Statement on Abercrombie & Fitch’s Ending of Just-in-time Scheduling
Following reports that Abercrombie and Fitch stores will no longer schedule employees for “on-call” shifts, an unnecessary scheduling practice that forces working people to put their lives on hold...
Following reports that Abercrombie and Fitch stores will no longer schedule employees for “on-call” shifts, an unnecessary scheduling practice that forces working people to put their lives on hold for hours every week without guarantee of work or compensation for their time, Elianne Farhat, Deputy Campaign Director for the Fair Workweek Initiative at the Center for Popular Democracy, released the following statement:
“Working families across the country understand that our time counts. Every hour put on-hold is an hour they cannot plan on using to spend quality time with loved ones, study for college classes or work a second job. On-call schedules unnecessarily disrupt working people’s lives and prevent us from being able to work hard and meet our off-the-clock responsibilities. We hope this announcement comes as part of a larger shift towards better scheduling practices at Abercrombie and Fitch, and we congratulate workers with groups like RWDSU and Retail Action Project for organizing and demanding an end to this unfair scheduling practice.
“Still, the fight goes on. Working people, just like those at Abercrombie & Fitch, are standing up across the country to demand fair schedules. Employers who use this unnecessary practice, like Bath & Body Works, Gap, Urban Outfitters and L Brands should follow suit and end on-call scheduling.”
Working parents and students as well as experts on scheduling and childcare issues are available for interviews.
###
The Fair Workweek Initiative (FWI), a collaborative effort anchored by the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), is bringing together leading worker, community and policy organizations across the country to raise industry standards and develop, drive and win policy solutions that achieve a workweek working families can count on.
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.
White House: Obama won’t discuss interest rates with Yellen
White House: Obama won’t discuss interest rates with Yellen
President Obama met with Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Monday, but one of the most pressing topics for the central banker was not on the agenda.
Obama did not plan to discuss...
President Obama met with Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Monday, but one of the most pressing topics for the central banker was not on the agenda.
Obama did not plan to discuss interest rates with Yellen, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest. He argued such a conversation could undercut the chair’s independence in setting monetary policy.
“I would not anticipate that, even in the confidential setting, that the president would have a conversation with the chair of the Fed that would undermine her ability to make these kinds of critical monetary policy decisions independently,” Earnest told reporters ahead of the meeting.
The closed-door discussion is instead an opportunity to “trade notes” on broader economic trends in the U.S. and abroad, as well as on a new set of regulations on Wall Street financial firms.
Obama and Yellen talked about the growth outlook, “the state of the labor market, inequality and potential risks to the economy,” the White House said after the meeting.
Vice President Biden also attended the meeting with Yellen in the Oval Office.
The meeting comes at time when Yellen is grappling with whether to raise interest rates further amid conflicting signs about the health of the global economy.
Yellen hiked the benchmark rate to 0.25 percent last December, the first such increase since the 2008 recession.
But since then, the central bank has taken a cautious approach to further hikes.
Reserve officials left the rate unchanged last month and reduced their estimate of the number of increases that could take place this year from four to two.
Yellen said late last month the economic recovery remains on track in the U.S. despite signs of weakness abroad, such as low oil prices and anemic growth in China. Inflation has also yet to hit the Fed’s 2 percent target.
She indicated she would take a wait-and-see approach on rate hikes until the economy shows more signs of improvement.
“I consider it appropriate for the committee to proceed cautiously in adjusting policy,” she said in a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
Election-year politics could complicate the Reserve’s decision-making process.
Progressive groups are wary of further rate hikes, worried that upping the cost of borrowing could slow the pace of hiring and economic growth.
The left-leaning “Fed Up” campaign circulated a questionnaire to presidential candidates Monday asking whether the Fed “should be intentionally slowing down the economy in 2016” by raising rates.
Republican leaders have frequently accused Obama of being too reliant on Fed policy to drive the recovery, which they say hasn’t spread to large segments of the economy.
Obama hasn’t publicly commented on interest rates. But he has sounded a more optimistic tone than Yellen on the economy, trumpeting a string of positive employment reports and rising wages.
Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist for Biden, expressed confidence Yellen would be able to insulate her decision-making from the political debate.
“The Yellen Fed, and particularly Chair Yellen herself, has been extremely data-driven, and I expect that to continue,” he said.
“What will be motivating her is less electoral politics and more the actual state of the real economy,” he added. “People worried about the fed loosening in an election year to help the incumbent party. I don’t think that is in play this year.”
Did you know 67% of all job growth comes from small businesses? Read More
Obama does not meet frequently with the Fed chair to discuss the economy. Yellen’s last one-on-one sit-down with the president occurred in early November 2014.
“I think the president has been pleased with the way that she has fulfilled what is a critically important job,” Earnest said.
Even while he offered praise for Yellen, the spokesman said Obama “cares deeply about preserving both the appearance of and the fact of the independence of the Federal Reserve and the chair.”
By Jordan Fabian
Source
Presentan plan para obtener la ciudanía estatal en NY El proyecto concedería a los indocumentados neoyorquinos gran parte de los derechos que otorga la ciudadanía federal
El Diario - June 16, 2014 by Juan Matossian - Nueva York - Ante la inoperancia del Congreso para aprobar una reforma migratoria federal, legisladores neoyorquinos presentaron el lunes una...
El Diario - June 16, 2014 by Juan Matossian - Nueva York - Ante la inoperancia del Congreso para aprobar una reforma migratoria federal, legisladores neoyorquinos presentaron el lunes una propuesta para conceder la ciudanía estatal a los casi 2.7 millones de indocumentados del estado de Nueva York.
El proyecto de ley “New York is Home” (Nueva York es el hogar) concedería a los indocumentados neoyorquinos gran parte de los derechos que otorga la ciudadanía federal. Entre ellos, la posibilidad de tramitar una licencia para manejar, de obtener licencia profesional para trabajar, solicitar ayudas para estudiar en la universidad, acceder a cuidado de salud a través del Medicaid estatal, o de votar en las elecciones municipales y estatales.
“El estado debe de reconocer las contribuciones que hacen los residentes no ciudadanos que cumplen las reglas, trabajan aquí y pagan sus impuestos”, dijo el senador estatalGustavo Rivera (D-Bronx), que introdujo la medida en la legislatura estatal junto al asambleísta Karim Camara (D–Brooklyn). “La inclusión de los inmigrantes en nuestro sistema político y económico nos beneficiaría, mientras su exclusión nos perjudica a todos”.
Si la ley es aprobada, los indocumentados deberían cumplir una serie de requisitos para ser elegibles para la ciudadanía estatal. Los principales serían tener una prueba de identidad, demostrar que se ha residido al menos tres años en el estado y que se han pagado los impuestos durante ese tiempo, y un compromiso de cumplir las leyes neoyorquinas y la constitución estatal.
Las posibilidades de que la propuesta salga adelante son escasas, después que Albany ha rechazado o ni siquiera ha querido votar medidas menos ambiciosas de ayuda para los inmigrantes, como el DREAM Act o la licencia de manejar para indocumentados. Además, la legislatura estatal cierra su curso legislativo esta misma semana, por lo que la ley no podrá ser votada hasta el otoño.
El otro gran objetivo que persiguen los impulsores de la propuesta, que está respaldada por una gran coalición de organizaciones pro inmigrantes como Make the Road New York o Hispanic Federation, es que otros estados también presenten sus planes paralelos y seguir metiendo presión al Congreso para que vote la reforma migratoria.
Source
Man with ALS confronts Flake on plane over tax bill vote
Man with ALS confronts Flake on plane over tax bill vote
A progressive activist who identified himself as diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on an airplane this week over Flake's vote on the GOP tax-reform...
A progressive activist who identified himself as diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on an airplane this week over Flake's vote on the GOP tax-reform bill.
Activist Ady Barkan, a staffer at the Center for Popular Democracy, questioned Flake on Thursday after the Arizona Republican voted in favor of the GOP tax-reform bill that passed the Senate in a late-night session last week. Videos of the 11-minute conversation were posted on Twitter.
Read the full article here.
Black Community Seeks the Power of the Ballot
For black communities in the United States, presidential election participation rates are strong and momentum is building.
In 2012, black voters showed up at the polls in the largest...
For black communities in the United States, presidential election participation rates are strong and momentum is building.
In 2012, black voters showed up at the polls in the largest numbers (66.2 percent) and voted at a higher rate than non-Hispanic whites (64.1 percent) for the first time since rates were published by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1996.
Black Americans tend to vote Democratic in presidential elections. This was true by historic margins in President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 victories
- 95 and 93 percent, respectively. And their turnout rate in 2016 could be an important factor in deciding the next president of the United States, especially in a tight race.
That's good news for black community leaders who want to ensure their voices are heard and hold future leaders accountable.
The 2014 and 2015 cases of deadly police force against unarmed African-Americans have galvanized a tech-savvy generation of activists to inject new life in an age-old push for racial, economic and social equality.
More and more, movements such as Black Lives Matter are becoming international household names and are holding candidates accountable to specifically address and push for legislation on these issues.
One such organization, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), engages and advocates on behalf of African-American and black immigrant communities on issues of racial justice and immigrant rights.
BAJI's policy and legal manager, Carl Lipscombe, says part of the greater push nationwide to organize and bring to light instances of police brutality results from what he describes as a community-wide fear of "being killed when walking to the corner." He says these police cases are enhanced by the advent of social media and by the ability to capture events on camera that wasn't possible in the 1980s.
Lipscombe says candidates must do more than "throw a bone" if they expect communities of color to go to the polls in droves.
"It's not enough to just say we want free education for everyone," Lipscombe said. "We want to know how this is going to impact black people."
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among blacks in the United States, at 9.4 percent, remains significantly higher
- nearly double
- than the overall rate of 5 percent nationwide.
Black wealth also has declined. The non-partisan Economic Policy Institute, in coordination with the liberal research institution Center for Popular Democracy, reports that black workers' wages have fallen by 44 cents on the hour in the past 15 years, while wages of both Hispanic and white workers have increased by approximately the same amount.
The Migration Policy Institute reports that black immigrants from Africa are better educated than the overall U.S. population, age 25 and older.
In 2007, 38 percent held a four-year degree or more, compared to 27 percent of the U.S. population. Yet, black immigrants earn lower wages and hold the highest unemployment rate in comparison to other immigrant groups, according to the Center for American Progress.
Bakary Tandia, case manager and policy advocate at African Services Committee, a Harlem-based agency dedicated to assisting African immigrants, refugees and asylees, says progress is necessary across all levels of government.
"Even if you take the case of [New York City Mayor Bill] de Blasio," Tandia said, "he is a progressive mayor, but in his administration, I have not seen any African immigrant appointed or in a meaningful position, and the same thing goes at the state level, at the federal level."
Grass-roots coordinators say anti-immigration rhetoric among some presidential candidates has fueled electoral participation, as well as greater community leadership.
Steve McFarland, whose organizing efforts include get-out-the-vote campaigns among disenfranchised communities in New York, says the immigration reform movement, combined with the work of Black Lives Matter, has produced a new generation of civil rights leaders.
"It doesn't look the way that it used to look," McFarland said. "It's not big organizations, but they can mobilize people, they have a clear voice, and they are winning changes across the country."
Ahead of the 2016 presidential primaries, there is good news for Democratic frontrunner and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. She currently enjoys an 80 percent favorability rating among adult blacks, the highest positive net rating of all candidates, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Clinton, who has met privately with Black Lives Matters activists, specifically addressed racial profiling in an October speech at Clark Atlanta University.
"Race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind," Clinton said. "Racial profiling is wrong, demanding, doesn't keep us safe or help solve crimes. It's time to put that practice behind us."
Source: Hong Kong Herald
Fed officials tell activists rate hikes won't derail economy
Fed officials tell activists rate hikes won't derail economy
An unusually large group of Federal Reserve policymakers appeared before activists on Thursday and defended their plans to raise interest rates to keep the U.S. economy from eventually overheating...
An unusually large group of Federal Reserve policymakers appeared before activists on Thursday and defended their plans to raise interest rates to keep the U.S. economy from eventually overheating.
Several policymakers said raising interest rates gradually would allow them to stimulate the economy for longer, but that an overheating economy could end in a recession.
"It's not about trying to stop the economy from growing," San Francisco Fed President John Williams told about 100 labor activists from the Fed Up coalition who pressed policymakers not to raise interest rates. "We're going to keep this economy growing, we are going to run it hot."
"My objective is not to slow down the economy," said Kansas City Fed President Esther George, who organized the meeting ahead of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Fed policymakers have yet to decide when to raise rates again after lifting them in December for the first time in nearly a decade. Policymakers are divided whether to hike soon or take a more cautious approach.
A core group of Fed policymakers, the Board governors, are currently debating what is going on in the U.S. economy and how to set policy, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer told the meeting.
"Everything that's being argued here is being argued in the board as well," Fischer said.
Much of the public commentary of Fed officials in recent weeks suggests the central bank is moving closer to a hike.
But the activists, who met with 11 Fed policymakers, used catcalls and applause to signal they were not buying it.
Years of lackluster wage gains and underemployment have left many Americans feeling left out of the country's economic recovery despite a 4.9 percent jobless rate.
Raising rates at this point in the recovery, said Rod Adams of Minneapolis, means "You'll be leaving us behind, pulling up the ladder right after you've climbed it."
The meeting, billed by organizers as a polite "listening session" for exchanging ideas, turned out to be a tough grilling for the Fed policymakers, who rarely appear in public in such numbers.
Fed officials worry that leaving rates too low for too long could stoke inflation, forcing the Fed to raise rates aggressively.
"One of the key goals should be that we don't have another recession," said Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jason Lange; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Andrew Hay)
By Ann Saphir and Jason Lange
Source
Tipirneni Gains Momentum In Last Week Of CD8 Special Elections, Outraises Lesko
Tipirneni Gains Momentum In Last Week Of CD8 Special Elections, Outraises Lesko
The democrat gained her financial advantage mostly through small donors, but also recently received support from healthcare activist Ady Barkan, who launched a six-figure ad campaign supporting...
The democrat gained her financial advantage mostly through small donors, but also recently received support from healthcare activist Ady Barkan, who launched a six-figure ad campaign supporting her bid for congress. Barkan’s group, Be A Hero plans on supporting Democratic candidates across the nation, starting with Tiperneni’s campaign in CD8.
Read the full article here.
La incertidumbre de los puertorriqueños de Nueva York que no han podido comunicarse con sus familiares en la isla
La incertidumbre de los puertorriqueños de Nueva York que no han podido comunicarse con sus familiares en la isla
Por otro lado, el Center for Popular Democracy lanzó un fondo de emergencia para asistir a organizaciones que trabajan con comunidades de bajos ingresos, que son más vulnerables a los daños de...
Por otro lado, el Center for Popular Democracy lanzó un fondo de emergencia para asistir a organizaciones que trabajan con comunidades de bajos ingresos, que son más vulnerables a los daños de María.
Lea el artículo completo aquí.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen: Slowdown in job market likely ‘transitory’
Fed Chair Janet Yellen: Slowdown in job market likely ‘transitory’
Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet L. Yellen expressed hope Tuesday morning that the slowdown in the U.S. job market would prove temporary, but she emphasized that the central bank would be...
Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet L. Yellen expressed hope Tuesday morning that the slowdown in the U.S. job market would prove temporary, but she emphasized that the central bank would be cautious in raising interest rates again.
Yellen, testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, acknowledged that hiring has dropped off sharply in recent months, but she also pointed to early signs that wages are beginning to rise after years of stagnation. She said she is "optimistic" that the progress in employment will continue.
"We believe that will turn around, expect it to turn around, but we are taking a cautious approach … to make sure that expectation is borne out," Yellen told lawmakers.
The Fed is responsible for charting the course for the nation’s economy, with the dual mission to keep prices stable and strengthen employment. It does that by adjusting the influential federal funds rate. A higher rate helps curb inflation by making borrowing money more expensive, which discourages spending and investment and reins in economic growth. A lower rate means that money is cheap, stimulating purchases by households and businesses. That helps boost employment and speeds up the economy.
The Fed chief's assessment comes less than a week after the Fed unanimously voted to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged. The central bank raised rates in December for the first time since the Great Recession but has not done so again amid persistent concerns about the health of the global economy.
Yellen said Tuesday that there is still "considerable uncertainty" over her outlook, with such risks as slow growth at home, turbulence in China and volatility in financial markets.
The most immediate threat comes from across the Atlantic Ocean, where Britain will vote Thursday on whether to remain in the European Union. A decision to exit — popularly known as Brexit — would upend Britain's four-decade partnership with the continent and throw the future of Europe’s open market into doubt.
Already, the British pound has been on a roller coaster as the probability of departure shifts with each poll. International policymakers have warned that a decision to leave would lower economic growth in the country by more than 5 percent over the next three years and potentially ripple across the rest of the world.
"A U.K. vote to exit the European Union could have significant economic repercussions," Yellen said Tuesday.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed slashed its target rate all the way to zero and pumped trillions of dollars into the economy in a bid to bolster the American recovery. More than seven years later, it is finally in the process of withdrawing that support.
The first move was in December, when the Fed nudged its target rate up to a range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent. At the time, officials anticipated raising rates four times this year, but the uncertainty in the global economy has forced them to downgrade that projection. Most Fed officials now think only two rate hikes are warranted this year, and a growing number think only one will be necessary.
That shift in thinking at the central bank is evident in Yellen’s own statements. Just last month, she had signaled that the central bank could raise rates "probably in the coming months." But Yellen dropped the reference in a speech early this month, after disappointing government data showed employers added just 38,000 jobs in May. And last week, she told reporters that she is "not comfortable to say it's in the next meeting or two."
On Tuesday, Yellen made the case for caution. Because rates are already so low, the Fed has limited room to reduce them further if the economy were to weaken, she said. Moving gradually also gives the central bank time to assess whether its forecast of continued economic improvement will come true.
"Our cautious approach to adjusting monetary policy remains appropriate," she said.
The Fed has faced criticism from both the left and the right recently over its governance. Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Banking Committee, opened the hearing Tuesday by calling on the Fed to follow more stringent rules for setting policy and to explain when it deviates.
"The desire to preserve the Fed’s independence, however, should not preclude consideration of additional measures to increase the transparency of the board’s actions," he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) focused on diversity within the Fed’s top ranks. Last month, more than 100 lawmakers sent a letter to Yellen arguing for more minority representation among its leadership.
The central bank is led by a board of governors based in Washington and 12 regional bank presidents scattered throughout the country. The governors are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but regional bank leaders are chosen by local boards of directors.
Those officials tend to be white men. Yellen is the first woman to serve as chair in the central bank’s 101-year history. Only three Fed governors have been African American, and there have been no black regional bank presidents. No one now in the top brass is Hispanic.
By Ylan Q. Mui
Source
Protesting health care repeal
Protesting health care repeal
Senate Republicans tried and failed three times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Many Americans who were against the repeal spent time calling and writing to their senators, and even making it...
Senate Republicans tried and failed three times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Many Americans who were against the repeal spent time calling and writing to their senators, and even making it to Washington to protest the plans in person. Those advocates say they believe standing up against the repeal efforts made all the difference. Karen Scharff from Citizen Action, Michael Kink from Strong Economy for All, and Jaron Benjamin from Housing Works discuss their fight against the repeal.
Watch the video here.
1 day ago
1 day ago