Authorizing Council's Committee on Labor and Civil Service to hold hearings to examine labor practices with regard to poll worker compensation.

WHEREAS, Poll workers are the foundation of non-partisan democracy, ensuring a fair democratic process by overseeing and facilitating the proper functioning of the polls on election day; and

WHEREAS, The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, requiring poll workers to be paid $10.88 per hour instead of the roughly $6.78 poll workers are currently being paid; and

WHEREAS, The newly passed Voter ID law will demand an increase in poll worker responsibilities by requiring additional training and time for the recognition of acceptable forms of ID and the methods of remedying potential voters with unacceptable forms of ID; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia poll workers have been underpaid, with no increase in payment rates since 1999; and

WHEREAS, State law (25 P.S. §2682.2) was amended in 2002 to permit counties throughout Pennsylvania to increase poll worker pay within certain parameters; and

WHEREAS, A group of election officers have initiated a class action law suit [

Grubel v. County Bd. Of Elections

, 2010 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 174 (2010)] against the City, alleging that the current pay scale for poll workers does not comply with the Philadelphia 21st Century Minimum Wage Standard Ordinance, which requires covered employers to pay 150 percent of the current federal minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, Poll workers work a minimum of fourteen hours on voting days, even more so when there is a strong voter turnout, not including the time it takes to adequately train for the position; now therefore, be it,

RESOLVED, THAT THE PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, Hereby authorizes Council's Committee on Labor and Civil Service to hold hearings to examine labor practices with regard to poll worker compensation.

End