Christine Tartaglione's Labor Report

American labor leaders and the PA Senate Democratic Caucus were unified in their condemnation of the insurrection by right-wing extremists on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, as detailed here, an action immediately precipitated by a rally where the outgoing president urged his supporters to march on the Capitol and to “take back our country” through “strength,” despite the results of the November 3rd General Election when former Vice President Joe Biden emerged victorious.

The clashes outside and inside the Capitol caused the deaths of at least five people including a police officer, injured many others, and delayed the enumeration of electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election by hours. Yet, that evening, legislators returned to their chambers and finished the count, which reaffirmed Biden’s victory over the incumbent.

Senator Tartaglione joined her PA Senate Democratic colleagues in denouncing the violent protest at the Capitol.

“The First Amendment is one of our most sacred. It is not political and it is not partisan. The rights to free speech, assembly, and petition are what allow this country to flourish. However, those rights do not permit the violence we (saw) in the nation’s Capitol building and in state capitols across this country,” the Caucus said. “We held an election in November, and now – like every four years – we must have a peaceful transition of power. Our form of government cannot survive without it. Without qualification or equivocation, we condemn the actions at the U.S. Capitol building (on Wednesday).”

In the aftermath of the insurrection, American labor leaders issued these remarks:

“We are witnessing one of the greatest assaults on our democracy since the Civil War,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. “… Emboldened by an Electoral College system that creates an avenue for insurrection instead of simply certifying the candidate with the most votes, this is an effort to violate the Constitutional rights of every law-abiding American and the labor movement will not stand for it. Not ever.”

“(It was) one of the darkest days in American history,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said. “What we saw at the U.S. Capitol was insurrection, sedition and terror enabled by the president of the United States. The 1.4 million members of AFSCME, who dedicate their lives to strengthening their communities instead of trying to tear violently at the national fabric, roundly condemn these acts of vandalism against our democracy.”

“I am convinced more than ever that in spite of the division, strife, and the violence which we saw (that day), our nation, our democracy, and our institutions will never be broken and will continue on as long as we stand together and work together,” Laborers International Union President Terry O’Sullivan said.

“This insurrection is about wielding power to threaten what we hold dear – the chance for families of every race to thrive, to have good jobs and healthcare, for our kids to be safe and have clean air to breathe,” SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said. “It will not stand. In the labor movement, we have learned the lessons of division and hate – it has cost every American workers and our families. No more.”

The AFL-CIO has published a comprehensive collection of statements from labor leaders and organizations.

PA Labor & Industry: $300 Unemployment Payment Boost to Begin This Week

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier on January 8th announced that thousands of Pennsylvanians will begin receiving an extra $300 per week in unemployment payments starting this week. The extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program is part of the federal stimulus that Congress passed last month.

“This boost in unemployment benefits is vital to hardworking Pennsylvania families who have lost their income as a result of the global pandemic,” said Berrier. “I am pleased that L&I was able to work with the federal Department of Labor (DOL) to get the information needed to quickly restart this program and get payments into the pockets of Pennsylvanians in need.”

The $300 is automatically added to each claimants’ payment; they do not need to apply. Approximately 127,000 claimants in the Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs will receive the $300 FPUC boost as soon as Tuesday, January 12th. The program runs the claim weeks ending January 2nd, 2021 to March 13th, 2021. There is no additional cost to the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.

L&I is still awaiting additional information from the federal DOL on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) programs. Because of program changes made in the federal CARES Act extension, this information is necessary to ensure L&I follows the law. When payments resume, the department will backdate eligible claims to the week of January 2nd and add on the FPUC to ensure claimants do not miss out on any eligible weeks.

“L&I urged Congress to fund the extra payment in the stimulus bill and we’re happy that thousands of workers in need will start getting the extra boost in a few days,” said Berrier. “We are also focused on the nearly half-million PUA and PEUC claimants who still waiting.

“We’re urging the federal Department of Labor to give us the information we need to make the required changes to the program. Once we get it, we’ll work as quickly as possible to get the extra $300 weekly payments to people in the PUA and PEUC programs.”

Currently, claimants of the PUA and PEUC programs are unable to file claims for weeks after Dec. 26. These claimants should not open a new claim. The ability to file for these weeks will be added when L&I is able to start accepting them.

The federal DOL has not provided a timeline on when the final and complete guidance will arrive. When L&I has an estimate on when payments for the PEUC and PUA programs will resume, an announcement will be made and claimants will be contacted.

PA Senate Democrats Urge Constituents to Sign Petition to Seat Senator Brewster

One day before proceedings in the U.S. Senate and House were interrupted by an attack on the Capitol by right-wing extremists, a disturbance occurred in the Pennsylvania Senate when the majority Republican party refused to seat an incumbent Democratic Senator who won a close reelection race in November.

As directed by the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Senate convened on the first Tuesday of January to begin the 2021-2022 legislative Session and for the 25 returning and newly elected Senators to be administered the oath of office.

The ceremonial procedure was preempted when Republicans moved to exclude Senator James Brewster of McKeesport, Allegheny County, who was first seated in the Senate in November 2010 and has won reelection three times. The 45th District includes portions of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

Last November, he defeated a Republican challenger by less than 100 votes, a result that has been reaffirmed by recounts and by court rulings at the state and federal levels after legal challenges by his opponent.

In the days leading up to the scheduled swearing-in, the opponent filed a new dubious federal case and asked Senate Republicans to declare her the winner. Senate Republicans responded by taking the unprecedented action of refusing to seat Brewster and leaving the 45th District without representation in the Senate indefinitely.

“Pennsylvania Senate Republicans refused to seat Senator Brewster – ignoring the will of the voters, multiple court decisions, and election results certified by the Pennsylvania Department of State,” the Democratic Caucus in a posted statement.

As the events unfolded on the floor of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who presides over the Senate, refused to recognize the Republicans’ motion to stop Brewster from being sworn in with the 24 other members. Republicans then voted to remove Fetterman from presiding over the Senate for the day.

The Democratic Caucus urges Pennsylvanians to sign a petition to “Seat Senator Brewster” (hashtag: #SeatBrewsterNow), and to contact their own State Legislators in support of the effort.

Georgia Run-off Results, When Combined with Biden Victory, Bodes Well for Pro-Labor Policies

Organized labor leaders throughout the nation celebrated the victory of two Democratic candidates in the January 5th Georgia runoffs for the state’s two U.S. Senate seats. The results mean that the U.S. Senate majority will switch into Democratic hands and, when combined with the Democratic-led U.S. House, bodes well for the agenda of President-Elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on January 20th.

Biden’s agenda is expected to benefit the nation’s workers through major changes in labor policy.

“Georgia voters delivered a powerful message with the election of Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, declaring that hardworking men and women, and their concerns and issues, must come first,” UFCW President Marc Perrone said. “UFCW members across Georgia and every state were proud to help get out the vote and are ready to work with the new Democratic majority and Senators-elect Warnock and Ossoff to deliver the positive and real change our country and families need.”

The Biden agenda contrasts starkly with the policies of the outgoing administration, which, a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote in 2019, had “turned the Department of Labor into the Department of Employer Rights.”

The article went on to describe how the outgoing administration rolled back numerous pro-worker regulations from the Obama era and before, while failing to deliver on promises to “bring back” manufacturing and coal industry jobs. The administration’s efforts to “save” steel industry jobs through foreign trade policies resulted in widespread job cuts in related industries, like auto manufacturing.

Wage gains for blue-collar workers continued to stagnate even before the COVID pandemic when the U.S. economy was setting records for sustained growth.
“Workers’ share of economic growth remains dismally low and continues to fall” under the outgoing administration, the Times reported.

The administration used the Department of Labor to roll back the expansion of overtime compensation, while the National Labor Relations Board (with its Republican majority and unfilled Democratic vacancies) reversed the expansion of joint employer definitions, thereby protecting many large companies and franchisors from liability for labor law violations.

The outgoing administration used the Department of Justice to undermine the rights of workers to organize and for labor unions to fund their worker advocacy efforts.
Meanwhile, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been widely criticized under the outgoing president for its deficiency in workplace safety enforcement. OSHA has not adopted workplace requirements specific to the COVID-19 pandemic and instead issued mere non-binding guidance for employers.

And a divided Congress has failed to address the looming multi-employer pensions crisis in which approximately 125 funds are said to be in “critical and declining” status and are projected to become insolvent within 20 years.

Hopes are high for the Biden administration and the Democratic-led Senate and House. The incoming president is expected to respond to the COVID pandemic by supporting $2,000 stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits, aid to state and local governments, and additional relief for small businesses, the New York Times reported.

On January 8th, Biden introduced Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his nominee for Secretary of Labor. The confirmation process for cabinet nominees is expected to go smoothly with Democratic control the Senate – where Vice President Kamala Harris will serve as the deciding vote in any partisan ties.

Before serving as Boston’s mayor, Walsh led the city’s Building and Construction Trades Council. He first joined the Laborers’ Union Local 223 at age 21, CNN reported. His nomination drew approval from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Teamsters President Jim Hoffa, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and Laborers’ President Terry O’Sullivan, among many other labor organizations.

“Mr. Biden has promised to reinvigorate (OSHA), which has been criticized for failing to protect workers during the pandemic, including through lax oversight of workplaces like meatpacking plants,” the New York Times reported.

“This team will help us emerge from the most inequitable economic and jobs crisis in modern history by building an economy where every American is in on the deal,” Biden said of his cabinet picks, according to the Times.

The President-elect’s transition website features a page dedicated to “The Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing, Collective Bargaining, and Unions” where his labor policy proposals are itemized in detail.

Prospects for Higher Federal Minimum Wage Get Major Boost With Georgia Run-off Results

Prospects for a raise in the federal minimum wage became a lot better when the Democratic party won control of the U.S. Senate through the Georgia run-off elections.

The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 took effect in 2009. That is also Pennsylvania’s minimum wage because it is among a minority of states that have not raised their own rates. Twenty-eight states have raised their minimum wage rates since 2014, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Virginia will become the 29th later this year.

Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is a key plank in President-elect Joe Biden’s platform. He also supports eliminating the tipped minimum wage.

“This increase would include workers who aren’t currently earning the minimum wage, like the farmworkers who grow our food and domestic workers who care for our aging and sick and for those with disabilities,” Biden’s transition website states.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also supports the $15 rate. Under her leadership in 2019, the House adopted the Raise the Wage Act in a 231-199 vote, although six Democrats voted against the bill. The Democratic majority in the House will be slimmer this year than it was two years ago. The Republican-led U.S. Senate refused to consider the legislation.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is expected to become Majority Leader of the next Senate, supported the Raise the Wage Act. But with a 50-50 split between the parties in the upcoming session, prospects for the success of a renewed $15 proposal are tenuous, even with the vice president to cast the deciding vote in a tie.

On a state level, Senator Tartaglione has stated her intent to re-introduce legislation in the new 2021-2022 session that would establish a $15 per hour minimum wage.

“One in eight Pennsylvanians live in poverty and one in four Philadelphians are living in poverty,” the Senator said in a recent interview with The Keystone. “I simply cannot walk away from legislation that could provide our working poor with at least some relief.”

That was why the Senator in 2019 supported a compromise bill that would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $9.50 per hour. The measure was adopted 42-7 by the State Senate in bipartisan fashion, but the Republican-led PA House of Representatives refused to advance the bill, which expired at the end of 2020.

On January 1, 2021, 21 states raised their minimum wages either through scheduled increases or automatic annual adjustments for inflation. Three more states will raise their rates later this year. Pennsylvania’s neighbors New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio all raised their rates on New Year’s Day.

More than 30 municipalities and jurisdictions across the U.S. also raised their local minimum wage rates on January 1st. A 2019 report by the Congressional Budget Office found that if the federal minimum wage increases from $7.25 to $15 an hour, roughly 17 million workers would have their wages boosted.

December 2020 National Jobs Update

The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was unchanged over the month in December 2020 at 6.7%, following seven consecutive monthly declines which began to slow leading up to December. The rate in December remained down 8.1% from 14.8% in April, its highest level in the history of the seasonally adjusted series (dating back to 1948; prior to this time, unemployment was estimated to have hit roughly 25% during the Great Depression of the 1930s). Between February and April 2020, the national unemployment rate rose 11.3% (from 3.5% to 14.8%).

This and the other changes to data noted in this update reflect the evolution of the national employment situation through the coronavirus pandemic (please see the **footnote below). Unemployment rolls increased for the first time in eight months, though only slightly by 8,000 individuals, with total unemployment standing at 10.736 million. In comparison to April 2020, when unemployment hit a series record high of 23.109 million (with growth of 17.392 million between Feb. and April), total unemployment was down by 12.373 million in December 2020. As has been the case during the pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has indicated that unemployment figures would have been higher for the month if survey respondents had been properly classified as unemployed on temporary layoff.

As of December 2020, the national unemployment rate still stood nearly double, or 3.2% higher than, its level of 3.5% in February 2020 (which matched the 50 year low seen in 2019) with total unemployment standing 5.019 million higher than the February 2020 level of 5.717 million individuals. For context, the unemployment rate had declined 1.2% with total unemployment down by 1.749 million individuals over President Trumps term as of February 2020. National unemployment statistics for the month are as follows:

As indicated above, total unemployment’s rounded percentage of the labor force, or unemployment rate, saw no change 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. Following a roller-coaster of ups and downs over the course of the pandemic, the national labor force saw little change in December, rising by 31,000 individuals (a combination of total employment* rising by 21,000 and total unemployment up by 8,000 individuals as noted above), raising its total to 160,567,000.

As of December 2020, the labor force stood 4.089 million individuals (unemployment minus-12,373,000 & employment +16,460,000) above its low of 156,478,000 in April 2020 during the coronavirus emergency, after falling by 7.970 million between February and April. However, the December 2020 labor force was 3.881 million individuals (unemployment +5,019,000 & employment minus-8,902,000) lower than its level of 164,448,000 in February 2020 (near the record high of 164,579,000 in Dec. 2019). For context, the national labor force had grown by 4,832,000 individuals (unemployment minus-1,749,000 & employment +6,582,000) over President Trump’s term as of February 2020. National labor force statistics for the month are as follows:

Non-farm* job rolls fell by 140,000 in December 2020 to 142.624 million, following seven consecutive monthly increases which began to slow leading up to December. As a result, the progress made since non-farm jobs rolls hit their level low of 130.303 million in April 2020 (following a loss of 22.160 million between February and April) during the coronavirus pandemic was reduced to 12.321 million.

With the change in December 2020, the loss in non-farm jobs since hitting their record high level of 152.463 million in February 2020 grew to 9.839 million. For context, non-farm employment had grown by 6.836 million over President Trump’s term as of February 2020. National non-farm employment statistics for the month are as follows:

*Total employment for labor force provided by U.S. Census Household survey. The separate BLS Establishment survey measures non-farm jobs only.
**Survey periods for data are roughly as of the middle of the month, meaning changes occurring beyond this time are not captured for the month.

American Labor Leaders Unite to Condemn Attack on U.S. Capitol and Seditious Rhetoric That Prompted It

PA Labor & Industry: $300 Unemployment Payment Boost to Begin This Week

PA Senate Democrats Urge Constituents to Sign Petition to Seat Senator Brewster

Georgia Run-off Results, When Combined with Biden Victory, Bodes Well for Pro-Labor Policies

Prospects for Higher Federal Minimum Wage Get Major Boost With Georgia Run-off Results

December 2020 National Jobs Update

PA County Unemployment Rate Ranking