced by 15% last year from $400,000.
The Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union will be supported by local labor support group Jobs with Justice as well as by the Jobs with Justice affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Party! Cure CVS legion drive At First Friday 6pm. RSVP now to stop CVS from poisoning inner city youth, women, puppies and elderly with expired baby food and to get free wine and into the after party. Call Fabricio 215-732-8318
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
EFCA: The Sermon
Sermon on the Employee Free Choice Act
By Bishop Dwayne Royster
Living Water United Church of Christ
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 7, 2009
Exodus 1:8-11A
Many have gathered this day to hear a word about the Employee Free Choice Act. This legislation that many are hoping to pass will have a dramatic effect on worker’s rights within this country; to organize unions to bargain with employers for better working conditions, wages, benefits, etc…
I have to admit this has been somewhat of a daunting task for me. As a Christian Minister I am always reminded that I need to ground my sermons in that which is foundational to my faith in this case the texts of the Church. Go with me briefly to the text and a story that I believe addresses God’s fundamental desire for workers to organize and have rights of self determination.
In Exodus 1:8-11a “8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.”
The people of Israel found themselves in a dilemma. During the days of Joseph and Jacob the founding nation of Israel found refuge in Egypt during a time of famine in all of the fertile crest (that is the middle east). Much could be said about Joseph’s story in Egypt but we will save that for another time.
Nevertheless, things went well for the Israelites in Egypt during the days of Joseph but sometime after Joseph died the text says a Pharaoh arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph. I would imagine that the story of Joseph was fading into pages of the history of Egypt. The new King of Egypt looked out and saw the Israelites had prospered in the land. Fear gripped the new Pharaoh and a plan was put into place to oppress the masses and bring greater wealth to Egypt.
I want to jump into the story here to make a point. I don’t think most business owners start business to oppress workers and subject them to unreasonable conditions. I think many business owners start out to not only make a living for themselves but others as well. However, in today’s business climate there are those that are sinister and evil in regards to making a buck. Their objective to is make as much money as they can, as quickly as they can, climbing over whomever they can and as fast as they can. In this environment, care for workers is not as important as making money. When takeovers, mergers and sales take place ---when a new pharaoh enters the scene and looks out over the land and sees the workers, generally, somebody is in trouble and it will not be the new owners.
Let me jump back into the story.
As time passes, under this new pharaoh, things get progressively worse for the Hebrews in Egypt. What was once a Godsend during the famine has become a curse. The people are oppressed, they live in less than ideal conditions and they cry out to God for help. After a period of time God hears their cries responds to their calls and sends the world’s first Union Organizer: Moses. Moses after some trials and tribulations is sent by God back to Egypt to tell Pharaoh let his people go. As it is with negotiations it is a back and forth struggle of give and take however the Israelites have God on their side and Moses as a negotiator eventually are freed from their oppressive working conditions.
I am sure that some are thinking what does this have to do with the Employee Free Choice Act.
1. I believe that God desires for us as human beings to have some say in our own destinies. Currently, when workers want to organize themselves into a union or collective bargaining unit the process for how to do that is not left in their hands but that of their employers. EFCA would allow workers the right to choose how they wanted to have their Union certified (which means recognized by the government) either by a simple majority of workers who sign up for the union or they could choose to hold their own elections.
2. The battle between Moses and Pharaoh took awhile and during that time the Egyptians used intimidation to get Moses and the Hebrews to stop pressing for their release including making it such that the Israelites had to make bricks without straw. In addition, they used Israelites within the ranks to report on others and offered them wealth for doing so. When the Employee Free Choice Act is passed, there will be stiff penalties for interfering with the workers’ rights to organize in much the same way God used the 10 plagues to punish Egypt for not negotiating in good faith.
3. With this new legislation once the NLRB has certified the union bargaining can begin on contracts almost immediately and if the process takes too long, help is available via a mediator. This will insure that a contract is settled within a reasonable amount of time
Workers and employers can find ways to work together. We can create a workforce that is more invested in their industries and production, more satisfied with their work and businesses that are more profitable. We have the opportunity to live out the best of our democratic ideas where all of us together have a say in our collective destiny.
When the people of our communities and neighborhoods have the ability to live out their dreams of a great job, great families and great communities we will see the world transformed.
By Bishop Dwayne Royster
Living Water United Church of Christ
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 7, 2009
Exodus 1:8-11A
Many have gathered this day to hear a word about the Employee Free Choice Act. This legislation that many are hoping to pass will have a dramatic effect on worker’s rights within this country; to organize unions to bargain with employers for better working conditions, wages, benefits, etc…
I have to admit this has been somewhat of a daunting task for me. As a Christian Minister I am always reminded that I need to ground my sermons in that which is foundational to my faith in this case the texts of the Church. Go with me briefly to the text and a story that I believe addresses God’s fundamental desire for workers to organize and have rights of self determination.
In Exodus 1:8-11a “8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.”
The people of Israel found themselves in a dilemma. During the days of Joseph and Jacob the founding nation of Israel found refuge in Egypt during a time of famine in all of the fertile crest (that is the middle east). Much could be said about Joseph’s story in Egypt but we will save that for another time.
Nevertheless, things went well for the Israelites in Egypt during the days of Joseph but sometime after Joseph died the text says a Pharaoh arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph. I would imagine that the story of Joseph was fading into pages of the history of Egypt. The new King of Egypt looked out and saw the Israelites had prospered in the land. Fear gripped the new Pharaoh and a plan was put into place to oppress the masses and bring greater wealth to Egypt.
I want to jump into the story here to make a point. I don’t think most business owners start business to oppress workers and subject them to unreasonable conditions. I think many business owners start out to not only make a living for themselves but others as well. However, in today’s business climate there are those that are sinister and evil in regards to making a buck. Their objective to is make as much money as they can, as quickly as they can, climbing over whomever they can and as fast as they can. In this environment, care for workers is not as important as making money. When takeovers, mergers and sales take place ---when a new pharaoh enters the scene and looks out over the land and sees the workers, generally, somebody is in trouble and it will not be the new owners.
Let me jump back into the story.
As time passes, under this new pharaoh, things get progressively worse for the Hebrews in Egypt. What was once a Godsend during the famine has become a curse. The people are oppressed, they live in less than ideal conditions and they cry out to God for help. After a period of time God hears their cries responds to their calls and sends the world’s first Union Organizer: Moses. Moses after some trials and tribulations is sent by God back to Egypt to tell Pharaoh let his people go. As it is with negotiations it is a back and forth struggle of give and take however the Israelites have God on their side and Moses as a negotiator eventually are freed from their oppressive working conditions.
I am sure that some are thinking what does this have to do with the Employee Free Choice Act.
1. I believe that God desires for us as human beings to have some say in our own destinies. Currently, when workers want to organize themselves into a union or collective bargaining unit the process for how to do that is not left in their hands but that of their employers. EFCA would allow workers the right to choose how they wanted to have their Union certified (which means recognized by the government) either by a simple majority of workers who sign up for the union or they could choose to hold their own elections.
2. The battle between Moses and Pharaoh took awhile and during that time the Egyptians used intimidation to get Moses and the Hebrews to stop pressing for their release including making it such that the Israelites had to make bricks without straw. In addition, they used Israelites within the ranks to report on others and offered them wealth for doing so. When the Employee Free Choice Act is passed, there will be stiff penalties for interfering with the workers’ rights to organize in much the same way God used the 10 plagues to punish Egypt for not negotiating in good faith.
3. With this new legislation once the NLRB has certified the union bargaining can begin on contracts almost immediately and if the process takes too long, help is available via a mediator. This will insure that a contract is settled within a reasonable amount of time
Workers and employers can find ways to work together. We can create a workforce that is more invested in their industries and production, more satisfied with their work and businesses that are more profitable. We have the opportunity to live out the best of our democratic ideas where all of us together have a say in our collective destiny.
When the people of our communities and neighborhoods have the ability to live out their dreams of a great job, great families and great communities we will see the world transformed.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Trumka to head the AFL-CIO
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was briefing union leaders gathered in a conference room lined with portraits of the labor federation’s past leaders. He turned a page in his notes, looked up and made an announcement: He was backing his lieutenant, Richard Trumka, as his successor.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Employee Free Choice Act Rally video by Media Mobilizing Project
Be sure to check out more great stuff at http://mediamobilizing.org/
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Fabricio's comments from rally
Mark Schweiker, the President of the Chamber of Commerce is publically saying that the Employee Free Choice Act would take away workers ability to have a union election.
David L Cohen says that workers must be protected from unions by the government.
It is strange to hear business leaders like Mr Cohen, who has fought unions with all of their power, who have used the worst strong arm, intimidating tactics to frighten and harass their workers to prevent them from joining a union of their choosing, warning about worker intimidation.
If you look at the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, it looks like a hall of fame of workers rights violators. It includes representatives from Walmart, Verizon, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Allied Barton.
These companys have spent years perfecting the art of preventing workers from freely using their right to collective bargaining. These same companys, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and front groups like the Alliance for Worker Freedom are trying to pass a resolution in our state legislature opposing the Employee Free Choice Act.
We are here to say that you can’t hide behind front groups Marc Schweiker and David Cohen, Chamber of Commerce. If you want to rob workers of the rights, you are going to have look us right in the eye. We are here to say that we will not stand by while you lie in the media about the Employee Free Choice Act. We are here to say that we are going to fight you and we are going to win!
Schweiker, no lies. Workers rights no compromise!
Schweiker, it’s not true. We know it and so do you!
We are here to inform the new members of the Chamber of Commerce that this organization is trying to harm workers in our city. The Chamber of Commerce is trying to prevent us from using our rights. You should raise this with the leaders of the Chamber. Tell them to stop lying about the Employee Free Choice Act!
David L Cohen says that workers must be protected from unions by the government.
It is strange to hear business leaders like Mr Cohen, who has fought unions with all of their power, who have used the worst strong arm, intimidating tactics to frighten and harass their workers to prevent them from joining a union of their choosing, warning about worker intimidation.
If you look at the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, it looks like a hall of fame of workers rights violators. It includes representatives from Walmart, Verizon, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Allied Barton.
These companys have spent years perfecting the art of preventing workers from freely using their right to collective bargaining. These same companys, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and front groups like the Alliance for Worker Freedom are trying to pass a resolution in our state legislature opposing the Employee Free Choice Act.
We are here to say that you can’t hide behind front groups Marc Schweiker and David Cohen, Chamber of Commerce. If you want to rob workers of the rights, you are going to have look us right in the eye. We are here to say that we will not stand by while you lie in the media about the Employee Free Choice Act. We are here to say that we are going to fight you and we are going to win!
Schweiker, no lies. Workers rights no compromise!
Schweiker, it’s not true. We know it and so do you!
We are here to inform the new members of the Chamber of Commerce that this organization is trying to harm workers in our city. The Chamber of Commerce is trying to prevent us from using our rights. You should raise this with the leaders of the Chamber. Tell them to stop lying about the Employee Free Choice Act!
PSOU independent union speaks out for EFCA
One of the speakers at the protest was Thomas Robinson, a security guard at Penn and a leader of Philadelphia Security Officer Union (PSOU). He summarized the crowd’s message when he said, “They’ve chosen to support business over people. I’m not with that.”
Read more from the Philadelphia Weekly here....
Read more from the Philadelphia Weekly here....
Non-Union and Union Workers Protest Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
Activist Call Chamber Actions a “Campaign of Lies” Against the Employee Free Choice Act.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- About one hundred labor activists had a loud protest that coincided with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network meeting a 5:30 p.m. yesterday at the Bellevue Hotel.
The protest was organized by Jobs with Justice, a local community organization, and the Philadelphia Security Officers Union, a start-up independent labor union for security guards.
“We are out here to tell the new members of the Chamber of Commerce to oppose the lies and rhetoric that the organization is spreading about the Employee Free Choice Act.” Says event organizer Eduardo Soriano-Castillo.
The protesters pointed out the Chamber of Commerce President, Mark Schweiker has publicly opposed the Employee Free Choice Act because it would take away the secret ballot election, which the law would not do.
The union supporters chanted, ”Schweiker, no lies. Workers rights no compromise!
Schweiker, it’s not true. We know it and so do you!” to the members of the Chamber of Commerce as the entered the hotel.
“Mr Schweiker should know that his lies affect real people like us.” Says Cecelia Lynch a security guard at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“If our right to form a union was respected right now, like it will be when we pass the Employee Free Choice Act, then we would be a union,” states Cecelia Lynch.
Cecelia Lynch and her coworkers founded and organized the Philadelphia Security Officers Union at the Museum of Art in 2008 and have signed up a majority of the workers at the facility.
Under the Employee Free Choice Act, they would be able to choose to be recognized as a union upon signing up a majority of the workers or they could also opt to have a National Labor Relations Board supervised election.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- About one hundred labor activists had a loud protest that coincided with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network meeting a 5:30 p.m. yesterday at the Bellevue Hotel.
The protest was organized by Jobs with Justice, a local community organization, and the Philadelphia Security Officers Union, a start-up independent labor union for security guards.
“We are out here to tell the new members of the Chamber of Commerce to oppose the lies and rhetoric that the organization is spreading about the Employee Free Choice Act.” Says event organizer Eduardo Soriano-Castillo.
The protesters pointed out the Chamber of Commerce President, Mark Schweiker has publicly opposed the Employee Free Choice Act because it would take away the secret ballot election, which the law would not do.
The union supporters chanted, ”Schweiker, no lies. Workers rights no compromise!
Schweiker, it’s not true. We know it and so do you!” to the members of the Chamber of Commerce as the entered the hotel.
“Mr Schweiker should know that his lies affect real people like us.” Says Cecelia Lynch a security guard at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“If our right to form a union was respected right now, like it will be when we pass the Employee Free Choice Act, then we would be a union,” states Cecelia Lynch.
Cecelia Lynch and her coworkers founded and organized the Philadelphia Security Officers Union at the Museum of Art in 2008 and have signed up a majority of the workers at the facility.
Under the Employee Free Choice Act, they would be able to choose to be recognized as a union upon signing up a majority of the workers or they could also opt to have a National Labor Relations Board supervised election.
Read the KYW report here
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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