Christine Tartaglione's Labor Report

News media outlets from throughout Pennsylvania joined Senator Tartaglione and U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle for a briefing on the legislators’ renewed efforts to raise the minimum wage in the Commonwealth and for the nation.

Senator Tartaglione detailed the provisions of her forthcoming Senate Bill 12, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 this year and $15 by 2027, after which the rate would be adjusted automatically each year based on the Consumer Price Index. SB 12 would also end the sub-minimum wage for tip-earners, repeal preemption (that’s the current law preventing local governments from raising the minimum wage in their jurisdictions), and strengthen enforcement of the state’s wage laws. The enforcement provisions include granting more powers to the Department of Labor & Industry, as well as tripling the penalties for violating the Minimum Wage Act.

The minimum wage for Pennsylvania and the nation is $7.25 per hour. The state’s General Assembly last adopted a minimum wage increase in 2006, when Senator Tartaglione’s SB 1090 became law. It raised the state rate from $5.15 to $7.15. Three years later, Congress raised the federal rate to its current level.

“At the current rate, a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $15,000 a year. That’s certainly not enough for anyone to live on – even a single person with no children or dependents. It is a poverty wage. Raising the minimum wage is not just an economic issue. It’s a moral issue,” Senator Tartaglione said.

Congressman Boyle discussed the federal Raise the Wage Act of 2021 which was introduced in the U.S. House on January 26th. The bill proposes a $9.50 minimum wage this year and a $15 rate by 2025.

“No American who works full-time should be living in poverty,” Congressman Boyle said. “Americans working 40 hours a week should be able to put food on the table and a roof over their families’ heads, but with the minimum wage stuck at $7.25, far too many are working hard and still in poverty. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the $7.25 federal minimum wage was economically and morally indefensible.”

CBS3 in Philadelphia interviewed a doughnut shop employee and a restaurant owner who each said they support a higher minimum wage.

“Financially, it’s already a really hard time for restaurants, especially with coronavirus,” said Chenele Shaw of The Better Box. “We would support the bill, but we would hope our restaurant and other restaurants would also get support.”

Governor Plans to Advocate for Worker and Small Business Relief in Budget Address, Including $15 Minimum Wage

On Tuesday, February 2nd, Governor Wolf will deliver his annual budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly. In advance, the governor has shared a preview of many key topics he will discuss.

Economic recovery, including support for businesses and workers, and a reformed workforce development system, feature prominently in the governor’s agenda. He will call on the General Assembly to raise the minimum wage to $12 and create a path to $15. He will seek to improve the professional licensing process to make it easier for Pennsylvanians to enter high-demand professions, and he will seek to reduce the Corporate Net Income Tax and close the Delaware Loophole.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed Pennsylvania and exacerbated existing barriers for too many Pennsylvanians,” Governor Wolf said. “It continues to have negative consequences for businesses, workers, and families throughout the Commonwealth. To get Pennsylvania back on track from the disruptions the pandemic is causing, we need to make major, targeted investments to strengthen our economy, support workers and small business owners, rebuild our infrastructure, and help all Pennsylvanians build a path to financial security.”

The governor will call upon the General Assembly to appropriate $145 million in reserves from the Workers Compensation Security Fund to allocate to businesses harmed by the pandemic. On January 27th, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously adopted a new COVID-19 relief package that includes a proposed $145 million allocation from the Workers Compensation Security Fund to create the Hospitality Industry Recovery Program. The proposal is a component of Senate Bill 109 and would provide grants of up to $50,000 each to affected businesses.

The bill is a comprehensive $912 million relief package that also includes $569.8 million in rent and utility assistance for families and $197 million to support education. The bill has been referred to the Pennsylvania House, where it was unanimously reported as committed by the Appropriations Committee. The legislation awaits action by the full House.

Visit www.governor.pa.gov/live/ to watch the budget address live.

Teamsters Local ‘Extremely Disappointed’ That Arbitrator Upholds Sudden Turnpike Layoffs

Local 77 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was “extremely disappointed” that an arbitrator on January 22nd did not overturn the layoffs of hundreds of Pennsylvania Turnpike employees as the Commission went to a fully automated collection system last June.

“The Arbitration hearing regarding the layoffs of the Toll Collectors at the PA Turnpike has been decided. The Arbitrator has upheld the Turnpike’s position that it had the right to implement the all-electronic toll collection system to collect the tolls and to lay off all the Toll Collectors and Fare Collection-related employees,” Local 77 stated. “The union is disappointed with the Arbitrator’s decision and continues to be extremely disappointed in the actions taken by the Turnpike to implement all-electronic tolling and not honor the commitments that were made to the Unions and their workers when they took advantage of the COVID-19 virus pandemic and suspended collecting cash tolls in March and never returned to case collections as other toll roads that suspended cash tolling did.”

Seventeen Democratic Pennsylvania Senators signed a letter objecting to the June 2nd layoffs, which included as many as 700 workers represented by Local 77 and Teamsters Local 250.

Senator Tartaglione was among the lawmakers who questioned Turnpike Commission members during a joint hearing of the Senate Transportation and Labor & Industry committees on June 16th. She pointed out that leading up to and following the COVID-19 statewide emergency declaration, the Commission and the affected unions were engaged in contract negotiations during which the Commission repeatedly assured union members that the all-electronic toll (AET) system would not be fully implemented until October 2021 and their jobs would be secure “until at least January 2022.” The same job security assurances were included in the final Collective Bargaining Agreements.

As Turnpike volume declined sharply in the early stages of the pandemic, and the virus transmission risks were still largely unknown, the Commission furloughed toll-takers and fare collectors, but stated that the layoffs would be temporary and the permanent AET implementation remained on the same schedule.

“Unfortunately, we are at a loss to explain how the Commission adopted such a dramatic and harmful reversal in policy in such a short period of time,” Senator Tartaglione said during the hearing.

As late as May 12, the Turnpike CEO testified before the Senate Transportation Committee and made no mention of the permanent layoffs that would be announced 21 days later. Affected employees were given no advance warning.

Soon after the hearing, Senator Tartaglione co-sponsored a bill to require the Commission to reinstate the toll collectors through the remainder of their collective bargaining agreement, which was due to expire in October 2021. Senate Bill 1220 was reported out of the Transportation Committee with bipartisan support, but it stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee and expired at the end of the 2019-2020 legislative session.

Biden Hits Ground Running with ‘Buy American’ and Healthcare Enrollment Extension Orders

In the first full week of his administration, President Biden has supported the nation’s workers and their families through a series of executive orders, including a “Buy American” order that will also support manufacturers and other businesses.

“With this order, President Biden is ensuring that when the federal government spends taxpayer dollars they are spent on American-made goods by American workers and with American-made component parts,” the White House stated. “This Executive Order fulfills President Biden’s promise to make Buy American real and close loopholes that allow companies to offshore production and real jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences.”

The Post-Gazette reported, “Factories in the Pittsburgh region could be poised for more orders from federally funded buyers – from making masks and protective equipment to combat COVID-19 to making steel for roads and bridges.”

The newspaper noted that during a public signing of the order, the president criticized the prior administration for allowing federal contracts with foreign companies to increase by 30%. Also, federal contracting amounts to $600 billion in annual spending, with large contracts capable of engaging “several tiers of suppliers.”

“For too long, we have allowed foreign-made products to dominate our markets,” United Steelworkers International President Tom Conway said, according to the newspaper.

Separately, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that reopens the Healthcare.gov federal health insurance marketplace for an extended 2021 enrollment period.

The measure impacts the 36 states that still utilize the federal enrollment program. Pennsylvania recently became one of 14 states with their own health insurance marketplaces. Pennie.com has not announced plans to reopen its 2021 enrollment.

“The renewed effort reflects the Biden team’s view that the (former) administration did too little to help people find coverage, despite a public health crisis and waves of job losses,” The New York Times reported. “Although insurance sign-ups were up a bit compared with last year, the growth did not match the increase in need.”

The new enrollment period in the 36 affected states will start on February 15th and continue for 90 days.

“The 14 states that manage their own marketplaces are likely to follow suit, nationalizing the effort,” the Times reported.

December 2020 PA Jobs Update

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell for an eighth consecutive month in December 2020, dropping to 6.7%, falling 0.1% over the month. The national rate in December 2020 also stood at 6.7%. PA’s rate in December was down 9.4% from its record high in the seasonally adjusted series of 16.1% in April 2020 (dating back to 1976). From February to April 2020, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose 11.4% (4.7% to 16.1%).

This and the other changes to data noted in this update reflect the evolution of Pennsylvania’s employment situation through the coronavirus pandemic (please see the **footnote below). Over the month, unemployment rolls fell by 7,179 individuals, lowering total unemployment to 419,700. Since hitting a series record high of 1,037,087 in April (with growth of 728,059 from February to April), total unemployment has declined by 617,387. However, it should be noted that estimates for most states in the household survey (measures unemployment and employment – see *footnote below) were again affected by misclassification from respondents in December 2020 (i.e., workers who should have been classified as unemployed on temporary layoff).

As of December 2020, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate stood 2.0% higher than its level of 4.7% in February 2020, with total unemployment standing 110,672 more than its total of 309,028 individuals in February 2020. For context, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate had declined 0.7% over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020, with total unemployment down by 35,408. State unemployment statistics for the month are as follows:

As indicated above, total unemployment’s rounded percentage of the labor force, or unemployment rate, fell over the month (rate = unemployment / labor force). The labor force is the number of employed individuals combined with the number of unemployed individuals actively searching for work. Labor force growth can be a sign of a strengthening economy from more people working and/or more individuals searching for jobs. PA’s labor force fell for a third consecutive month in December 2020, dropping by 14,525, a combination of total employment* declining by 7,346 and unemployment down by 7,179 as noted above. The decrease lowered PA’s total labor force to 6,283,317, its lowest level since April 2006.

As of December 2020, PA’s labor force was down by 275,102 individuals (unemployment +110,672 & employment -385,774) from its record high of 6,558,419 in February 2020 in the seasonally adjusted series (dating back to 1976). For context, PA’s labor force had grown by 159,267 individuals (unemployment -35,408 & employment +194,675) over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020. State labor force statistics for the month are as follows:

PA Non-farm* job rolls fell by 37,600 in December 2020 to 5,606,000, following seven consecutive monthly increases which began to slow in the months leading up to December. As a result, the progress made since non-farm job rolls hit their series record low (dating back to 1990) of 4,993,100 in April 2020 (following a loss of 1,116,500 between February and April) during the coronavirus pandemic was reduced to 612,900.

With the change in December 2020, the loss in non-farm jobs since hitting their record high level of 6,109,600 in February 2020 grew to 503,600 (please see the “COVID-19 Job Impact by State” table below for comparison to other states for change in non-farm employment from February 2020 to December 2020). For context, non-farm employment had grown by 295,700 over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020. State 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.

Senator Tartaglione, Congressman Boyle Detail Efforts to Raise Minimum Wage for PA and Nation

Governor Plans to Advocate for Worker and Small Business Relief in Budget Address, Including $15 Minimum Wage

Teamsters Local ‘Extremely Disappointed’ That Arbitrator Upholds Sudden Turnpike Layoffs

Biden Hits Ground Running with ‘Buy American’ and Healthcare Enrollment Extension Orders

December 2020 PA Jobs Update

COVID-19 Job Impact by State