It’s time for
non-committal members of the PA General Assembly to show their support and put in their appearances at
the weekly Friday informational protests outside the Convention Center. They
also need to pressure the Convention Center management demanding an end to an
unfair lock out.
Calling in their
dues for the support they have gotten over the years are the Metropolitan
Regional Council of Carpenters and the Teamsters Union.
This week both
unions received support from the Selection Committee which visited here to see if Philadelphia
should be picked as the site for the Democratic National Convention. Gov. Ed
Rendell, Congressman Bob Brady, and Mayor Nutter, who are among the organizers
hoping to woo the Convention, heard the message from the Selection Committee,
which was “We know this is a union city. We don’t understand why the discord!”
In full page ads in
the main media and the Philadelphia Public Record this week, both Unions stated
“The Carpenters and Teamsters Unions will only support candidates willing to
stand up for working men and women and who support ending our LOCKOUT from the
Pennsylvania Convention Center.”
The message
continued: “The Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters and the Teamsters
Union both signed the Convention Center’s ‘Customer Satisfaction Agreement.’
Management refused to accept our signed agreements and have LOCKED US
OUT—refusing to let us work in the center.”
When the facts are
made known, it is clear the State’s Convention Authority is in the wrong. The
big question to Gov. Tom Corbett is “Are You happy with the feud? We asked him a while back, “When will you
step in to break the lockout?” His answer was “When the time is ripe?”
Our question to him
now is “Will the time be right after you’ve lost the election, in part due to
your inaction with the lockout?”
He should wake up to
an opportunity to earn some Union friends, especially with the repercussions
felt across the state, when the Wolf-Stack team picked up an important
endorsement from PA chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which followed
the endorsement from Lodge 5.
FOP consists of the
Commonwealth’s current and former law enforcement officials and their
endorsement is particularly sought after because unlike many other labor unions
they don’t consistently choose one party over another. Gov. Corbett won the
group’s support back in 2010. At the time, the candidate and the group’s
leaders made a big show of the endorsement, holding a joint press conference.
“We’ve been solidly
behind Tom Wolf from the beginning and carried that over to the state,” Lodge 5
President John McNesby, who represents Philadelphia, stated. “We feel it’s time
for a change and we are looking forward to the next four years. This is one
endorsement the FOP was clearly and fully behind and sends the message that
we’re gonna get out there in.
So we see the
Convention issue becoming an agenda item when Corbett and Wolf debate in three
different locations across the state. The first debate is in the Harrisburg
media market on September 22 in Hershey, PA at the 30th Annual Pennsylvania Chamber
of Commerce dinner. The second debate, October 1 at KYW-TV studios in
Philadelphia. The final October 8 at the WTAE-TV studios in Wilkinsburg and
will be shown in the Pittsburgh media market.
A plus for Corbett
is the fact the Harris Poll finds registered Pennsylvanians of both parties not
only support increased energy development, but are more likely to vote for
candidates who promote increased production of oil and gas. But, remember, the
poll was conducted on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute.
Republican Party of
Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason stated
“The War on Coal is costing hundreds of Pennsylvanians their jobs and
endangering the livelihoods of thousands more. The War on Coal is putting the
jobs of every coal worker at risk. Recently, 500 workers in our Commonwealth
received pink slips because President Barack Obama is choosing ideology over
our economy.”
Source: Philadelphia
Public Record
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