As the Federal Reserve’s interest rate debate heats up, a national coalition of workers, community-based organizations, and economists is stepping up its advocacy for a pro-jobs, pro-wages, racial equity agenda. Todayoutside of the Fed’s annual policy summit, workers and advocates called on the Fed to follow the data, not impulses, and to give the economic recovery enough time to reach all workers, including African Americans and Latinos.

Participants also delivered more than 110,000 petition signatures from supporters across the country warning the Fed against slowing down the economy and hurting working families. The petition effort was spearheaded by major advocacy allies including CREDO Action, the Working Families Organization, Demand Progress, Daily Kos, and an onlinevideo from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

The press conference is part of Whose Recovery: A National Convening on Inequality, Race, and the Federal Reserve, which the Fed Up coalition is hosting on August 27 and 28 to coincide with the Federal Reserve’s annual policy conference. The conference will feature two days of teach-ins and workshops by workers, civil rights leaders and renowned economists.

As part of the event, the Fed Up campaign released a report,A National Convening on Inequality, Race, and the Federal Reserve, that calculates the benefits of full employment for all communities, in terms of increased income, decreased poverty, and higher tax revenues. The report, available here, also features policy briefs and factsheets to accompany each of the convening’s teach-ins and a collection of articles and op-eds from the past year addressing issues of monetary policy, Fed governance, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

"Every day, my husband tries to get work. He competes with hundreds of other men who form long lines, every one of them desperate for even a temporary job at the local work pool. Together, despite our hard work and best efforts, we still struggle at the end of the month with health and household bills,” said Dawn O’Neal, a teaching assistant and member of Rise Up Georgia. “That’s not just our story, but that of our neighbors and our community. For members of the Fed looking to slow down the economy, I’d invite them to come here to East Atlanta. It’s not easy to live here; for some people the economy means our very survival.”

“This is not an economy where everyone can thrive. It is an economy where communities are struggling to survive; where parents are struggling with which bill to let slide and for how long, while still providing stability for their kids,” said Connie Razza, director of strategic research at the Center for Popular Democracy. “It is beyond clear: This is not a time for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. We are calling on the Fed to not raise interest rates and give the recovery to take hold in our communities.

“Whether it likes it or not, what the Federal Reserve does has significant effects on inequality in our country,” said Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz. “It is time for the Fed to take greater recognition of this, since there are many channels through which its policies impact inequality and affect American workers and families, and reshape its polices accordingly.”

“We are here raising the voice of everyday people because no one should have to work works 60 hours a week and remain in poverty,” said Kendra Brooks, of Action United. “Our delegation is here to request transparency in the Fed with the selection process, with more access to timelines, the opportunity to preview potential candidates, and to be a part of the process. There is a clear problem with income inequality in our country. When the top 10% are controlling the financial futures of the rest of the country, the middle class and vast majority of nation are not represented nor are they heard.”

“I am in Jackson Hole because I have a personal stake in the Federal Reserve Bank focusing on full employment and living wages instead of raising rates. If the Fed continues to focus on talking about prematurely raising interest rates, it will just be harder for my two sons to get out of the trap of underpaid work that is either temporary or not nearly close to the kind full time work they need,” said Claudia Nelson, Chair of the Board of Directors at Communities Creating Opportunity in Kansas City, Missouri.

“Among other things, the Fed can do a lot to address inequality by allowing unemployment to fall to much lower levels,” said Josh Bivens, Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute.

“I am in Jackson Hole because I have a personal stake in this,” said Claudia Nelson, of Communities Creating Opportunity, in Kansas City, Mo. “The Federal Reserve must focus on full employment and living wages instead of slowing down the economy. If the Fed continues to ignore economic data and focus on raising interest rates, it would have a very real effect on my family. It will be harder for my two sons to get out of the trap of underpaid work that is either temporary or low-quality. My sons and my community deserve a fighting chance at better jobs and better wages.” 

The Fed Up campaign, led by the Center for Popular Democracy, is hosting the Whose Recovery convening in order  to elevate the voices of working families in the national debate about monetary policy. With the central message of “Let Our Wages Grow,” the convening is meant to highlight to Fed policy makers and the public that it makes no sense to slow down the national economy now. The teach-ins will be led by workers, economists, and Fed Up allies and will cover an array of topics like the Fed’s role in full employment, the intersection of Black Lives Matter and the Fed, the selection process for regional bank presidents, a historical look at inflation, and more.

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The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.