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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
City workers: Be flexible on summer vacation plans

Not to be alarmist, says a city official, but if you are a non-union city employee you might want to reconsider your summer plans.

With contracts expiring July 1 with four municipal unions, city Managing Director Camille Barnett is planning ahead and sent this email to city employees. Those who would be affected include 2,831 exempt employees - such as those who work directly for Mayor Nutter - and about 900 others who are not represented by any union.

Here's the email:

"The City's labor contracts with its non-uniformed, unionized employees end at midnight, June 30th. While we hope that a strike can be avoided, the possibility of a strike cannot be ruled out at this time. The City of Philadelphia must ensure that, in the event of a work stoppage by either of the municipal unions, vital services continue. It is also important to inform employees how a work stoppage could affect their leave.

With these concerns in mind, please be informed that in the event AFSCME, District Council 33 or AFSCME, District Council 47 calls for a strike vote, all leave may need to be cancelled until further notice. The leave cancellation may occur regardless of whether the leave was previously approved.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause our employees."

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

Posted by Marcia Gelbart @ 2:53 PM  Permalink | 4 comments
Comments   
Posted 03:36 PM, 06/17/2009
CleanupPhilly
There's a lot the city can to to prevent a strike by simply letting some information out to the public, such as recent court decisions on strikes by municipal employees.
Posted 04:03 PM, 06/17/2009
CleanupPhilly
If the unions call a strike, there's room for employees who want to work to assert a "right to work." That's why imho the unions have less to assert than they think. They can open the door to privatization of municipal services in Philly, get sued by union members who don't want to part of the union and want a "right to work," etc. PA could be the first state in the Northeast to win a right to work provision, meaning no more compulsory union membership or dues.
Posted 04:10 PM, 06/17/2009
CleanupPhilly
Would Nutter lose votes in Philly if he stood up to the unions not allowing firing for cause, not wanting to pay more for pensions, not wanting to pay copays, not wanting to give up free legal representation by the union, that sort of thing? There are union members in Philly who don't want to have to pay those dues anymore. They just have to sue for a "right to work" to be allowed to not pay dues. That's going to hurt the unions the most -- right in the wallet. To survive this, Nutter can't be a mushy marshmallow and he knows it. The city needs to be able to fire at will the dead wood, raise pension contributions, implement copays, and end some of the abuses by the unions in dues so the city can have more competitive salaries that reflect the going rate for those services in this region.
Posted 08:59 AM, 06/18/2009
Library Spinster
A strike vote (which has not taken place yet) is just a negotiating tool. It happens with every contract. The last actual strike was in the first year of Rendell's administration and only lasted one day.
4 comments
About Inquirer City Hall Staff
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff Shields, Marcia Gelbart, and Patrick Kerkstra take you inside Philadelphia's City Hall.
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