De Blasio, Mark-Viverito Announce Paid Sick Leave Expansion Plan
NY1 - January 17, 2014, by Grace Rauh - Approximately 500,000 more New Yorkers could soon get paid sick leave benefits at work, as Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-...
NY1 - January 17, 2014, by Grace Rauh - Approximately 500,000 more New Yorkers could soon get paid sick leave benefits at work, as Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito are teaming up to fast-track a new sick leave bill that would dramatically expand the old one. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito say they are going to take the city's paid sick leave law and expand it so that 500,000 more New Yorkers can stay home when they are ill and still get a paycheck.
"We've talked a lot about the tale of two cities," de Blasio said. "Our goal is to create one city where everyone can rise together, and this is one of the steps we have to take to make that possible. The time to act is now."
It is the new mayor's first big legislative push, and it is the first time he is teaming up with the new speaker, who he helped in her bid for the job.
"This is the kind of progressive change that can happen when the mayor and City Council share the same priorities and values, values that put working New Yorkers first," Mark-Viverito said.
After years of debate, the City Council passed a bill mandating paid sick last year, but it affected far fewer businesses than many advocates had wanted.
The new legislation would require businesses with five or more employees to provide paid sick leave. The earlier bill only targeted businesses with 15 or more workers.
Manufacturing businesses, which had been exempted from the earlier bill, would have to provide sick leave benefits, and employees would be allowed to use paid sick days to care for grandparents, grandchildren and siblings, as well as immediate family.
De Blasio said he wants the new bill to take take effect on April 1 of this year.
Many business leaders fought the previous legislation, arguing that it would put a strain on their bottom line. Their initial response to the new proposal was fairly measured, though. One industry leader said it was no surprise that the new mayor is pushing this expansion.
There is no specific timetable for introducing the bill in the City Council, but it is expected to move quickly through the legislative body and win approval.
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What is a Good Job?
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the law that gave us the minimum wage and a host of other protections to protect workers from the most cutthroat tendencies of...
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the law that gave us the minimum wage and a host of other protections to protect workers from the most cutthroat tendencies of capitalism.
While the law is still on the books, its power is fading. The federal minimum wage today – unchanged since 2009 – doesn’t let workers afford the most basic essentials, from a mortgage to monthly groceries.
In Detroit, federal inaction has hit workers especially hard. Detroit is already one of the most marginalized cities in the country. Last year, we faced the largest number of tax foreclosures in U.S. history. Our schools are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. And a recent Brookings study found Detroit has the highest concentration of poverty of the largest metro areas in the country.
While parts of Detroit have risen like a phoenix in recent years, with growing signs of life in the auto industry and a shiny new hockey arena, the reality is progress hasn’t reached the majority of the city and people of color have largely been left out of Detroit’s revival.
To give all workers in Detroit a chance to share in the city’s recovery, we must start with wages. The current federal standard of $7.25 an hour is pitiful – and Michigan’s state rate of $8.15 is hardly an improvement.
Meanwhile, a recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found it takes $15.62 to afford a two bedroom apartment in Michigan. A single parent with two children in Michigan needs an income of $21.23 per hour year to meet basic expenses. In Wayne County, an individual must earn $14.40 to support a family of four.
Two years ago, a ballot initiative was launched to raise the state wage to $10.10 per hour by 2017 with the support of hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents. Through a series of legislative maneuvers, the measure was defeated and the current rate was put in place. A year later, lawmakers voted to ban municipalities from raising wages at the local level.
As Detroit stagnates, around the country, minimum wages are on the march. From California to New York, workers have won raises as high as $15 an hour. And the same workers have been demanding progress here.
But we should go even further than higher wages. We need jobs that give workers access to a better life, with full benefits, stable hours, and a commute that doesn’t take hours on the bus each way. To that end, we have been working to ensure Detroiters have a seat at the table with developers to ensure that jobs are going to Detroiters.
Growing up, my parents struggled with chronic unemployment and homelessness. We moved constantly, often living in houses without running water, electricity or heat. In high school, my mom began working at General Motors and was finally able to meet our most basic needs. I could finally attend school every day of the week. That job didn’t just lift our family out of poverty. It gave us back our dignity.
For far too long we have encouraged people to just take any job, no matter the pay or working conditions. That is not the American Dream. Nearly a century ago, the Fair Labor Standards Act tried to put that dream within reach of every American. It is now up to us to continue the fight to ensure the promise.
We know it will take a lot of resources, but with the community driving this effort, we will reach our destination – good jobs for every Detroiter. That’s how we’ll truly rebuild Detroit.
By eclectablog
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Another Victory for Workers in Seattle—This Time It’s Their Schedules
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Another Victory for Workers in Seattle—This Time It’s Their Schedules
Although she was hired on as a full-time employee at Domino’s Pizza, Crystal Thompson had a schedule that became erratic and unreliable shortly after she began working there in 2009. One day she’d...
Although she was hired on as a full-time employee at Domino’s Pizza, Crystal Thompson had a schedule that became erratic and unreliable shortly after she began working there in 2009. One day she’d start at 9 a.m. and work until 9 p.m.; and then she’d get a call asking her to work the morning shift the next day.
“It’s so hard trying to plan your life.”
The single mother of three relied on the job to pay over $1,200 a month in rent, utilities, food, and child care, but during the most volatile weeks, she was lucky if she got even 20 hours in shifts. Moreover, it was difficult to find a babysitter or make doctor’s appointments when she sometimes received her schedule only a day in advance. At a loss, Thompson moved one of her children into the living room and found a roommate to shoulder the part of the rent that she couldn’t afford.
“It’s crazy,” Thompson says about her schedule. “It’s so hard trying to plan your life.”
But thanks to an ordinance passed in Seattle last month, Thompson and other workers in the service and retail industries will finally have the freedom to think more than one day ahead. The new law, known as “secure scheduling,” will take effect in July 2017 and will impact large retail, service, and drinking establishments with a minimum of 500 workers globally, as well as full-service restaurants with more than 500 workers and 40 or more locations.
The measure requires that employers post work schedules at least two weeks in advance, offer additional hours to existing workers before hiring new employees, and provide at least a 10-hour break between closing and opening shifts. Thompson says that anything less than that doesn’t leave enough time to rest, shower, care for her children, and be alert enough to work another shift.
The Seattle measure comes on the heels of similar legislation passed in San Francisco in 2014, which labor activists call a game changer for the labor movement. It provides that hourly workers have the ability to better budget their expenses, take on second jobs, and plan for education and family time.
Workers in the service and retail industries will finally have the freedom to think more than one day ahead.
Working Washington, a Seattle-based labor advocacy organization that led the efforts, attests that, much like legislation for a $15 minimum wage that passed in Seattle in 2014, predictable schedules will likely spread to other cities and states too. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that he and other city officials plan on drafting legislation to ensure secure scheduling for fast-food workers.
Thompson’s plight is common for workers in the service and retail industry nationally, as shown in a report co-authored by associate professor Susan Lambert at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. About 3 out of 4 early-career adults in hourly jobs report fluctuations in the number of hours they’ve worked in a month, and nearly half of part-time workers said that their employers gave them a week’s notice or less when their schedules changed.
Photo courtesy of Working Washington.
The problem is especially severe among African Americans and Latinos in Seattle. Another study, this one commissioned by the city itself in July, revealed that the two groups were the most likely to receive their schedules with less than a week’s notice, be required to be on-call, or to be sent home during slow shifts. They also reported higher rates of having difficulty attending classes and working second jobs because of their schedules.
Sejal Parikh, executive director of Working Washington, says that erratic scheduling has proliferated in the past two decades with the advent of scheduling software programs. After her group pushed for a $15 minimum wage and won, a campaign for secure scheduling seemed like a natural next step, she says. “The $15 minimum wage is about money, and the secure scheduling campaign is really about power.”
A stable schedule allows workers to spend time with their families, have hobbies, and further their careers.
But the measure is not immune to opposition. The advocacy group Washington Retail Association issued a press release in August stating that the measure undermines the fluctuating nature of business and would lead to layoffs. But Parikh counters that companies are already staffing leanly and that there’s usually not an excess of workers during one shift. A secure schedule simply allows a barista who lives an hour away from work to get eight hours of sleep at home instead of sleeping inside of the coffee shop, she contends.
It’s important that the more than 75 million people who work hourly jobs nationally have some say in their own schedule, says Carrie Gleason, director of the Fair Workweek initiative at the Center for Popular Democracy. A stable schedule allows workers to spend time with their families, have hobbies, and further their careers. Gleason adds that the legislation “ensures that Seattle workers can have a voice” in determining how many hours they work, which is something she hopes catches on in other cities.
In Seattle, Thompson is already planning out the time she’ll enjoy once she has a more predictable schedule. She is now working part time because she’s caring for her 9-month-old baby, but Thompson says she plans on going back to school to get a degree in Spanish and to become an interpreter. The new ordinance will also allow her to figure out child care and to budget for the rent in her new Section 8 housing, which takes 30 percent of her income.
More than anything, Thompson says she’s looking forward “to more peace of mind.”
By Melissa Hellmann
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Allentown immigration rally encourages reform
WFMZ-TV - June 18, 2013, By Rosa Duarte - A big vote on immigration reform is coming up in the U.S. Senate next week and that has local politicians and community leaders sounding off on the issue...
WFMZ-TV - June 18, 2013, By Rosa Duarte - A big vote on immigration reform is coming up in the U.S. Senate next week and that has local politicians and community leaders sounding off on the issue.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski took part in an immigration rally Tuesday at City Hall accompanied by City Council President, Julio Guridy.
The event, organized by a local democratic and immigrant support group had just one message and that is to urge Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to vote in favor of the senate's immigration bill.
“I think it's critical for our American economy, I think it's critical for our city, I think it's critical for the country as a whole to get behind comprehensive immigration reform that has a path to citizenship,” said Pawlowski.
However that may not be easy, the bill would offer a 13-year path to citizenship for the nation's 11-million undocumented immigrants.
Even if the Senate approves the bill, it could face a tough fight in the GOP-controlled House.
"Any immigration reform bill that is going into law ought to have the majority of both parties support, if we are really serious about making that happen. I don't see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn't have a majority support of Republicans," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday.
A recent poll done by CNN/ORC shows a small majority of Americans in support of the Senate's immigration bill. With 51% in favor and 45% against.
When it comes to a pathway to citizenship only 36% of those polled believe that should be the government's main focus while 62% say there needs to be an increase in border security.
Regardless, those who spoke at Tuesday's rally believe Washington is closer than ever in passing meaningful reform.
"They've been talking about it for some time, they have tried so many times and have failed. and I think in a bipartisan way with this gang of eight I think they're going to be successful," said City Council President, Julio Guridy.
Boehner is scheduled to meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Wednesday to discuss immigration reform.
The senate is expected to have its vote on the bill by the end of next week.
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Puerto Rico was just hit by an island-wide power outage — here are the best charities to donate to for victims of Hurricane Maria
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Puerto Rico was just hit by an island-wide power outage — here are the best charities to donate to for victims of Hurricane Maria
The Center for Popular Democracy – located in Brooklyn, New York – has launched the Maria Fund, which is focusing on aid for low-income communities of color, women, and girls in Puerto Rico.
...The Center for Popular Democracy – located in Brooklyn, New York – has launched the Maria Fund, which is focusing on aid for low-income communities of color, women, and girls in Puerto Rico.
Read the full article here.
Jeff Flake lies to a dying man about the impact of his tax bill vote
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Jeff Flake lies to a dying man about the impact of his tax bill vote
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) doesn't have the monopoly in telling happy lies about the Republican tax bill in hoping constituents will let her off the hook. On a flight back to Arizona Thursday...
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) doesn't have the monopoly in telling happy lies about the Republican tax bill in hoping constituents will let her off the hook. On a flight back to Arizona Thursday evening, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was politely confronted by fellow Arizonan Ady Barkan, who is also founder of Center for Popular Democracy's Fed Up campaign and was returning home after being arrested protesting the tax vote.
Read the full article here.
Good jobs for everyone
The Hill - 05-06-2015 - The strain from Modesta...
The Hill - 05-06-2015 - The strain from Modesta Toribio’s retail job weighed down her life. Despite working full-time as a cashier in Brooklyn, Modesta struggled to pay for rent, food, or transportation. The bills added up quickly. Taking the day off to care for a sick child meant risking losing her job. Going to school at night was not an option, and she could not arrange for steady childcare because her schedule changed every week.
Modesta’s story is not unique. It is the story of countless strivers who work to sustain their families, but collide against structural barriers that keep them from making ends meet.
In this case, Modesta and her co-workers took action, organized and won concessions from their boss. It was not easy – their boss initially retaliated by cutting their hours. But, the workers gained momentum, and eventually they won better pay and better treatment.
For millions of others, though, they still do not have the dignity of a good job.
That is why the Center for Popular Democracy is proud to have launched an ambitious campaign to win good wages, benefits and opportunity for all workers with the Center for Community Change, Jobs with Justice and Working Families Organization. Named Putting Families First, the campaign will advance the audacious idea that every American should and can have access to a good job.
It’s an effort undertaken with a sense of urgency. We know that good jobs and access to them for all cannot be achieved without confronting the deep history and continuing reality of racism and sexism in America, particularly as they play out in the labor market.
As such, we propose five straightforward and commonsense tenets:
Guaranteeing good wages and benefits. Investing resources on a large scale to restart the economy in places of concentrated poverty. Taxing concentrated wealth. Valuing our families and the work of women who care for children and elders Building a green economy.What stands between us and an economy that works for everyone are rules that unfairly favor the greedy few because they are written by politicians beholden to wealthy special interests. But workers and families who are working together for change know well that rules written by the few can be re-written by the many.
Workers around the country are launching over 100 campaigns that embody an ambitious jobs agenda that includes everyone, elevating demands that speak to the reality of people throughout our country.
One example: making high quality child care available to all working parents, raising wages and benefits for the millions of women who work in early childhood education and care fields, changing the state and federal revenue models to make childcare more accessible, and providing financial support to unpaid caregivers.
Ensuring that all working families have access to quality, affordable childcare – and that the jobs in that industry provide living wages and good benefits – is crucial to women’s economic stability, especially women of color who are the vast majority of workers in this sector.
Winning these campaigns will make a huge difference for Modesta and her family, and for millions of families in this country who are struggling to make ends meet.
The reality is that there is bold action happening in every corner of this country. Whether we are talking about fast food workers striking across the country, or immigrant workers winning policies against wage theft, or entire communities organizing to win ballot initiatives to enact paid sick days and better wages.
The American public is thirsty for a visible effort to create real, good, dignified jobs for everyone.
We are supporting important local fights that will produce very real change in the lives of workers. And we are changing the broader frame in which those fights are waged. We are not tinkering at the margins. We have our eyes set on transforming the country through campaigns in 41 states – campaigns that grow every day.
We are setting out to challenge the orthodoxies of both parties to focus on the real problem: the need to create jobs and improve wages.
Like Modesta and her co-workers, we are coming together to stand up for ourselves, for our families, for our communities and for America. We have a vision of honoring the dignity of work, and the dignity of the people who work. We believe that we can do better, but that we will have to challenge those who are stealing our wages, limiting our ability to sustain our families and destroying our planet in order to do so.
Putting Families First will change the national conversation about work and about greed, starting where it matters most: in our states. It will enable us to live up to our collective responsibility to create the country that we want our children to live in.
Archila is co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy.
Source: The Hill
Emboldened Fight for Health Care as a Right
WELCOME TO INTERVIEWS FOR RESISTANCE. Since election night 2016, the streets of the U.S. have rung with resistance. People all over the country have woken up with the conviction that they must do...
WELCOME TO INTERVIEWS FOR RESISTANCE. Since election night 2016, the streets of the U.S. have rung with resistance. People all over the country have woken up with the conviction that they must do something to fight inequality in all its forms. But many are wondering what it is they can do. In this series, we’ll be talking with experienced organizers, troublemakers, and thinkers who have been doing the hard work of fighting for a long time. They’ll be sharing their insights on what works, what doesn’t, and what has changed, and what is still the same.
Read and listen to the interview here.
Queens activist Ana Maria Archila takes center stage in elevator showdown with Flake
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Queens activist Ana Maria Archila takes center stage in elevator showdown with Flake
Message delivered, message received — Queens-style.
Outerborough activist Ana Maria Archila, after angrily confronting Sen. Jeff Flake in a Capitol Hill elevator over his support of Supreme...
Message delivered, message received — Queens-style.
Outerborough activist Ana Maria Archila, after angrily confronting Sen. Jeff Flake in a Capitol Hill elevator over his support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, said the accounts of America’s abused women were no longer falling on deaf ears after the Arizona Republican delayed a vote on the judge’s candidacy for a week.
Read the full article and watch the video here.
Austin Passed a Landmark Paid Leave Policy. Will Texas Republicans Undermine It?
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Austin Passed a Landmark Paid Leave Policy. Will Texas Republicans Undermine It?
It can have a chilling impact on the introduction of policies that have the potential to be pre-empted,” said Sarah Johnson, director of Local Progress, which was involved in advocating for the...
It can have a chilling impact on the introduction of policies that have the potential to be pre-empted,” said Sarah Johnson, director of Local Progress, which was involved in advocating for the legislation. But Austin decided to take a different approach. The city “realiz[ed] their power and [fought] back and [went] on offense despite that.
Read the full article here.
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