Security guard cheering on the Welcoming Change Party

For two years, guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have tried to win dignity for themselves and their families. But, they've been ignored.

Along with guards, thousands of JwJ supporters have let museum leaders and the employer, AlliedBarton, know that wages that fall below the Federal Poverty Guidelines, bad and expensive health care and inadequate training are not good enough for the men and women who protect our city's most priceless cultural treasures.

Have they heard us? No. We too have been ignored.

But not anymore. We're going to put 100 volunteer organizers into the museum to let the guards know they have the power to never be ignored again. Can you donate now to help Jobs with Justice get these organizers in the door? Click here: https://secure.ga3.org/08/PhillyDonate

It is almost unheard of that a group of workers will try to form an independent union. Having worked with these security guards for almost two years, having sat down with several labor unions without finding a home, after forcing museum leaders to give a few paid sick days to see them whittled away in the fine print, after writing letter after letter, making phone call after phone call to try to work with the museum leaders to lessen the horrible working conditions, the security officers at the Museum of Art have decided to try there hand at forming a new, independent, worker-led labor union.

Since the PSOU doesn't have the backing of an established labor union nor the resources, we will need the help of volunteers and activists who care about workers rights to pitch in. If you'd like to get involved, please contact me at 215-670-5855.

My press release from this morning...

Video Message To Incoming Museum Director Highlights Worker Hardships And Hopes

Philadelphia, PA- A video being premiered tomorrow at 6:30 pm at Media Mobilizing Project, 4205 Chestnut St., is a direct message to Timothy Rub, the incoming director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It also addresses the national debate about the Employee Free Choice Act.

The video entitled, “Welcoming Change: A Message To Timothy Rub” features the voice of four security guards who are a part of a campaign to win work-place reforms at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The director of Welcoming Change, David Randle says of the interviews that were filmed in parts of South West, North and West Philadelphia, “They are stories of hope. I was impressed by that even thought they earn such low wages.”

David Randle made his film as a member of the Media Mobilizing Project a community group that makes films about community activism.

The security officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have been holding out hope for improved working conditions for a long time. Thus far, they have they tried to communicate via the standard methods of written letters and phone calls, yet their requests remain unanswered. Finding themselves without much more recourse, they decided to translate their message into a language sympathetic to the ears of the museum leaders: art.

The security guards have come together to create a thirteen minute video addressed to Timothy Rub, the incoming Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), in the hopes that their voices, in this way, will finally break the silence.

On August 26, the film entitled "Welcoming Change: A Message To Timothy Rub," directed by David Stuart Randle from local media organization Media Mobilizing Project, will be released on the internet and will premier on screen at 4205 Chestnut St at 6:30 pm. The film will also be mailed to 100 local churches.

When the security officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have rallied against a recent roll back of their $.25 per hour raise, they could have never guessed that there modest cause could become an example of in a nation-wide debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. That is just what happened after an article by Sarah Jaffe appeared this week on the web-site of The Nation Magazine.

"The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a recognizable icon even to those who have never set foot in the city. Immortalized in the movie Rocky, when a sweatsuit-clad Sylvester Stallone bounded up the stairs while training for his big fight, the museum became a symbol of the working-class tenacity that Philadelphians are known for.

On September 6, those steps will host a different kind of blue-collar battle: the museum security guards will be holding a rally in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and their right to form a union.

The debate over the Employee Free Choice Act is going to heat up in the next couple of weeks. In Philadelphia, there is an effort that stands out as an example of why we need to pass this critical labor law reform.

The current administration at the Philadelphia Museum of Art has been indifferent to our calls for justice (except for granting our folks up to three days of paid sick leave in Sept 2008). I've dealt with a lot of institutions in our city who are short changing workers and I can say, without a doubt, that all of them have acted more reasonably. However, if you look back at the history of the guards at the museum, it becomes more clear where they have gotten this attitude from.

Our city's last major budget crisis occurred in 1992. Mayor Ed Rendell had just won his election and started his first days in office with a city that was, much like today, in deep fiscal trouble.

He was fighting to take away a lot from the city's municipal workers. The unions fought hard and even went on strike. Mayor Rendell was able to get many of the concessions that he wanted. The unions lost much and to this day, the city union leaders vow, "never again."

An article in yesterday's Scranton Times Tribune gives us the perspectives of Mr. Frank Scarvo, a manager for Keystone Automotive.

In Mr. Scarvo's opinion, the binding arbitration provision of the Employee Free Choice Act would harm employees. He also says that the current workplace regulatory agencies are sufficient. It is easy enough to discover with some research or, as many workers have found out through first hand experience, that this is untrue.

Mr. Scavo should know that there are many dirty tricks that employers use when they don't want to deal with the union that their employees worked hard to form and win. Most commonly, they draw out the collective bargaining process with excessive appeals. This unfair practice of forestalling process is hardly uncommon.

From Twitter user @Kalahn, we see the poster that seems to be everywhere in Philadelphia these days:

As Chris Bowers noted, while some of labor may have fallen in line with Specter, there is a real understanding by many that Specter has sold them out, and if he wants their support, he needs to start singing another song on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Mark Schwieker and the Chamber of Commerce are trying to prevent the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act with a campaign of lies!

WHAT: Protest the Chamber of Commerce's Campaign of Lies Against the Employee Free Choice Act

WHEN: Wed., June 3, 2009 at 5 pm SHARP!

WHERE: The Bellevue Hotel, 200 S. Broad St.

Mark Schweiker and the Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting the Employee Free Choice Act. It's one thing to have a difference of opinion about how people should form a union, but lying about what the Employee Free Choice Act will do is another.

Mark Schwieker and his friends at the Chamber of Commerce like David L Cohen (known for leading anti-union activity for years at Comcast Corp.) are campaigning against the Employee Free Choice Act in such a dishonest way that it must be hard for them to keep a straight face at times. Here is a sample of what they have been saying:

50 percent of the museum’s workers have signed cards authorizing the Philadelphia Security Officer Union (PSOU) to represent them, they still cannot negotiate for better working conditions. That’s because under current federal law, workers lack the right to organize solely through the “card check” process. (PSOU has not requested a federally conducted workplace election because it has no staff and few resources with which to counter potential AlliedBarton anti-union efforts before the vote.)

Starting off the week:

1) The Inquirer Editorial board points out the absurdity of Dan McCaffery's ballot challenge by noting that by his standards, not only would he himself be kicked off the ballot, but so would have his brother, Seamus:

McCaffery's finances also have raised questions. He received more than $3,400 in campaign reimbursements that he, too, failed to disclose on his financial statement.

McCaffery said the money came from a political action committee set up by his law firm, as reimbursement for political contributions he'd made with his own money on behalf of the PAC.

The McCaffery camp said that if Williams had a problem with McCaffery's expenses, he should have challenged them in court. A more rational point is that reimbursed expenses shouldn't be considered income for either candidate.

Even McCaffery's brother, Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, reimbursed himself and his wife for thousands of dollars in expenses from his campaign in 2007.

Considering that McCaffery's entire campaign is based on his brother being well-known (he is even using the same exact campaign logo to try and ride Seamus' name recognition), it is funny that by the standards of his own challenge, he and his brother would have been removed from the ballot. This only gets obviously more absurd.

2) Arlen Specter is now sending emails highlighting his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (h/t Daily Kos).

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) opened his first campaign email to supporters highlighting his decision to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), signaling the senator will play up his opposition to the bill ahead of an expectedly tough primary battle.

After already taking it to his likely opponent, Club for Growth Chairman Pat Toomey, the first item in Specter's email touted his decision to oppose EFCA (or "card check"), a prized piece of legislation for organized labor.

"Last Tuesday, Senator Specter announced his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), also known as Card Check," the inaugural "Specter 2010 Campaign Update" read. "In a speech on the Senate floor, the Senator spoke out against the bill. Later, Senator Specter said, 'I won't support legislation that takes away the secret ballot.'"

Um, Arlen didn't just vote for the EFCA last time. He was a co-sponsor.

Not only is he cynically selling out labor to cover his own ass, but he is apparently hoping that PA Republicans have the memory of goldfish. He will lose by at least 10 points.

3) More bad stuff from Philly cops...

4) Continuing his go-go push for Casinos, Mayor Nutter is bringing Sugarhouse into City Hall for an 11:30AM press conference on some changes they are making to their design. Super.

Well, at least we now have a firm date of Arlen Specter's last day in office.

Today, Arlen just gave PA his notice:

Senator Specter ended speculation on where he would come down on the Employee Free Choice Act by declaring, on the Senate floor, that he would oppose the legislation until the economy improves.

"The problems of a recession make this a particularly bad time to enact Employee's choice legislation," he said. "Employers understandably complain that adding a burden would result in further job losses. If efforts are unsuccessful to give labor sufficient bargaining power through amendments to the [National Labor Relations Act] then I would be willing to reconsider Employees choice legislation when the economy returns to normalcy. I am announcing my decision now because I have consulted with a very large number of interested parties on both sides and I have made up my mind."

....

Labor officials are incredibly distraught and, in some cases incredulous, noting the Specter co-sponsored the bill in 2003 and voted for cloture just last year. But while it is a setback for the legislation's chances, Democrats are not conceding defeat. According to the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared after Specter's speech that "He's not the only Republican who has indicated a willingness to consider something being done... He's not the only suspect."

On the politics of it: Arlen will already likely lost to Toomey. And now, if somehow he makes it through, he will have labor aiming directly at him.

And on the morality of it: Arlen Specter, at a time when working people all of the state are suffering, just punched them in the gut.