NEWS
May 21, 2013
By Mark Tyler and Thomas Higgins As an airport-lease agreement that will bind US Airways, the airport's major carrier, to a long-term contract is considered, Mayor Nutter and City Council should insist that Philadelphia's living-wage ordinance applies to the deal. By linking the ordinance and the agreement, which was introduced in Council last week and is expected to be heard before the Transportation and Utilities Committee Wednesday, the city would ensure that employers of city-contracted businesses are paid a family-sustaining minimum wage of at least 150 percent of the state's minimum wage - $10.88 an hour, plus benefits.
NEWS
April 18, 2013 | By Joelle Farrell, Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - Legalizing same-sex marriage and increasing the minimum wage - two Democratic priorities this legislative session - continue to draw strong support from New Jersey residents, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. And although Republican Gov. Christie leads his most prominent challenger, State Sen. Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex), in his reelection bid, his popularity may not help GOP candidates in other races, said David Redlawsk, director of the poll and professor of political science at Rutgers University.
BUSINESS
March 19, 2013 | By Joyce M. Rosenberg, Associated Press
Three jobs are open at Rodon Group, the plastic-parts manufacturer in Hatfield. But CEO Michael Araten isn't sweating it. Rodon works with local community colleges to make sure students - the firm's prospective employees - get the math and computer skills they need to work at the company making plastic parts for products such as bed frames and machinery. "We're willing to look at non-traditional methods," Araten said. Companies across the country have been working short-handed because it's hard to find workers with the skills they need.
NEWS
March 18, 2013 | VOTERAMA IN CONGRESS
WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week: House Streamlined employment programs. Voting 215-202, the House on Friday sent the Senate a Republican bill (HR 803) to consolidate 35 federal programs for job training, adult education and literacy education into a single, broad-based workforce program to be administered by the states as they see fit rather than by Washington. The bill is a five-year renewal of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
NEWS
March 14, 2013
IT REALLY angers me that there is still hunger in America, knowing that we are more than capable of feeding each and every citizen - but don't. As far as I'm concerned, access to healthy food should be an inalienable right. Don't you agree? Sadly, every day in these United States, 50 million people, including one in four children, are food insecure, which basically means that they're hungry and not sure when or from where their next meal is coming. The recent documentary "A Place at the Table" removes the veil on this hidden-in-plain-sight national disgrace.
BUSINESS
March 4, 2013 | By Reid Kanaley, Inquirer Columnist
President Obama has renewed talk of a higher minimum wage - he proposes $9 per hour instead of the current $7.25 federal minimum. Is it a good idea? These sites delve into the debate. States can set their own minimum wages, and most do, although if the state rate differs from the federal rate, the higher rate is the one that usually applies. The U.S. Department of Labor hosts an interactive map that shows the minimum wage in each state. New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for example, hold to the federal $7.25-per-hour rate.
BUSINESS
February 25, 2013 | By Jane M. Von Bergen, Inquirer Staff Writer
Design-development assistance, press-release writing, pattern-making, phone-answering, even studio-cleaning. A minimum of a bachelor's degree is required for this internship at the Flotsam+Jetsam Design Studio in Fishtown. "An organized individual is essential. Efficient sewing ability is required," the posting on Craigslist said. "There will be a sewing test during the interview. " Compensation: "Non-pay. " At a Center City law practice, there's no coffee-fetching for the qualifying intern.
BUSINESS
February 22, 2013 | By Jane M. Von Bergen, Inquirer Staff Writer
Maybe it's the U.S. Labor Department investigation into pay violations at Chickie's & Pete's. Or maybe it's the string of class-action lawsuits piling up in federal court against the chain of popular sports bars - suits alleging tip-skimming that could yield several million dollars in damages. Or maybe it's simply an employer tacking up new personnel policies and sending out several-thousand-dollar employee-refund checks to fix mistakes in the payroll system. Whatever the motive, Chickie's & Pete's owners are hustling to contain the fallout from recent lawsuits that have more than 60 former and current employees as plaintiffs.
NEWS
February 20, 2013 | STANDARD-SPEAKER, Hazleton, Pa
ALTHOUGH SOME SEE President Obama's proposal to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour as a way to help people make ends meet, others see it as a way for people to lose jobs. Anthony Liuzzo, professor of business and economics at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said many people who now make the minimum wage may find themselves unemployed if the wage is increased. "I think it will hurt the exact people it was intended to help," he said. "An employer will look hard at whether they can afford it. People who make the minimum wage will simply be terminated rather than get the higher salaries, especially young people.
NEWS
February 16, 2013 | By Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press
TRENTON - New Jersey voters will get the last word on whether to increase the state's minimum wage $1 to $8.25. The Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a resolution putting the increase on the ballot in November and tying automatic annual adjustments to the Consumer Price Index. The Senate approved the resolution previously, so Thursday's vote ensured the question's place on the ballot in a gubernatorial election year. Gov. Christie vetoed legislation last month that would have increased the wage to $8.50 per hour and provided automatic yearly increases.