Recent comments in /f/Pennsylvania

rcher87 t1_jdtibcb wrote

Reply to comment by saquonbrady in Advisory for Philadelphia tap water issued out of an ‘abundance of caution’ following Delaware River chemical spill by misteryham

My very real feeing is that if the water isn’t fully safe by next week we’ll hear MUCH more about this in the coming days/week.

And also the whole region will run out of bottled water (lol? Kind of?)

So while showering sounds like it’s fine now (and technically they’re saying ingestion “shouldn’t cause any short term issues”, so technically we could drink the water now if we wanted to), if there’s any hint of any issues for more than another day or so I expect a full uprising - think about the restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels whose businesses are on the line. Not even just residents, everyone will be throwing a FIT.

(The spill doesn’t impact the majority of the city but the affected plant does serve Center City and South Philly, and a few other neighborhoods it seems - again, some wealthy places with wealthy businesses.)

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mjh215 t1_jdta2s9 wrote

Reply to comment by saquonbrady in Advisory for Philadelphia tap water issued out of an ‘abundance of caution’ following Delaware River chemical spill by misteryham

From what I've gathered (I live near it), the spill, while not good, is not really a toxic material, some latex coating and the amount wasn't that much. Like one train car's worth. I seriously doubt it'll be an issue. I hate to say it but considering how scummy people are, 8,000 gallons of paints and such are probably dumped in that river normally as it is 1 gallon at a time by people pouring stuff out when they are done DIY projects. Watch the news tomorrow, if anything big is actually happening you'll hear about it, otherwise, continue with your trip plans.

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ronreadingpa t1_jdt2zsb wrote

Reply to Keystone Worker's Agenda - a state worker rights proposal by GraffitiTavern

I'd add some more that are also important, but rarely mentioned.

Mandatory meal and rest breaks. PA does not require employers to offer any to employees over age 18. Many workers assume they have more rights than they really do. This is a prime example. Even many HR people don't know this. Most businesses provide some breaks, but varies with hospitality, restaurants, and convenience stores tending to be the worst.

Another one is requiring employers to pay out accrued vacation and personal time upon termination of employment. California and some other states require that, but not PA (unless a company has voluntarily stated otherwise in their employee handbook).

While on the topic of vacation, all employers should be required to provide 1 hour of paid vacation time per X number of hours worked. For example, 1 hour per 25 worked equaling 2 weeks paid or, less ideally, 1 hour per 50 worked equaling 1 week worth of paid vacation.

Points 4 and 5 will be distractions. Not saying they're not important, but are very difficult to define let alone getting buy-in even by other workers let alone businesses and the public-at large (voters). Best to focus on points 1-3.

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