Finding Help for Pa. Flood Survivors
Karen Gownley of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO reports on contacts for those in need after the floods in that state.
Many parts of Pennsylvania were devastated by the September floods. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has a network of labor liaisons who are helping connect those who need help with those who can help.
- -In the Harrisburg area, the United Way of the Capital Region has set up a Capital Region Flood Recovery Fund. Click here for complete information and instructions on donations. If you need assistance, contact Labor Liaison John Waters at jwaters@uwrc.org.
- -In Lancaster County, if you are able to help the flood victims or need assistance, contact Labor Liaison Jean Martin at llancclc@verizon.net.
- -In the Wilkes-Barre area, call 570-829-1341 or 1-888-829-1341 for round-the-clock free information and referral services regarding any type of assistance needed. If you are able to help, please contact Labor Liaison Walter Klepaski at walt@unitedwaywb.org.
Top Union Leaders Call for Hershey to Rectify Abuses of Foreign Students
Three top union leaders are calling for a meeting with the senior management of the Hershey Co. to discuss the demands by a group of foreign students who staged a sit-in last month at the company’s Palmyra, Pa., plant.
The sit -in exposed the U.S. labor market’s dirty little secret: the web of subcontracting that prevents workers from exercising their rights because they don’t know exactly who employs them.
In a letter to Hershey’s CEO and two other top managers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers (BCTGM) President Frank Hurt and Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale chastised Hershey for taking advantage of the students:
Pa. Community Services Institute Focuses on Helping Others
Karen Gownley of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO reports on the state federation’s Community Services Institute.
The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO welcomed nearly 90 delegates to its 52nd annual Community Services Institute in Pittsburgh. The five-day event, which ended yesterday, focused on building a stronger, highly respected labor movement through community services events and programs.
The theme this year was “Putting the UNITY in CommUNITY.” Delegates participated in one of five intensive workshop tracks, focusing on topics like coalition building, the relationship between labor and community service, communications and how politics affects community service programs.
“The labor movement has a long, strong history of helping their brothers and sisters,” said Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale.
This event emphasizes that, and also provides the opportunity for new union members to learn from those with years of experience.
“Nobody does community services better than Pennsylvania,” Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder said.
We are very proud of what we do, and this week is a way to make it even better.
Labor History Made Easy Thanks to Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
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In less than two minutes, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has provided a wonderfully entertaining history of the union movement in a fun and easy to understand animated video. It’s something for adults and kids.
Hats off to state federation President Rick Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder and the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Communications Team of Jim Deegan and Karen Gownley for the clever and informative production.
Take a look and share it with your friends and colleagues.
Labor 2010: Taking It to the Streets in Pennsylvania
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Martin Marks, from the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Communications team, sends us this report.
When asked by a local TV reporter about the most important issue in the Pennsylvania governor’s race this year, Dan Onorato, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO-endorsed Democratic candidate for governor, replied, “There are three issues: jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Onorato then entered the Erie, Pa., Electrical Workers (IBEW) hall, where a dozen Labor 2010 volunteers were waiting and pointed to a freshly minted poster displaying the state labor federation’s core message to members: “Vote your job!” He smiled widely when he read the second line on the rally sign, “Onorato for Governor.” Said Onorato:
It is crystal clear that we are on the same page. The work you are doing here and in cities all over Pennsylvania is about jobs and electing leaders who will make jobs job-one in Harrisburg and Washington.
Workers Rally to Make It Right at Rite Aid
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Hundreds of Rite Aid workers and supporters from Pennsylvania, New York and California rallied this morning outside the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., to demand good jobs and a voice at work.
During the rally, Sylvia Estrada and Angel Warner, two workers from Rite Aid’s massive distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., described the five-year struggle by 550 employees to form a union.
We want to work with Rite Aid and grow this company. These jobs pay our bills. But we also want to be paid fairly and treated with respect. For that, we need Rite Aid to reach an agreement with our union [International Longshore and Warehouse Union].
“We’re standing with the Rite Aid workers to help them win the good jobs our communities need,” Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale told the crowd.
Bloomingdale, Snyder Elected to Top Posts of Pa. AFL-CIO; George Named President Emeritus
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Richard W. Bloomingdale was elected president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO by delegates to the state federation’s convention last week in Pittsburgh. He succeeds William George, who retired after 20 years in the top post. Frank Snyder was elected secretary-treasurer.
Bloomingdale served as Pennsylvania AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer since 1994. Prior to that, he was state political and legislative director for AFSCME Council 13. He also held several offices in AFSCME Local 449. Bloomingdale told the delegates workers today are ”facing the toughest economic challenges since the formation of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.”
These difficult challenges present historic opportunities for all of us to secure greater progress for all workers. Labor must continue to lead in the struggle for good jobs now and in giving all workers the strong voice they need and deserve to build a better a life for their families and their communities. Together we will build an economy that works for all not just the few.
Snyder is a former United Steelworkers (USW) organizer and labor educator and former president of USW Local 8148. More recently he was the national AFL-CIO’s state director for Pennsylvania.
George, who was named president emeritus, started his career as a union activist with USW Local 1211, in 1960 in Aliquippa, Pa., and served in numerous union leadership positions before joining the union’s international staff at USW District 20 in 1971. For more on George, see this profile from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Mine Workers President Roberts: Massey’s Blankenship Should Be Jailed
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says that Massey Energy Co.’s continued inaction on safety violations at its Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 West Virginia coal miners died in an April 5 explosion, should send Massey CEO Donald Blankenship to jail.
In a speech at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention yesterday, Roberts said, “If there is any justice in America,”
U.S. Marshals should go to where he lives, get him, handcuff him, put him in chains, take him to jail, set his fine at $40 million.
Tune In to Live Webcast of Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Convention Next Week
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The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO celebrates its 50th anniversary next week, April 12-15, at the state federation’s 39th Constitutional Convention in Pittsburgh. You can be there, thanks to “The Rick Smith Show” and the Head On Radio Network, which will provide video and audio coverage from gavel to gavel.
Pennsylvania activist Rick Smith, a Teamsters member and International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) vice president, regularly hosts a two-hour labor talk each Saturday and Sunday, between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., broadcast and webcast on WHYL AM. During the convention, Smith will use the breaks in the formal proceedings to interview delegates and union leaders, including the presidents of the many national unions attending.
Trumka: AFL-CIO Strongly Committed to Diversity
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| At the AFL-CIO Diversity Conference today, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka pledged the AFL-CIO will recommit to embracing diversity at every level. |
The union movement is becoming more diverse and the new leadership of the AFL-CIO is committed to working harder to reach out to young workers, people of color, women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said today at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity. Trumka told the more than 500 participants the federation’s commitment to diversity is on its way to becoming a reality:
I’m here to tell you that we must change. That is why we’re seeking out and encouraging young people, people of color, people of all backgrounds and beliefs and sexual orientation. These are the labor leaders of tomorrow.
