labor-issues
Nursing home workers authorize strikes statewide; extra funding on Harrisburg priority list
Employees at 12 Pennsylvania nursing homes voted to authorize strikes this week, citing low pay and short staffing, as closed-door negotiations wear on in Harrisburg on how to spend $7.3 billion in federal COVID-19 aid. The more than 1,000 nurses and caregivers, from Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre to Oil City, are taking the strike votes after […]
Wolf proposes funneling cap-and-trade dollars to transition fossil fuel workers
Legislation now before the state House and Senate would distribute about one-third of RGGI revenues to the communities who lose fossil-fuel jobs, with the rest going to the state Clean Air Fund, which pays for pollution mediation projects, as well as environmental justice projects and administration costs.
Farmworker overtime would end racist pay gap, lawmakers and activists say
Only six states—California, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Minnesota and now Washington—offer any overtime coverage for farmworkers.
Pa. debuts new unemployment compensation system
Calling the 40-year-old system “archaic,” the department said the new system’s soft launch occurred just after 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Empowered by referendum, Harrisburg GOP moves to terminate some — but not all — of Wolf’s pandemic powers
The flexing of these new emergency powers comes after voters empowered the 253-member General Assembly to end or edit gubernatorial powers during a disaster.
Starting July 18, Pa. unemployed must prove work search to receive jobless benefits
Unemployment recipients must begin applying for jobs the week of July 11 to show they’ve met the requirement for the week of July 18.
Work search requirements, digital hearings advance as lawmakers tinker with Pa. unemployment
The House Labor and Industry Committee did not advance legislation addressing the pandemic’s impact on unemployment from late March 2020 until January 2021, according to legislative records. But since the new year, the committee has advanced three bills.
Pa. teachers to pay more in retirement contributions as pension fund backtracks on faulty investment data
That would average out to $180 extra dollars out of each teacher's paycheck, but the exact amount will depend on each teacher’s salary, which can vary widely between school districts.
Pa. unemployment system to undergo long sought upgrade in June, though concerns linger
The department is already training hundreds of new customer service staff and interviewers to help claimants with their benefits.
New nursing home regs expected in fall, but staff say they can’t wait much longer
After a year of the pandemic, on top of years of regulatory inaction, Pennsylvania’s nursing home employees are fed up with their hectic workplaces that barely give them time to feed and bathe patients — let alone offer them the emotional support they need after a year in isolation. “This issue has been going on […]
Congress needs to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. This is why | Opinion
We call on all of our U.S. senators and representatives to protect the right to organize by voting union YES on the PRO Act.
Scranton Joe? Biden gets heat for inaugural celebration with union-busting law firm
The firm, based in Philadelphia, has employed both U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5th District, and former Gov. Ed Rendell.