Philadelphia's City Council is pushing back against national trends with the introduction of the POWER (Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights) Act, designed to beef up local labor laws and protect workers from employer retaliation. Councilmember Kendra Brooks, who introduced the bill, suggests it's an answer to the Trump administration's rollbacks at the federal level and provides necessary tools for the city's Department of Labor to enforce ordinances on wage theft and paid sick leave. "No one in Philadelphia should fear termination, deportation, or other forms of retaliation for speaking out about their legal rights on the job," Brooks said in a statement provided by the Philadelphia City Council's website.
The POWER Act's provisions include direct financial compensation for victims of retaliation, a mechanism for the DoL to shield undocumented workers, standards for a database listing employers with repeated labor law violations, and grants the DoL authority to conduct widespread workplace investigations and initiate them independently without waiting for complaints, actions aimed at deterring future infractions and protecting the vulnerable communities. Speaking to the impact this legislation could have on individuals, Jorge Ruiz, a leader of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)- PA Chapter said in a Philadelphia City Council release, "This law will support workers’ rights, including those against wage theft, because employers will be forced to pay for the damages workers suffer as a result of this theft."
Various local and national pro-worker groups, including the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, stand firmly behind the bill. The bill has seemingly broad support among City Councilmembers, paving the way for a potential vote on May 8th.
While the POWER Act marches towards implementation, there's also an accompanying call for a budgetary boost. Advocates are asking for an additional $3.5 million in funding for the Department of Labor, which is responsible for law enforcement and worker protection in a city with over 740,000 employees.
