"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own."

"I hear all this, you know, “Well, this is class warfare, this is…”, whatever. No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there – good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory… Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea – God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

-Elizabeth Warren via Society Pages

Rally tomorrow to support Hershey's workers.

Interested in supporting Hershey's workers at their big rally tomorrow?

Fight for Philly is providing free transport and meals to the event, and asked me to share the information with folks:

This is a friendly reminder that we will be going to Hershey to support the courageous J1 Students that been held as captive workers by Hershey’s Chocolate Company.

Please RSVP with paola@fightforphilly.org. We will be providing breakfast and lunch.

We will be leaving by Charter Bus from 846 N Broad Street, at 9:30am and will be returning on the bus at 2pm for a hopeful arrival time in Philly by 4:30pm..

• Co-sponsored by:
• Philly Jobs with Justice;
• AFT 2026;
• AFSCME DC 47;
• United Steelworkers Local 10-1;
• PASNAP (Pa. Assoc. of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals);
• CLUW (Coalition of Labor Union Women);
• AFSCME Locals 1723, 2186, 2187;
• CATA (Farmworkers Support Committee);
• Temple University Allied Health Professionals...
• 
  
• Workshop Listing:
• Part 1 of 2: "Contract Campaigns and Bargaining Table Tactics"
• Part 2 of 2: "Strike Prep"- When and How?
• Leadership Development, Internal Organizing, Member to Member Networks
• Assertive Grievance Handling
• Labor Law for the Rank and File
• Students and Staff
• Telling Our Story through Video and Photography
• Move the Money!
• Labor and Single-Payer Health Care
• Organizing Undocumented Workers
• Organizing Workers using Health and Safety

Mark Brenner, Labor Notes
John Braxton, co-president, AFT Local 2026, USLAW
Kathy Black, Coalition of Labor Union Women, USLAW
Pat Fahy, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 827, Verizon Striker
Mary Adamson, RN, Temple Hospital Striker, PASNAP
Nelson Carrasquillo, co-ordinator, CATA Farmworkers Support Committee
Tony Perlstein, Longshore Workers Coalition Co-chair

Bill Zoda, PASNAP staff rep

Ray Martinez, SEIU Local 668

Dan Lutz, Teamsters for a Democratic Union

Dynnita Bryant, president, Philadelphia Security Officers Union

Dave Cohen, UE Representative, retired

Lance Geren (Freedman and Lorry)

Paul Prescod, Temple SLAP;

Ryan Nissim-Rabat, organizer with UNITE HERE;

Gwen Snyder; executive director of Philly Jobs with Justice,

Dani Noble, Swarthmore SLAP;

Nantina Vgontzas, UPenn SLAP alumnus

Harvey Finkle, documentary still photographer

Milena Velis, Media Mobilizing Project organizer

Tom Knoche, Health Care Now!

Jessica Culley, CATA

Javier Hernandez, PHILAPOSH

http://labornotes.org/philly

Click on the map to enlarge

Next time there's a SEPTA strike and you hear people grumbling...

...Remind them of this:

Septa Driver Shot, Drives to Hospital.

"A bus driver for SEPTA drove herself to a hospital after being shot in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry section, KYW Newsradio is reporting."

It's worth remembering that there are a lot more risks inherent to many of the jobs we tend to take for granted than meets the eye. This is a sad example: transit workers often face exposure to street violence and conflict that has been carried onto their vehicle.

Similarly, nurses and social workers encounter extremely high rates of violence during their everyday work. Casino attendants risk respiratory problems from inhaling such high levels of second hand smoke working the floor. Bike messengers work under constant risk of injury or death in traffic, and suffer an increased risk of fertility problems.

Unions have long sought to maximize workplace safety and minimize risk (think how manufacturing conditions have changed since the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire 100 years ago). They also play a role in making sure that where risks are taken, workers are adequately compensated and cared for.

It's our responsibility as a movement to remember and remind folks that labor struggle isn't just about contracts and strikes, pensions and wages. We need to be vocal about the fact that while these issues are important, our struggle is also about health and safety--about life and death.


via Philadelphia Business Journal.