WHEREAS, Americans are served every day by public service workers at the federal, state, county and city levels; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has a long and proud history of offering collecting bargaining rights to its employees; and
WHEREAS, In 1938, 3,000 Philadelphia municipal workers launched a strike protecting wage cuts, and layoffs, among the first in a major city and; after eight (8) days of collective bargaining, an agreement was reached leading to the formation of AFSCME District Council 33; and
WHEREAS, Middle-class, Wisconsin public service employees are being unfairly targeted by its Governor to make concessions in their pay and benefits to fill the hole in the state budget to make up for tax cuts and reduced audits to corporations in Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia supports fair, living wages and the preservation of the collective bargaining rights of public service employees not only in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania but in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New Hampshire and the rest of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Unions such as District Council 33, District Council 47, Firefighters Local 22, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge Number 5, and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers provide a wide variety of services to its citizens, including police and fire protection, emergency response, trash and recycling collection, snow removal, code enforcement, youth and senior programs, recreation programs, museum and cultural programs, park maintenance, planning and engineering and more; and
WHEREAS, The employees who provide these direct services to Philadelphians are supported by additional public service workers such as administrative support personnel, custodians, clerks, accountants, cashiers, payroll clerks and human resource personnel; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia sincerely appreciates the contributions of its public service workers and recognizes that they are critical to the successes of our City; and
WHEREAS, Public service workers keep Philadelphia working effectively and efficiently to service the needs of our citizens; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council designates March 10, 2011 as Public Service Workers Day in Philadelphia.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City of Philadelphia encourages all citizens to join us in recognizing the accomplishments and contributions of public service workers at the federal, state, county, and city level across the country.
End