Wow. Pennsylvania really has its protest on these days.
Palmyra, Pa., is where the foreign students who paid to be in a cultural exchange program ended up in a Hershey's sweatshop packaging Kit-Kats. Some of them walked off the job, with the support of local unions and the National Guestworker Alliance.
In Williamsport, workers staged a mock funeral for jobs (like they did in Texas) outside of the office of Rep. Lou Barletta, an anti-worker extremist.
Another anti-worker extremist, Sen. Pat Toomey, has been followed by "Toomey Trackers" -- two unemployed workers -- in a Toomeymobile. They've been trying to get a meeting with him to talk about jobs (like they did in Wisconsin and New York). When Toomey finally held town hall meetings, they showed up to tell him to stop destroying America. In Jim Thorpe, workers held "Where are the Jobs?" signs.
Now we're learning that unions in Pittsburgh did not invite two anti-union politicians, Gov. Tom Corbett and Sen. Pat Toomey, to its Labor Day March for Jobs. Reports Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post:
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO spokesman Marty Marks said that only friends of the labor movement, regardless of political party, are invited to march in the Pittsburgh Labor Day parade. The local labor council reimburses the city for parade-related expenses.
About six Republican politicians were invited to march this year, along with a larger number of Democratic officials. Invited guests include U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R), U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D) and state Sen. John Pippe (R-Allegheny).Unfortunately, Toomey is on the congressional supercommittee to reduce the deficit. He's a staunch advocate of cutting government spending and refuses to consider raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Yesterday, Think Progress reported that Toomey believes hurricane relief should be offset by budget cuts. Reports Think Progress,
Thousands of Pennsylvania residents are still without power from the storm, while 13 counties in the state have been approved for federal aid. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said that it’s “far too early to know” an exact damage figure.
