Service Employees International Union Archives

Top Contender to Take over Massive Union Has Repeatedly Been Accused of Union Busting

March 8, 2024 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

The presumptive heir to the position of president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has had employees under her command complain of union-busting tactics and retaliation, according to a report from the Center for Union Facts.

April Verrett, the current secretary treasurer of the SEIU and the former president of SEIU Local 2015, is a top contender to replace the current outgoing president, Mary Kay Henry, according to the report. In both positions, Verrett was reportedly part of the management that faced off with SEIU employees, who had organized separately from the SEIU, about working conditions and contract negotiations.

Commentary: Public Employees Opt Out of Their Union as Soon as They Know They Can

June 14, 2023June 16, 2023 Admin

A new media campaign unveiled last month in Philadelphia and New Jersey is providing empirical evidence of what’s been obvious anecdotally all along — it isn’t loyalty that keeps so many public employees ensnared in a labor union five years after the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory membership and dues.

It’s fear and lack of information.

Parker and Oh to Compete for Philadelphia Mayor This Fall

May 17, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Philadelphia’s Democratic voters nominated Cherelle Parker in Tuesday’s mayoral primary election.

The former state representative and former ninth-district city councilwoman will face a downhill general-election battle against David Oh (R-At-Large) whose bid for the Republican nod was uncontested.

Democrats Maintain Control of Pennsylvania House With Boyd’s Win

May 17, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Democrat Heather Boyd defeated Republican Katie Ford in a Delaware County-based special election on Tuesday to occupy the seat recently vacated by Democratic Pennsylvania state Representative Mike Zabel.

Democrats held a one-seat majority in the chamber since the new legislative session began last autumn, but Zabel jeopardized his party’s hold on the House when he resigned in response to allegations he made untoward sexual advances toward multiple women.

Republican State Senator Proposes $15 Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Bill

April 24, 2023April 23, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s state Senate Republican Policy chair on Friday said he’s sponsoring legislation gradually raising the commonwealth’s minimum hourly wage to $15 and thence indexing it to inflation.

Senator Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), one of his chamber’s most moderate Republicans representing one of its most electorally competitive districts, said in a statement that he carefully mulled the issue before announcing his measure. The Keystone State’s pay floor rose to $7.25 per hour in 2008, matching the federal minimum wage, and the senator insisted now is the time for an increase, observing that 30 states now set their floors higher.

While Pennsylvania Labor Secretary Pushes Minimum Wage Hike, Few Workers Make Only $7.25 an Hour

March 29, 2023March 28, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) officials testified before state senators Tuesday, requesting an increase in the department’s budget as well as a hike in the commonwealth’s minimum wage.

Governor Josh Shapiro’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 spending proposal envisions an 11.4-percent rise in L&I’s allocation to $89.8 million. The agency’s acting secretary Nancy Walker also asked lawmakers to consider backing the governor’s goal to raise the Keystone State’s legal wage floor to $15 per hour.

Gov. Shapiro’s Pennsylvania Budget Proposal Rewards Union Donors

March 14, 2023March 13, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Unions donated copiously to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) during last year’s gubernatorial campaign and they’ll reap a handsome reward if the legislature approves a particular item in Shapiro’s proposed budget.

The Fiscal Year 2023-24 spending plan includes a $1,274,000 initiative to increase by one-third the number of labor law compliance investigators at the commonwealth’s Department of Labor and Industry. The text of Shapiro’s proposal expresses concern that more labor cases need to be probed and that businesses need more education on workers’ right to organize.

Pennsylvania House Republicans, Union Want Zabel to Resign over Harassment Allegations

March 3, 2023March 2, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania House Republicans and a union representing many social-service workers are calling on state Representative Mike Zabel (D-Drexel Hill) to resign over allegations he sexually harassed one of that union’s lobbyists.

Andi Perez, the political director of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Division of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is accusing Zabel of inappropriately touching her and not immediately relenting after she backed away from him.

Pennsylvania Republican House Leaders Discuss Speaker’s Stalling Reconvening of Session, Failure to Investigate Harassment

February 28, 2023February 27, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania state House Republicans on Monday excoriated their Democratic counterparts for failing to reconvene and failing to start investigating sexual-harassment allegations against a Democratic House member.

Republicans have blasted Speaker Mark Rozzi (D-Temple) for dragging out the process of finalizing operating rules and bringing the House of Representatives back into session. The speaker, whose party holds a majority of seats, initially said he would only agree to allow legislation to be considered once the House voted on a measure allowing adults victims of sexual abuse to sue their alleged predators despite the statute of limitations. The House passed such legislation last week.