$35 million expansion coming to Village at Newtown shopping center

Prospects for shoppers and foodies around Newtown Township will soon expand along with a prominent shopping hub in the community.

Supervisors approved Brixmor Property Group's master plan for the Village at Newtown shopping center, which sits on 33.81 acres along Eagle and Durham roads, 4-1 Wednesday evening.

Brixmor intends to invest more than $35 million into developing six new structures, including a bank and a cafe, and demolishing two others, which now contain a Bank of America, Bright Now! Dental, auto insurance provider McCorriston Agency and a vacant space.

Construction Unions Focus on Flagship Facilities for Training

If you build a state-of-the-art construction union training center, members will come from far and wide.

Some building trades unions have taken the expensive but potentially advantageous step of consolidating their training operations at a regional or even national level. These centers offer education on cutting-edge construction technologies and other industry advancements that locals might not have the resources to showcase.

Case in point: The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters is set to finish building a major training center next to its headquarters in Edison, N.J., by year-end.

The regional council has invested about $30 million in the center, which will be the hub for training the approximately 1,500 registered carpenter apprentices in New Jersey when it opens at the start of 2018, Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Ballantyne told Bloomberg BNA. The union sees its training and apprenticeship programs as its “jewel,” he said.

Firm buys 3 closed Bucks schools for $800K, plans senior housing

A construction company scooped up three shuttered Bucks County elementary schools for a total of $770,000 and a nonprofit bought a fourth for $180,000 with plans to convert the Bristol Township properties into age-restricted housing, according to a report.

The Bristol Township School District began marketing the four elementary schools more than a year ago, according to the Bucks County Courier Times, which said the schools' locations on neighborhood street, instead of major thoroughfares, led to more restrictions on the properties' future uses.

Two Harley-Davidson unions pull out of joint-decisionmaking pact

MILWAUKEE -- Two labor unions that represent most of the production employees at Harley-Davidson say they’ve terminated an agreement with the company aimed at fostering collaboration and joint decisions on a wide range of issues.

 

The United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers say ending the agreement, which was in place for 22 years, sends a message that relations with Milwaukee-based Harley have soured.

“It has become apparent to me that for the last seven years Harley-Davidson has been, and continues to, systematically dismantle its hourly workforce through various means,” said Robert Martinez Jr., president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

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Administration Scraps Local-Hiring Plan for Public Works

The Trump administration is abandoning another Obama-era regulatory initiative, killing a plan to allow cities to set aside work for local residents on federally funded public works projects.

The provision, proposed in 2015, has been winding its way through the approvals process since then but never took effect.

No reason was given for the Transportation Department’s withdrawal of the plan, set to take effect on Friday.

Mazzoni staff votes to unionize

Mazzoni Center staff members voted to form a union with SEIU Wednesday.

"Today, a majority of eligible members of Mazzoni’s staff voted for a union to represent them," Mazzoni Center Interim CEO Steve Glassman said in a statement.

Representatives of Mazzoni who voted to unionize weren't immediately available for comment. According to the Black & Brown Workers Collective, the vote was 51-35.

Methacton School District contract negotiations at an impasse

NORRISTOWN >> A teachers’ strike could be looming in the Methacton School District if an impasse in contract negotiations is not resolved within quickly approaching deadlines.

The school board announced in a press release last week that it has unilaterally filed a fact-finding request with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in an effort to settle on a contract with the Methacton Education Association, which represents 403 educators who teach approximately 5,000 students in the district’s seven schools.

If the PLRB accepts the school district’s request, a neutral third party will be assigned to perform a 40-day review of proposals from each side and file a report with contract recommendations.

The district and the union would then have 10 days to accept or reject the report in a process that would culminate on Nov. 19.

Although a strike is prohibited while fact-finding is underway, the MEA could preclude the process should teachers choose to walk before Sept. 19.

According to the district, most major issues, including the development of salary schedules and work schedules, have been resolved, but a chasm remains between labor and management when it comes to health care coverage and premium sharing, which the district says it wants to bring in line with neighboring school districts.

The teachers, who say they were blindsided and disappointed by the district’s decision to unilaterally file for the fact-finding request a day after lengthy negotiations broke down, argue that they have made considerable concessions to help the district stay solvent through the Great Recession and feel disrespected by having being presented with a contract that would place them near the top of the county in terms of premium-sharing expense while remaining below the county average in salaries.

“Our goal is to settle the contract as soon as possible through bargaining,” said Diana Kernop, co-president of the MEA. “We feel that there are very few issues separating us.”

With fact-finding, either party could put issues back in play that could block a more easily attainable settlement, she added.

“The district needs to continue to make an investment in their teachers. We work hard, and we’re a very high-performing district,” she said.

Kernop cited a pay freeze and delayed salary increases in the previous two four-year contracts, respectively, as examples of concessions from teachers that allowed the district to “improve their finances dramatically.”

She also pointed to the “countless hours” teachers put in during the restructuring period surrounding the recent closing of Audubon Elementary School and said for the first time in her 40-year career, she is seeing retention issues with teachers in the district.

“We want them to respect us and we want them to put education first, but you can’t put education first if you put teachers last,” Kernop said.

Central Pa. lawmakers renew bid to ban project labor agreements

In a move they say would bring down costs on public construction projects, two Republican lawmakers from Central Pennsylvania want to end the use of so-called project labor agreements in the commonwealth.

Lancaster County Sen. Scott Martin, a former county commissioner, this week introduced Senate Bill 881 to prohibit the agreements, known as PLAs. Cumberland County Rep. Stephen Bloom plans to introduce a companion bill in the House.

PLAs have a long history in the U.S. and were originally tied to long-term government projects as a way to ensure projects were completed on time and on budget.

Philadelphia stagehands union to strike against Walnut Street Theatre

The Philadelphia Stagehands Union Local 8 will go on strike against the Walnut Street Theatre, which stagehand officials allege discriminated against two of its now-terminated members.

The 750-member Local 8 at 5 p.m. on Wednesday will go on strike after the theater company allegedly terminated two stagehand members over the Labor Day weekend, according to a release issued Wednesday by the union.

As relationship sours with Harley-Davidson, labor unions end partnership agreement

Two labor unions that represent most of the production employees at Harley-Davidson Inc. say they’ve terminated an agreement with the company that had fostered collaboration and joint decisions on a wide range of issues. 

The United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers say ending the agreement, which was in place for 22 years, sends a message that relations with Milwaukee-based Harley have soured. 

L+I adds offices plus inspectors to meet demand of Philadelphia's real estate boom

For years, Philadelphia’s developers have complained and fretted about staffing at the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L+I). In 2017, the agency may finally be able to come close to giving them satisfaction.

TESD, Teachers Contract Negotiations Entering Fact Finding Stage

A neutral fact finder will have 40 days to create and issue a report with recommendations for a potential contract agreement.

 

TREDYFFRIN-EASTTOWN, PA – As contract discussions continue between the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District (TESD) and the Tredyffrin/Easttown Education Association (TEEA), the parties are about to enter a fact-finding phase in hopes of reaching an agreement, according to the district.

Fact finding entails a neutral third party assigned by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to examine the positions of both parties and to make recommendations in the hopes of finding a solution to the contract impasse, the district said.

Senate introduces workers' rights bill to rein in unions

Senate Republicans introduced legislation Thursday that would radically reshape federal labor law by giving dissenting workers additional rights to reject or refuse unions.

Called the Employee Rights Act, the legislation would require unions to get written permission from members before using their dues for political purposes. It would also mandate recertification votes following significant turnover at a workplace to determine if the union still has majority support of workers, among other changes.

"Anyone whose real concern is preserving the rights of individual workers should support the Employee Rights Act, which addresses many issues plaguing Americans in the workplace," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, lead sponsor of the legislation. "This comprehensive workers' rights bill does not include a single provision that empowers employers at the expense of unions. The only parties whose position will be improved by this legislation are employees. The Employee Rights Act is not a Democrat or Republican issue — it is simply a commonsense solution to champion workers' rights and strengthen our economy."

Unions bolster their numbers in New York City: The latest stats show unions represent a quarter of workers

Unions may be in trouble in most places in the country, but they continue to hold their own in New York City.

The latest report from the Murphy Institute at the CUNY Graduate Center shows that 24.2% of all workers in the city belong to unions, which is a slight uptick in the last year and more than double the 10.7% figure for the nation as a whole.

Here are the key numbers on unions in New York, all from the just released The State of Unions 2017.

17.2%: The percentage of private-sector New York workers in unions, compared with 6.4% nationally

69.6%: The percentage of public-sector New York workers in unions, compared with 35.7% nationally. 

$26.40: Median hourly wage for unionized workers in New York, $8 more than the nonunion median.

This time it’s personal: LaBarbera says nonunion group’s opposition to construction safety bill is “hypocritical”

Union group says ABC doesn't promote diversity

The Building and Construction Trades Council is ramping up its attacks on a nonunion group that it says isn’t very active in New York City, as the City Council continues to negotiate a contentious construction safety bill.

The group released the results from a public information request for data from the state Department of Labor, which shows details on members of the Associated Builders and Contractors who are involved in construction training programs. The data, BCTC argues, shows that ABC, which is based in upstate New York, is minimally involved in the city and that its membership isn’t diverse. According to the data provided, only 46 people were trained through an apprenticeship program sponsored by ABC in New York City and Long Island. Of that group, 73.9 percent are white, 19.5 percent are Hispanic and 6.5 percent are black, according to roster reports provided to the state.

ABC has been one of the most vocal groups to oppose a construction safety bill that’s currently being negotiated by the City Council. The group, along with the Real Estate Board of New York, is part of a coalition that launched a campaign against the legislation, arguing that its 59-hour safety training requirement would disproportionately put minority workers at a disadvantage.

BCTC President Gary LaBarbera, who’s previously contended that ABC isn’t a major player in the city’s construction industry, said the Department of Labor data shows that ABC isn’t invested in promoting diversity.

“ABC is just oozing hypocrisy,” LaBarbera told The Real Deal on Wednesday. “Their own training program shows a lack of diversity.”

ABC president Brian Sampson said that the organization’s members hire workers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, who receive safety training regularly. He said that apprenticeship programs tend to focus on individual trades rather than safety training.

“The real story here is that after the Building Trades spent months trying to dismiss ABC’s presence and ignore us, they’ve now apparently changed course and are using their time and resources to publicly attack us,” he in a statement. “We’re surprised to see them expend so much energy on cherry picking misleading data, especially because they still haven’t publicly released the raw data on their own training programs in New York City and Long Island.”

Mazzoni Center mistakenly hires union-busting consulting firm with right wing, nationalist ties

There’s irony in the timing.

On the eve of Labor Day weekend – the holiday celebrating the accomplishments of America’s workforce and the work of labor unions – Steve Glassman, interim CEO of the Mazzoni Center, Philadelphia’s largest LGBT health-care facility, sent an email urging Mazzoni staff to vote against forming a union.

Glassman’s email arrives ahead of a scheduled staff vote on Sept. 13 on whether to join Service Employees International Union. Mazzoni staff has been advocating for recognition of their union by Mazzoni leadership and made a public statement of their intent during a community meeting held by the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs on Aug. 10. On Aug. 11,  SEIU filed an official petition with the National Labor Relations board for recognition of Mazzoni’s union, according to an email sent to SEIU Healthcare PA list serve.

However, perhaps more troubling than the Glassman’s email is the discovery that Creative Solutions and Visions, a consulting firm Mazzoni brass hired to educate employees on the pros and cons of forming a union, has ties to a right-wing hate group. Creative Solutions and Visions advertises itself as a consulting firm for “union avoidance,” and is founded by Keith Peraino, who also serves as CEO. Peraino also owns USA First 4 Ever, which is registered as a fictitious name of Creative Solutions and Visions in Florida.

Within social media content and posts for both Peraino and USA First 4 Ever are defenses of Neo-Nazis, suggestions the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, was staged, advocacy for banning Muslims from the United States, and perhaps most problematic given the nature of Mazzoni’s clientele: repeated homophobic and transphobic comments.

Sample posts from the USA First 4 Ever Twitter handle, the site linked to Keith Peraino, who is also the founder and CEO of Creative Solutions and Visions. | Twitter screenshot

Local 773 placed under 'emergency trusteeship' as general manager is ousted over allegations of firearm intimidation

The Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 773, which has been the subject of scrutiny for its alleged involvement in events culminating in a housing crisis in Cairo, has been placed under "emergency trusteeship," according to a letter by LIUNA’s Washington, D.C.-based president, Terry O'Sullivan.

The action amounts to the national union assuming operational control of the Local. The letter from O'Sullivan, dated Sept. 1, is taped to the door of the Local 773’s administrative offices located in Marion on Ed Smith Way, a street named for the founder’s son, Edward Smith, originally of Cairo, who rose through the LIUNA ranks and became a Democratic Party player on the state and national scene.

The Local 773 represents about 4,200 workers nationally, including about 2,000 local government employees and private sector laborers, primarily in the construction industry, in Southern Illinois. In the public sphere, the Local 773 represents a variety of city, county, courthouse and housing authority employees across multiple counties regionally, according to information a union representative previously provided to the newspaper.

Post Bros. proposes apartments for blighted 'Quaker' warehouse in North Philly

Post Bros. proposes apartments for blighted 'Quaker' warehouse in North Philly Philadelphia’s Post Bros. 

property group plans a 350-unit apartment building in the now-decaying shell of a hulking former warehouse in North Philadelphia’s Poplar neighborhood, an area that has until now largely evaded the gaze of big developers.

The Post Bros. plan calls for renovating the 10-story industrial structure known as the Quaker building at 900 N. Ninth St. into high-end apartments, with lower-floor retail and office space, company president Matthew Pestronk said in an interview this week. A new parking structure would be built on an adjacent lot with space for about 135 vehicles, he said.

EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – JUNE 2017

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $35.28 per hour worked in June 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $24.10 per hour worked and accounted for 68.3 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $11.18 and accounted for the remaining 31.7 percent. The employer costs for retirement and savings averaged $1.92 per employee hour worked (5.4 percent of total compensation). (See table 1.)

Philadelphia Zoo gets preliminary OK for $11.5M dining expansion

America’s First Zoo, like everyone else in this town, can’t resist a good roof deck.

At Wednesday’s Art Commission meeting, the Philadelphia Zoo unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art dining facility that would increase the capacity of its restaurant by nearly seven-fold.

The Philadelphia Zoo estimates construction will cost $11.5 million.

“We haven’t made an investment in our zoo guest-member amenities of this kind in a number of years,” said Amy Shearer, the zoo’s chief marketing officer, reached by phone late Wednesday afternoon. “We were able to put together a design that really blurs the line between indoors and outdoors. People won’t have to stop their visit to eat. Instead it’s a big part of the visit and the experience will really speak to the idea of nature, our role on the plant, and how we fit within it.”