Phone Banks Up and Running! I was asked to pass some information on about the phone banks. Please call Tina on her cell phone at 979-2475 if you are interested in working the phone banks. They are starting on Wednesday and Thursday this week at 12:00 noon to 9pm. food will be provided and $8.00/hour. Please let the membership know to try to get some people willing to come make calls.

Public Worker' Union Endorses Rendell Tuesday September 29,2006 On September 29, 2006, Council 13 of AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) announced its endorsement of Ed Rendell for Governor. At an afternoon meeting of the Statewide Steering Committee, a 27-member panel that votes on the endorsement of state candidates, members voiced concerns about Lynn Swann’s plans to cut state revenues, as well as his support for TABOR – the so-called “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” that would limit state spending to a formula, pitting state and county agencies against one another for funding. Members were also concerned over Swann’s support of “Right to Work” legislation designed to weaken labor unions. “When you compare Rendell and Swann side by side, there is no doubt that Rendell is better for public employees,” said AFSCME member Henry Hurt, President of Local 2719 (City of Pittsburgh Employees). “We will need the next Governor’s help in protecting public employees in Pennsylvania, and Lynn Swann would definitely not be on our side,” said Council 13’s Executive Director David Fillman. Council 13 has also endorsed Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll and U.S. Senatorial candidate Bob Casey, Jr. “Bob Casey has been a friend of public employees for decades,” said Committee member Bob Lucas, President of Local 2247 (Indiana Area State Supervisory Employees). “As our U.S. Senator, Bob will provide the ethical, intelligent leadership that has been sorely lacking.” AFSCME Council 13 represents more than 65,000 public employees in the Commonwealth (45,000 state employees and 20,000 in Pennsylvania’s counties, townships, boroughs, cities, school districts, healthcare facilities, and human service organizations).

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE If you or someone you know needs help paying heating bills, the Pennsylvania Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, can help for both home owners and renters. Additionally, Pennsylvania 's Department of Community and Economic Development Unit can provide free weatherization services if you qualify.(Click here to go to Auditor Generals Website) For home heating assistance "LIHEAP" click here! Help Raise PA's Minimum Wage Come to the Capitol Rotunda to voice your support on Tuesday, January 24, from 11:30-1:00 pm. Bring your family, friends, and fellow members! Contact your Legislator Log onto www.legis.state.pa.us to locate your PA Senator - then call or email, urging them to "raise the minimum wage!" Make a Donation The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is taking a lead role in this fight. Help them to print literature and rent buses to bring members to rallies, by sending a donation (from $25.00 to $200.00) to PA AFL-CIO, 231 State Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101.

BREAKING NEWS! Judy Heh to Retire! Schwanger Appointed Director of District Council 90 HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A new leader has been selected to head the Harrisburg branch of the largest public employee union in Pennsylvania. At a board meeting on Thursday evening, the Executive Board of District Council 90 of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, voted unanimously to appoint Mary Schwanger to the position of Director effective October 15, when Judi Heh will retire after 35 years of service to AFSCME. "Mary is deeply committed to AFSCME and to District Council 90, and she is the perfect person to tackle the challenges that lie ahead," said David Fillman, Executive Director of Council 13, the Pennsylvania division of AFSCME that represents more than 65,000 public employees. "Mary has a lot of experience with AFSCME," said District Council 90 President Joyce Culpepper, who is also President of Local 1420, which represents employees in the Commonwealth's Office of Administration, and holds the elected office of School Director for the Steelton-Highspire School District. "She has compassion for people, she knows most of us, and people trust her," added Culpepper. "I'm honored that Dave, Judi, and the Executive Board are giving me this opportunity," said Schwanger, who worked for AFSCME's International Union for seven years before joining District Council 90 in 1995. Schwanger was elected President of the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO in 2004. Schwanger will replace Judi Heh, who was the first female in Council 13 to serve as the Director of a District Council, and the first woman elected to a chair office in the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. Heh will continue to work with the AFL-CIO in her capacity as Chair of the Central PA Labor Federation. "Mary will be a strong leader at a critical time in the history of the labor movement," said Heh. AFSCME is an international organization representing more than 1.4 million public employees. We will miss Judy. She was a fighter, mentor and friend. We are thrilled to have Mary, who started as Local 2534 Staff Rep. when first hired by Council 90.

"What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright."

Samuel Gompers

Historical Marker Honors Public Employees! On Friday, September 9, 2005 there was a marker unveiled at the PA State Capitol commemorating Public Sector Unionism. Speakers included Charles McCollester, PLHS; Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll; Representative Ronald Buxton; William George, PA AFL-CIO; Richard Bloomingdale, PA AFL-CIO; David Fillman, AFSCME; Barbara Franco, PHMC. The marker reads: Public Sector Unionism Decades-long efforts to organize public sector workers in PA resulted in Acts 111 of 1968 and 195 of 1970, after which tens of thousands of public workers joined unions. The movement to unionize public workers began in the 1930s, was legislatively restricted in 1947, and given partial recognition in 1957.

Judy Heh honored with Sylvis Award!

Sept. 9, 2006 William Sylvis, founder of the Molders union and the organizer of the first national labor organization-the National Labor Union-was also one of the firs tto speak out on workplace safety conditions. Born in Indiana County, his activities for working people before the Civil War has earned him a special place in labor history. The annual Sylvis Award of the Societ is prewented at the 2006 conferece to Judi Heh, State AFL-CIO official and AFSCME leader. Judith Heh, since 1994, has been serving as Director of District Council 90 of the American Federation fo State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents over 9,000 public employees and health care workers in Dauphin County, PA. She is the first woman to serve as a District Council Director of the Committee on Political Education (COPE). Heh is formerly from Pittsburgh where she worked for both the State Department so Transportation and Revenue from 1972 through 1982. She entered into the labor movement as part of AFSCME's organizing effort in Pennsylvania, and served as President of AFSCME Local 2578 during that same time period. While in Pittsburgh, Heh was active in the Allegheny County Central Labor Council and taught Labor and Politics at the Phillip Murray Institute for Labor Studies. Heh has also served a Vice President of the Harrisburg Regional Central Labor Council, as Vice President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Treasurer of the PA Labor History Society, and as a member of the United Way of the Capital Region. Judi is currently serving as the Chair of the AFL-CIO's Central Area Labor Federation (ALF). Heh is a leader and labor activist and advocate. In the past she has served as Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women (1983-1994) and was a member of thne Governor's Economic Development Partnership (1987-1995); the State Job Training Coordination Council (1991-1994). Judi also served as a member on the PA Unemployment Advisory Committee and she served a the Northeast AFL-Cio delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions, the Democratic County Committee and the Democratic State Committee. Heh has two daughters, Michelle Heh and Kelly Ferguson who are both teachers. The real delight of Judi's life are her three grandchildren.

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"125 Illegal Workers Found at Wal-Mart Site" Nov 18 7:18 PM US/Eastern An immigration raid at a Wal-Mart distribution center under construction led to the arrests of 125 illegal workers, all of whom will be deported, federal officials said Friday. The workers from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico were detained Thursday at the construction site in eastern Pennsylvania, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Some of the 125 used fake documents to obtain employment with subcontractors, officials said. The arrests came after search warrants were executed for six companies at the site outside Pottsville, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. "Employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens, and those who utilize false documents to gain employment, face significant criminal and administrative charges," John Kelleghan, acting special agent-in- charge for ICE in Pennsylvania, said in a statement. Agents obtained the search warrants after learning that 10 workers employed by Destin Drywall & Paint were using Social Security numbers that did not match their names. Another three used Social Security numbers that were never issued by the government, according to an affidavit unsealed Friday at U.S. District Court in Scranton. Houston-based Destin has worked on Wal-Mart projects around the country, according to office manager Cindy Wyman. She said the company verifies that employees are permitted to work in the United States. "As far as I know, their Social Security numbers are good," Wyman said of the Pennsylvania workers. A Wal-Mart spokesman has said the detained workers were not employed by Wal-Mart but by the subcontractors. Wal-Mart's contracts with the companies require that they follow local, state and federal employment laws, the company said. The Pennsylvania job site remains shut down, Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires said Friday. He did not know when construction would resume. Last month, Wal-Mart shut down work on seven stores under construction in North Dakota to check for illegal aliens after two illegal immigrants working on Wal-Mart projects in Bismarck were charged with molesting two 13-year-old girls. Charges against one of the suspects were dropped after authorities found out he was a juvenile. In 2003, a raid of 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states led to the arrests of 245 illegal workers. An affidavit claimed a pair of senior Wal-Mart executives knew cleaning contractors were hiring illegal immigrants. The retailer agreed to pay $11 million in March to settle the case but denied senior executives knew of the hirings.

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Announcements

	Congratulations to Andrea Buide on the birth of her baby boy, born May 1st!
	Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family of Maria Santiago. Maria worked in the microfilm retrieval unit on the second floor of the ROC. Final services will be in Puerto Rico.
	Congratulations to Pam Shabroon who worked for BMV in the Special Tag Unit. May you have a long and happy retirement! Congratulations to Marsha Johnson who worked in Key Entry and recently retired! She worked for the Dept. for 31 years!

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