Friday March 19th is a big day across the City with a bunch of important events focused on the state of Philadelphia's employed and unemployed.

First, tomorrow at 10AM in room 400 of City Hall, the PA House Urban Affairs Committee along with the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance and Liberty Resources will hold a public meeting on House Bill 1914. This bill would grant Taxi Drivers the right to workers compensation coverage and create wheelchair accessible taxis. Workers compensation coverage is particularly important for cab drivers as they are 60 percent more likely to be killed on the job and 80 percent more likely to be assaulted on the job according to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor. Moreover, according to the Philadelphia Parking Authority, taxi drives make an average of $29.50 plus tips per 12 hour shift or $4.17 an hour, and it has been reported by taxi drivers that wages are declining even further due to the recession.

HB1914 would compel medallion owners (who have seen the value of medallions go up 400 percent in the last four years) to pay around $1.50 a day for workers compensation coverage. The bill would also necessitate some wheelchair accessible cabs, which most major cities already have. Check out the video Driving the America Dream a joint production of UTWA and Media Mobilizing Project focused on the working conditions and need for workers compensation for cab drivers.

Second, tomorrow at 10:15 outside the main entrance of Temple University Hospital (Broad and Ontario) National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will join rank-and-file union leaders to pledge all-out support from organized labor for an impending strike by Temple University Hospital’s 1,500 nurses and professional and technical employees. Shortly before the press event, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) will deliver a 10-day strike notice to the hospital, setting a walkout deadline of 7:00 A.M. Wednesday, March 31. Check out recent reporting on the nurses campaign at Temple University on MMP's labor blog: PASNAP wins tuition reimbursement battle | Temple students meet with PASNAP | Temple found guilty of bad-faith bargaining with PASNAP | Temple Doesn't want us to Speak for our Patients

Finally at 11:45 National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding will lead hundreds of union activists in a massive rally at Paine Plaza -- across from City Hall at 15th and JFK -- to tell Bank of America that it's time to pay up to restore the jobs Wall Street destroyed in the worst financial collapse since the great depression. This event is one of 200 actions happening across the country at the Big 6 Wall Street Banks now through March 26 demanding "Good Jobs Now: Make Wall Street Pay."

Philadelphians should definitely come out and support these events