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Labor Report

Asbestos Discovered at Another Philadelphia Public School

The School District of Philadelphia has come under fire again from teachers and parents for its handling of asbestos contamination at one of the city’s public schools.

On October 24, the Inquirer reported that an environmental scientist for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers told district leaders in September that he had observed damaged asbestos insulation in the gymnasium at T.M. Peirce Elementary School in North Philadelphia after teachers had complained to him about the likely hazard. Yet, the district took no immediate action and allowed children to continue playing in the gym as recently as October 23.

After the newspaper questioned the district about the problem, the district dispatched a building inspector to Pierce on October 24. One day later, the district notified parents that it would close the gym and “remove all the asbestos pipe insulation as a ‘proactive’ measure since it’s a high-activity space,” according to a follow-up Inquirer report.

Parents began demonstrating outside the school on October 28 to raise awareness of the district’s alleged mishandling of the problem.

Earlier in October, the district was similarly criticized for its response to asbestos contamination that was discovered inside the shared building of Benjamin Franklin High School and Science Leadership Academy. Students were permitted to attend the schools until October 1 despite ongoing structural renovations inside the building. About 1,000 students missed a week of scheduled school days and were ultimately relocated to other sites. The district has said it plans to remediate the hazardous material and reopen the building to classes after the winter holiday period.

In apparent contrast to its handling of the Peirce situation, the district closed the gymnasium at Meredith Elementary in South Philadelphia in early September two days after learning that a longtime teacher there had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer closely linked to asbestos exposure.

USDOL Announces Record Wage-Theft Recovery, But Workers Still Losing Out on Billions

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it collected a record $322 million in wages owed to workers during Fiscal Year 2019, while conducting more than 3,700 educational outreach events to help employers “understand their responsibilities under the law.”

The record figure represented an increase of $18 million over the previous fiscal year and lifted the five-year total to more than $1.4 billion, with wages recovered for more than 1.3 million workers in that time.

In a news release, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who assumed office on September 30, said the figures represent the department’s “rigorous enforcement and robust compliance assistance.”

Yet, the total recovered is just a fraction of the billions of dollars stolen from workers annually, according to the National Employment Law Project.

In testimony to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services last April, NELP attorney Laura Huizar stated: “A 2017 study by the Economic Policy Institute looked at data from the ten most populous states and concluded that in those ten states, 2.4 million workers – or approximately 17% of the eligible low-wage workforce – lose $8 billion each year in unpaid minimum wages. Based on these findings, EPI estimates that ‘the total wages stolen from workers due to minimum wage violations exceeds $15 billion each year.’”

SE PA Public Broadcast Journalists Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize

News content creators at the Philadelphia region’s leading public broadcasting affiliate have voted nearly unanimously to unionize. As such, they join many newsrooms across the nation who have joined unions in recent years largely to provide themselves a level of protection against an often-volatile industry.

The Inquirer reported that journalists and other content producers at WHYY voted 70-1 to join SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 160,000 media workers. About 90 WHYY employees were eligible to vote. The tally was announced on October 30.

The network includes a Public Broadcasting System television affiliate and a National Public Radio affiliate, along with their online presence, WHYY.org.

In announcing the outcome via Twitter, union leaders stated: “We’re ready to negotiate for a fair contract worthy of our amazing unit, and fight to make sure our challenged colleagues are in our union. … This is just the beginning and there’s a lot of work still ahead and we appreciate all the support we’ve received from our community and colleagues across the country.”

WHYY CEO Bill Marrazzo said, according to the Inquirer, “WHYY is not for or against organized labor and we respect our employees’ right to seek unionization.”

According to the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, since 2015, journalists at about 30 news websites have unionized as have those at the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, New York magazine, The New Republic, the Hartford Courant, the Virginian-Pilot, and the Morning Call of Allentown, among others.

“The legacy newspapers that have unionized recently have done so largely because of accumulated anger about downsizing, years without raises, and ever-worsening health benefits,” Nieman reported. “Digital news sites generally unionized for different reasons: to lift the salary floor, win or improve basic benefits, and provide some cushion to the industry’s volatility.”

Striking Chicago Teachers Gain Staffing, Raises in Tentative Contract

Leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union have touted significant staffing and compensatory gains in the five-year tentative contract agreement they reached with the city’s public-school system on October 30, ending a 14-day teachers and staff walkout.

Yet, they cautioned that there may be opposition among rank-and-file members to some areas where negotiations did not produce the desired results.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the deal includes provisions for a nurse and a social worker in every school, every day, as well as a system for keeping class sizes in check and pay increases totaling 16% over the life of the deal. Yet, the union negotiators “didn’t get most of the prep time they sought,” while the contract is two years longer than they wanted.

Members had yet to ratify the deal on October 31. The strike involved about 25,000 CTU members as well as 11,000 staff represented by SEIU Local 73. Chicago has the nation’s third-largest public-school system with 300,000 students. It was the city’s longest schools strike since 1987.

The New York Times reported that the walkout has followed a series of major teacher strikes in largely conservative-leaning states like West Virginia and Oklahoma, as well as more-liberal cities like Los Angeles and Denver.

“What it says is that West Virginia and Oklahoma … wasn’t an isolated moment,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said according to the Times. “This is now a strategy.”

These strikes, including Chicago, have generally addressed social justice issues like class sizes and support staffing within the schools in addition to teacher compensation and benefits.

October 2019 National Jobs Update

The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate rose to 3.6% in October 2019, up 0.1% from September 2019. Over the month, unemployment rolls increased by 86,000 individuals, raising total unemployment to 5.855 million. National unemployment statistics for the month are as follows:

  • Total Unemployment – 5,855,000
  • Change Over Month –   UP   86,000
  • Change Over Year –   DOWN   257,000
  • Change Over Trump Term –   DOWN   1,710,000
  • Rate Change Over Month –   UP   0.1%
  • Rate Change Over Year –   DOWN   0.2%
  • Rate Change Over Trump Term –   DOWN   1.1%
  • Rate Change Over Obama 2nd Term –   DOWN   3.3%

As indicated above, total unemployment’s rounded percentage of the labor force, or unemployment rate, rose over the month (rate = unemployment / labor force). The labor force is the total number of employed individuals combined with the total number of unemployed individuals actively searching for work. Growth in the labor force can be a sign of a strengthening economy from more people working and/or more individuals searching for jobs. Marking a sixth consecutive monthly increase, the national labor force grew by 325,000 individuals from September to October 2019, a combination of total employment* rising by 241,000 individuals and total unemployment up by 86,000 individuals as noted above, pushing its total to a new record high of 164.3 million.
Since President Trump took office, the national labor force has grown by 4.671 million individuals (unemployment -1.710 million & employment +6.382 million), continuing progress made over President Obama’s second term when the national labor force grew by 3.930 million individuals (unemployment -4.906 million & employment +8.836 million). National labor force statistics for the month are as follows:

  • Total Labor Force – 164,364,000
  • Change Over Month –   UP   325,000
  • Change Over Year -  UP   1,670,000
  • Change Over Trump Term –   UP   4,671,000
  • Change Over Obama 2nd Term –   UP   3,930,000

Non-farm* jobs grew by 128,000 over the month in October 2019 as the trend of slowed growth continues. Year-to-date and year-over-year percentage non-farm job growth levels stand at their lowest level since 2010. Additionally, average monthly non-farm job gains through President Trump’s term thus far (189,000) remain below average monthly growth seen over President Obama’s second term (217,000). National non-farm employment statistics for the month are as follows:

  • Total Non-Farm Employment – 151,945,000
  • Change Over Month –   UP   128,000
  • Change Over Year –   UP   2,093,000
  • Change Over Trump Term –   UP   6,250,000
  • Change Over Obama 2nd Term –   UP   10,412,000

*Total employment for labor force provided by U.S. Census Household survey. The separate BLS Establishment survey measures non-farm jobs only.

September 2019 PA County Unemployment

(Seasonally adjusted rates; Source: Dept. of Labor & Industry; Statewide rate: 4.0%.)

Rank

County

Sep. 2019 Rate

Aug. 2019 Rate

Sep. 2018 Rate

1

Centre

2.9%

2.9%

3.3%

2

Adams

3.0%

2.9%

3.3%

3

Chester

3.1%

3.0%

3.1%

4

Montour

3.2%

3.2%

3.4%

T-5

Cumberland

3.3%

3.2%

3.2%

T-5

Lancaster

3.3%

3.2%

3.4%

T-5

Montgomery

3.3%

3.4%

3.4%

T-8

Bucks

3.6%

3.6%

3.7%

T-8

Franklin

3.6%

3.5%

3.7%

T-8

Lebanon

3.6%

3.5%

3.8%

T-8

Perry

3.6%

3.6%

3.8%

T-8

York

3.6%

3.5%

3.8%

T-13

Butler

3.8%

3.6%

3.9%

T-13

Fulton

3.8%

4.1%

4.3%

15

Delaware

3.9%

3.8%

3.9%

T-16

Allegheny

4.0%

3.9%

4.0%

T-16

Susquehanna

4.0%

4.0%

4.1%

T-16

Union

4.0%

3.7%

3.8%

T-19

Berks

4.1%

4.0%

4.3%

T-19

Bradford

4.1%

4.0%

4.3%

T-19

Dauphin

4.1%

4.0%

3.9%

T-22

Erie

4.2%

4.1%

4.5%

T-22

Wayne

4.2%

4.3%

4.6%

T-24

Blair

4.3%

4.1%

4.3%

T-24

Juniata

4.3%

4.2%

4.0%

T-24

Lehigh

4.3%

4.2%

4.6%

T-24

Northampton

4.3%

4.2%

4.4%

T-24

Warren

4.3%

4.0%

4.3%

T-24

Westmoreland

4.3%

4.2%

4.4%

T-30

Beaver

4.4%

4.4%

4.4%

T-30

Clarion

4.4%

4.1%

4.7%

T-30

Elk

4.4%

4.5%

3.8%

T-30

Mifflin

4.4%

4.8%

4.8%

T-30

Washington

4.4%

4.3%

4.2%

T-35

Bedford

4.5%

4.4%

4.6%

T-35

Columbia

4.5%

4.3%

4.8%

T-35

Jefferson

4.5%

4.4%

4.7%

T-35

Lycoming

4.5%

4.3%

5.0%

T-35

Sullivan

4.5%

4.7%

4.7%

T-40

Crawford

4.6%

4.3%

4.6%

T-40

Wyoming

4.6%

4.3%

4.6%

T-42

Lackawanna

4.7%

4.7%

4.5%

T-42

Mercer

4.7%

4.6%

4.7%

T-44

Armstrong

4.8%

4.8%

4.7%

T-44

Greene

4.8%

4.7%

5.0%

T-44

Indiana

4.8%

4.6%

4.9%

T-44

Venango

4.8%

4.5%

4.6%

48

Lawrence

4.9%

4.8%

5.0%

T-49

Cambria

5.0%

4.8%

5.3%

T-49

McKean

5.0%

4.6%

4.7%

T-49

Monroe

5.0%

4.9%

5.3%

T-49

Tioga

5.0%

4.8%

5.1%

T-53

Cameron

5.1%

4.8%

4.7%

T-53

Clinton

5.1%

4.7%

5.3%

T-53

Schuylkill

5.1%

5.2%

5.2%

T-56

Clearfield

5.2%

5.1%

5.2%

T-56

Northumberland

5.2%

5.4%

5.2%

T-56

Somerset

5.2%

5.0%

5.3%

T-59

Carbon

5.3%

5.0%

5.1%

T-59

Philadelphia

5.3%

5.3%

5.3%

T-59

Potter

5.3%

5.3%

5.1%

T-59

Snyder

5.3%

6.1%

4.0%

63

Luzerne

5.4%

5.5%

5.4%

64

Pike

5.5%

5.5%

5.4%

T-65

Fayette

5.8%

5.7%

5.7%

T-65

Huntingdon

5.8%

5.7%

5.5%

67

Forest

6.1%

6.3%

6.2%