Standing at Bread and Roses' Tribute to Change last night, I was reminded that we should make sure to highlight two important victories in the last couple of weeks by Philly and PA's progressive labor movement. They have each been mentioned on YPP before, but I think it is worthwhile to do so again...

First, and what jogged my memory, last night, Bread and Roses honored Thomas Robinson, a security guard for Allied Barton, for his work with Jobs with Justice and others to secure sick pay for his fellow guards.

The absurdity of refusing to give security guards sick days smacks me in the face every day, when I walk into a law school where tuition and fees alone cost $44,000, guarded by people paid too little, with inhumane work contracts. Organizing workers at big institutions who are working for a faceless third party is especially challenging, but Jobs with Justice (led locally by sometimes YPP poster Fabricio Rodriquez), and its POWR campaign are doing it.

Second, thanks to a years long struggle, Pennsylvania nurses won a victory for themselves, their patients and progressive labor, when the Senate last week passed a bill that bans mandatory overtime:

The bill, which took seven years to pass, ensures that nurses and other caregivers will not be forced to work double shifts - a common practice at hospitals and other facilities, and one that can be dangerous for nurses and patients alike.

According to a 2004 study by University of Pennsylvania researcher Ann Rogers, the risk of medical error was as much as three times higher when a nurse worked a shift of 12 1/2 hours or longer.

"Some of these nurses are working for 18, 24 hours without a break," state Sen. Christine Tartaglione said. "And, in a lot of cases, they're the last line of defense for a patient. If they're tired, if they're not on top of their games, it could be a life-or-death situation."

Kati Sipp, who told us last week that this went down, deserves much credit for this. As with pretty much all progressive labor struggles, a win is not just a win for a discrete set of workers.

Both are terrific developments, and a testament to persistence and hard work.

Jornadas de más de doce horas seguidas, sin derecho a sindicatos, baños insalubres, abusos arbitrarios por parte de los empleadores, racismo y aprensión hacía los trabajadores menos calificados. Cada una de estas situaciones no fueron obtenidas de titulares provenientes de países del tercer mundo...

Check out the column by Marc Lamont Hill in today's Metro!

http://www.readmetro.com/show/en/Philadelphia/20080403/1/14/