Metro Philadelphia Labor Power Players

Bryan Arce is a labor law lawyer and the owner and founder of Arcé Law Group. He founded his own practice in 2011 with the hopes of helping represent employees across New York, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Before working in law, Bryan worked as a chef for twelve years. It was then that he gained first-hand experience and insight into management-employee relationships, which motivated him to get involved in employment law. He has also worked as a judicial intern at the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, where he learned about employment law from a Judge’s point of view. 

Joseph Ashdale is the business manager and secretary treasurer of IUPAT DC 21, which represents more than 4,500 members in the finishing trades in the Philadelphia region, Central and Northeast Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey. The union is affiliated with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and is known to be one of the most active unions in the region, fighting for fair wages and benefits for glass workers, painters, drywall finishes, glaziers, and wall coverers. 

A retired member of the Harrisburg Education Association, Rich spent most of his career in the Harrisburg School District teaching elementary classroom music. Rich has extensive leadership experience at the local, state, and national levels. Rich served as PSEA Southern Region’s treasurer and president-elect. His statewide service includes vice president, treasurer, board of directors, and NEA board of directors. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs. The Commission members advise the governor and state agencies regarding policies, programs, and legislation that impact LGBTQ communities. 

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Teachers and education support professionals.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
PSEA is a tireless advocate for our 178,000 members and the students they serve every day. We help to negotiate fair local employment contracts, protect our members’ salaries, benefits, working conditions, and pensions, and lobby policymakers to ensure that our schools are properly funded so that every student has the power of a great education.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
I have always believed in the power of collective action and in the labor movement. Unions harness the power of their members and direct it toward securing the kinds of family-sustaining salaries and benefits that everyone should be entitled to. From the very beginning of my career as a teacher, to the years I spent as a local association leader and PSEA board member, to my tenure as a state-wide officer and president, I have seen – time and time again – how our union makes a difference in the lives of our members.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
Pennsylvania’s labor force is in a unique transition period as twenty-first century technologies meet a remote work culture that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As employers meet these challenges, labor unions will be even more important in the continuing project of protecting employee rights and ensuring that they are treated fairly, no matter how or from where they work.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Because PSEA represents educators and support professionals who teach and serve Pennsylvania’s students, our Association has an impact on local communities every day. PSEA members are accustomed to going above and beyond the call of duty. So, they continue the important work they do in their schools and classrooms in their communities, volunteering, organizing programs for children, fundraising, and doing all kinds of activities that make a difference to their neighbors and their children.

Senator Camera Bartolotta serves as chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, which has oversight over Pennsylvania labor laws, including wage payment and collection laws, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation. In 2019, Camera helped move a bill through the Senate that would have raised the state’s minimum wage. She also used her committee to conduct oversight of the state’s unemployment system throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Camera has represented the 46th Senatorial District since 2015.

Greg Bernarding is the business manager of Ironworkers Local Union 3, which was founded in 1896. The Pittsburgh-based organization has over 2,000 members, and aims to provide iron workers with benefits, healthcare, and a systemized wage rate. 

Layla Bibi is a 17-year member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. As a powerful advocate for women, Bibi expresses her values through leading, teaching and creating work opportunities.  In addition to being a council representative, Bibi is the chair of the EASRCC Sisters in the Brotherhood Committee (an organization dedicated to recruiting and mentoring women in the Carpenters Union). A native of West Philadelphia, she has worked on major projects throughout the city and she is committed to creating opportunities for others to do the same.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Construction.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Living wages, training, medical benefits, retirement pension, and annuity.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
The lack of female advocates in the construction industry.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
It will become more inclusive.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor provides life changing career opportunities for the communities we live and work in.

Jeff Binz is the director of United Auto Workers Region 9, which covers New Jersey, Western and Central New York, and most of Pennsylvania. The union services members who work in the automotive, steel, and aerospace industries. The members are responsible for building the Chinook medium-lift helicopter at the Boeing facility in Ridley Park. Jeff previously served as vice president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. Today, he also serves on the United Auto Workers International Executive Board. 

Neal Bisno was elected as international executive vice president of SEIU in 2016. He leads the union’s State Power program, through which he helps unify member, organizing, and political work at the state and local level. He joined the union movement in 1989, and before being appointed as international executive vice president, he was president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, where he represented nearly 45,000 healthcare workers in the state. Thanks to him, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania grew both in size and strength, and he helped thousands of workers earn $15/hour. 

Richard (Rick) Bloomingdale became the fourth president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO in June of 2010 and was re-elected unanimously in 2014 and 2018. Prior to his election as president, Rick served as the secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO for 16 years. He began his career in the labor movement with AFSCME in 1977. Over the four decades of his labor career, Rick has served AFSCME in many roles, including project staff representative and international to state political/legislative director.