Young Women of Color Are Running to Win
In the Senate, Kerri Evelyn Harris is challenging centrist Senator Tom Carper, one of the few Democrats in the Senate who supports Social Security cuts and who recently voted to roll back Dodd-...
In the Senate, Kerri Evelyn Harris is challenging centrist Senator Tom Carper, one of the few Democrats in the Senate who supports Social Security cuts and who recently voted to roll back Dodd-Frank. According to my analysis of American National Election Studies 2016 survey data, 92 percent of Democratic primary voters support more, not less, government regulation of banks, and a mere 3 percent support cuts to Social Security. Given her decade as an organizer, most recently with the Center for Popular Democracy, Harris is approaching the race the way a community organizer would.
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Starbucks Workers Confront Executives To Demand Scheduling Reform
03.23.2016
SEATTLE –Starbucks workers staged a protest at the company’s annual shareholder meeting today to call for better scheduling practices, a day after...
03.23.2016
SEATTLE –Starbucks workers staged a protest at the company’s annual shareholder meeting today to call for better scheduling practices, a day after the Seattle City Council held a study session on proposals that would require employers like Starbucks to raise standards for work hours. Starbucks baristas at the protest were members of Working Washington, a statewide workers’ organization that has led the fight for secure scheduling at the company and in the City Council. As part of the demonstration, baristas called attention to a national petition signed by more than 20,000 supporters calling on Starbucks to end clopenings and provide 11 hours of rest between shifts.
Scheduling problems at Starbucks were unveiled in a 2014 New York Times feature, which found employees were often given notice about their shift just hours in advance and often forced to both close a store and open just hours later – a practice known as “clopening.” Though the company vowed to introduce reforms in response, a report from the Center for Popular Democracy’s Fair Workweek Initiative a year later found many workers were still struggling with erratic hours. Starbucks workers in Seattle have continued protests across the country from Seattle to Atlanta to Connecticut and have delivered a letter to the company calling for a meeting.
With no meaningful changes in sight, workers have taken their case to the Seattle City Council, which is currently considering legislation that may include provisions to ensure flexibility and advance notice, adequate rest between shifts, on-call pay and access to hours for part-time workers. Recent polling found overwhelming support for such policies. Similar protections are already on the books in San Francisco and Santa Clara County, and are being considered by a growing number of cities and states around the country, including Washington, DC, San Jose, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota.
Darrion Sjoquist, a barista at Starbucks, released the following statement:
“Even after asking for changes again and again, workers at Starbucks still face constant uncertainty about something as simple as when they need to come in to work. Unpredictable schedules are harmful to workers, and make it incredibly hard for people like me to plan our lives. We can’t wait any longer for real change to come.”
Leila Kopcic, a barista at Starbucks, also released a statement:
“It’s really hard to live your life when your priorities are, ‘what’s my schedule? How many hours am I getting?’ Basically you get off at 7:30, go home, get ready for bed, wake up at 4 AM and go to work. It’s not enough time to rest and recharge yourself. I have to skimp on groceries. Sometimes skip meals. Just to be able to live where I want to live and afford that. A lot of people have it worse than me and I just want to make a difference for everyone.”
Carrie Gleason, Director of the Fair Workweek Initiative, also released a statement:
“Starbucks baristas have put the national spotlight on the crisis hourly workers face in their workweeks. Starbucks would not let its customers wait endlessly for a latte, and it should not let its employees wait a day longer to meet with them to find a long-term solution for better hours.”
Sejal Parikh, Executive Director of Working Washington, also released a statement: “This is a venti-sized problem that deserves immediate attention from corporate executives. For more than a year, Starbucks workers have been demanding schedules that let them actually plan their lives. We will continue to push for change in local laws and corporate policy until every Starbucks barista has a schedule that respects that their time counts.”
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www.populardemocracy.org
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 www.fairworkweek.org The Fair Workweek Initiative, anchored by the Center for Popular Democracy and CPD Action, is driving the growing momentum to restore a workweek that enables working families to thrive.
www.workingwa.org
Working Washington is a statewide workers’ organization that fights to raise wages, improve labor standards, and change the conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.
Contact: Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442 Anita Jain, ajain@populardemocracy.org, 347-636-9761
Anti-Kavanaugh Groups Could Lose Non-Profit Status for Disrupting Hearings
Anti-Kavanaugh Groups Could Lose Non-Profit Status for Disrupting Hearings
Over 200 people were arrested during the four days of hearings, held Sept. 4 to 7, for disrupting the hearings. They were organized by Women’s March and Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPDA...
Over 200 people were arrested during the four days of hearings, held Sept. 4 to 7, for disrupting the hearings. They were organized by Women’s March and Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPDA), both holding 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status as social welfare organizations, as well as Housing Works, which holds the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status reserved for charitable organizations.
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Zara exposed for chronic racial profiling
If you’re a huge fan of shopping at Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion franchise, you may want to start spending your money elsewhere.
The fashion...
If you’re a huge fan of shopping at Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion franchise, you may want to start spending your money elsewhere.
The fashion brand has been outed for its deeply engrained racist hiring and customer service practices in arecent survey conducted by the Center for Popular Democracy, a racial, economic and labor justice group. A random sample of two hundred-fifty one out of Zara’s 1,500 Manhattan employees participated in the survey and confided that Black customers are profiled as potential thieves seven times more frequently than white shoppers.
The study, entitled “Stitched with Prejudice: Zara USA’s Corporate Culture of Favoritism” and written by Chaya Crowder, also revealed that Black customers were also more frequently denied exchanges and returns than Whites. Customers weren’t the only people that were racially discriminated in Zara’s stores. Black employees claimed that they were given dissatisfactory hour assignments and stricter surveillance from managers.
“It’s kind of weird to me how they can make millions of dollars but are not able to pay people properly for their time, let alone give people the amount of time that they need in order to support their family, in order to keep a roof over their head, in order to, you know, just feed themselves.” One employee said:
The study had also found that darker-skinned employees were also less likely to promoted to managing roles and were often given less-prestigious roles. Sixty-eight percent of employees that were assigned roles in the back of the store and away from the public had darker complexions. Managers were generally White, and generally gave preferential treatment or were less lenient to subordinates of the same races and ethnic groups. The extent to which Black employees were profiled in their own work environment were sometimes highly disturbing, as portrayed in this incident:
“[O]ne Black employee even detailed an instance in which he had come in a hooded jacket to pick up his check. A sales associate not only identified him as a special order, but he was physically stopped as he was walking into the back office, where checks are kept.”
The study’s findings are not particularly surprising, given Zara’s history of being infamous for racial bias in the brand’s various operations. Just earlier this month, the franchised was served with a $40 million lawsuit from a former worker citing discrimination, unlawful discharge, retaliation and a hostile work environment. The brand also received bad press last year for racist images on its merchandise: pajamas featuring swastikas, a necklace with blackface designs, shirts with gold stars resembling those worn by the Jewish people once held in concentration camps in the Holocaust and a shirt with the words printed saying, “White is the New Black.”
According to Forbes, Zara featured the following statement:
“Zara USA vehemently refutes the findings of the Center for Popular Democracy report which was published without any attempt to contact the company. The baseless report was prepared with ulterior motives and not because of any actual discrimination or mistreatment. It makes assertions that cannot be supported and do not reflect Zara’s diverse workforce.
“Zara USA believes that the report is completely inconsistent with the company’s true culture and the experiences of the over 1,500 Zara employees in New York City. We are an equal opportunity employer, and if there are individuals who are not satisfied with any aspect of their employment, we have multiple avenues for them to raise issues that we would immediately investigate and address.
“Approximately half of all Zara USA employees are Hispanic or African American. In the most recent round of internal promotions at Zara USA, approximately half were Hispanic or African American employees. In addition, approximately half of all hours are regularly allocated to Hispanic or African American employees. These facts clearly demonstrate that diversity and equal opportunity are two of the company’s core values. We are a global multicultural company serving valued customers across 88 countries, and do not tolerate discrimination of any form.”
Welp. I know Zara won’t be seeing my money again anytime soon. It’s a shame, their pencil skirts fit me in all the right places…
Source: New Pittsburgh Courier
NATIONAL GROUPS CALL FOR DNC TO CAN SUPERDELEGATE SYSTEM
Fourteen national organizations boasting more than 10 million members are calling on the Democratic National Committee to end the use of superdelegates to elect the presidential nominee.
...
Fourteen national organizations boasting more than 10 million members are calling on the Democratic National Committee to end the use of superdelegates to elect the presidential nominee.
The move to end the use of superdelegates was pushed vigorously during the campaign by Sen. Bernie Sanders but many of those supporting the effort include backers of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
DNC Rules Committee member and Rhode Island State Representative Aaron Regunberg has pledged to introduce language to end superdelegates, and several other Rules Committee members have agreed to support the effort at the Democratic National Convention at the end of July.
The organizations said in a joint letter that the superdelegates, who are typically party officials, are not elected by voters and can skew the nominating process. They say the superdelegates carry as much as the combined weight as pledged delegates from 24 states, the District of Columbia and four territories.
Organizations signing on to the letter include: Courage Campaign, Credo, Daily Kos, Demand Progress/Rootstrikers, Democracy for America, Center for Popular Democracy, MoveOn, National Nurses United, NDN, The Other 98%, Presente.org, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Progressive Democrats of America, and Social Security Works.
Simon Rosenberg, the president of NDN and a former DNC staffer, who supported Hillary Clinton during the primary, said the use of superdelegates is “discordant with broader and vital efforts by Democrats to modernize and improve our democracy. If we want the voice of everyday people to be louder and more consequential in our nation’s politics, it must also be so in our Party.”
Another Clinton supporter, Joe Trippi, who ran Howard Dean’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2004, said a key party goal is to “empower voices from the bottom up. The top down idea of superdelegates is obsolete and is a good place to start.”
Sanders’ supporter Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a superdelegate and former DNC official, also condemned the practice.
“The nominee of our party should be decided by who earns the most votes —not party insiders, unelected officials, or the federal lobbyists that have been given a vote in our nominating process. The current system stands against grassroots activists and the will of the voters,” she said. “We’ve seen a historic number of new voters and activists join our political process in the past year, many of whom are rightly upset at how rigged the political system can seem at times. If we want to strengthen our democracy and our party, we must end the superdelegate process.”
By MARK JOHNSON
Source
Las más grandes corporaciones de EEUU contribuyen al plan de gobierno de Trump
Donald Trump ha dejado en claro que pretende gobernar exactamente como prometió durante su campaña: poniendo en práctica una serie de nocivas medidas de política concebidas para perjudicar a los...
Donald Trump ha dejado en claro que pretende gobernar exactamente como prometió durante su campaña: poniendo en práctica una serie de nocivas medidas de política concebidas para perjudicar a los inmigrantes, trabajadores y sus familias.
Sin embargo, el gobierno no puede implementar por sí solo este plan de odio. Por ejemplo, respecto a inmigración, necesitará la ayuda de corporaciones para operar prisiones privadas y centros de detención de inmigrantes que puedan dar cabida al gran número de inmigrantes que ya se está deteniendo para deportación; firmas de Wall Street que proporcionen fondos para ellas; compañías de software que ganan miles de millones en contratos con las agencias del gobierno que deportan a inmigrantes y militarizan la frontera, y constructoras que edifiquen el muro fronterizo.
Lea el artículo completo aquí.
Tenants Protest Trump's Proposed Housing Budget Cuts
Tenants Protest Trump's Proposed Housing Budget Cuts
Hundreds of protesters from more than a dozen states demonstrated at a Capitol Hill church Wednesday to oppose the Trump administration's proposed $7 billion cut to federal housing programs.
...Hundreds of protesters from more than a dozen states demonstrated at a Capitol Hill church Wednesday to oppose the Trump administration's proposed $7 billion cut to federal housing programs.
Holding signs that said "No cuts to our funding" and "Stop selling our neighborhoods to Wall Street," the protesters chanted and yelled "No cut" as they streamed inside the Lutheran Church of the Reformation.
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The King who carried on the fight for economic justice
The King who carried on the fight for economic justice
Coretta Scott King opposed violence in all its forms — from the personal violence that took her husband 50 years ago Wednesday, to what she described as the economic violence of unemployment and...
Coretta Scott King opposed violence in all its forms — from the personal violence that took her husband 50 years ago Wednesday, to what she described as the economic violence of unemployment and poverty that continues around us.
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Jobs Data Shows Economy Still Not Recovered, Far from Full Employment
Workers Still Face Low Pay, Part-Time Employment in Today’s Economy
Connie Razza, Director of Strategic Research for the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), released the following...
Workers Still Face Low Pay, Part-Time Employment in Today’s Economy
Connie Razza, Director of Strategic Research for the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), released the following statement following today’s jobs report:
“Today’s jobs numbers show we are still a long way away from a full recovery, particularly in communities of color. Labor force participation rates are still at their lowest levels in decades and the rate of involuntary part-time work is still far too high. The clearest indicator that there is still significant slack in the labor market is that wages are still not rising. With unemployment rates remaining stuck, the number of jobs added under-performing expectations and last month’s projections revised downward, the new jobs numbers show that the Federal Reserve made the right decision by not raising interest rates.
“In her comments following the Fed’s decision not to raise interest rates in September, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen responded to a question about the Fed Up campaign by speaking about workers who are still suffering from under-employment and don’t have the opportunity to work a full workweek. She is correct: the even this very disappointing headline unemployment rate understates the even greater weaknesses of the economy.
“This reality was illuminated by media reports in the past few days of unfair scheduling practices at Starbucks, which include workweeks that fall far short of 40 hours, and terrible scheduling conditions such as lack of notice and ‘clopening’ shifts. If the economy were healthy and we were at full employment, America’s largest employers wouldn’t be able to treat their employees this way. In a true full employment economy, workers would be able to demand fair schedules and better wages, to make up for years of rising inequality. Today’s jobs numbers continue to show that the economy is far from full employment and we still have a lot of work to do before everyone who wants one can find a stable, predictable, full-time job.”
Anthony Newby, Executive Director of Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change(MNNOC) released the following statement:
"A 15.9% unemployment rate for black Minnesotans means we have a two-tiered economy, here and across country. Some people have access to steady jobs with good pay, and some don't. At workplaces across the country, like Target Field in Minneapolis, people doing the same job have different standards for scheduling and pay for doing the exact same job. Workers need the same protections everywhere and we need the economy to keep growing to win them."
Sondra Jones, temp worker at Target Field for the past two summers at $8/hour, Minneapolis:
“Me and my co-workers at Target Field are not experiencing the economy or employment in our country getting any better. We are still struggling to get enough hours to live off and to plan our lives around our unpredictable work schedule. Once, I received a text message telling me to come into work later that day. I had planned to baby-sit for my sister, but I needed to go into work. Since my sister didn't have childcare that day, she lost her job. We need enough notice of our schedule to plan our lives, and we need enough hours to pay our bills.”
For additional interview opportunities with Connie Razza, Anthony Newby, Sondra Jones, or low-wage workers from other cities across the country in various industries, please contact Ricardo Ramirez at rramirez@populardemocracy.org, 202-905-1738 or Anita Jain at ajain@populardemocracy.org, 347-636-9761.
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Hundreds To Protest Potential Safety Net Cuts At GOP Retreat
Hundreds To Protest Potential Safety Net Cuts At GOP Retreat
"We’re stronger together. And right now, more than ever, we need our elected officials to be looking at how we expand the safety net, how we provide more opportunities and more stability to...
"We’re stronger together. And right now, more than ever, we need our elected officials to be looking at how we expand the safety net, how we provide more opportunities and more stability to communities across the country, not less,” said Jennifer Epps-Addison, a co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, a progressive umbrella group organizing the event with the help of local partners.
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