While discussing the protests in Wisconsin today with The United Steelworkers Director Michael Bolton and Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman, Chris Matthews touts former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell as a good pro-labor Democrat. Really? News to me Tweety. He just got hired by an union busting law firm, Ballard, Spahr, Ingersoll, and Rand.
Union busting, alive and well in Pennsylvania :
We also learned from one of our brothers at the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way that Pennsylvania's outgoing governor, Democrat Ed Rendell, is joining a union-busting law firm. Here's the message:
He will be returning to the law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Ingersoll, and Rand. This is the firm that SEPTA gives a huge majority of their outside counsel to.
Philadelphia, with a long, proud history of being a "union town" (AFSCME was founded here) has dealt with these people for many years. When municipal workers and transportation workers try to advance their cause, this firm is the first to be called in to stick it to the unions.
Former DNC Chair Ed Rendell Returns to Management Law Firm:
Ballard Spahr has announced that former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell is returning as a member of the firm in its Philadelphia office. Governor Rendell is a former Mayor of Philadelphia, City District Attorney and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
In one of his last acts as governor, Rendell vetoed a bill that enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support and would have made it easier for fire fighters who develop cancer to collect workers' compensation benefits.
Pennsylvania fire fighters struggled for nearly 20 years to win passage of cancer presumption legislation, and this year gained political support in the state legislature. The measure, HB 1231, had passed the Pennsylvania House by a vote of 195-1, and carried a GOP-controlled Senate with only four dissenting votes. Rendell was the only lawmaker left standing in the way of this important measure for Pennsylvania fire fighters. The outgoing governor waited until the very end of the state’s legislative calendar to kill the bill with his veto pen, leaving fire fighters with almost no opportunity to convince legislators to override the veto.
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee and National Governors Association expressing disappointment and anger at Governor Ed Rendell for vetoing the measure.
"Rendell’s post political career comes as no surprise," says Schaitberger. "For eight years, as governor of the Commonwealth, he shamelessly shilled for the anti-labor law firm, Ballard Spahr. Now, he's getting paid for his efforts.”
And here's the press release from Ballard Spahr: Governor Edward G. Rendell Rejoins Ballard Spahr
