Blog
With victories this year in Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, and West Virginia, the wave of action around raising the minimum wage has continued to spread.
After 15 months of organizing, lobbying, and relentless media work, Minnesota has raised its minimum wage. Our core partners TakeAction Minnesota and Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, and their close allies in the Minnesotans for a Fair Economy coalition, have been on the front lines.
The previous state minimum wage of $6.15/hour was one of the lowest in the country. The new wage is $9.50/hour, indexed to inflation, and is of the highest in the nation. The new law gives an estimated 321,000 low-paid workers in the state a much-needed raise.
The overall advocacy campaign was led by the Raise the Wage coalition – a broad group of community, labor, and faith organizations, principally staffed and led by the Minnesota AFL-CIO.
Throughout the fall and winter, organizers amplified the voices and experiences of low-wage workers. Last November, on Black Friday, Take Action Minnesota and Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, along with SEIU, ISAIAH, CTUL, and many others, led a demonstration of more than 1,000 people who shut down Minnesota’s busiest intersection on the busiest shopping day of the year. 26 people were arrested.
Public support for raising the wage was animated with people showing their support in many different ways: including phone banks, door to door canvassing, online actions and emails, and numerous community forums with legislators throughout the state. The coalition marched in late February in support of single moms, and staged another march on a Walmart that was suppressing worker organizing.
Their hard work resulted in the following:
- Raising the minimum wage for businesses with gross sales of more than $500,000 to $8.00 in August 2014, $8.50 in August 2015 and $9.50 in 2016.
- Raising the wage for businesses under $500,000 in gross sales over three years to $7.75 by 2016.
- There is no penalty for tipped workers.
- Requiring large employers to pay $7.75 to 16- and 17-year-olds, as a 90-day training wage for 18- and 19-year-olds, and to those working under a J1 visa. Many northern Minnesota resorts hire international workers and give them free room and board.
- Starting in 2018, increasing wages annually on Jan. 1 by an inflation metric capped at 2.5 percent.
- Giving the commissioner of Department of Labor and Industry the authority to suspend the indexed increase for a year if indicators forecast an economic downturn. The commissioner must take public comment before any action is taken, creating an organizing opportunity for advocates should the need occur. The suspended increase could be added back in a subsequent year.
The coalition and grassroots network built through this campaign will now turn its attention to other issues facing women and low-wage workers. Top on that list is passing Earned Sick & Safe Time in 2015.
CPD launched a new project in April, the Sustainability Initiative, to address one of the greatest challenges facing base-building community organizations: revenue generation and financial stability that enables the scaling up of our work. A major barrier to building a scaled-up, national voice for low- and moderate-income families in the United States is the lack of a workable financing model.
Four out every five dollars invested in philanthropy comes from everyday people, yet most social justice organizations have failed to capitalize on this revenue stream. That’s why CPD, in partnership with the Ford and Marguerite Casey Foundations, is regranting funds to our partner organizations to build and test individual donor programs that will recruit dues paying members and sustainer givers.
While it will take time to move base-building organizations toward a more sustainable financing model, and to significantly scale up operations, we want to begin the hard work, experimentation and analysis that will help us to get there.
After several months of researching effective practices in the field, particularly looking at fundraising canvass models, on April 3rd and 4th we launched the field part of the program, bringing together our partner organizations ACCE, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change MN, Take Action MN, Common Good Ohio, Wisconsin Jobs Now, NY Communities for Change and Make the Road NY for a fun, exciting, and information-packed two-day training on member canvasses.
Trainers from the Working Families Party, NYCC and Take Action MN helped demonstrate core skills, and provided valuable knowledge about their sustainer-based fundraising models. The WFP further assisted by taking participants out in the field to see directly how the fundraising canvass works.
In addition to the skills learned, we built a cohort that will be a learning community over the next six months, sharing challenges and successes through weekly calls.
On March 27, the Center for Popular Democracy and Action for the Common Good were proud to host our first joint Gala, and it was a tremendous success!
Over 300 people – supporters and friends from our partners, organized labor, and allied organizations – came together at the National Education Association’s beautiful headquarters to celebrate with us. We are grateful for the enthusiasm, energy and generosity.
When we started the Center for Popular Democracy, some of you asked us, "What exactly does ‘popular democracy' mean?" To us, popular democracy is about building power from communities up, empowering people to participate fully in their democracy. We were proud to unveil our new video, "What is Popular Democracy?" at the gala, and we hope you'll take a look:
We were also proud to honor Mary Kay Henry, President of SEIU, and Tefere Gebre, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President. Mary Kay was joined on stage by Kenya Baker and Susana Fragoso of SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, who spoke powerfully about the struggle to make ends meet in a prevailing low wage culture, despite working full time jobs, and of their fight in Illinois to increase the minimum wage. And we were inspired by Jennifer Epps-Addison, Executive Director of Wisconsin Jobs Now, who accepted an award on behalf of all our state core partners.
We would like to thank the National Education Association for hosting us, and the many members from our core partner organizations who joined us, including members from Our DC, CASA de Maryland, Maryland Communities United, CASA de Virginia, Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and Wisconsin Jobs Now.
It is wonderful to have so many friends stand with us in our pursuit of a more popular democracy.
View photos from the event here.
Thank you for your support!
Despite news reports of housing price increases in some markets—and the return of record profits and bonuses on Wall Street—the foreclosure crisis continues to impact many communities, especially communities of color targeted for predatory lending. One in five American homeowners are still “underwater” --owing more than their homes are worth.
Democracy Now interviewed the Home Defenders League’s National Campaign Director Kevin Whelan on the continued lack of bank accountability for the foreclosure crisis -- including a report by the Department of Justice Inspector General that demonstrated that the Department had made mortgage fraud a low priority.
In the interview, Kevin discussed the story of Lavinia Curry, an 86 year old grandmother in Irvington, NJ who fought foreclosure for three years after Wells Fargo refused to accept her family’s attempts to pay their mortgage in full after missing a single payment.
The family organized with CPD core partner New Jersey Communities United and joined a monthly national conference call of families fighting foreclosure organized by the Home Defenders League. After other families in 13 cities delivered their petitions to Wells Fargo, the bank called off a scheduled sheriff’s sale and contacted the family to negotiate a fair solution, including principal reduction.
Home Defenders League members are advocating for the new leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Mel Watt, to put a temporary moratorium on foreclosures and to reverse several years of destructive policies put in place by the previous administration that have driven unnecessary foreclosures in African American, Latino, and working class communities.
On March 12, Home Defenders delivered copies of petitions to members of Congress in a dozen states, asking them to support the call for a moratorium and principal reduction for families like Jaymie Kelly of Minneapolis and the Coronels of Los Angeles who have fought foreclosure with the help of HDL partners Occupy Our Homes and ACCE.
Please support the work of Home Defenders League to reset mortgages and reduce foreclosures in hard hit communities at www.fightingforeclosures.org.
Tomorrow in Seattle, Local Progress, the national network of progressive municipal elected officials, is co-hosting a Symposium on Income Inequality, bringing together elected leaders from eight of the nation’s largest cities to discuss how best to confront inequality and raising the minimum wage.
CPD’s staff attorney and Local Progress program lead, Ady Barkan, and CPD Policy Advocate Josie Duffy played key roles in coordinating and supporting the event, which is free and open to the public.
The other event sponsors are Seattle University and the office of Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. Mayor Murray has been a leader in the fight for higher wages, after being elected last November on a platform that included increasing the minimum wage to $15.
Attendees will include:
- Seattle Councilmember Nick Licata, the National Chair of Local Progress
- Chicago Alder John Arena, Chicago Alder Toni Foulkes, Chicago Alder Roderick Sawyer
- New York City Councilmember Ritchie Torres
- Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks
- Philadelphia Councilmember Wilson Goode, Jr.
- San Diego Councilmember David Alvarez
- San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos
- San Jose Councilmember Don Rocha
Additional speakers include: Lori Pfingst, Center for Budget and Policy; Dorian Warren, Columbia University; Paul Sonn, National Employment Law Project; Michael Reich and Ken Jacobs, U.C. Berkeley; and, Marieka Klawitter and Bob Plotnik, University of Washington.
CPD and Local Progress are proud to bring together such diverse leaders from cities across the country to discuss policies and innovative solutions around inequality. Topics will include the minimum wage, wage theft, paid sick days, and worker support.
CPD’s state partner in Hawaii, Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), scored a major victory this month in persuading Governor Abercrombie and the Department of Transportation to offer drivers tests in additional languages.
Beginning March 17, all island DMVs will offer the written test in 12 additional languages besides English: Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Japanese, Mandarin, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Ilocano, Chuukese and Marshallese.
This is a huge victory for Hawaii's families who have faced hardships for years due to Hawaii's previous "English-Only" policy.
Hundreds of people helped win this policy including petition gatherers, members of the clergy who advocated to the Dept. of Transportation, and legal advocates who pursued judicial remedies.
Hawaii was one of the only states in the nation that did not offer the written drivers’ test in Spanish, and Hawaii will be the first state to offer the test in Chuukese and Marshallese. FACE has been leading the fight to secure these translations for more than a year, and it has finally paid off!
CPD and its partner organization the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DACA), along with allies at Demos and Common Cause Delaware are leading the fight to bring Same Day Registration (SDR) to the Diamond State this year. 171,000 Delawareans missed the state’s 24-day, pre-election voter registration deadline last November.
Research shows that SDR can increase participation by as much as 14 percent among young people. Same Day Registration is particularly useful for low-income voters and people that frequently move.
African Americans have also been found to take advantage of SDR at high proportions. In Delaware where Black voter turnout lagged behind the white vote by 6%, and the vote among 18-24 year olds was a whopping 24% lower than the state average, SDR could have a significant impact in closing these disparities.
Delaware has the opportunity to join 11 other states with Election Day registration. Governor Jack Markell has been an outspoken proponent of SDR and a strong coalition has been developed in support of SDR.
On February 12, CPD, DACA, Demos, SEIU Local 32 BJ, the Sierra Club, Common Cause, and DE state representatives John A. Kowalko and James "J.J." Johnson gathered in Dover to press for a clean Same Day Registration bill this year.
While some legislators have pushed for a primary exemption, CPD and our allies continue to move a campaign for a clean SDR bill that makes the electoral process more open and accessible for all Delawareans.
As noted in a report released by our national partner Demos, over 84% of primary election champions go on to win in the general election, this is particularly true in urban centers such as Wilmington. Therefore, excluding primary elections from SDR would create an unnecessary two-tier electoral system.
In a climate where voting rights is under attack in other states, Delaware stands out as an opportunity strengthen our democracy and begin a movement towards not just defending voting rights, but expanding voting rights. CPD is proud to be in that fight with strong allies and grassroots partners such as DACA.
A new wave of progressive big-city elected officials has taken office in recent months and they are re-shaping the national dialogue. From Seattle to Pittsburgh and New York City to Minneapolis, mayors and city legislators are pushing a reform agenda to combat inequality and expand inclusion.
Many of these elected officials are part of Local Progress, the municipal policy network founded in 2012 by CPD, SEIU, and the Public Leadership Institute. Local Progress is helping advance a progressive policy agenda in cities around the country by helping elected officials share their best practices, build solidarity across cities, and coordinate their work to elevate key issues into the national dialogue.
Seattle Mayor and Local Progress member Ed Murray is currently considering raising the minimum wage for all workers in the city to $15 per hour, a groundbreaking effort that could transform the national debate about inequality and good jobs.
On March 27, Local Progress and the City of Seattle are co-hosting a day-long symposium on the minimum wage to highlight the proposal and consider experiences of leaders from other cities.
The new mayor of Pittsburgh, Local Progress member Bill Peduto, came into office on an avowedly progressive platform after driving forward campaign reform laws in the City Council. His first term agenda includes building more housing and expanding livable streets through parking reform and expanded bike and transit use.
In New York City, Local Progress members Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito are driving forward on priorities like expanding workers’ rights to paid sick days, the creation of a municipal ID card for all residents, and universal free pre-kindergarten.
On March 4, Local Progress is hosting a webinar on innovative racial equity policies that will feature Betsy Hodges, the new mayor of Minneapolis, and UC Berkeley professor John Powell, among others. The webinar is free and open to the public and we invite you to RSVP here.
The Home Defenders League, a national coalition of underwater homeowners and community organizations housed at the Center for Popular Democracy, has announced its newest campaign: FightingForeclosures.org.
In a Local Principal Reduction program, the city works with private investors to acquire a set of the worst, hardest to fix underwater mortgages (called “Private Label Securities” or PLS) and refinances them to restore home equity. If banks refuse to cooperate, cities may use their legal authority of eminent domain to buy the bad mortgages at fair market value and then reset them to current value.
Local Principal Reduction has been pioneered in Richmond, California, and is gaining traction across the country.
Just $10,000 is enough money for the Home Defenders League and allied organizations to begin organizing for Local Principal Reduction in a new city. In its first week, FightingForeclosures.org has raised over $17,000.
Two newly released videos appear on the website: an animated video explaining how LPR works; and a newsreel featuring news anchors, underwater homeowners, local leaders, and nationally known experts, including Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Congressman Keith Ellison, actor and activist John Cusack, labor leader Stephen Lerner, and noted urban policy academic Peter Dreier.
WATCH:
- Newsreel video about Local Principal Reduction
- Animated explanation of how LPR works
CPD is working closely with Make the Road NY and other partners to combat wage theft.
In 2010, New York workers won a significant victory with the passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which increased penalties and improved notice requirements to stop the scourge of stolen wages from low-wage workers. But the passage of the act was only half the fight.
The NY Department of Labor (NYDOL) currently lacks the resources to make a dent in the wage theft epidemic. In New York City alone, wage theft results in nearly $1 billion being taken out of the pockets of low-wage workers every year. Yet since the 1960’s and 1970’s, the number of NYDOL investigators per capita has plummeted.
As of today, it would take an increase of 200 investigators to return the NYDOL to the staffing levels of decades ago. We are urging Albany to dedicate the resources necessary to truly confront wage theft, which is the most prevalent financial crime against working people in New York State.
“There is an epidemic of wage theft in New York State and an enormous backlog of cases at the Department of Labor,” said Amy Carroll, Deputy Director of the Center for Popular Democracy. “Marginal improvements are insufficient. Governor Cuomo and the Legislature need to fully fund enforcement of minimum wage and overtime. The rule of law and the dignity of New York’s workers depend on their budgetary choices.”
In addition to fighting for an increased number of investigators, the Coalition is pushing back on an effort to repeal the law’s notice provision, which helps employers and workers understand their rights and responsibilities under the law.
The law requires employers to give written notice of wage rates to each new hire and to all employees by February 1 of each year. The notice must include:
- Rate or rates of pay, including overtime rate of pay (if it applies)
- How the employee is paid: by the hour, shift, day, week, commission, etc.
- Regular payday
- Official name of the employer and any other “doing business as” names of business
- Address and phone number of the employer's main office or principal location
- Allowances taken as part of the minimum wage (tips, meal and lodging deductions)
- The notice must be given both in English and in the employee's primary language (if the Labor Department provides a translation of the notice form in that language).
The NYS Coalition to End Wage Theft is an alliance of labor, small business, community, faith, legal services, and policy organizations to tackle the crime of wage theft. Steering committee member groups include (list in formation): Make the Road New York, the Center for Popular Democracy, the National Employment Law Project, Laborers Local 78, Laborers Local 79, Laborers Local 108, Laborers Local 1010, the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The Center for Popular Democracy will be providing research, organizing, and strategy support to similar campaigns against wage theft across the country in 2014.
