SEPTA advances plan for NHSL extension to King of Prussia, but some residents aren’t on board

SEPTA recently took another laborious step in the long journey to extending the Norristown High Speed Line (NHSL) to King of Prussia, releasing a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in conjunction with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

SEPTA has spent the last year and a half preparing the 689-page report, which lays out the extension’s path, and trying to win over skeptical residents of the township best known for its massive mall.

The EIS narrows down the previous set of five alternatives for building the $1 billion to $1.2 billion extension to just one preferred route, which will branch out from the NHSL between the Hughes Park and Dekalb St. stations to follow a PECO service line, then follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike until the King of Prussia Mall, from where it would turn north along an industrial track and then follow 1st Avenue until the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 16 - 20, 2017

C Cases

Local 560, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (County Concrete Corporation)  (22-CC-083895 and 22-CE-084893)  Union City, NJ, October 17, 2017.  The General Counsel filed a renewed Motion for Default Judgment pursuant to the terms of an informal settlement agreement and the Board’s instructions in Teamsters Local 560 (County Concrete Corp.), 362 NLRB No. 183 (2015) (denying, without prejudice, the General Counsel’s motion to strike portions of the Respondent’s answer, for summary default judgment, and for the issuance of a Board decision and order, and permitting the General Counsel to file a renewed motion).  In its Order, the Board denied the General Counsel’s renewed Motion for Default Judgment and remanded the proceeding to the Regional Director for appropriate action consistent with the Board’s Order.  In reaching this determination, the Board stated that the General Counsel provided a sufficient explanation of how the violations in Teamsters Local 560 (County Concrete Corp.), 362 NLRB No. 183 (2015) breached the terms of the Performance provision in the settlement agreement.  However, the Board further explained, it was compelled to deny the renewed Motion for Default Judgment because the complaint fails to allege violations of Section 8(e), 8(b)(4)(ii)(A), and 8(b)(4)(ii)(B).  Charges filed by County Concrete Corporation.  Chairman Miscimarra and Members Pearce and McFerran participated.

Work starts on apartment tower near Temple U. and historic North Broad Street venues

Crews have begun work on an 18-story metal-and-glass-clad apartment building near Temple University that will share a North Broad Street block with the historic Blue Horizon boxing venue and New Freedom Theatre.

At HCR ManorCare in Salisbury, a two-year labor dispute continues to linger

Standing down the road from the Salisbury Township adult care facility where she has worked for the past four years, Ruth Santamaria donned a red union cap, clutched a megaphone and gripped a sign that read, “Every day is Halloween at ManorCare. They suck workers’ blood.”

Santamaria was among several employees who joined representatives from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — the union HCR ManorCare workers voted to join — at a rally Tuesday afternoon at the busy intersection of Cedar Crest Boulevard and Fish Hatchery Road, a football field from HCR ManorCare at 1265 S. Cedar Crest Blvd.

Mid-rise apartment proposal replaces tower plan for University City car wash site

Plans for a high-rise apartment tower at the current site of the Chestnut Wash N Lube car wash in University City have been scaled back, with a six-story building now being proposed for the property instead.

Apartments, preschool and offices to replace lot and vacant homes in West Philly

Affordable housing developer Mission First Housing group is planning a complex of apartments, shops, offices and early learning classrooms that will cover an entire West Philadelphia block at 59th and Market Streets.

The New Market West project is to include 41 dwelling units, nearly 68,000 square feet of office space, 13,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and a 10,000-square-foot early childhood education center, as well as a 3,700-square-foot community room, according to a presentation posted online Wednesday to the website of Philadelphia’s Civic Design Review board.

Commercial tenants are to include social services provider ACHIEVEability, which plans to move from its existing location on 60th Street, north of Market Street, said Mark Deitcher, Mission First’s business development director. Narberth-based Montgomery Early Learning Centers chief executive Ann O’Brien said her company is in talks with the developer to occupy the classroom space.

The $63 million project, which is also designed to include an 80-space underground parking garage, would replace 1.5 acres of empty homes, an unused gas station, and a parking lot.

The Civic Design Review committee, which makes nonbinding suggestions concerning Philadelphia’s biggest development proposals as part of the city’s construction-approval process, is scheduled to consider the New Market West plan on Nov. 7.

Source: Philly.com

Wills Eye moves to raze buildings at site of hoped-for expansion

Wills Eye Hospital has moved to raze two vacant townhouses at the corner of Ninth and Locust Streets just south of its main Walnut Street building, where it has said it wants to build a new research and medical-care facility.

The eye-care hospital has filed a request with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to demolish the properties at 229 and 231 S. Ninth St., spokeswoman Cathy Moss said in an e-mail Wednesday.

The houses are the only standing structures on a hospital-owned strip of nine properties that are not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

Philly business yearns for a tax cut to combat a regional slowdown

U.S. stock prices keep hitting record highs, as hope and greed push past fear. But back on the ground, where real companies add locations and hire people, “we’ve seen a little bit of a slowdown,” says Bruce Van Saun, chief executive of Citizens Financial Group, whose Citizens Bank has the biggest branch network in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

Councilman calls for killing 10-year cap on real estate tax exemption

Councilman Kenyatta Johnson proposed an amendment to the city’s Longtime Owner Occupant of Program (LOOP) tax exemption program on Thursday. The proposal would eliminate the ten-year limit on the program for participants who do not meet the low-income requirements.

LOOP began in 2014 as a way to protect longtime Philadelphians against a jump in their real estate taxes following a property value reassessment under former Mayor Michael Nutter’s Actual Value Initiative (AVI).
The AVI resulted in higher values for many Philadelphia homes, which increased tax bills. City Council took steps to protect longtime residents against the tax hike, fearing it would price them out of their homes in booming areas.

New Jersey Contractor Cited for Scaffold Hazards

OSHA has cited the owner of a South Jersey construction company for exposing workers to serious scaffold hazards at a job site in Philadelphia. Inspectors found employees performing work using a scaffold that was dangerously close to power lines. Vyacheslav Leshko, owner of DH Construction LLC, was cited for repeat and serious violations that include exposing workers to fall and electrical hazards, failing to train employees on scaffold hazards and not implementing an accident prevention program. The owner faces $191,215 in proposed penalties. Read the news release for more information.

OSHA Signs Partnerships to Protect Pennsylvania Construction Workers

OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program provides opportunities for OSHA to partner with employers, workers, professional or trade associations, labor organizations, and other interested stakeholders. Strategic Partnerships are designed to eliminate serious hazards and enhance workplace safety and health practices in major corporations, government agencies, at large construction projects and private sector industries.

• Shoemaker-Skanska Construction and the Philadelphia Regional Building Trades Council entered into a strategic partnership to protect approximately 300 workers during renovation and construction of a shopping mall complex in Philadelphia. The goal of the partnership is to reduce injuries and illnesses, increase safety and health training, conduct effective health monitoring, and increase the number of employers with safety and health programs.
• P.J. Dick Incorporated entered into a strategic partnership to protect approximately 200 workers during the construction of an insurance office building in Erie. The goal of the partnership is to eliminate serious workplace hazards, prevent work-related injuries and fatalities, and develop an effective safety and health program. For more information, see the news release.

New OSHA Training Institute Education Centers Announced

Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pa., and Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., have been selected as the newest additions to the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Centers network. OTI Education Centers are non-profit organizations that offer training on OSHA standards and occupational safety and health issues to workers and employers nationwide.

Builders Guild website emphasizes construction apprenticeships

A new website for the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania is hoping to encourage training in construction during a building boom in the region.

The website for the labor-management organization, comprised of commercial construction trade unions and contractors, focuses on recruiting apprentices into construction trades.

Apprenticeship training is led by each of the 12 trade union through joint apprenticeship training centers, where there is no cost to the student for the three- to five-year programs, during which they are paid on the job. Hourly rates increase after each year of training is completed. 

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 10 - 13, 2017

Midwest Terminals of Toledo International, Inc.  (08-CA-135971 and 08-CA-136613; 365 NLRB No. 138)  Toledo, OH, October 11, 2017.

The Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s conclusions that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by unilaterally changing the selection process and criteria for adding employees to its contractual skilled employee list, and violated Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by discriminatorily denying an employee placement on the skilled list because of his union support and activities (while concurring in finding the Sec. 8(a)(3) violation, Chairman Miscimarra, unlike his colleagues, did not rely on any evidence of the Respondent’s contemporaneous unfair labor practice charges).  Specifically, the Respondent hires from an “Order of Call,” which is divided into a “skilled list” of employees who are generally expected to work on a daily basis and a “regular list” of laborers who work more sporadically.  The Board found that the Respondent departed from an established past practice of meeting with the Union to discuss and confer over the selection of employees for skilled list placement before placing them.  Further, the Board found that the Respondent improperly disregarded the contractual qualifications and seniority rules for skilled list placement by selecting certain employees over others.  Finally, as to one such employee, the Respondent’s denial of placement on the skilled list also violated the Act based on record evidence of antiunion animus.

Where are Philly's jobs? Protesters cited at Center City hotel

A dozen protesters, many of them either clergy or members of the hospitality workers’ union, were issued citations Thursday evening as they massed in the lobby of the Aloft Hotel at Broad and Arch Streets, Philadelphia police said.

The protesters said the 179-room hotel, a conversion of the 1920s Liberty Title & Trust Building, received $33 million in government subsidies on the promise of providing 170 jobs, including 115 in a restaurant. The hotel opened Aug. 31 without the restaurant and its jobs, the protesters said

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, now owned by Marriott International Inc., is operating the hotel. No one from the company’s press office responded to a request for comment.

City Council mulls bills on demolition regulation

Philadelphia plans to tighten regulations on demolitions after a year of heightened fears of lead poisoning in construction-heavy residential neighborhoods.

At Thursday’s City Council session two bills were introduced, both drafted by the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I).

Dispute among Philly's building trades unions

Inside, patrons play the slots. Outside, unions are in disagreement over who should build signs at the Parx Casino expansion in Bucks County.

Building Trades Council leader John Dougherty has scheduled a meeting Friday morning with union leaders a week after Gary J. Masino resigned as the president of a key BTC subcommittee, the Mechanical Trades District Council of Delaware Valley. Masino is president and business manager of Local 19 of the Sheet Metal Workers International Union. In his resignation letter, Masino says he is resigning over a conflict of interest, accusing another union in the Mechanical Trades of raiding his members’ work.

According to sources, the dispute is between the sheet metal workers union and the electricians’ union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, over who should do work on electronic signs constructed at projects on Market Street and at the Parx Casino in Bucks County.

FMI Industry Survey - 2017 Talent Development in the Construction Industry

In today’s fast-changing and competitive business landscape, engineering and construction firms are vying to attract and retain the best people more than ever. Findings from this year’s talent development study paint a mixed picture of how construction firms are addressing people development.

In many cases, the topics of human resources (HR) and talent development are still being tackled in a very tactical, piecemeal manner, at best. Leading firms, however, recognize the need for a systematic and strategic approach and are investing in the necessary people and resources to set up long-term talent management programs.

Key findings from our study include:

• 89% of participants reported talent shortages in this year’s survey.
• 75% of participants have made changes to their training programs in the last two years, with mixed results.
• 43% of survey participants reported that their firms don’t prepare a formal annual training and development budget.
• Training and development programs aren’t very effective (score of 5.8 out of 10).
• Most firms struggle with performance management (score of 5 out of 10).
• Organizations with the highest employee retention have committed to rich professional development cultures and have effective performance management processes.
• 55% of survey respondents don’t have any formal processes in place for identifying and developing high-potential employees. 

Download the Survey

 

Builders Guild website emphasizes construction apprenticeships

A new website for the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania is hoping to encourage training in construction during a building boom in the region.

The website for the labor-management organization, comprised of commercial construction trade unions and contractors, focuses on recruiting apprentices into construction trades.

Apprenticeship training is led by each of the 12 trade union through joint apprenticeship training centers, where there is no cost to the student for the three- to five-year programs, during which they are paid on the job. Hourly rates increase after each year of training is completed. 

Led by the $6 billion Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, construction projects are underway throughout the region that the Builders Guild wants to help prepare workers for, said Jeff Nobers, executive director of the group, in the release.

“The new website gives a much deeper explanation of how the trade apprenticeship programs function and highlights the people who make up the apprentices in the construction trades in our region,” he said. “There is a definitive and immediate need for those who want to build a long-term career and to leave a legacy as being part of the massive and positive changes that are and will continue to occur here.”

Largest Pittsburgh-area Construction Projects

Ranked by Total project cost

Rank	Project	Total project cost
1	Shell ethane cracker plant site preparation	$6 billion
2	Monongahela Locks & Dams replacement/expansion	$2.7 billion
3	Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station

Source: Pittsburgh Business Times

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 2 - 6, 2017

Novato Healthcare Center  (20-CA-168351; 365 NLRB No. 137)  Novato, CA, September 29, 2017.

The Board unanimously adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s conclusions that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by suspending and discharging four employees because of their union activity and a fifth, neutral employee in order to justify its disciplines of the first four.  A majority (Members Pearce and McFerran) also adopted the judge’s conclusion that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by coercively interrogating an employee.  Dissenting, Chairman Miscimarra would not have found that the Respondent’s question to the employee was unlawful.

Nurses union fires director over financial irregularities

When Patricia Eakin, a retired Temple University emergency room nurse and the president of a fast-growing nurses union, got the news, her stomach twisted into a knot.

“Of course I feel betrayed,” said Eakin, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP).

The news was a Sept. 27 report from the union’s outside auditor: Something was wrong. There had been three years of overpayments for salary advances and vacation advance pay — $131,282 in all, with the biggest amount, $120,687 going to the union’s executive director, William P. Cruice, a lawyer. Smaller amounts were issued to a field organizer and an office administrator. The organizer has been placed on leave and the administrator is being carefully supervised, Eakin said.

Camden undaunted on Amazon headquarters bid, as N.J. backs Newark

Camden County officials say they plan to press forward with their bid to host Amazon’s second headquarters campus, even after the State of New Jersey announced that it would throw its weight — and offers of tax breaks — behind rival Newark’s efforts to lure the e-commerce giant.

Nurses union demands executive director's resignation over alleged 'financial irregularities'

The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals said Tuesday it "demanded and received" the resignation of the union's executive director after a routine audit conducted by an outside accounting firm discovered some "financial irregularities."

Bill Cruice had led PASNAP during a period of rapid growth that saw its membership grow by nearly 70 percent last year to more than 8,000 members after it signed nurses at five area hospitals.

The financial irregularities concerned allegedly unauthorized advancements and expenditures.

Finally completed, 500 Walnut is the latest ultra-luxury building to join Philly's skyline

The condominium tower that made Philadelphia history last year when it sold its penthouse for a record-breaking $17.85 million celebrated its grand opening Tuesday, at a ceremony joined by Mayor Kenney, city officials, and developers from across the region.

The completion of 500 Walnut, the 26-story high-rise that sits across from Independence Hall, marks the end of the more than three-year endeavor by developer Tom Scannapieco to build on one of Philadelphia’s more challenging sites. Even more, with most condos in the building priced between $3.1 million and $9 million, 500 Walnut adds yet another ultra-luxury residential tower to Philadelphia’s skyline — signaling an ever-growing category of high-end real estate in the city as Philadelphia continues to grow wealthier and more attractive.

Group forms to back rail to King of Prussia as vital city-suburban link

A new group of business, civic, and academic leaders backing SEPTA’s proposed Norristown High Speed Line extension to King of Prussia is portraying the project as a crucial link between the region’s largest suburban employment center and Philadelphia’s urban core.

The King of Prussia Rail Coalition was formed to promote the extension after the release late last week of a draft report on the project’s impact, an important early phase of development. Jerry Sweeney, president and chief executive of Philadelphia developer Brandywine Realty Trust, was named the group’s chairman.

The project would branch off the existing line a few stops shy of its Norristown terminus, wending west through about four miles of Upper Merion Township to end near the Valley Forge Casino Resort after stopping at the King of Prussia Mall, the King of Prussia Business Park, and other locations.

Kumho Tire employees vote ‘no’ to union. United Steelworkers to file objection

Employees at the Kumho Tire plant in Macon voted 164 to 136 against representation by the United Steelworkers union.

But it’s not the final move by the union.

“We will file objections to the election because we believe the employer committed many unfair labor practices,” Maria Somma, director of organizing with the steelworkers union in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in an email late Friday night. “We will file with the national labor relations board.”

Facade of S. Broad St. health center building designated historic as developers bid for property

The facade of the mid-20th century District Health Center No. 1 building at 500 S. Broad St. has been added to the city’s Register of Historic Places, potentially complicating efforts to redevelop the property after it is vacated before the end of next year.

The Philadelphia Historical Commission’s historical designation committee named the three-story building’s glazed-brick exterior to the register at a meeting Friday, according to a release from the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, which nominated the property for the list.

Zoning do-over declined for Post Bros.'s Quaker building project, leaving decision to courts

Philadelphia zoning officials have voted against revisiting their rejection last month of a plan by the Post Bros. property group to convert a decayed North Philadelphia warehouse into apartments, leaving the fate of the structure known as the Quaker Building to be decided in court.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously Wednesday not to reconsider its Sept. 13 ruling against allowing residences on the 900 N. Ninth St. parcel, which is designated for industrial use, city spokesman Paul Chrystie said in an email Thursday.

KOZs proposed, renewed to lure Amazon to University City

Philadelphia is preparing an incentive package for Amazon, in hopes of attracting the corporation to establish its second headquarters in the city. This week, legislation is advancing to help sweeten the offer.

On Tuesday, City Council’s Finance Committee gave a favorable vote to a bill that would renew twelve Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) designations for properties in University City. The bill also gives approval for the city to seek seven additional KOZ designations in the same area, many of which were unsuccessfully submitted for consideration last year. The Wolf administration, however, put a freeze on tax break programs during the budget standoff, so the city’s submissions last year were rejected.