SEIU
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 […]
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 […]
As Republicans push business reopenings, workers wonder what’s in store for them
If the state lifts business closings, some Pennsylvanians believe going to work in such conditions would be a “death sentence.
As cases grow, human service workers say they can’t use COVID-19 leave offered to other state employees
“The rules apply to everyone except the [county assistance officers], that’s what I’m gathering,” a state official familiar with their situation said.
Philly caseworkers take leave, DHS closes offices after COVID-19 diagnoses
This story was updated at 1:26 pm with additional information on the Elmwood office and 2:52 pm with additional information. Workers at two state Department of Human Services offices in Philadelphia who were ordered to report to work by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration left their posts unmanned after learning of at least four COVID-19 cases […]
Sent back to work, state human service workers say their offices aren’t prepared for the coronavirus
Workers sent back to work included employees working in four southeast counties that Wolf had previously shut down over coronavirus concerns, according to internal emails viewed by the Capital-Star.
SEIU announces $150M get out the vote push; Pa. is at the top of the list | Thursday Morning Coffee
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers. One of the nation’s biggest unions says it’s launching a $150 million push to get out the vote across 40 states, with eight battleground states, including Pennsylvania, being targeted the most intensely. In a statement, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, says the push is one of the largest and earliest […]
As debate rages, Wolf says he will veto attempts to stop Polk and White Haven shutdown
Gov. Tom Wolf has promised to veto a bill that would overturn his administration’s decision to shutter two state facilities that care for the intellectually disabled. Wolf first made the promise in a private Nov. 19 letter to the Philadelphia chapter of ADAPT, a disability rights group, and it was reiterated by a spokesperson Tuesday. […]
The number of disabled people who live at state-run centers has dwindled. That doesn’t mean closing them isn’t controversial
Why is closing state centers for the disabled controversial? Funding is tight, change is scary, and many are not happy with the process.
State, union officials fear economic fallout from closure of centers serving Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities
The two state centers, White Haven in Luzerne County and Polk in Venango, will be gradually shut down over the next three years.
Backed by high-powered law firm, Pa. state worker files class action suit to demand union dues refund
The Pennsylvania suit seeks back agency fees, or monthly payments, that all employees in a workplace were required to pay to the shop’s union, even if the individual was not a union member. These fees are typically less than full dues.
Despite immigration concerns, bill that expands use of federal work status checks passes House
By a 140-plus vote margin, the House on Monday passed a bill to expand federal immigration work status checks to the state's construction industry.