Good afternoon everyone,

Welcome to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report, where we talk to US Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Allegheny) about what Democrats need to do to win back the trust of union members and reflect on his time organizing colleagues and faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Before we start, I’d like to thank everyone who has signed up for the newsletter since its launch last week. It’s been an exciting first couple of weeks, and I am looking forward to getting to know you. 

(Photo: Sean Kitchen) 

Democrats have their work cut out for them when it comes to rebuilding trust with union members across the commonwealth, but for US Rep. Chris Deluzio, it’s about getting back to the basics. 

“You got to have the economic fight front and center,” Deluzio said in an interview with The Keystone. “You got to name villains. You can’t be one of these Democrats who’s always chasing a win-win. You know when someone’s got their heel on the neck of a lot of us and a lot of the American people.”

Deluzio, who was first elected to the US House in 2022, is one of the youngest Democrats from Pennsylvania serving in the US House, and he has spent that time building his name across the commonwealth. 

Prior to joining the US House, Deluzio was a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh and Pitt Cyber, and helped organize his colleagues with the steelworkers. We touch upon his experience forming a union at Pitt and the legislation he’s introduced to protect workers.

(Photo: Commonwealth Media Services)

State workers inside Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation (UC) offices were hailed as heroes this week by Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Secretary Nancy Walker for eliminating large backlogs and reducing call wait times for residents applying for unemployment benefits.

After signing his first budget, the Shapiro administration hired 380 UC interviewers and implemented new reforms to eliminate a backlog of 40,000 unemployment claims and reduce call wait times to under 10 minutes – the lowest they’ve been in over six years. 

Nina Coffey, the secretary-treasurer at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 668, thanked Shapiro for his administration investing in the workforce to make these improvements. 

“Rather than cutting jobs or salaries, the Commonwealth invested. That investment led to proper training for UC workers, prioritizing securing the tools and resources they needed to do their jobs effectively,” Coffey said.  

Have you noticed how “fake news” on social media is creeping into our lives and politicizing topics in ways that weren’t always political? 

I bring this up for a couple of reasons—and this may be something I explore more in the future—but its becoming more and more evident that most of the sporting news you see while doomscrolling on Facebook or X is fake, and we’re not talking about making up a hoax trade at the baseball trade deadline. 

Last week, I had a conversation with a family member talking about how Philadelphia Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni had relatives who died in the explosion at the Clairton Coke Works, which was obviously fake, and another example included a story about Timothy Quinn, a worker who died in the blast, helping an elderly woman at the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp days before the accident. 

These are just a couple quick examples to always be wary about what you read on social media, even if it involves sports. It’s also an example of why we’re not allowed to have nice things. 

As always, feel free to email me at seankitchen@couriernewsroom.com if you have any tips or events that you may have interest in covering.