The Women's Rights Movement in Pittsburgh: 1967 to Today (Deanna Garcia) from the WESA program, Essential Pittsburgh
"“There were no bras burned at that pageant, it was a protest about the image of women and how women are portrayed as sex objects, so I would just like to dispel that, that’s a bit of an urban legend,” said Pat Ulbrich, director of In Sisterhood, the Women’s Movement in Pittsburgh."

Daughterty Residents Unhappy with Lack of Progress of Drilling Ordinance from the Beaver Times
"A lack of ordinances regarding gas drilling in Daugherty Township could be driving some companies away, and residents want answers."

Transit Supporters Rally for More State Funding from the Beaver Times 
"Gov. Tom Corbett is talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in new transportation spending in his proposed 2013-14 budget, but transit proponents don’t like what they’re hearing and many of them took the bus to tell him about it on Monday."

UPMC Settles Dozens of Unfair Labor Practices Complaints Filed by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"In a news release, SEIU said the Pittsburgh health system will be required to rescind its policies regarding preventing employees from talking about the union-organizing effort as long as it is not done in patient care areas. UPMC managers and supervisors also will undergo training about complying with labor laws."

PERSPECTIVE!!

No Help Wanted: In Filing to Labor Board, UPMC Claims it Has No Employees (Charlie Deitch) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"They're proud to say it's their people who make them who they are — right up until it's time to treat those people fairly ... Remember the UPMC advertisements that used to claim the health-care giant was "not a business" but "a collection of people, and surprises and ideas you weren't expecting"? Apparently, it's not even that much. In a Jan. 3 filing to the National Labor Relations Board, the nonprofit health-care giant — routinely identified as the region's largest employer — claims it actually has no employees at all. "

EVENT!!

Announcing the PA Progressive Summit 2013 from Keystone Progress, Democracy for America, and the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and other organizations
[From the announcement:] This year's Summit offers 33 workshops and panel discussions about the important issues facing Pennsylvania and the nation. Each session will give you practical suggestions about what you can do to successfully move your issue forward."

Pittsburgh Group Advocates for Sustainable Funding for Transit from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Pittsburgh transit advocates launched a campaign Tuesday to press state leaders for increased funding to expand Port Authority of Allegheny County service and reduce fares. “The funding announced last year (to avert 35 percent service cuts) was a just a temporary fix. We need a permanent solution,” said Helen Gerhardt, spokeswoman for Pittsburghers for Public Transit, after a Downtown news conference."

Protesters Call on UPMC to Pay its ‘Fair Share’ from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"More than 100 community members and activists called on UPMC to adopt a “new code of conduct” during a protest Thursday morning in front of the City-County Building, Downtown. Chanting slogans for UPMC to “pay your fair share,” they said the health-care giant should contribute more money to the city …"

More Apartments In, Houses Out at Bakery Square 2.0 Project in East Liberty from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Plans to develop 20 single-family houses have been dropped in favor of a second apartment building at the $100 million Bakery Square 2.0 project in East Liberty that is being developed by Walnut Capital Partners. But residents who attended a community meeting on Wednesday at the Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside questioned the decision and had other concerns about what they see as a lack of parking planned for the project."

ADVOCACY TRAINING PROGRAM!!

Training Session for Transit Advocacy Group from Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Tomorrow's event will "test out our new training curriculum for Pittsburghers for PublicTransit volunteers on Saturday, January 19 from 1-3pm, in the Liberty Conference room on the ground floor of the Human Services Building at One Smithfield Street, downtown. We want this training model to be useful both for beginners and experienced organizers, so we ask for your participation and feedback on this pilot model. The next week, on January 22nd, we will launch our direct organizing and legislative campaigns at a press conference, inviting the general public to participate in the first volunteer training open to the general public, on Sunday, January 27th, also at One Smithfield St in the Liberty Conference room."
For more information about these events or other activities by Pittsburghers for Public Transit, see their website here.

UPMC Charged with Union Violations: NLRB Files Complaint Against Health System from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"An ongoing dispute between the UPMC health system and a union working to organize service and maintenance workers at three Pittsburgh hospitals escalated Wednesday, when the National Labor Relations Board charged UPMC with violating federal laws regarding employees' rights to organize a union."

Farmer Released from Jail After Confronting Workers Over Mine Discharge from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A still-indignant 73-year-old cattle farmer walked out of the Fayette County Jail on Monday morning after serving a four-day contempt-of-court sentence for confronting natural gas pipeline company employees who he said were pumping acidic mine water onto his pasture for a second time. ... "The pipeline people are totally unethical in every aspect," Mr. Bezjak said just outside the jail and courthouse. "They try to be your friend when they want to get a lease, but after that they start taking advantage of you. I'm fed up, you can tell. It's been lie after lie after lie.""

Pittsburgh City Council Honors Thomas Merton Center from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"The Thomas Merton Center, founded in 1972, has "never wavered" in its advocacy for peace, city Councilman Bill Peduto said. And this morning, after Mr. Peduto read a proclamation honoring the Garfield group for its 40-year commitment and naming today "Thomas Merton Center Day" in
Pittsburgh, there was no wavering. Instead, there was more advocacy."

UPMC Tax Status Contested from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Councilman John DeFazio, who chaired the hearing, said Wednesday's session likely would be the first of several to examine the status of tax-exempt properties. UPMC is both the largest private employer in the county and the largest property owner. A recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigative series found that UPMC controlled real estate valued at $1.6 billion and claimed 86 percent of its property as tax exempt."

State University Faculty Authorize Strike from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The longest faculty labor dispute in the history of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities inched closer to a showdown Friday as union professors voted overwhelmingly to give their negotiators authority to call a strike."

Pa. University Faculty Seek OK to Strike from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Officials from the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties say a strike authorization vote will held in November on each campus, according to WPXI.com. The decision comes after contract talks stalled last week. Faculty from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock University are among those who are members of the union."

Naturalizing and Unionizing in Pittsburgh (AUDIO) from WESA's program Essential Pittsburgh
"Tuesday on Essential Pittsburgh, what the vote to unionize means for adjunct professors at Duquesne University. Learn about the region’s first outdoor botanic garden and the business of life sciences in Pittsburgh with business contributor Rebecca Harris."

Shaky Ground: Farmer Fears for Future as Gas Drilling Begins Near Scores of Abandoned Well Sites from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"The industry and its proponents say that hydrofracturing, as the process is formally called, is safe — and that it brings jobs. But environmentalists say there are risks. And Henry, who runs a farm less than a mile from this soon-to-be-operational rig, has a special reason for worrying about such impacts. She and her neighbors live in an area that already bears the scars of resource extraction: abandoned well sites from oil and gas drilling that date back a century and more."

PROFILE!!

On the Record with Wanda Guthrie of the Thomas Merton Center's Committee on Environmental Justice (Lauren Daley) from the Pittsburgh City Paper 
"Guthrie, a long-time member and activist with the Thomas Merton Center, recently became the chair of the center's newest committee, on Environmental Justice, working toward a more sustainable society. The committee will determine much of its focus at a Sept. 23 meeting, but Guthrie spoke to City Paper now about the new committee and its charge."

Duquesne Adjuncts Vote for Union from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The United Steelworkers said the adjunct instructors at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts voted 50-9 to unionize. The balloting had been supervised by the National Labor Relations Board but fought by Duquesne, which said it was exempt from the regulations. The Post-Gazette reported Duquesne University would be challenging the election."