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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 14, 2024 05:17 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Nick Pisciottano and Rep. Dan L. Miller |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Recognizing the week of June 24th through 28th, 2024 as “Union Organizing Week” in PA |
| The birth of Unions in America began in Pennsylvania, starting soon after the American Revolution in 1786 with the founding of Philadelphia's Journeymen Cordwainers (printers). From these beginnings, Pennsylvania workers continued to seek protection of their jobs and benefits through unions. There were the coal miners’ strikes throughout the nineteenth century, culminating in the great anthracite strike of 1902, which resulted in a 10-percent wage raise and a small reduction in work hours. During the Great Depression, Pennsylvania again emerged as a center of American labor organization, as western Pennsylvania steel workers formed a center of strength with the Steel Workers Organization Committee (SWOC) that in 1942, became the United Steelworkers of America. While Union membership had declined significantly since the 1970s, especially in the original industrial workers' organizations, the need for unions has remained as strong as ever, and many new ones formed during the 1970s and 1980s in the ever-growing sectors of white-collar and high-technology jobs. These organizations no longer fight against child labor or excessively long work weeks, as the movement did for much of the nineteenth century. Instead, pressing concerns often involve health care, equitable pay for similar skill, fair treatment on the job, short staffing or forced overtime, and retirement security, especially in the face of multinational corporations cutting back on all these basic needs. Fast forward to today’s union organizing efforts. Union organizing and formation is at its highest surge with huge wins at Amazon, Starbucks, Dave & Busters, Google and Apple. Because of Pennsylvania’s long, rich and continuing history of union organizing work, we intend to introduce a resolution marking the week of June 24th through 28th, 2024 as “Union Organizing Week” in PA. Please join us in supporting this resolution. |