Union leaders rallied in Philadelphia on Thursday with a frank message for Harrisburg lawmakers, particularly Republicans in the Senate: “Do your job!”

“Why are they taking forever?” said Autumn Fingerhood, a single mom who works in Philadelphia stadiums and is a member of Unite Here Local 274. “Pass the budget. Do your job.”

“Care about the working people, care about our children, the poor, the elderly. Stop taking our services away from us,” she added in her speech at the rally.

A handful of speakers rallied in front of about a dozen in-person attendees at the AFL-CIO headquarters on Market Street on Thursday, with some holding signs that said “Philly is a union town.” Union representatives called on state legislators to fund SEPTA, regulate the skill game industry, and raise the minimum wage.

State legislators and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro have been at the negotiating table for weeks, and it is unclear when a budget deal will be done, now a month after the deadline per the state constitution.

Pennsylvania’s split legislature, with a Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate, has made talks fragile, with SEPTA and skill game regulations serving as two big sticking points. The House and governor have prioritized increasing funding for SEPTA, which has major service cuts on the horizon. But Republican senators have been reluctant to fund the agency, which they say should be more transparent about how it spends the $1 billion in funding received from the state each year.

Will Vera, vice president of Transport Workers Local 234 in Philadelphia, said the looming SEPTA service cuts would be “devastating” for people who rely on public transit.

“We’re heading towards higher fares, fewer riders, more cuts, and more traffic,” he said.

Supporters of increased SEPTA funding argue that regulating skill games could help the effort.

Shapiro proposed taxing and regulating skill games as a new revenue stream in his February budget pitch, yet disagreements among Senate Republicans on how to do that have stalled progress.

Daniel Bauder, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, accused Senate Republicans of holding up the budget by getting caught up in a feud with a skill games company and allowing the state budget to be derailed because of “the whims of” that one firm.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said in a statement that Bauder’s claim is “bizarre” and shows “a clueless understanding of the complexity of issues surrounding the budget.“

“Conversations in Harrisburg are active as work continues to reconcile our differences and reach agreement on a fiscally responsible 2025-26 State Budget,” Pittman added.

Ryan Boyer, business manager for the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, said skill game companies “need to pay their fair share so they can get regulated like everyone else, so we can make sure that people that are using those machines are of age and they’re not addicted to gambling.”

“And with that money, we can fund mass transit throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he added.

Arthur G. Steinberg, the president of Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, also blamed state Senate Republicans for failing to pass the budget, as school districts brace for missed payments from the state. PFT wants increased funding for public schools and mass transit, along with cyber charter school reform, in the budget.

Bauder and other labor leaders had regular meetings with Senate and House leadership about the budget until the deadline at the end of June, but since then they have been in communication with only the Philadelphia delegation, according to Maggie Mullooly, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO.

Christal Spivey, a home health worker for the state and a member of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, said “the bickering in Harrisburg needs to stop.”

“You’re working for us,” she added. “Do your job, so we can keep doing ours.”

aschneider@inquirer.com

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