Philadelphia Clergy Seek “Higher POWER” To Influence Mayor Nutter & City Council On Airport Jobs

PHILADELPHIA - May 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Dozens of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders, who believe prayer changes things, will dress in full regalia, and hold a prayer vigil this Thursday May 16, 2013, at 9:30am, on the 4th floor of Philadelphia City Hall. The diverse group of clergy leaders make up the community organizing group POWER (http://www.powerphiladelphia.org) and they’re praying Mayor Michael Nutter and Philadelphia City Council will support a living wage for hundreds of workers at the Philadelphia International Airport. POWER's prayer rally precedes Thursday's regularly scheduled City Council meeting (10am) where a new Airport Lease Agreement is supposed to be introduced. The Lease Agreement will affect the lives of 1,500 airport workers including: sky caps, baggage handlers, airplane cabin cleaners and some security and janitorial workers. These airport employees currently earn less than a living wage which is compounded because they work without benefits. POWER is demanding that the new Airport Lease Agreement set a minimum wage rate of $10.88/per hour, and include benefits, which will create a bridge out of poverty.  “U.S. Airways is one of the nation’s most profitable airlines and paid its CEO $5.5-million last year,” says Bishop Dwayne Royster, Executive Director of POWER. “We stand for the interests of airport workers like Tara, a baggage handler, paid a mere $7.25/hour with no benefits. Tara does not have enough money to support herself and her children and that’s not right.”

POWER’s prayer rallies will take place on the 4th Floor of Philadelphia City Hall outside of City Council Chambers, Room 400, every week until the final vote scheduled for June 6, 2013.  Here is a detailed schedule of POWER prayer rallies and actions:

•   Thursday, May 16th, 9:30-10:30am – Dozens of POWER clergy and lay leaders will conduct a “Prayer Vigil for Airport Workers” as the Airline Lease Agreement is introduced into City Council
•   Wednesday, May 22nd, 12:30-1:30pm -Hundreds of POWER clergy and lay leaders and allies will crowd the Council Hearings on the Airlines Lease Agreement and provide testimony from workers and experts for those hearings.  
•   Thursday, May 23rd, 9:30-10:30am -POWER will provide a prophetic presence in front of City Council as the Council conducts a “first reading” of the Airline Lease Agreement.
•   Thursday, June 6th, 9:30-10:30am - Hundreds of POWER members and allies will conduct a rally outside City Hall and then march up to City Council Chambers for the final vote on the Airlines Lease Agreement

POWER is the largest faith-based community organizing effort in Philadelphia.  POWER’s mission is to lift up a prophetic voice for the poor and to hold systems and decision-makers accountable for policies that negatively affect working families. For more information, visit www.powerphiladelphia.org.  All media inquiries should be directed to Leslie Patterson-Tyler by calling (609) 247-2632 or emailing Leslie@TylerMadePR.com.

-----------------------------------------------
About P.O.W.E.R.

We are Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild (POWER). We are congregations from all across the city, intentionally bringing people together across the lines of race, faith, income level and neighborhood -- lines which have historically kept Philadelphians divided.  We are people of faith committed to the work of bringing about justice here and now, in our city and our region.  By strengthening and mobilizing our networks of relationships, we seek to exercise power in the public arena so that the needs and priorities of all Philadelphians are reflected in the systems and policies that shape our city. For more information go to www.powerphiladelphia.org.

P.O.W.E.R. Congregations

1.       Arch Street United Methodist Church
2.       Calvary St. Augustine Episcopal
3.       Calvary United Methodist Church
4.       Chestnut Hill United Church
5.       Congregation Kol Tzedek
6.       Congregation Lev Ha-Ir
7.       Congregation Rodeph Shalom
8.       Cookman Beloved Baptist Church
9.       Epiphany of our Lord Catholic Church
10.   Evangel Chapel
11.   Grace Christian Fellowship
12.   Grace Epiphany Episcopal Church
13.   Harold O Davis Baptist Church
14.   Holy Innocents Catholic Church
15.   Holy Spirit Lutheran Church
16.   Living Water United Church of Christ
17.   Masjidullah, Inc.
18.   Mishkan Shalom Synagogue
19.   Mother Bethel AME Church
20.   New Life Ministry
21.   New Vision UMC
22.   Old 1st Reformed UCC Church
23.   Philadelphia Praise Center
24.   Prince of Peace Lutheran church
25.   Second Baptist Church of Germantown
26.   St. Benedict's Roman Catholic Church
27.   St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church
28.   St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal
29.   St. Paul's Baptist Church
30.   St. Peter's Episcopal Church
31.   St. Raymond's Catholic Church
32.   St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church
33.   St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church
34.   St. Therese Catholic Church
35.   St. Therese Roman Catholic Church
36.   St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church
37.   St. Williams Roman Catholic Church
38.   Sweet Union Baptist Church
39.   West Phila Mennonite Church
40.   Woodcrest United Church of Christ