Nutter’s Policies Have Forged New Unionism – A History

Two “informational” union rallies were staged last week during the Conference of Mayors held at the Westin Hotel. They were designed to bring to light the unfair dealings Conference host President Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has had through his two terms in office.  Read more here…

Redeveloping the Redevelopment Authority

It has been a long, turbulent run for the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

Five executive directors in eight years. Dramatically slowed sales of publicly owned property.

And embarrassing worldwide coverage (literally) of the agency’s ill-advised tussle with developer Ori Feibush over his unauthorized makeover of an unkempt agency-owned lot in Point Breeze.

Before they can get better, the agency’s fortunes are likely to get worse.  Read more here…

SMG leads Comcast unit in race to run Philly's Pa. Convention Center

It's not a done deal, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center board's next formal meeting isn't until June 5, but members of the bipartisan "study group" of board members who have been reviewing proposals for private managers to take over the management of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, have told other board members they are leaning toward supporting SMG, the West Conshocken-based manager of the convention centers in Chicago, Detroit and other big cities, over rival Comcast Spectacor's Global Spectrum, which manages the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia and other sports and resort city facilities.

Three board members who attended Wednesday's meeting -- speaking privately because members had agreed not to comment to reporters -- stressed that the board is still collecting information before making a final decision.  Read more here…

Penn plans to bring new life to South Bank campus

Penn is moving forward with plans to transform its 23-acre South Bank property — formerly known as the DuPont Marshall Labs — into a buzzing entrepreneurial campus that will house new commercial and research facilities tied to the University.

This redevelopment was most recently discussed on May 16, when the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation released its Lower Schuylkill Master plan that aims to renovate nearly 68 percent of the city’s underutilized and vacant industrial land.  Read more here…

Lankenau’s expansion on track and under budget

WYNNEWOOD — Lankenau Hospital’s major expansion and renovation project is about 80 percent complete, with its centerpiece — the 274,000-square-feet Heart & Vascular Pavilion — set to open later this summer.  Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET: Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters / USGA - US Open

CARPENTERS RESUME PICKETING AT MERION GOLF CLUB, SITE OF THE 2013 U.S. OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP; USGA VIOLATES TERMS OF RECENT LABOR AGREEMENT

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA - METROPOLITAN REGIONAL COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA & VICINITY

BREAKING NEWS RELEASE

ARDMORE, PA -- Today, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America - Metropolitan Regional Council of Philadelphia & Vicinity resumed picketing at the iconic Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA. The new protest in response to the United States Golf Association's (USGA) failure to honor the terms of a month-old labor agreement between the Carpenters and the USGA for work at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA, site of the 2013 U.S. Open Golf Championship, (June 13-16). The Carpenters Union, along with the Stagehands Union, had previously picketed the USGA in April for its use of Mexican nationals to perform the lion's share of the work for the U.S. Open. The sides reached an agreement in mid-April and the two unions had been working the site until this week, when the USGA abruptly informed the Carpenters Union that it had run out of money and the services of its members were no longer required.

"The USGA under-budgeted our scope of the work. They never included us in the budgeting process, they never shared the numbers with us, and now they're saying they're out of money, which is ludicrous. We're talking about one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world," said Ed Coryell, Business Manager of the Carpenters Union. "It's not our fault that they under-budgeted and it's not fair that we're not being allowed to complete the work we were promised...and there's a lot of work yet to be done."

The Carpenters Union, in a spirit of good faith bargaining, willingly gave up its jurisdictional rights to do the work on bleachers, tents, carpeting and scaffolding in exchange for the carpentry work. Now, it appears that the Carpenters' good faith was betrayed by the USGA.

"It looks like the original agreement was nothing more than an attempt to appease us and get us to take down the initial picket line," Coryell continued. "When they sprung this little surprise on us this week, we asked if we could sit down at the negotiating table and work this out. We were told they were too busy and couldn't meet with us until June 18th at the earliest, which is, of course, after the U.S. Open. We're not going to stand for this shameful treatment, which is why we're back on the picket line now and will remain there right through the tournament, unless and until they return to the negotiating table and bargain with us in good faith."

More than 25 carpenters are currently manning three picket lines at Merion Golf Club, including the main entrance on Ardmore Avenue.

Impasse immediate over plan to revise Pa. pension system

State Senate lawmakers are beginning the public vetting of a three-part proposal from the governor's office to deal with Pennsylvania's multibillion-dollar pension debt.

Months of debate leading up to the hearing have only made the groups on either side of the issue seem more entrenched than ever.

Gerry Oleksiak, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, is reiterating the union position that Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to reduce the future benefits of current employees is an unconstitutional breach of contract.  Read more here…

PA Unions say no changes needed as $47 billion unfunded liability grows

HARRISBURG – For the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the big picture is also the bottom line.

The nuts and bolts of pension reform are a complicated mix, which may prevent lawmakers from dealing with the state’s $47 billion unfunded pension liability before the end of the budget session June 30. Current employees and retirees must be considered, as well as the ever-present threat the state Supreme Court could strike down changes as an unconstitutional violation of workers’ contracts with the state.  Read more here…

U. of Delaware expanding with private help

What an opportunity: When the University of Delaware took over a shuttered Chrysler plant in 2008, it gained enough space to double its academic campus in Newark, Del.

Dreamers dusted off old plans and projected them onto the flattened 272-acre site, which sprawls amid I-95, the Northeast Corridor railroad, and UD's brick heart. Some thought: A law school! Maybe a medical school! Massive growth!  Read more here…

Local firm to build in Qatar

Hill International received a contract from the Lane Investment & Real Estate Development Company to provide project management services for the Viva Bahriya and Porto Arabia towers in Doha, Qatar. Hill International is a global construction-consulting firm with headquarters in Marlton, N.J. It has an international office in Doha. Read more here…

A first glimpse of Spring Garden Connector concepts

Conceptual lighting and streetscape changes geared toward improving walking or biking on Spring Garden Street between 2nd Street and the Delaware River will be presented for discussion Wednesday night.

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is holding the 6:30 p.m. event at Festival Pier to help shape work on the Spring Garden Connector Project. Neighborhood-riverfront connections are a key piece of the city's long-range plan for the Central Delaware. Like the Race Street Connector and Columbia Avenue Connector projects, which are further along, the Spring Garden Connector is designed to make moving between a city neighborhood and the waterfront a more pleasant experience. All three projects include making an I-95 underpass a more welcoming, well-lit place.  Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET: IATSE, LU#8 & Electric Factory Concerts

As reported on IATSE, LU#8 Twitter account, area standards picket continues between IATSE, LU#8 and Electric Factory Concerts.

Construction worker survives fall from Upper Darby's McClatchy Building

A construction worker who fell two stories from the historic McClatchy Building on 69th Street early this afternoon is expected to live.

“From what I understand, he was up on a ladder cutting I-beams when one of them swung down and knocked the ladder out from underneath him,” Upper Darby Police Superintendent Mike Chitwood said. “He fell about 25 feet into the basement of the building and landed on a pile of wood, which apparently saved him from falling farther.”  Read more here...

More development in Kensington

A 311-unit apartment complex has been approved for South Kensington.

Canus Corp.got the green light earlier this week to move forward with Soko Lofts at the former Absco Inc. steel site at 2nd and American streets in the South Kensington section of Philadelphia.  Read more here…

City Workers In Poverty Double Under Mayor Nutter

A new Temple University study has found city workers in Philadelphia are twice as likely today as they were in 2007 to have incomes that fall below the poverty guideline for a family of four when wages are adjusted for the local cost of living.

The author of the study, Associate Professor of Economics Michael Bognanno, said, “The analysis shows that a significant portion of the combined membership of District Council 33 and 47 are below the poverty line set for a sole earner in a family of four. The extent of the membership below the poverty line has roughly doubled since 2007, the period of time in which the membership has gone without a pay increase.”  Read more here…

Philly's biggest hotel up for sale as tourism slows: report

Host Hotels & Resorts hopes to sell Philadelphia's largest hotel, the 1,400-room, 23-story  Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, reports Real Estate Alert, Hoboken, NJ. The newsletter said Host hopes to fetch as much as $325 million, or $231,000 per room, more than triple the total price paid in any previous Philadelphia hotel resale. Broker is Eastdil Secured. Read more here…

AREA LABOR DISPUTE: Demanding contract deals, Philly union workers protest at U.S. mayors' event hosted by Nutter

Hundreds of blue-collar municipal workers took to the streets Wednesday afternoon to demand that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter settle a pair of outstanding union contracts. They intend to resume the protest Thursday.

 Members of AFSME District Council 47 and District Council 33, who have worked without a contract since 2009, say Nutter doesn't want to change that.

To highlight their disgust with his administration, employees blocked off a section of 17th Street in front of the Westin Hotel, where a U.S. Conference of Mayors event hosted by Nutter is set for Thursday and Friday.  Read more here…

SEPTA engineer shortage leads to canceled trips

SEPTA doesn't have enough engineers to run all of its trains all of the time.

On Saturday, eight Regional Rail trains were canceled because of crew shortages, and engineers say the problem is chronic and may get worse.

In 2011, federal work rules were toughened, reducing the number of hours passenger-train crews can work in a week or month and exacerbating SEPTA's long-standing staffing woes.

Because of a shortage of qualified workers, the complex nature of rush-hour scheduling, and SEPTA's desire to limit costs for employee benefits, all engineers and conductors work overtime every week and are paid accordingly.  Read more here…

Planning Commission approves rezoning for Soko Lofts, six other sites

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission recommended approval of a bill on Tuesday that would rezone a thin strip of land on American Street between Master and Thompson from industrial to commercial mixed-use. The rezoning bill, introduced by Councilman Bill Greenlee on behalf of Council President Darrell Clarke, would bring the small portion of land into harmony with the rest of the parcel, a former scrapyard.  Read more here…

Lower Schuylkill Master Plan adopted by Planning Commission

A plan for the future industrial and recreational development of the Lower Schuylkill was adopted on Tuesday by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The goal of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan is to create a new identity for the area as an industrial hub, attracting jobs and economic activity in an environmentally sustainable way, said Tom Dalfo, of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, who presented the plan to the Commission.

The Lower Schuylkill area covers 3,700 acres, bounded to the south by the Philadelphia International Airport, to the north by University City, to the east by South Philly and Center City and to the west by Eastwick and Southwest Philly.  Read more here…

AREA LABOR DISPUTE: MULTIPLE TRADES/DEMONSTRATION: City workers, other unions and community groups to protest at National Conference of Mayors meeting hosted by Mayor Nutter.

PHILADELPHIA, May 21, 2013 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --AFSCME Secretary Treasurer Laura Reyes, District Council 33 President Pete Matthews, District Council 47 President Cathy Scott, along with leaders of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades as well as religious and community supporters will kick off two days of protests at the National Conference of Mayors Innovation Summit being hosted by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter in Philadelphia tomorrow, Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  Read more here…

Penn Will Remake its South Bank Campus in the Coming Decades

Penn’s 23-acre South Bank campus is located on the former DuPont site between 34th St. & Grays Ferry Ave., and the Grays Ferry Crescent section of the Schuylkill River Trail park just south of the Schuylkill River where the river makes a turn before the Grays Ferry Bridge and continues south towards Bartram’s Garden and the airport. This campus represents a long-term redevelopment vision that also serves an immediate need.  Read more here…

Is another Center City office building ripe for conversion?

Another Center City office building is being eyed for a conversion to apartments.

Chestnut Place at 42 S. 15th St. is reportedly under contract to be sold to a developer involved with the conversion of 1616 Walnut St., a Center City office building that is being redeveloped into apartments. When it bought that property, it took about a year to relocate the tenants, and by most accounts, the process went smoothly. Read more here…

PA Convention Center in financial trouble; labor costs cited

The newly expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center is turning out to be a dud. With a capital D-U-D.

The $1.3 billion facility has failed to attract the convention business promised by those who lobbied for the expansion that nearly doubled the size of the facility to 974,000 square feet. 

Read more here…

Temple adding another site in suburbs

Renovations are under way for a $4 million medical complex in Fort Washington, Pa., that will house an urgent-care center along with primary-care and specialty-care services.  Read more here…

Navy Yard in play for new HQ - Subaru of America

It just makes sense. Direct access to air, rail, highway and ocean based infrastructure and multiple points of access across several states for human resources. Additionally, an amazing, energy efficient facility to boot. I have always believed that the Comcast Center redefined our civic spaces on the Market Street Corridor and closed the gap between Center City and the Left Banks. I sincerely believe that the Navy Yard will have a similar impact and look forward to seeing this fuel an economic engine that is picking up speed.

In its quest to search for a new spot for its North American headquarters, Subaru of America Inc. has turned its focus to the Philadelphia Navy Yard as one option it is seriously considering.

Subaru of America is in the market for about 225,000 square feet and is reportedly looking throughout the region and figuring out where it should go and which municipality might give it an enticing incentive package. A move, if any, could happen by 2015.

Read more here…

Philadelphia International moves closer to getting key property for expansion

A Philadelphia City Council Committee has approved a bill that would lead to purchasing some Tinicum Township properties critical to expanding the airport.  Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET – IATSE, Local Union#8 / Electric Factory Concerts

Labor dispute between labor and management continues.  Labor continues to execute a Corporate and Social Media Campaign against Electric factory Concerts.  Philadelphia professional sport’s player’s Twitter page targeted by some after player crosses a picket line to attend an event at the venue.

US Airways Flight Attendants, Finally United, Look to the Next Merger

"It's a historic day," said Veda Shook, national president of the Association of Flight Attendants, who attended the meeting in Charlotte. "US Airways has been through this rodeo five times prior; it has had many successful mergers. And America West, (which) has been the little airline that could, is poised to take over and become the world's largest airline." The America West management team, headed by Doug Parker, is expected to run the merged carrier. Read more here…

AREA LABOR DISPUTE: Unions kiss and make up at the airport: Fisticuffs to handshakes

For anyone with a long memory (and it doesn't have to be that long), last week's partnership announcement from the Transport Workers Union and the International Association of Machinists was full of juicy irony. Does anyone remember the brawl between these two unions at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott on Feb. 8, 2006?  Read more here…

AREA LABOR DISPUTE: Union protests Temple hospital over arbitration dispute

The leader of the union that represents health-care employees at Temple University Hospital on Sunday threatened a strike over an arbitration dispute involving a terminated employee accused of sexual harassment.

"We're prepared to shut it down," said Henry Nicholas, president of AFSCME District 1199C, which represents hospital employees across the city. Read more here…

Philadelphia's current operators appear unfazed over prospects of new competition

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- If this city’s current casino operators are worried about the prospects of a big new competitor in the market, they aren’t saying.

Pennsylvania gaming regulators by the end of the year should decide which of six proposals will be awarded the state’s final gaming license, for the Philadelphia area. The winner could be open for business two years later.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s casinos continue to seek ways to grow market share by draining business from Atlantic City and fending off competition from elsewhere in the state and from emerging gaming markets in New York and Maryland.  Read more here…

L&I Panty Raid at Post Bros. Goldtex Building

The Pestronk brothers, who are slowly completing the conversion of the Goldtex building in the Loft District after an eight-month-long union stand-off, wanted to get noticed when they sent out “VIP” invitations Thursday to a rooftop preview party for their new apartments. And they certainly did. Just not in the way they intended.  Read more here…

Developer seeks to buy Marketplace Design Center

Bart Blatstein’s Tower Investments Inc. is looking to buy the Marketplace Design Center in Center City to create a bold, mixed-use complex that would include constructing a residential tower on the roof of the structure.  Read more here…

Building on Lourdes site OK'd

CHERRY HILL — Township officials have approved construction of a 4,400-square-foot office building on the site of the new Lourdes outpatient center in Cherry Hill. Read more here…

L&I, Police Show Up at Post Brothers’ Goldtex VIP Party

It’s been a long, hard road for the Pestronk brothers’ (aka Post Brothers) development of the Goldtex site at 12th and Vine streets. There have been shoving matches, picket lines formed, slashed tires, and a host of other disturbances thanks to a labor dispute over the $38 million project.

But according to this invite that I just received, the Post brothers are ready to show off their latest apartment building. The accompanying email promises “Veuve Clicquot, catering from Ruth’s Chris Steak House, pearls, and plenty of other delightful surprises.”

Read more here….

Firefighters' union sues city over promotions

The firefighters' union filed a lawsuit Monday to compel the Nutter administration to fill a number of vacancies within the Fire Department and a Common Pleas Court judge ruled yesterday in their favor.  Read more here…

Nutter sets money aside in case firefighters union award stands

THE NUTTER administration switched gears and has now set aside $31 million to pay for a portion of the firefighters' arbitration award that it is appealing - again.

Despite concerns raised by City Council, the city controller and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the city's fiscal watchdog, Nutter's budget proposal had not included the costs of the award if the appeal was unsuccessful.

The issue has been a major sticking point during this year's budget debate in addition to the longstanding contract disputes with the city's blue- and white-collar unions. Some had called the administration's budgeting irresponsible.  Read more here…

Fire union president Bill Gault loses re-election

IT WAS OLD versus young in the election for president of the city firefighters union yesterday - and the kids came out on top.

Battalion Chief Joseph Schulle defeated incumbent President Bill Gault in a 1,736-1,209 vote by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22.  Read more here…

SugarHouse parking OKd; Ajax Metal Works on hold

On North Delaware Avenue, one big real estate project - the SugarHouse Casino expansion - got a green light Wednesday to proceed, but another development - the conversion of the old Ajax Metal Works into a concert venue - remains on hold.  Read more here…

Construction of West Philadelphia trauma center starts

Construction is beginning today on Penn Presbyterian Medical Center’s Advanced Care Hospital Pavilion in West Philadelphia.

The expansion project, expected to be completed in January 2015, will create space for the new home for Penn Medicine’s level-I trauma center — which will transfer from its current base of operations at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET – Sheet Metal Local Union#19/Custom Aire

As reported on Sheet Metal LU#19’s Facebook page: “Local 19 Members are out picketing against Custom Aire for lowering the wages and standards for workers at the Save-a-lot located at Frankford Ave & Knorr Street in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia.

Your Local continues to thank all the members who have given their time and effort by volunteering for picket lines and handbills.”

REGIONAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UPDATE: Local 194 AFL-CIO/ Burlington County Bridge Commission

Bridge commission and union at odds over benefits in contract dispute

PALMYRA — As the union and the Burlington County Bridge Commission work to reach their first contract since the agency reformed policies that eliminated some employee benefits, including the annual sell-back of sick and vacation time, the sides are struggling to come to a settlement.

Negotiators for the commission and Local 194 AFL-CIO were due back at the bargaining table Tuesday afternoon after the commission held its regular monthly meeting at its headquarters in the borough at the foot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.  Read more here…

Building height restriction could go up 15 feet in Philly's Old City

The maximum height of buildings in a portion of Old City could rise if legislation is approved by the Philadelphia's full council. A council committee gave it the go ahead Tuesday.

The area bounded by the west side of Interstate 95 to Fourth Street, then Race Street to New Street, could see building heights soar another 15 feet past the current 65-foot limit if the bill wins approval.  Read more here…

Montco is on the hook for failed project

Montgomery County stands to lose nearly $25 million in a Norristown redevelopment project gone sour, Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro said Tuesday.

Under the previous administration, the county invested significant public grants and loan guarantees to redevelop the Logan Square shopping center.

One office building was constructed, but it remains only half-occupied. The retail portion of the site is underutilized and run-down.

"It's hard to see how it was ever viable. It's certainly not viable now," Shapiro said at a news conference. Read more here…

The Waterfront developers must improve failing Allentown intersections

Several existing intersections already get failing grades for their ability to handle traffic around the planned development named The Waterfront, an ambitious $275-million project that will create a new commercial and residential neighborhood beneath the Tilghman Street Bridge in Allentown.  Read more here…

Lab equipment company to bring 70 jobs to Bucks

Worldwide Medical Products, a laboratory equipment company, is moving to Bristol Township.

The Hamilton, N.J., company will move into a 68,000-square-foot building on Wharton Road in Bristol Township's Keystone Industrial Park. Director of operations Chris Conway said about 40 employees will make the move, and the company plans to hire an additional 30 employees in the next few years. Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET – Sheet Metal, Local Union #19/Custom Aire

As reported on Sheet Metal, Local Union #19’s Facebook page, “Picketing at Knorr & Frankford in Mayfair section of Philadelphia. Custom Aire”

Immaculate College: Camilla Hall undergoing $19M renovation

The nuns of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have taught generations of children in the Philadelphia area. And when they were too frail or sick to work they retired to Camilla Hall, an austere nursing home on the campus of Immaculata College in Malvern. Read more here…

Penn aims to spur innovation in Lower Schuylkill at South Bank campus

On Thursday the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and Commerce Department released the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, a blueprint that aims to put 68% of the city’s vacant, industrial land back to work. The plan envisions an “Innovation District” at the northern end of the Lower Schuylkill, just south of University City, where industrial properties will be reused for new ventures spun off from university research.

At this point most of the “Innovation District” is a mix of underutilized or vacant industrial relics. But there is an early outpost that makes the aspirations for new enterprise in the Lower Schuylkill feel real: The University of Pennsylvania’s South Bank campus, a 23-acre former DuPont property along the Gray’s Ferry Crescent that the university plans to transform into a buzzing hive of technology transfer and product innovation.  Read more here…

IATSE, Local#8 Organizing Campaign – Local Theaters

As reported on IATSE, LU#8 Facebook page today: “Bristol Riverside Theater NLRB recognition petition filed today by IATSE Local 8. Hearing looks to be on May 21st. Lets <sic> hope management is reasonable and fair in negotiating a fair deal for these stagehands. As always, we appreciate everyone's support and help through social media. Your support keeps the crew and unions drive going. Ty”

The local chapter of IATSE here in Philadelphia is quickly becoming a recognized force and power player in the region.  This is one trade that continues to grow in strength through organizing, while others struggle to maintain membership and hours.  While some would argue that their strength is due to the conditions within the industry, it is my belief that is more about their leadership and their ability to embrace technology within their own organizations.  I have spoken about their strategies and techniques as it relates to organizing campaigns at a national level with much interest from my management side labor relation's professionals.  They have mastered the art of the corporate campaign and defined what a successful social media campaign is in this region and beyond.  How long until others adopt their strategies and techniques and put them to use in construction or against area facility owners?  Are you prepared?  Most everyone is not!

I have witnessed IATSE, LU#8 successfully organizing several local theatres in the area over the last 12 months.  These are recognized theaters like Suzanne Roberts, etc..  These are theaters that have chosen to be represented by their general business attorney or prominent Board members that believe that the practice of labor relations is nothing to be concerned about.  The industry defines that as an “I got this” attitude and I have witnessed it in several industries.  In every case, it results in a failure because, in the end, they really don’t understand what an organizing campaign is and what they can do legally without repercussions or unfair labor practices being filed against them.  Remember, you have a business to run, this is a trade’s business.  In this case, a specialist is always best. 

Many organizations and firms are also choosing to handle their labor relations in house with human resource professionals.  Human resource professionals are an excellent resource for handling the daily functions of HR in-house.  However, using HR assets to manage your labor relations function is often more costly and damaging to an organization.  Many human resource professionals lack the exposure and experience to be successful in labor relations; the coverage of labor relations, labor law and the National Labor Relations Act are minimal at best throughout any of the professional Certifications in the HR field, e.g. PHR, SPHR, GPHR, etc.  There are better options available to you and your organization when it comes to managing your labor relations strategy and function.  Again, In this case, a specialist is always best. 

Don’t leave your organization exposed.  Contact Wayne Gregory of Gregory Management & Consulting Services at info@gregorymcs.com for contracted, customized industry & labor relations support & solutions.  Trust the one person that hundreds of commercial building contractors, professional firms, facility owners & managers and their human resource professionals have trusted here in Philadelphia since 2006.

Children’s Hospital Discusses Master Plan for Southwest Center City

Over the next 20-or-so years, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia plans to expand its presence in the city by adding a nine-acre, open ambulatory care and research campus in Southwest Center City, on the east side of the Schuylkill River in the section often called the “Devil’s Pocket” in Grays Ferry. CHOP has told residents of that area that they wanted to be as transparent as possible during the process, and as part of that transparency, they held their fourth community meeting last night at the Philadelphia School at 25th and Lombard.

The multipurpose room in the school was packed full or residents and, after a 30-minute presentation and slides (which we’ll post here when we get them), most of their questions were answered, even though some feigned skepticism or worry about more construction in an area that’s seen a lot of it in recent years.  Read more here…

CHOP expansion plans can be found here…

New owners' big plans for Marcus Hook refinery site

Now that Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. has taken ownership of the closed Marcus Hook refinery, the pipeline company has big plans for the Delaware River industrial site.

Sunoco Logistics chief executive Michael J. Hennigan provided analysts with details Thursday about how the pipeline and terminal company plans to repurpose the refinery as a hub for shipping liquid fuels produced from natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.

"We plan to create a world-class natural-gas liquids hub on the East Coast," Hennigan said.  Read more here…

Chinese investors to fund turnpike-I-95 connection

To help pay for the construction of the long-awaited connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95, turnpike officials plan to borrow $200 million from wealthy foreign investors.  Read more here,…

Shaq-backed project planned for Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Atlantic City plans to bring a $75 million development project, including a movie theater and supermarket, to a neighborhood near the Revel and Showboat casinos.

The project would be backed in part by former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and a development company with which he has partnered, both sides said in a news release issued Thursday.  Read more here…

Updates to Unsettled Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements for Philadelphia Contractors that Expired at Midnight, April 30, 2013:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Sprinkler Fitter, LU#692/National Fire Sprinkler Association:

Tentative agreement has been reached.

Carpenter’s union strike continues in Cedar Rapids – A Philadelphia Parallel

PREFACE:

Carpenter’s union strike continues in Cedar Rapids – A Philadelphia Parallel or just another Groundhog Day?

This article has a direct parallel to Philadelphia and its construction industry.  As we all know and experienced, the economy nosedived here in the commercial sector just after 2006, a significant and disruptive event, much like a flood to a community.  Some would call either scenario tragic; others always see an opportunity in the tragedy.

Before 2006, commercial construction was primarily performed with unionized general contractors within Philadelphia city limits.  In the time frame between 2006 and 2012, the landscape changed dramatically here and the story below, 2 union bidders against 8 merit shop bidders, became the new normal; it hasn’t changed since that time either.  In fact, and in direct response to that, the entire construction model has evolved in Philadelphia.  It has evolved from the once proven model of a general contractor with signatory obligations that directly employed organized trades to perform the work in unison with very qualified, skilled specialty sub-contracting trades, to now, a much less complicated and more attractive model of a construction manager or general contractor that has no signatory obligations and directly employs very little or no organized trades at all; however, they do have direct accesses to all of the contractors and trades through a rather extensive and developed specialty sub-contracting network within the Philadelphia Metropolitan region.  The job still gets built union, just without the onerous, over reaching, signatory obligations of a general contractor bound by the terms of an agreement for employees that they employ very little of anymore.  The job gets built on the theory that economics and efficiency drive the process; a mantra that I have chanted rather loudly and successfully here in Philadelphia since October, 2007.  Tragically, much like the pubescent teenager with no adult supervision for the last 10 years, the voice of union construction has changed and is still struggling intensely with its own identity, is it a leader & liaison, a legislator, a politician or that shy kid that sits over in the corner at the dance and waits for somebody else to make the first move?  Let’s pray for the sake of a highly, skilled and qualified sub-contracting community that it figures out what it wants to be soon.   

As I directed the negotiating activities of multiple general and subcontracting negotiating teams year after year in Philadelphia, I cannot stress enough how many leaders on each side of the table have actually stated that this is in fact the “new normal”, a term commonly used now throughout the industry when talking about the tighter bidding process and the new construction model.  If that was, evidently it still is, the new normal, is it unrealistic to believe that other leadership within the industry and throughout the United States do not understand and believe that it is the “new normal” and that drastic change needs to be undertaken to survive?  A direct quote from the article really stuck out and had an eerie sense of familiarly, “Yeah, there’s going to be a slowdown for a couple months, but it’ll come back. It always does.”  I just reviewed some of notes from past regional negotiations and actually found that quote in several different variations thrown out in negotiations until around 2012, that is, until everyone here truly believed that it is a “new norm.”

 Perhaps the Midwest has a different definition of the “new normal”?  If they do, maybe we need to send them a new dictionary.

This is a time of opportunity, not apathy.  This is a time for real change, not reliance on the past.  This is the time for those very few that are brave, daring and progressive thought leaders to step up and lead our community.  Who’s with me?

On to the article:

Picketers are marching around construction sites in Iowa’s second-largest city, which is still recovering from the devastating flood of 2008. On Tuesday, a carpenter’s union in Cedar Rapids voted down a wage offer from general contractors after the contract expired last week.

Michael Glavan, of Kleiman Construction, says flood projects brought in more contractors who don’t hire union labor and often pay less per hour.

“We go to bid a job and there’s ten people bidding it, there’s two union bidders,” Glavan says. “If our wages and package are above those folks, how are we going to be competitive and get future work for these people?” Local 308 representative Dave Hogan says the union voted down the contractor’s proposal by a four-to-one ratio.

Read more here...

Planning to develop lower Schuylkill

The City of Philadelphia will release a master plan Thursday for six miles along the lower Schuylkill seen as ripe for job-generating industrial and commercial uses, new roads, more green space, and added bicycle and pedestrian trails.

The blueprint envisions three districts along the river's banks, stretching from University City to Philadelphia International Airport.

"The area accounts for 68 percent of the city's underutilized and vacant industrial land," said Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for economic development. Rea more here…

Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) allocates $350 million in matching grants. Recipients of Gregory Management & Consulting Services GLASS Reports have been receiving updates on Senate Bill “SB680” since introduced and were preparing for the opportunities that lie ahead.

Gov. Corbett plans to give $350 million more to factory owners, developers, colleges, and museums later this year through the RACP grant program.  RACP drives economic development projects in the region and is often a large source of funding behind many regional projects.

Not all who ask receive. In recent weeks, more than 200 new pleas for Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) matching funds, totaling $900 million, have piled up in Harrisburg, and many more are expected, said Corbett spokesman Jay Pagni

Philadelphia Projects Receiving Funding on this round include:

$5 million for the University City Science Center's new medical offices building at 3737 Market St.

$3 million to Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the Philadelphia shopping-mall landlord, for improvements to the Gallery at Market East.

$15 million for Brazilian chemical-maker Braskem's Marcus Hook plant,

$2 million to developer Equus Capital Partners for expansion of its Ellis Preserve corporate center in Newtown Square;

$5 million for a loading dock at the Philadelphia Museum of Art;

$5 million for the Philadelphia Zoo's Hamilton Family Center and Faris Family Education Center.

And there are more.

There are legislators who have higher hopes for the next round. State Senate Bill 680 includes a long anonymous wish list of large Philadelphia projects:

$30 million for InterContinental Hotels' proposed Indigo Hotel,

$7.5 million for developer Eric Blumenfeld's Divine Lorraine conversion,

$40 million for something called only Chariot Landing/International Row

Read more here…

Contact GMCS to learn more about funded RACP projects in the region. 

SugarHouse says customers want 'more elbow room'

Calling SugarHouse Casino "ripe for expansion," the gaming hall's general manager told state regulators Tuesday that a plan to scale back a parking garage while enlarging the gambling floor makes more sense than an earlier proposal.

Wendy Hamilton, who has run the waterfront casino on North Delaware Avenue since its 2010 opening, said customers have told her that the casino needs "more elbow room."

"This is a better plan," Hamilton testified in a hearing before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in Philadelphia. "This is a smarter plan."

The $155 million expansion plan would replace a version approved by the gaming board in 2009. Read more here…

City unions plan protest at mayor's summit

The same coalition of labor unions that shouted down Mayor Nutter during his budget message to City Council in March is organizing a two-day protest May 22 and 23, tied to a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Center City.

"NO MORE Mayor 1% Nutter," says a flier advertising the protest, an afternoon rally May 22 outside the Westin Hotel at 17th and Chestnut Streets followed by a morning rally and march to City Hall the next day, when Council may be voting on a budget.  Read more here…

Developer Finalists Chosen To Convert Old Family Court Building To Hotel

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — As a new Philadelphia Family Court building is being constructed at 15th and Arch Streets, the Nutter administration is pushing ahead with plans to bring new life to the current Family Court building, on the Parkway at 18th Street.

“The old Family Court building on Logan Circle would make an ideal small hotel,” says the mayor’s commerce director, Alan Greenberger.  Read more here…

New name for Center City building – Conversion in process

The project will entail putting a new skydeck on the roof that will have outdoor cooking, fireplaces and heat lamps. Work will also include restoring the façade and preserving many of the historical elements throughout the interior and exterior of the building, such as ornate wood-paneled walls and 1,300 historic replica windows. The building was constructed in 1929 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The conversion will also include 23,000 square feet of retail space and 150 parking spaces. Pre-leasing the units will begin in October. Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt, Md., was hired to oversee management and renting the units out. Read more here…

Board to hold hearing on Philly casino expansion. Sugar House proposed expansion reviewed.

The state gaming board is set to hold a hearing on the proposed expansion of SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the National Constitution Center.

 The casino wants to add a parking garage and expand the size of its gaming floor. Community groups, elected officials and others are expected to testify at the hearing. The board could vote on the plans in the next week after the input is received. Read more here…

Going condo in Ardmore. Ardmore’s redevelopment continues

A venture between Cornerstone Communities and Provco Group is looking to break ground early next year on a $20 million condominium complex that will replace the Main Line YMCA at the corner of Montgomery Avenue and St. George’s Road in Ardmore, Pa. Read more here…

From Family Court to elegant hotel? A beautiful building with a future.

From Family Court to elegant hotel?

With 15 stories' worth of steel beams in place for a new Family Court building at 15th and Arch Streets, city development officials can shift more attention to another major project - turning the old Family Court at 18th and Vine Streets into something more than another vacant building when the court moves into new quarters next year.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell had no doubt what would happen to the old court building when he committed $200 million in state funds for the new courthouse in 2010.

The old courthouse, originally completed in 1940 by the Depression-era Works Projects Administration, was destined to become "the most exciting, glamorous hotel," Rendell said - just like the elegant Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, the mid-18th century building that was the model for the Philadelphia courthouse.  Read more here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET – Electric Factory Concerts/IATSE, Local Union#8

As reported on Sunday, May 5, 2013, two protesters were injured in an altercation between local band road support associates and IATSE, Local#8 protesters at Electric Factory Concerts venue.  Two were injured and taken to the hospital. One was released shortly thereafter; no updates on the second person.

UPDATE: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Sprinkler Fittter, LU#692/National Fire Sprinkler Association

Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013. No tentative agreement has been reported at this time.  Labor and management continue to work towards a settlement.  There have been no reported actions at this time.

Regional Bridge Project will create heightened demand for region’s labor force in the New York/Philadelphia Industrial and commercial marketplace over the next several years. With New York City already experiencing a 3-5 year project backlog, make sure that your labor and industry relations needs are covered. Contact GMCS for a contracted solution today.

The $3.9 billion project to replace the Tappan Zee is expected to employ roughly 2,600 full-time construction workers each year for the next five years, according to state economic models based on the cost of the project.  Read more here…

Just in case anyone had a question about the Ratmobile, here’s your answer:

Q&A: What is that Rat Mobile?

Philadelphians are used to rats.

Giant, inflatable ones have long been a staple at union protests. There are reports that the city is getting more complaints about the rodents. And now, there's a van-sized rat making its way around the region.  Read more here…

Workers at closing Pa. foundry seek jobs, answers

KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Steel and iron and sweat and pride have been produced for nearly one and half centuries along the banks of the Saucony Creek in Kutztown. Read more here…

With an Old Factory, Philadelphia Is Hoping to Draw New Teachers

Two redbrick buildings in the up-and-coming but still gritty South Kensington section of Philadelphia are being converted into apartments and offices intended to house teachers and nonprofit educational organizations in what the developers hope will become a cohesive community.  Read more here…

Local 98 moves past the giant inflatable rat. Here comes the Rat-Mobile!

COULD THE GIANT inflatable rat, a common prop at organized-labor protests, go extinct, replaced by a louder, more mobile rodent?  Read more here…

Construction of new family court building reaches milestone

PENNSYLVANIA Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille lost his right leg in battle in Vietnam, but it was the scars he's received as an advocate for the new Family Court building that were highlighted at a ceremony at the construction site yesterday.  Read more here…

Updates to Unsettled Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements for Philadelphia Contractors that Expired at Midnight, April 30, 2013:

Updates to Unsettled Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements for Philadelphia Contractors that Expired at Midnight, April 30, 2013:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Sprinkler Fitter, LU#692/National Fire Sprinkler Association:

Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013. No tentative agreement has been reported at this time.  Labor and Management continue to work towards a settlement.  There have been no reported actions at this time.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS –Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters and the Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania:

Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013.  No reported settlements at this time; awaiting additional updates from negotiating association.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - United Steelworkers Chapter at West Point, LU#10-00086/Merck & Co., West Point: Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013.

Tentative agreement has been reached.

Decision nearer on private Convention Center role

“In the last 30 months, five U.S. cities have turned to private management companies to run their respective convention centers, among them Detroit and Chicago.

Philadelphia and Los Angeles are now looking to do the same.

Requests for proposals to manage the Convention Center are due at 5 p.m. Friday.

Turning to privatization to handle key convention center functions has everything to do with the need to run these complexes as if they were five-star hotels, said some industry experts.

Two regional companies, SMG, of Conshohocken, and Global Spectrum, of Philadelphia, are going head to head to win the contract. Formerly one company, they have been rivals to manage centers in several other cities.

Managing the local facility, where the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority management, hoteliers, and labor groups have battled fiercely, could be a grueling assignment.

The Customer Satisfaction Agreement between the PCCA and unions, which is meant to define work rules, assure service, and define expenses for conventions that come here, expires June 30.

"We need to start fresh, take the politics out of the center, and continue to live by the rules that are negotiated," said John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98.”  Read more here…

Updates to Unsettled Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements for Philadelphia Contractors that Expired at Midnight, April 30, 2013:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Sheet Metal, LU#19/Sheet Metal Contractors Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity: : Tentative agreement has been reached.

Rowan gets state funding for 2 of 3 biggest projects

On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie approved more than $117 million in funding for the projects.  Read more here...

Proposed details of new UPS, Teamsters Five-Year Contracts:

Significant changes to language and wages contained within.  Read more here...

Merck workers keep working after deadline

The 2,000 or so union employees and management at the Merck & Co. plant in West Point, Montgomery County, agreed to continue working and negotiating after the union contract expired Tuesday night.  Read more here…

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - United Steelworkers Chapter at West Point, LU#10-00086/Merck, West Point

Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013. No tentative agreement has been reported.  There have been no reported actions at this time.

UPDATE: Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements for Philadelphia Contractors that Expired at Midnight, April 30, 2013:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Plumbers Local#690/Mechanical Contractors Association: Tentative agreement has been reached.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Electricians Local#98/National Electrical Contractors Association of Penn-Del-Jersey Chapter: Tentative agreement has been reached.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, DC#21/Industrial Painters of Philadelphia: Tentative agreement has been reached.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Sprinkler Fittter, LU#692/National Fire Sprinkler Association: Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013. No tentative agreement has been reported.  There have been no reported actions at this time.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Sheet Metal, LU#19/Sheet Metal Contractors Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity: Official Strike notice received from Sheet Metal Local Union #19. Strike locations have been reported.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Sheet Metal, LU#19/SMCA

Official Strike notice received from Sheet Metal Local Union #19

"**This is Official Notice that for the first time in 39 years Local 19 Philadelphia is on Strike** 

It is crucial that all card carrying members who are not working for contractors that have signed retro-actively come out tomorrow morning at 6:30am and support your Brothers and Sisters!

These 9 contractors are being picketed:

In New Jersey

ADS, SSM, AerDux, Luthe Sheet Metal, Fisher Balancing

In Pennsylvania

Thermo Design, Donovan, Air Concepts, Ernest D. Menold

If you need directions to any of the Shops, please contact Joe Rispo at the Union Hall starting at 6am tomorrow.

After all these years of working together to advance our industry, all the hard work that Local 19 Members put in year in and year out this is what we get from the Contractor's Association."

Agreement expired at Midnight on April 30, 2013. No tentative agreement has been reported at this time.