EXCLUSIVE: City Lawmaker Demands that Charter Schools Show How They Use Tax Money
New York Daily News - February 24, 2015, by Ben Chapman and Lisa Colangelo - A lawmaker is asking the city’s charter schools to hand over paperwork showing how they use millions of dollars in tax...
New York Daily News - February 24, 2015, by Ben Chapman and Lisa Colangelo - A lawmaker is asking the city’s charter schools to hand over paperwork showing how they use millions of dollars in tax money. And they have five days to do it.
City Councilman Daniel Dromm, who chairs the Education Committee, said he is troubled by the “lack of transparency and accountability” of charter schools.
“They receive over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds and we don’t know what’s going on,” Dromm, a Queens Democrat, told the Daily News on Monday.
Dromm sent a letter to all 197 charter schools in the city asking them for copies of their committee board minutes and fraud prevention policies. He also asked if they would voluntarily submit to the city Conflict of Interest Board to examine relationships between school board members and developers.
Dromm’s action comes after The News reported in November that an analysis by the Center for Popular Democracy found more than $28 million in questionable spending and probable financial mismanagement in 95% of the charter schools examined by state auditors since 2002.
James Merriman, CEO of the New York Charter School Center, dismissed Dromm as an “attack dog” for the United Federation of Teachers, which is opposed to charter schools.
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After minimum wage changes, Bay Area workers push for ‘fair’ scheduling
After minimum wage changes, Bay Area workers push for ‘fair’ scheduling
As cities all over the state have raised their minimum wages in recent years, labor advocates in the Bay Area are turning to what they see as another piece of the puzzle for improving workers’...
As cities all over the state have raised their minimum wages in recent years, labor advocates in the Bay Area are turning to what they see as another piece of the puzzle for improving workers’ lives: scheduling.
From ensuring workers get the full-time hours they desire, to preventing retaliation against them for turning down last-minute schedule changes, several initiatives are aimed at making employees’ schedules more stable and reducing underemployment.
“Now, it’s about getting fair wages and fair hours,” said Jennifer Lin, deputy director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE).
Business interests have railed against the idea of regulating scheduling across diverse sectors, and warn of unintended consequences that could actually hurt workers looking for additional hours and flexibility in their schedules.
Angie Manetti, director of government affairs for the California Retailers Association, said that has already happened in San Francisco since that city’s Retail Workers Bill of Rights was passed last year. Managers now choose to leave shifts unfilled to avoid penalty pay from scheduling workers on short notice, leaving heavier workloads on the employees who are working, she said.
San Jose’s Opportunity to Work initiative, an ordinance on the ballot Nov. 8, would require businesses there to offer extra hours to part-time employees before hiring more workers.
The initiative would apply to businesses with 35 or more employees but exclude government jobs and allow companies to apply for a “hardship” exemption.
Dilsa Gonzalez, a San Jose resident who has held a variety of positions in the fast food sector there, hopes the measure will support people like her. Gonzalez works 16 hours per week, but she would like to work 40. When she asks supervisors for additional hours, they tell her there is no work available.
“But then they hire other people,” Gonzalez said through a translator. She tries other means of making money, including recycling or helping her husband, a mechanic, work. But in San Jose, it’s “hard to survive with just a few hours of work,” she said.
“There is a crisis of underemployment in Silicon Valley,” said Ben Field, executive officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, which gathered the required signatures to place the measure on the ballot. “It’s symptomatic of a problem across the country in which more and more wage earners are dependent on part-time work as a main source of income.”
Matthew Mahood, CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, counters that the San Jose ordinance would “pit workers against each other” for full-time hours rather than creating more jobs and that the ordinance is too far-reaching.
Meanwhile, in the East Bay city of Emeryville, the City Council passed its “Fair Work Week Initiative” last week.
The initiative requires retail and fast food establishments that have more than 56 employees globally to:
• provide employee schedules two weeks in advance of their shifts;
• allow employees to decline schedule changes that happen within seven days of the changed shift;
• offer extra hours to part-time employees before bringing on new ones;
• provide employees with extra pay for taking on shifts on short notice, known as “predictability pay.”
The initiative also would require employers to allow employees to deny back-to-back closing and opening shifts and to request alternate work schedules without retaliation.
Emeryville has often been a trendsetter when it comes to passing worker protection legislation, EBASE’s Lin said. That includes the $14.44-per-hour minimum wage it established last year that at the time was the highest in the nation. She hopes to push the effort throughout the East Bay in the near future.
Moriah Larkins, an Oakland resident who has worked in retail in Emeryville for five years, is among those who say the unpredictability of retail scheduling has made life difficult. As a single mother, Larkins said, taking on last-minute shifts was difficult because child care is not easy to schedule, but she also often did not get scheduled as many hours as she wanted to pay her bills.
She now works at Home Depot, where her schedule is more secure, allowing her to plan better for her family and financially, she said. Home Depot store manager Lionel Stevens said at the City Council meeting that it issues schedules three weeks in advance, and has an open-door policy for employees who need flexibility.
A study commissioned by Emeryville indicates that relatively few workers believe work scheduling has a negative effect on their life. According to the study, 87 percent of employees said they have influence in creating their schedules, and 76 percent said their schedule has never changed with less than 24 hours of notice.
A separate study led by the backers of the Fair Work Week initiative, EBASE, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the Center for Public Democracy found different results: that more workers — roughly two-thirds — get their schedule less than a week in advance and want to work more hours.
Many workers believe an ordinance is needed to close any loopholes for businesses who are not scheduling fairly.
Kelby Peeler, a Union City resident who worked at Barnes and Noble for seven years, said he would often be scheduled 30 hours one week and 10 the next, making it impossible to plan financially, and he often lost sleep with late-night closing shifts paired with opening shifts the next day.
“There are definitely good actors — it’s not like every store is having these problems,” Peeler said. “But you can’t have your schedule based on the whim of a manager.”
By ANNIE SCIACCA
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Immigrant advocates attack banks for financing private prisons
“Private prison companies and their Wall Street financiers stand to benefit from policies that increase detentions, separate families, and cause irreparable harm to immigrant children," said Ana...
“Private prison companies and their Wall Street financiers stand to benefit from policies that increase detentions, separate families, and cause irreparable harm to immigrant children," said Ana María Archila, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, in a statement.
Read the full article here.
Support Asylum Seekers From the Migrant Caravan Vilified by Trump
Support Asylum Seekers From the Migrant Caravan Vilified by Trump
With 71 percent of people detained by ICE held in privately-operated facilities, the private prison industry is one of the largest beneficiaries of anti-immigrant policies. The Center for Popular...
With 71 percent of people detained by ICE held in privately-operated facilities, the private prison industry is one of the largest beneficiaries of anti-immigrant policies. The Center for Popular Democracy, Make the Road New York, Enlace International, New York Communities for Change, and the Strong Economy for All Coalition recently released a report that found that Wall Street companies such as JP Morgan and Wells Fargo not only profit from the industry: they massively increased their investments after Donald Trump was elected president. Check out the report here, then write a letter to one of the companies and share some of the report’s most potent facts on social media using the hashtag #BackersofHate.
Read the full article here.
Elevated Level of Part-Time Employment: Post-Recession Norm?
Wall Street Journal - November 12, 2014, by Nick Timiraos - Nearly 7 million Americans are stuck in part-time jobs that they don’t want.
The unemployment rate has fallen...
Wall Street Journal - November 12, 2014, by Nick Timiraos - Nearly 7 million Americans are stuck in part-time jobs that they don’t want.
The unemployment rate has fallen sharply over the past year, but that improvement is masking a still-bleak picture for millions of workers who say they can’t find full-time jobs.
Martina Morgan is deciding which bills to skip after her hours fell at Ikea in Renton, Wash. Sandra Sok says she’s been unable to consistently get full-time hours after she transferred to a Wal-Mart in Arizona from one in Colorado.
In Chicago, Jessica Davis is frustrated by her schedule dwindling to 23 hours a week at a McDonald’s even though her location has been hiring. “How can you not get people more hours but you hire more employees?” the 26-year-old Ms. Davis said.
The situation of these so-called involuntary part-time workers—those who would prefer to work more than 34 hours a week—has economists puzzling over whether a higher level of part-time employment might be a permanent legacy of the great recession. If so, it could force more workers to choose between underemployment or working multiple jobs to make ends meet, leading to less income growth and weaker discretionary spending.
Employers added some 3.3 million full-time workers over the past year, but the number of full-time workers in the U.S. is still around 2 million shy of the level before the recession began in 2007. Meanwhile, the ranks of workers who are part time for economic reasons has fallen by 740,000 this year to around 4.5% of the civilian workforce. That is down from a high of 5.9% in 2010 but remains well above the 2.7% average in the decade preceding the recession.
“There’s just less full-time jobs available than there used to be,” said Michelle Girard, chief economist at RBS Securities Inc.
The slow decline in part-time work is particularly acute when broken out by industries. For the retail and hospitality sectors, the number of involuntary part-time workers in October was nearly double its prerecession level. For construction, mining and manufacturing work, by contrast, the share of such part-time labor was just 9% above its pre-recession level.
Other data show that the ability of part-time service workers to find full-time work has been much slower during the current recovery. In goods-producing industries, around two-thirds of involuntary part-time workers in July 2013 had found full-time employment by July 2014, up from 60% in 2009, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. But for service-sector workers, the rate has seen little improvement. Around 48% of involuntary part-time workers in July 2013 had found full-time work one year later, up from around 46% in 2009.
An important question for policy makers now is whether the elevated level of involuntary part-time work is due to cyclical factors, meaning it will fall as the economy heals, or to structural changes that have made employers more inclined to rely on a larger contingent workforce and avoid converting part-time workers to full-time positions.
On one side are economists like Ms. Girard, who say greater economic uncertainty and rising labor costs—from increases in the minimum wage, regulations or health-care expenses stemming from the Affordable Care Act—explain higher levels of part-time work. “There is a structural element to this at the very least,” she said.
The health-care law requires employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent workers to offer affordable insurance to employees working 30 or more hours a week or face fines. “Companies are just more inclined to hire part-time workers, not necessarily because of the health-care law, but for business reasons that make it a more attractive option,” Ms. Girard said.
Anecdotal reports have suggested employers have cut hours to prepare for the implementation of the health-care law, but that hasn’t been borne out by economic data.
An analysis by Bowen Garrett of the Urban Institute and Robert Kaestner at the University of Illinois at Chicago found a small increase in part-time work this year, but the increase occurred for part-time jobs with between 30 and 34 hours—above the 30-hour threshold that would be affected by the health-care law.
Other economists say higher levels of involuntary part-time work are mostly cyclical. Businesses don’t appear to be paying part-time workers more than full-time workers; that would be one clear sign of a shift in hiring preferences.
Elevated levels of involuntary part-time work in service jobs may reflect how low-wage employers ramped up hiring earlier in the recovery. More recently, the sector has absorbed those returning to work after long unemployment spells.
Part-time work in service jobs is “a stepping stone for the unemployed and for people out of the labor force,” said Adam Ozimek, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. Labor markets are “improving in just the way you would expect.”
Labor advocates, meanwhile, say technological changes in how businesses schedule employees are at fault. Software allows employers to schedule and cancel shifts rapidly based on business conditions.
Carrie Gleason, the director of the Fair Workweek Initiative at the Center for Popular Democracy, a labor advocacy group, said that could explain why more part-time workers say they want full-time work. “There’s now this persistent uncertainty in the jobs that hourly workers have today,” she said.
“I need to spend some time with my kids,” said Ms. Morgan, 32. “Two jobs? It’s too much.”
Ikea employees are guaranteed a minimum amount of hours every week. Those that can work “during peak times when our customers are in our stores have the opportunity to obtain more hours,” said Mona Liss, a company spokeswoman. The company in June also announced it would raise the average minimum hourly wage in its U.S. stores next year by 17%.
Meanwhile, the structural-cyclical debate has important implications for the Federal Reserve. If the changes are structural, wages might begin to rise sooner than expected, putting more pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates. If they’re cyclical, it would suggest that Fed policy can remain accommodative.
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen routinely highlights the elevated level of part-time work as a key measure of labor slack. “There are still ... too many who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work,” she said at a press conference in September.
Business surveys conducted by the Atlanta Fed have shown there are more part-time workers because “business conditions don’t justify converting them to full time,” said John Robertson, senior economist at the bank. But other businesses have said their reliance on a larger part-time workforce stemmed from the higher costs of hiring full-time workers.
“It would be wrong to say it’s all cyclical, and it would be wrong to say it’s all structural,” Mr. Robertson said. “We’re somewhere in the middle.”
Ulyses Coatl illustrates how any improvement might unfold. He worked for two years as a stylist at a Levi’s apparel store in lower Manhattan but quit his job in September because the hours had become too unpredictable. His schedule varied from as many as 34 hours a week to four hours, but had averaged around 18 hours in recent weeks, he said.
A Levi’s spokeswoman said the company is “always looking at ways to improve retail productivity, including store labor models and processes” that conform to “industry best practices.”
Wal-Mart says the majority of its workforce is full time, and the share of part-time workers has stayed about the same over the past decade. A spokeswoman said store employees can view all of the open shifts in their store, and that there are full-time positions available in the store at which Ms. Sok works.
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Hundreds march on Capitol Hill to call for a DACA replacement
The Trump administration's decision to end the DACA program means thousands of undocumented individuals are on the verge of being deported, despite having lived in the US for years. On Wednesday,...
The Trump administration's decision to end the DACA program means thousands of undocumented individuals are on the verge of being deported, despite having lived in the US for years. On Wednesday, protesters took to DC to call for the DREAM Act, which would build on DACA, creating a multi-phase process that would lead to permanent residency.
Read the full article here.
Who’s truly rebuilding the Democratic Party? The activists.
In June 2010 I made a very bad tweet that I came to regret. (Hard to imagine, I know.) I yelled at the disability rights group Adapt.
I’d come to DC to attend a conference of progressive...
In June 2010 I made a very bad tweet that I came to regret. (Hard to imagine, I know.) I yelled at the disability rights group Adapt.
I’d come to DC to attend a conference of progressive leaders, “America’s Future Now.” And while I knew a lot about financial reform, I didn’t know enough about politics, activism, or the Democratic Party.
Read the full article here.
Watch Live: Young Immigrants Rally In DC To Call On Congress To Save DREAMers
Watch Live: Young Immigrants Rally In DC To Call On Congress To Save DREAMers
(Interview with Ana Maria Archila at 1:09:10)
(Interview with Ana Maria Archila at 1:09:10)
Watch the full video here.
Una victoria imperfecta para los trabajadores de Nueva York
Millones de neoyorquinos están celebrando el acuerdo de esta semana que aumentó el sueldo mínimo en el estado. Este pacto hace que familias en todo el estado puedan aspirar a un futuro mejor y...
Millones de neoyorquinos están celebrando el acuerdo de esta semana que aumentó el sueldo mínimo en el estado. Este pacto hace que familias en todo el estado puedan aspirar a un futuro mejor y envía un mensaje importante a otros estados que contemplan incrementar los salarios.
El acuerdo es prueba del poder de la movilización. Hace apenas unos años habría sido imposible imaginarse los titulares actuales. Cuando New York Communities for Change organizó la primera huelga de empleados de restaurantes de comida rápida hace casi cuatro años, la gente pensó que estábamos locos.
Como el gobierno federal postergó varias veces incrementar de manera significativa el sueldo mínimo a nivel nacional, parecía imposible lograr un aumento de paga.
En respuesta, los trabajadores de dichos restaurantes y otros empleados con sueldos bajos decidieron luchar por mejor paga y calidad de vida, lo que dio inicio a un movimiento que se propagó a ciudades y pueblos en todo el país.
No es coincidencia que la Lucha por $15 se iniciara aquí, en la ciudad de Nueva York. El nivel de disparidad en nuestra ciudad es uno de los peores del país desde hace tiempo y, en años recientes, ha batido récords históricos.
Según una encuesta de la Oficina del Censo de 2014, el 5 por ciento de hogares en Manhattan con más altos ingresos ganaron 88 veces más que el 20 por ciento más pobre. Y el año pasado, los trabajadores con el salario mínimo no podían pagar el alquiler medio en ningún vecindario de la ciudad de Nueva York.
Desde hace tiempo no se incrementan los salarios al ritmo del costo de vida. De hecho, el Economic Policy Institute concluyó que el salario de $9.00 por hora a nivel estatal es muy inferior al que sería si simplemente hubiera aumentado desde 1970 conforme a la inflación. El mismo estudio concluyó que si se tomara en cuenta la inflación y el costo de vida más alto, el salario mínimo hoy en día tendría el mismo valor que en 1970 si este año fuera $14.27 por hora, casi el nivel acordado por la Legislatura del Estado de Nueva York.
El año pasado, el gobernador Cuomo tomó la acertada decisión de exigir sueldos más altos para los empleados de restaurantes de comida rápida, quienes estaban al frente de la lucha por reformas. Pero al movilizar un sector por uno se corría el riesgo de desatender las necesidades de muchos trabajadores. Para realmente producir un cambio, las reglas se deben aplicar a todos de manera equitativa. El acuerdo de la semana pasada hizo eso y permitió que los empleados de todos los sectores económicos finalmente puedan aspirar a algo más que el próximo cheque de pago.
El acuerdo es una victoria para los empleados de la ciudad de Nueva York. Sin embargo, pasa por alto a las familias trabajadoras de la parte norte del estado. Si bien más de un millón de trabajadores mal remunerados en la ciudad verán un aumento de sueldo a $15 por hora para fines de 2018, aquellos en Long Island solo lograrán $15 en casi seis años y los de la región norte deben esperar cinco años para llegar apenas a $12.50. Aunque el acuerdo permite que después se aumente el sueldo a $15, el índice dependerá de análisis y la inflación, y eso podría tomar varios años.
Es una espera terriblemente larga, dado el costo de vida cada vez mayor al norte de la ciudad. Por ejemplo, el contraIor del estado de Nueva York ha detectado que el costo de vivienda está subiendo drásticamente y que por lo menos una de cada cinco personas en cada condado – incluidos algunos muy al norte como Warren y Monroe– gasta más de un tercio de su salario en el alquiler. En algunos estados la mitad de los pobladores deben gastar eso. Si agregamos a esto los gastos como servicios públicos y alimentos, es casi imposible ahorrar para los estudios universitarios y la jubilación.
Es imperativo que ahora los legisladores completen la tarea y les den a todos los neoyorquinos la oportunidad de ganar un sueldo decente.
Pocos días antes de que se finalizara el acuerdo en Albany, California nos demostró que es posible tener un sueldo de $15 a nivel estatal. Nuestro estado debe cumplir con la promesa de la Lucha por $15 en todo el estado y permitir que todos los trabajadores puedan mantenerse a sí mismos y a su familia de manera adecuada. De lo contrario los neoyorquinos seguirán haciendo lo que llevan haciendo desde hace casi cuatro años: arriesgarlo todo para ofrecerle una vida mejor a su familia.
By JoEllen Chernow & Jonathan Westin
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On Capitol Hill, Top Democrats and Advocates Call for Fair Schedules for Millions of Workers
***Media Advisory for July 22, 2 PM, Capitol Hill, Washington DC***
Contact: Dan Morris: (917)-952-8920; ...
***Media Advisory for July 22, 2 PM, Capitol Hill, Washington DC***
Contact: Dan Morris: (917)-952-8920; progressivecities2014@gmail.com Benjamin Linsley: (917) 232-0020; blinsley@populardemocracy.org
On Capitol Hill, Top Democrats and Advocates Call for Fair Schedules for Millions of Workers
*Fair Workweek Initiative and Federal Legislation Unveiled to Address National Crisis in Scheduling*
Lack of Stable, Reliable Schedules Identified as Most Urgent Workplace Issue for Three Key Groups in the Democratic Electorate: Women, People of Color, and Millenials
WHAT: On Capitol Hill,advocates, workers, and experts will unveil the Fair Workweek Initiative, a national campaign anchored by the Center for Popular Democracy to address the most urgent workplace issue facing millions of Americans: unpredictable, unstable schedules. The campaign brings together organizations from around the country, and strongly supports the Schedules That Work Act, new federal legislation that will require retailers and other employers in the service sector to give workers stable, reliable hours. This groundbreaking legislation will be introduced by top Democrats including Rep. George Miller and Rep. Rosa DeLauro on July 22nd.
The Congressional briefing on the Schedules that Work Act will spotlight the lack of stable, reliable schedules as a growing national crisis in the American workplace that Democrats around the country should seize on and highlight during the upcoming mid-term elections.
WHERE: U.S. House of Representatives, Cannon House Office Building Room 234, Washington D.C.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 22, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
WHO: Key speakers and participants are listed below.
Carrie Gleason, Director of the Fair Workweek Initiative, Center for Popular Democracy Worker leaders from OUR Walmart, Retail Action Project, Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU/UFCW), Wisconsin Jobs Now, & Restaurant Opportunities Center United Susan Lambert, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Sherry Leiwant, Co-President, A Better Balance Jodie Levin-Epstein, Deputy Director, Center for Law and Social Policy Paul Sonn, Legal Director, National Employment Law Project (NELP) Liz Watson, Director of Workplace Justice for Women, National Women’s Law Center The Congressional Briefing for the Schedules that Work Act is supported by: 9to5, A Better Balance, Center for Law and Social Policy, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Family Values @ Work, Gender Justice, Good Jobs Nation, CTW, Jobs with Justice, Labor Project for Working Families, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, National Council of Women’s Organizations, National Employment Law Project, National Partnership for Women & Families, OUR Walmart, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Retail Action Project, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Taskforce on Older Women’s Economic Security, UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers, and Women Employed.
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