Apparently the old saying is wrong: You can get blood from a stone, after all. In a world where "the American Dream" has become a year in which your salary stays the same, the so-called City of Brotherly Love is on the brink of setting a new standard in squeezing middle-class workers to death. It's not like we haven't seen this story before: Working men and women asked to take a sizable pay cut...and work longer hours...and pay more for shrinking benefits. Usually such reports alternate with the news that the CEO of that same outfit is leaving with a golden parachute worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe millions.

But just when you think it can't get any worse, here come the contract demands that the Philadelphia School District would like to cram down the throat of the city's unionized school teachers. The news -- first reported by Kristen Graham of the Inquirer -- is a jaw-dropper:

• Large pay cuts imposed in teachers up to 13 percent for those making (a whopping) $55,000 a year or more. then frozen until 2017.

• A sizable jump in out of pocket costs for health coverage.

• In return for this honor, teachers would have to increase their work day from just over 7 hours now to eight hours, and "would also have to lead professional development, attend meetings, perform bus, yard and lunch duty and be available for parent meetings outside work hours with no extra pay."

• There's a lot more, but one of my favorites is that the district would no longer have to provide, among other things, "water fountains, parking facilities, [or] desks for teachers..." (although presumably some teachers would retain these? Who knows?)

• It should be noted that many of these cuts are not so much harmful to the teachers as to the kids -- lifting limits on class sizes and not requiring librarians or guidance counselors in every school, for example.

This is outrageous for so many reasons that it's hard to know where to begin. It is worth noting a couple of caveats. Obviously, this is an opening negotiation gambit and not the final offer; it's hard to imagine that even if the district sought to impose terms on the union (which would surely cause a strike -- more on that in a minute) that they could possibly be this draconian. I've heard that some of this may be a spring offensive to get hundreds of teachers to take early retirement -- and I'm sure it will work. Those things said, one also senses that the school district -- egged on by its high-priced Boston consultants -- "means business" this time.

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More to come as details develop, but the Communications Workers of America just sent out the following release:

Members of CWA and IBEW at Verizon Communications will return to work on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at which time the contract will be back in force for an indefinite period.

We have reached agreement with Verizon on how bargaining will proceed and how it will be restructured. The major issues remain to be discussed, but overall, issues now are focused and narrowed.

We appreciate the unity of our members and the support of so many in the greater community. Now we will focus on bargaining fairly and moving forward.

CWA and IBEW represent 45,000 workers at Verizon covered by this contract from Virginia to New England.

A call will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern to discuss the agreement.

Laura Clawson at Daily Kos reports:

Members recently received letters from Verizon announcing that it is canceling group benefit plans for striking workers. This is an action which employers often take in strike situations to try unsettle the resolve of the strikers.

At CWA, we have faced this issue many times in the past and always protected our members and their families so that no one is harmed as a result of management’s ruthless act. This will be true for this strike as well.

Rather than attempting to negotiate a fair settlement with the workers, Verizon has decided to go the punitive route, trying to break the striking workers. Verizon has never attempted to approach this situation in good faith and this is another example of that. The Communications Workers of America say they are familiar with the tactic, though, and that they will make sure to take care of the working families affected by this move.

For those who are following along with the Verizon strike and want to do what you can do to get involved, there are a bunch of ways for you to get directly involved or show your solidarity. Forty-five thousand Verizon workers are on strike because the massively profitable company, which pays no taxes, is demanding major cuts in employee compensation and refuses to negotiate fairly with workers. The Communications Workers of America filed a unfair labor practice grievance again Verizon on Friday.

One creative way to get involved is the "What Verizon's Name Means" contest sponsored by the CWA. The union is asking creative supporters to come up with a translation that reveals what Verizon's name really means.

If you are in the area, you can use this tool to find a picket line anywhere from Virginia to New York. If you are joining the strike, you can print leaflets before you go.

You can also send a letter to Verizon asking them to negotiate fairly. Daily Kos also has a petition in support of the striking workers. Organizations interested in supporting the strike should contact CWA directly.

Other ways to keep up with the latest on the strike is to sign up for text messages from CWA, support the strike on Facebook, and by changing your Facebook and Twitter status to show your solidarity.

Janette Spoor, a Communications Workers of America activist, asked Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (R-NY) what she will do to help American workers whose jobs are being sent overseas. Rather than answering the question, Hayworth goes on an unrelated rant on American exceptionalism and how the United States has offered more opportunity to its citizens than any other country. She argued that this is true because the government stayed out of the "free" market.

The audience wasn't happy with the answer and pressed her to answer the question. One man pointed out that the greatest growth in American history came when Franklin Roosevelt was president and government was more involved.

Hayworth continued to spout her Tea Party-free market rhetoric, but the audience wasn't having it. She was called out for her support for various free trade acts and her refusal to vote to close tax loopholes that benefit companies that outsource jobs. The same man then blasted her "You are the problem, not the answer," and "Ma'am, you are not the teacher here, you are a congresswoman."

When she was asked about the outsourcing of jobs by Verizon and the subsequent strike, Hayworth refused to discuss the topic: "I am not talking about Verizon right now...This is not the Verizon meeting."

She continued by saying that the solution to jobs was taxes that are more "free" and flat.