Overnight Finance: Trump keeps up attack on Amazon
"We hope that John Williams's tenure as president will not be characterized by the same disregard for the public as his appointment was." -- Fed Up, a coalition of progressive non-profits focused...
"We hope that John Williams's tenure as president will not be characterized by the same disregard for the public as his appointment was." -- Fed Up, a coalition of progressive non-profits focused on reshaping the central bank.
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Activists Protest Universities Over Investments In Puerto Rico Bondholders
Activists Protest Universities Over Investments In Puerto Rico Bondholders
A coalition of social and economic justice groups has launched a one-week campaign to end what they view as problematic university investments. The New York-based Center for Popular Democracy (CPD...
A coalition of social and economic justice groups has launched a one-week campaign to end what they view as problematic university investments. The New York-based Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and partner organizations including three Make the Road branches will hold six protests along the East Coast, calling on Columbia, Harvard and Yale to pull their investments out of hedge funds that hold Puerto Rican debt and have advocated austerity measures in the U.S. territory, leading to mass school closings and higher tuition costs.
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New On-Call Scheduling Inquiry Spurred by Nine Attorneys General
04.13.2016
NEW YORK – The Center for Popular Democracy’s Fair Workweek Initiative commended the nine Attorneys General from California, Connecticut, the District of...
04.13.2016
NEW YORK – The Center for Popular Democracy’s Fair Workweek Initiative commended the nine Attorneys General from California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island for expanding a probe into the retail industry’s use of unpaid on-call shifts and other harmful scheduling practices.
Today, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a round of letters was sent to 15 retailers, including Forever 21, American Eagle Outfitters, Uniqlo, Aéropostale, Payless ShoeSource, Coach, and the Disney Store, inquiring about each retailer's use of on-call shifts, which can require workers to be available for work without a guaranteed shift and report to their job with just a few hours notice. The practice poses a potential violation of state reporting pay laws, which require employers to give workers minimum pay even when a shift is cancelled or shortened. Some states without reporting pay laws, such as Maryland, Minnesota and Illinois, signed onto the letter to express concern about the impact of last-minute on-calling scheduling on the well-being of workers and their families.
This inquiry follows a similar one launched by Attorney General Schneiderman last year. The first round of letters prompted six retail brands including the Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch to end on-call scheduling – impacting more than 250,000 workers. This new regulatory action by additional Attorneys General speaks to growing concerns about the harm that erratic hours inflict on workers and their families.
The Fair Workweek Initiative works with policymakers, workers and grassroots coalitions across the country to ensure that workers have the hours they need to thrive. New scheduling protections were implemented in San Francisco and Santa Clara County last year. This year, work hours bills are on the radar in Seattle, Washington, DC, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Minnesota, while San Jose is pursuing the first-ever ballot measure addressing hourly workweeks with a provision that would provide part-time workers the opportunity to work additional hours. The efforts are drawing the attention of national media around the country.
Workers, policymakers, advocates and researchers are available for interview through the Fair Workweek Initiative.
Carrie Gleason, Director of the Fair Workweek Initiative, released the following statement:
“Over the past year, workers have been speaking out about the struggles caused by increasingly unpredictable hours. On-call shifts make it hard to find childcare, see a doctor, or care for family members. Workers should not have to choose between living with dignity and getting enough hours to put food on the table. It is heartening to see more and more policymakers and regulators take action to address a crisis affecting millions of Americans.”
In Connecticut, Julio Lopez, Lead Organizer at Make the Road, also released a statement:
“Providing reliable schedules enables workers to reach their full potential, letting them thrive in today’s changing economy. We will continue to put the heat on employers until schedules across the industry are reliable and fair.”
In Illinois, Katelyn Johnson, Executive Director of Action Now, also released a statement:
“On-call shifts wreak havoc on the lives of hardworking people across the country. We are glad that these Attorneys General are responding to the voices of millions who have asked for more reliable schedules that let them plan their budgets and their lives.”
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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.
Contact:
Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442
Anita Jain, ajain@populardemocracy.org, 347-636-9761
CPD's Connie Razza Joins Melissa Harris-Perry to Discuss the Federal Reserve
Melissa Harris-Perry - March 7, 2014 - The Center for Popular Democracy released a report on March 3, 2015 detailing the discrepancy in unemployment between black and brown communities and white...
Melissa Harris-Perry - March 7, 2014 - The Center for Popular Democracy released a report on March 3, 2015 detailing the discrepancy in unemployment between black and brown communities and white communities. CPD is calling on the Federal Reserve to implement policies and institutional reforms that focus on creating a strong recovery for all communities.
America’s biggest corporations are quietly boosting Trump’s hate agenda
America’s biggest corporations are quietly boosting Trump’s hate agenda
America’s biggest corporations are quietly boosting Trump’s hate agenda...
...
America’s biggest corporations are quietly boosting Trump’s hate agenda...
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More Overreach by the N.Y.P.D.
The New York Times - June 23, 2013, Editorial - The revelation in 2011 that the New York City Police Department was spying on law-abiding Muslims rightly attracted scrutiny from the Justice...
The New York Times - June 23, 2013, Editorial - The revelation in 2011 that the New York City Police Department was spying on law-abiding Muslims rightly attracted scrutiny from the Justice Department, which announced last year that it intended to review the program. The disclosure also raised troubling questions about whether the city was violating a federal court order that bars it from retaining information gleaned from investigations of political activity unless there are reasonable indications of potential wrongdoing. The purpose of that order was to discourage unjustified surveillance and prevent police from peering into people’s private affairs and building dossiers on them without legitimate cause.
Now comes a new federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Muslim citizens and organizations saying they have been subjected to illegal surveillance that has disrupted Muslim houses of worship, made it difficult for congregants and their spiritual leaders to worship freely, and inhibited Muslims from openly associating with lawful Muslim charities and civic groups and exercising First Amendment rights.
One striking case in the complaint involves Masjid At-Taqwa, a mosque in Brooklyn, where the Police Department is alleged to have installed a surveillance camera, clearly marked with the department’s insignia and pointed at the mosque door. This seems curious because the mosque’s longtime leader, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, was said in the complaint to be a clergy liaison for the N.Y.P.D. Community Affairs Bureau and a member of the Majlis Ash-Shura, also known as the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York.
The camera, which the complaint says was moved across the street but remains in use, raised fears among congregants that they were being targeted for deportation. Many refrained from attending communal prayer; some left the congregation. Concerned that their religious pronouncements might be misquoted by informants, the mosque’s spiritual leaders began recording sermons so that they would be able to defend themselves. They have said they avoided meeting with congregants individually because they feared the congregants might be informants.
Meanwhile, according to the complaint, a police informant who visited this and other mosques tried to lure congregants into inflammatory conversations that would then have been reported to the police. According to court documents, the informant tried the same strategy with a Muslim charity that distributed food to the needy. The group, which apparently did nothing illegal, lost credibility in the community once people learned that it had been a target of police scrutiny.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has responded to such complaints by insisting that the department’s surveillance program is perfectly legal and implying that critics are undermining public safety. This is the same response he offers when challenged on the stop-and-frisk program. This arrogant approach tries to discredit legitimate criticism while justifying further overreach by a department with a history of abusive behavior. It is up to the courts to determine whether the Muslim surveillance program and the stop-and-frisk program are constitutional. What already seems clear is that these surveillance policies create suspicion and mistrust, which does not help the Police Department or anyone else.
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Scarlett Johansson, Her "Avengers" Co-Stars And The John Gore Organization Raise $500,000 For Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Efforts
Scarlett Johansson, Her "Avengers" Co-Stars And The John Gore Organization Raise $500,000 For Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Efforts
"We are deeply grateful to Scarlett Johansson, Kenny Leon and everyone involved in the production of this play for stepping up and contributing their talent to help towards the equitable and just...
"We are deeply grateful to Scarlett Johansson, Kenny Leon and everyone involved in the production of this play for stepping up and contributing their talent to help towards the equitable and just rebuilding of Puerto Rico," explained Xiomara Caro, Director of New Organizing Projects for the Center of Popular Democracy and coordinator of Maria Fund. "This event demonstrates the importance of collective solidarity and responsibility and how powerful it is when we come together to help our communities."
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Fed Hawks Ignore Reality of Stagnant Wages, No Jobs
WSJ 12.01.2014
“A Central Bank for the Beltway” (Review & Outlook, Nov. 19) criticizes the recent work of the “Fed Up” coalition, which is advocating for transparent processes in the appointment of Federal Reserve presidents and monetary policies that promote a full employment economy.
The editorial acknowledges that “the Fed should be held politically accountable in a democracy,” and I agree. In Dallas and Philadelphia, where the current Fed presidents will be replaced this year, the public does not know how the private search firm chooses candidates, who the candidates are, by what criteria they will be judged or even when the vote will be held.
Fed governance is dominated by financial and corporate interests: Of the 108 current directors on the 12 regional Fed boards, 36 are bankers, 62 are corporate executives and just 10 are leaders of community or labor organizations. The “independ-ent policy judgment” that comes from such a structure will be advice that benefits banks and corporations, not the general public.
Our coalition believes that the voices of workers, community leaders and faith leaders will bring important perspectives to key policy debates. The Fed hawks who argue that the economy has recovered ignore the reality of stagnant wages, plummeting workforce participation rates and the rapid growth of the involuntary part-time workforce.
While near-zero interest rates have not yet been sufficient to spur a true recovery, many prominent economists—from Adam Posen to Joseph Stiglitz —have explained that raising interest rates would be catastrophic. The public, particularly the unemployed, underemployed and underpaid, recognize that the Fed should provide robust support to the economy until it reaches full speed and is creating millions of good new jobs, and wages are rising for a broad sector of working Americans who have seen their income fall or stagnate for far too long.
Shawn SebastianCenter for Popular Democracy
Source: Wall Street Journal
Six retailers agree to end on-call scheduling: AG Schneiderman
Six retailers agree to end on-call scheduling: AG Schneiderman
Six national retailers will cease to use on-call scheduling methods for employees nationwide following a multistate investigation, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced in a press...
Six national retailers will cease to use on-call scheduling methods for employees nationwide following a multistate investigation, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced in a press release Tuesday.
Aeropostale, Carter’s, David’s Tea, Disney, PacSun, and Zumiez were approached by attorney generals in eight states and the District of Columbia regarding the scheduling practice, which requires employees to contact the employer to know if they are to work a scheduled shift. Companies using this scheduling method often ask employees to call only one to two hours before a shift would begin, creating an unpredictable work schedule, according to a written statement from Schneiderman’s office.
The inquiry, which was sent to 15 retailers in April 2016, said the nature of on-call scheduling negatively impacts workers. Employees at these retailers may have difficulty making arrangements for childcare and elder-care and pursuing higher education, according to the letter. The letter also states employees subjected to on-call scheduling “in general experience higher incidences of adverse health effects, overall stress, and strain on family life” than workers who know their schedule in advance.
“People should not have to keep the day open, arrange for child care, and give up other opportunities without being compensated for their time,” Schneiderman said in a written statement.
Nearly 50,000 employees of the six retailers nationwide will be affected by the agreement.
“We are especially glad that employers like Disney and Carter’s, whose brands promote putting families first, will stop using on-call shifts that are notorious for wreaking havoc on families’ balance and puts undue stress on children,” Carrie Gleason, director of the Fair Workweek Initiative at the Center for Popular Democracy, said in a written statement.
Of the 15 retailers that received the inquiry letter regarding on-call shift scheduling, nine said they did not use on-call scheduling or had recently ceased doing so.
Employers in New York State are required to pay any employee who is either called into work or requests to work same-day to be scheduled “for at least four hours, or the amount of hours in a regularly scheduled shift, whichever is less, at the basic minimum hourly wage.”
Schneiderman sent a similar letter of inquiry in 2015 requesting retailers to end on-call scheduling. Of those, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Pier 1 Imports, and L Brands – the parent company of Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret – were among the companies who agreed to end on-call scheduling.
By Jenna Macri
Source
Study: Latino and Immigrant Workers More Likely To Die in Construction Falls
WNYC – October 24, 2013, by Mirela Iverac - In New York, the majority of those who die working in construction are Latinos and immigrants, according to a new report from the Center for Popular...
WNYC – October 24, 2013, by Mirela Iverac - In New York, the majority of those who die working in construction are Latinos and immigrants, according to a new report from the Center for Popular Democracy.
Between 2003 and 2011, 74 percent of the people who died after a fatal fall while working at construction sites were Latinos and other immigrants.
Pedro Corchado, injured while working in the Bronx in 2008, said, “I was basically up on the ladder, and the ladder collapsed on me. I fell about 11 feet or so to the concrete floor. I suffered neck and lower back injuries that will be with me the rest of my life.”
Corchado spoke in Astoria, in front of a site where earlier this year a construction worker died after he fell through the floor.
Authors of the report say that Latinos face more risk because they often work for non-union contractors.
Source
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