Excerpts from

PUP NEWSLETTER

PHILADELPHIA UNEMPLOYMENT PROJECT - SUMMER 1998

JOBS Campaign Growing


As the clock of welfare reform continues to tick, the campaign for JOBS for Pennsylvania's poor and working families has grown.

H.B. 2308, a companion to S.B. 895, has been introduced into the House by State Representative Linda Bebko-Jones (D-Erie) with broad bi-partisan support. Seven Republicans joined forty-two Democrats in sponsoring the public job creation bill.

The Coalition for JOBS released a Report on Welfare Reform in Pennsylvania at the One-Year Mark highlighting the problems that will face the state, welfare recipients and the working poor when welfare time limits are reached in March of 1999.

Dozens of organizations around the state have endorsed the campaign and regional meetings in five Pennsylvania cities are being planned to build more support for JOBS. Groups as varied as the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Catholic Conference, Council of Churches, National Organization for Women, and the NAACP are actively involved in the campaign. Several rallies to build support for JOBS have taken place in the state.

Nationally, labor and religious groups came together with community organizations in Washington DC to form a working group to promote public job creation.

The city of Philadelphia has announced a "welfare-to-work" plan that will include 3,000 public

service jobs for welfare mothers. However, Mayor Rendell has made it plain that these are not enough jobs and more resources must come from the state and federal governments to provide jobs for the thousands expected to work or lose benefits in the period ahead.

In the period ahead, people concerned for children, the poor and workers will be raising more powerfully the need for Pennsylvania to use its budget surplus and the windfall realized from welfare reform to provide employment opportunities to our poorest residents.

PUP Leader Denise Ripley speaks at raUy in Harrisburg to build support for the JOBS Bilk Immediately behind her are Joel Weisberg (PA Jewish Coalition), Dave Wilderman (AFL- CIO), Jack Frye (AFL-CIO), Ed Toff (GCIU) Paul Arrington (UNITE!) Rep. Ivan Itkin (D-Allegheny), and Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.)



 

 

JOBS Bill Introduced in the Pennsylvania House


The Coalition for JOBS rallied in Harrisburg to announce the introduction of the House JOBS bill that would set up a public jobs program for families on welfare. Supported by the chanting of "JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! from the cheering crowd, Mary Ellen Lloyd (Presbytery of Philadelphia) told the crowd and the media that the JOBS bill will create full-time, wagepaying public service jobs for the tens of thousands of families in Pennsylvania who face losing their cash assistance due to "welfare reform."

Ms. Lloyd added that as the time limit for being on welfare is ticking away, thousands of mothers and fathers are struggling to find a job that pays a familysustaining wage that could lead to getting off welfare forever. Citing a study on the State's performance on its ability to move people from welfare into work, she said that half of the welfare mothers who did find a job since the "reformed" program began are no longer working.

Rep. Linda Bebko-Jones (D-Erie) introduced the House JOBS Bill, H.B. 2308. Identical to Senator Vincent Hughes' Senate Bill 895, the House bill would create 10, 000 public service H.B for welfare recipients and those who have no income. H.B. 2308 would provide fulltime jobs paying a minimum of $6.00 an hour or the prevailing wage, whichever is higher. A typical welfare recipient who gets a JOBS position would receive enough benefits from the EITC program to push the actual wage to a living wage. Welfare recipients would retain their Medicaid health coverage and receive child care, and training. And, like S.B. 895, H.B. 2308 contains strong worker protection measures, including prohibiting the use of JOBS workers in positions where workers are on layoff, strike, or lockout.

The bill enjoys bi-partisan support from 50 State Representatives, including the sponsorship of the following Republican State Representatives: John Taylor (RPhila.), Ellen Bard (R-Montgomery), Lita Cohen (R- Montgomery), Pat Browne (RLehigh), Sen. Vincent Mario Civera (R-Delaware), Jane Orie (R-Allegheny), and Lynn Herman (R-Centre). The bill has been referred to the House Labor Relations Committee, chaired by Rep. Joseph Gladeck (RMontgomery), and awaits a hearing.



Meeting with Rep. Linda Bebko-Jones after she agreed to introduce JOBS bill: (I. to R. Ed Toff (GCIU # 14), Barbara DiTullio (NOW), John Dodds (PUP), David Wilderman (PA AFLCIO), Madeline Dwyer (PUP), Paul Arrington (UNITU), Roney Maddox (PUP).

 

Advocates are urged to contact Rep. Gladeck and ask him to schedule a hearing on JOBS. His mailing address is 41 East Wing, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2020. His telephone number is 717-787-2801.

 
Philadelphia Unemployment Project
116 S. 7th St. 
Philadelphia, PA  19106
(215) 592-0933
Fax: (215) 592-7537