March 5, 2010 / New Labor

Swarthmore Students Demand A Living Wage for AlliedBarton Guards

A few years ago, student activists at Swarthmore fought to create a living wage policy at the university. It was one of the biggest social justice victories in our area at that time. Students have been making sure that the policy is being upheld ever since.

Then, a couple of months ago, I was contacted by a Swarthmore student who wanted to learn more about the PSOU and our campaign for a paper he was writing. Dennis Hogan meet with several of our guards and spoke with me on the phone about the campaign a couple of times. The semester ended and I figured that I had heard the last of Dennis.

I was surprised this week when an article critical of AlliedBarton popped up in the Swarthmore Daily Gazette by Dennis Hogan and Ben Hattem responding to a new AlliedBarton contract at Swarthmore…

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February 24, 2010 / New Labor

Guards issue damning report: 60% of the work force is inadequately prepared to protect the museum

“WHAT WOULD PICASSO SAY” Rally RE-RESCHEDULED! Now Friday, March 5 at 4:30 PM, at the museum (BAAADD WEATHER).

For more than 2 years the Philadelphia Security Officers Union has been trying to improve the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Their calls for improved training, safety, worker retention, better wages and benefits have been ignored.

On February 22, due to all that is at risk, the museum guards broke their silence about the training deficiencies…

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February 24, 2010 / PSOU

Tim Rub’s Hypocrisy Puts Art Lovers At Risk

February 12, 2010 / PSOU

Tim Rub’s Hypocrisy… Rally Rescheduled

The Philadelphia Security Officers Union is proposing a plan to improve the safety of the general public, the collections and museum workers by reducing the high worker turn-over through a progressive training program, improving wages, benefits and working conditions.

Museum CEO, Tim Rub and AlliedBarton are preventing progress toward a safer, healthier museum.

Read the PostTim Rub’s Hypocrisy… Rally Rescheduled

February 1, 2010 / Uncategorized

Howard Zinn Changed My Life

While I was working at the Greens Creek Mine in Juneau, AK, my father lead an effort to win lunch breaks for the miners. That’s right, according to our boss at the time, we could not…

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January 8, 2010 / New Labor

Welcome to www.ThatFinalStraw.com

After five years with Jobs with Justice, I am moving on. I will be working with the PSOU and various projects over the next few months. This blog will be my home on the web for this next phase in my organizing life. Please check back periodically to keep up with my work and to see various commentary on issues of the day.

Goodbye Jobs with Justice…

I woke up in the middle of the night a couple nights ago. There was a warm rain coming down and the air was moist. I felt comfortable, wrapped in familiar setting that appeared below my half opened eyes.

But, as I laid there, in the dark, a strange feeling suddenly washed over me. I realized that the perception that I had a second before was not reality. I realized that a moment after I had woken up I had imagined myself where I was a decade before, not in my bed in Philadelphia, PA, but in a mine camp outside of Juneau, AK.

Read the PostWelcome to www.ThatFinalStraw.com