PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia labor leaders marked the fifth anniversary of the city’s Fair Workweek Law on Tuesday, urging the city to continue to act on behalf of employees while also noting that workers are facing hostile anti-labor actions at the federal level.
Organized labor has little to celebrate these days, so the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO office reached back to 2020 when the city passed a law requiring employers to give workers reliable schedules in advance and stick to them — or pay a penalty. Barista Sal Hirsch said it has worked at Starbucks.
“They have to give us more hours and regular schedules and pay us if they do need us to stay late. This really improves our lives in a major way,” she said.
Deputy Mayor Sincere Harris said the law has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra pay to workers, and the city has no plans to back down on defending worker rights.
“In a time filled with unprecedented attacks on working people, Philadelphians can rest assured that the city has always been and will continue to be a city that fights for and protects our working men and women,” she said.
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While Tuesday’s anniversary was a celebration, it was also a warning to safeguard the gains workers have made.
“It’s a warning to make sure we don’t lose what we fought for, because there’s many people trying to take away what people fought for for many years,” said long-time labor leader Pat Eiding, referring to the end of the $15 minimum wage for federal contractors, mass layoffs and an attempt to decertify federal unions.
Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Danny Bauder said the city has been fortunate to have some big labor victories recently, including at the Community College of Philadelphia and the Wells Fargo Center. He hopes the determination workers showed in those fights will set an example nationally.
“It takes mass movements, it takes direct action to push people who are otherwise intractable,” he said. “There are times when you have to have direct action; you have to be in the streets. This is one of those times.”
Bauder said rallies are scheduled to take place in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, on May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day.