Is the Federal Reserve’s Leadership Diverse Enough?
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has shown in the past that she is not afraid to aggressively confront members of her own party on issues that she is passionate about.
This...
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has shown in the past that she is not afraid to aggressively confront members of her own party on issues that she is passionate about.
This has been especially evident on issues facing the mortgage industry. Warren famously grilled FHFA Director Mel Watt in November 2014 in a Senate Banking Committee hearing on why the Director had not yet instituted a principal reduction program for underwater homeowners. In September 2015, she and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Massachusetts) led a protest in Washington over HUD’s and FHFA’s sales of delinquent mortgage loans to private investors. Both organizations are led by Democrats.
Now Warren has turned her attention toward the Federal Reserve Board and Chair Janet Yellen. On Thursday, Warren and 10 other U.S. Senators, along with 116 of the 193 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives (led by John Conyers, D-Michigan) wrote a letter to Yellen calling for more diversity in the leadership of the central bank.
After starting off by calling Yellen’s tenure at the Fed “historic” and pointing out some economic gains the country has made since Yellen was appointed as the head of the central bank in February 2014, the lawmakers then addressed what they believe to be a problem in the demographic makeup among the Fed’s leadership.
“A lack of diverse leadership is hurting the Federal Reserve's policy decision-making process.”
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
“However, despite these gains, we remain deeply concerned that the Federal Reserve has not yet fulfilled its statutory and moral obligation to ensure that its leadership reflects the composition of our diverse nation in terms of gender, race and ethnicity, economic background, and occupation, and we call on you to take steps to promptly begin to remedy this issue,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers cited a law passed by Congress in 1977 requiring the Fed’s leadership to more reflect the country’s diverse makeup without discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, or national origin. The letter pointed out that nearly four decades later, “the leadership across the Federal Reserve system remains overwhelmingly and disproportionately white and male, while major financial institutions and corporations are overrepresented in senior roles.”
The letter cited a February 2016 study by the Center for Popular Democracy which found that 83 percent of Federal Reserve head office board members are white and nearly three-quarters of all regional bank directorships are held by men.
“When the voices of women, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and representatives of consumers and labor are excluded from key discussions, their interests are too often neglected,” the letter stated. Warren further tweeted on Thursday that “[a] lack of diverse leadership is hurting the Federal Reserve's policy decision-making process.”
In addition to what the lawmakers perceive as racial and gender disparities, they also expressed concern over a “persistent lack of occupational diversity, noting that only 11 percent of the Fed’s regional bank directors come from community, labor, or academic organizations compared to 39 percent that represent financial institutions and 47 percent that represent commerce, industry, and services firms.
A Fed spokesperson responded to the letter with the following statement: “The Federal Reserve is committed to fostering diversity—by race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background—within its leadership ranks.
“To bring a variety of perspectives to Federal Reserve Bank and Branch boards, we have focused considerable attention in recent years on recruiting directors with diverse backgrounds and experiences. By law, we consider the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. We also are aiming to increase ethnic and gender diversity.
“Minority representation on Reserve Bank and Branch boards has increased from 16 percent in 2010 to 24 percent in 2016. The proportion of women directors has risen from 23 percent to 30 percent over the same period. Currently, 46 percent of all directors are diverse in terms of race and/or gender (with a director who is both female and a minority counted only one time). We are striving to continue that progress.”
By Brian Honea
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Low world inflation dogs central bankers, even as economies grow
Low world inflation dogs central bankers, even as economies grow
Jackson Hole (Wyoming): The world’s top central bankers gather in Jackson Hole, their confidence bolstered by a sustained return to economic growth that may eventually allow the European Central...
Jackson Hole (Wyoming): The world’s top central bankers gather in Jackson Hole, their confidence bolstered by a sustained return to economic growth that may eventually allow the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan to follow the Federal Reserve in winding down their crisis-era policies.
Yet in one key area, none of the world’s central banks has found the answer. Inflation remains well below their two percent targets, stoking a debate about whether they are missing signals of a less than healthy economy and the need for a slower path of “rate normalisation”, or that they simply don’t understand how inflation works in a globalised world.
Read the full article here.
Gap Says It Will Phase Out On-Call Scheduling of Employees
The move makes Gap the latest retailer to move away from “on-call scheduling,” which regulators, workers’ rights groups and some academics say is detrimental to employees ...
The move makes Gap the latest retailer to move away from “on-call scheduling,” which regulators, workers’ rights groups and some academics say is detrimental to employees and their families.
“At Gap Inc., we also believe that work-life integration enables all employees to reach their full potential and thrive both personally and professionally,” the company said in a statement on its blog announcing the change on Wednesday. “We recognize that flexibility, inclusive of consistent and reliable scheduling, is important to all of our employees.”
On-call scheduling requires employees to call ahead before a specific shift to see if they will be needed, a practice that gives workers little predictability in scheduling. Facing public and regulatory pressure, some retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, have already begun phasing out the practice.
Gap said its five brands — Athleta, Banana Republic, Gap, Intermix and Old Navy — had agreed to stop on-call scheduling by the end of next month and have committed to providing employees with at least 10 to 14 days’ notice, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
In April, the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, sent a letter to more than a dozen retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, J. C. Penney and Victoria’s Secret, requesting more information about on-call scheduling and questioning whether such practices were legal. In the months since, Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret both announced they would discontinue it.
Mr. Schneiderman praised Gap’s decision in a statement on Wednesday.
“Workers deserve stable and reliable work schedules, and I commend Gap for taking an important step to make their employees’ schedules fairer and more predictable,” he said.
Gap had already begun scaling back the use of on-call shifts after starting a pilot program last year to test alternative scheduling practices. Mr. Schneiderman’s office told Gap last week that it would consider legal action if the retailer did not take steps to end on-call scheduling, according to Eric Soufer, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.
A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal advocacy group, found that the children of parents who worked unpredictable schedules could have inferior cognitive abilities, in areas like verbal communication, and struggle with anxiety and depression.
“Parents’ variable schedules require irregular family mealtimes and child bedtimes that interfere with children’s healthy development,” the study said.
Correction: August 28, 2015
An article on Thursday about an agreement by five Gap apparel store brands to stop requiring employees to make themselves available for last-minute shifts misstated when the policy change will become effective. It is the end of next month, not the beginning of next year.
Source: New York Times
Scarlett Johansson and Her Fellow Avengers Raise $500,000 for Puerto Rico Relief
Scarlett Johansson and Her Fellow Avengers Raise $500,000 for Puerto Rico Relief
Johansson and the John Gore Organization partnered for a benefit performance of Our Town in Atlanta.
...
Johansson and the John Gore Organization partnered for a benefit performance of Our Town in Atlanta.
Read the full article here.
Top Federal Reserve pick is controversial for Wells Fargo oversight and lack of diversity
Top Federal Reserve pick is controversial for Wells Fargo oversight and lack of diversity
Shawn Sebastian, field director of Fed Up, a campaign by labor, community and liberal activist groups that wants the Fed to enact pro-worker policies, said the choice of Williams damaged the Fed’s...
Shawn Sebastian, field director of Fed Up, a campaign by labor, community and liberal activist groups that wants the Fed to enact pro-worker policies, said the choice of Williams damaged the Fed’s legitimacy and credibility.“Today, the Federal Reserve concluded another opaque and controversial Reserve Bank presidential selection process by ignoring the demands of the public and choosing yet another white man whose record on Wall Street regulation and full employment raises serious questions,” he said.
Read the full article here.
Center for Popular Democracy FOILs SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute Over Debunked Scaffold Safety Law “Study"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014
Contact: Hugh Baran, 646-200-5331, hugh.baran@berlinrosen.com
Center for Popular Democracy FOILs SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute Over Debunked Scaffold Safety Law “Study"
FOIL Probes Debunked Industry-Funded Study That Rockefeller Institute Director Called "Really Just Awful”
Freedom of Information Request Seeks Original RFP & Other Communications with Front Group That Spent $82,800 Commissioning the Research
ALBANY — The Center for Popular Democracy announced this morning it has filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute over their now-debunked study of the Scaffold Safety Law, as first reported in today’s Albany Times-Union.
The FOIL comes after Institute Director Thomas L. Gais recanted its study last week, telling The Chronicle of HIgher Education that the now-debunked study suffers from "really big weaknesses," that "he considers the report as not officially a product of his institute,” and that a key section is "just really awful” — yet insisting no bias influenced the report’s findings. Days later, the Institute released a statement insisting that, "The funder did not attempt to influence the development of the research design, collection or analysis of data at any time during the study."
CPD’s FOIL aims to force transparency about the creation of the original Rockefeller report. Read the full FOIL request here.
"When industry funds bogus research in hopes of undercutting New York's critical worker health and safety laws, the public needs to know” said Connie Razza, Director of Strategic Research at the Center for Popular Democracy. "We take very seriously the fact that industry dollars were used to finance a 'study' that puts forward the incredible assertion that New York's scaffold law, which protects workers working at a height, actually causes worker injuries. The Center for Popular Democracy and New York Committee on Occupational Safety & Health already issued one report that shreds the credibility of the Rockefeller Institute study. We are now turning our sights on the money trail that financed this bogus work. Industry should not be allowed to try to buy credibility from institutions like SUNY.”
Specifically, the FOIL seeks the following documents related to the Institute’s now-debunked study, The Cost of Labor Law 240 on New York’s Economy and Public Infrastructure:
All documents received by the Rockefeller Institute from the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of Nw York) in connection with a request for proposal for a research study on New York Labor Law Section 240 (the “RFP”).
All documents submitted by the Rockefeller Institute to the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York) in response to the RFP.
All other written and electronic communications between the Rockefeller Institute and the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance), since the beginning of 2013, pertaining to New York Labor Law Section 240.
The Cost of Labor Law 240 on New York’s Economy and Public Infrastructure was released last month by the Rockefeller Institute at SUNY-Albany, commissioned by an $82,800 check from the "New York Civil Justice Institute," a front-group whose address is the same as the Lawsuit Reform Alliance, which has worked for years to weaken laws that make it possible for people to assert rights against abusive or negligent landlords, employers, and other business interests. The LRA itself has frequently been criticized as being a front group for the construction industry and other corporate interests.
The Scaffold Safety Law is a critical safety protection for construction workers, who are increasingly Latino and immigrant. In fact, an earlier review of construction site accidents by the Center for Popular Democracy, published in an October 2013 report entitled "Fatal Inequality," starkly illustrated how important the Scaffold Law is because of the ongoing rates of injury in construction in New York, and notably, how the risks are disproportionately borne by immigrant workers and workers of color:
In 60% of those fatalities, the worker was Latino and/or immigrant, disproportionately high for their participation in construction work.
In New York City, 74% of fatal falls involved Latino and/or immigrant workers.
CPD & NYCOSH also released a new one-pager last month explaining how the Scaffold Safety Law works. Read it here.
ABOUT THE SCAFFOLD SAFETY COALITION
The Center for Popular Democracy is a proud partner in the newly launched Scaffold Safety Coalition. The Scaffold Safety Coalition is a diverse group of workers, advocates and organizations committed to protecting construction workers in New York State, creating a unified front in the fight to defend New York’s Scaffold Safety Law from industry-backed efforts to gut the law. On behalf of more than 1.5 million New Yorkers, the coalition has also pledged to push for increased enforcement of New York’s construction safety standards. More information and a full list of partners in the Scaffold Safety Coalition is available at the coalition website: www.scaffoldsafetylaw.org.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY
The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) 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 and economic justice agenda. More information is available at CPD’s website: www.populardemocracy.org.
Parents, Community Leaders Want Dade Middle, Others To Become Community Schools
Parents, Community Leaders Want Dade Middle, Others To Become Community Schools
Dade Middle School in Dallas has had a history of problems. Some community leaders want the Dallas school district to boost neighborhood involvement and turn Dade into what’s called a community...
Dade Middle School in Dallas has had a history of problems. Some community leaders want the Dallas school district to boost neighborhood involvement and turn Dade into what’s called a community school. Some folks believe more community and parental involvement would make a difference there.
One weekend afternoon last fall, parents and children streamed into the auditorium at Dade Middle School. Music in English and Spanish blared from the speakers.
People from around the country showed up to speak at the school and they talked about getting parents and more of the Dade community involved in improving the school.
Yesenia Rosales was at the school with her two daughters ages 12 and 16. They moved to Texas from Maryland and she said things at Dade seem pretty good so far.
"Teachers seem very interested in helping students," she said.
Not long ago, though, things were pretty rough at Dade. Fights broke out regularly, principals were being replaced frequently and parent involvement was dismal.
Community leaders like Monica Lindsey told parents at that meeting last fall that it was time for a change. Together, she said, they could convince the district to adopt a new model at Dade and other troubled schools.
“And we’re pushing to have 20 schools turned into community schools by 2020. Can you repeat after me? 20 by 2020. 20 by 2020 …, ” Lindsey told the crowd.
So, what is a community school? According to the Coalition for Community Schools, it’s one that’s built on partnerships between the school and community groups.
A district’s best teachers work there and the school offers extra social services, like mental health counseling. There’s also more parent involvement and the school doesn’t automatically suspend students who act up.
The Dallas school district has worked to stabilize Dade by adding higher-paid and more experienced teachers. Texas Organizing Project and others involved in community school reform, however, envision a broader effort.
“At a community school, you would have 100 or 200 folks participate in some way or another in that planning process,” said Allison Brim, organizing director for the Texas Organizing Project. “You get real buy-in and also input from a larger group of parents and teachers at the school and students as well to make sure that we’re really addressing all of the needs of the entire school community.”
For the past school year, Brim and other members have been meeting with parents, Dade’s principal and district staff to talk about turning the school around. They’ve hosted several community dinners in South Dallas. And, Brim has sent school board president Eric Cowan a letter asking him to consider the issue at a future board meeting.
Brim says she sees some progress at Dade.
“I would say while it’s still not officially our standard that we’re working toward in terms of a community school, a lot of the foundation has been laid," Brim said. "And there’s been huge improvement in terms of the academics and a lot of the key indicators at the school as a result," Brim said.
Advocates point to progress with community schools in places like Cincinnati and Los Angeles.
Last month, The Center for Popular Democracy released a report citing two schools in Austin that went from facing closure to becoming two of the district’s highest-performing schools.
At one of the Austin schools – Webb Middle School – enrollment, attendance and the graduation rate went up. The school now has a full-time community school coordinator and a family resource center that offers parenting classes.
Dallas school trustee Miguel Solis said he’d like the board to consider adopting the community school model or some variation of it.
“That’s not to say that the model will be 100 percent effective if it is implemented the exact same way in Dallas as it is in these other school districts,” he said. “But the principles and tenets of the model are, I think, perfect for our community and particularly the areas that are the most underserved and need the most support.”
Even if the Dallas school board takes up the issue sometime soon, Solis said turning Dade or other schools into community schools wouldn’t happen overnight.
“What the board is likely to do is at some point just have a better understanding of exactly what a community school is, what the goals of community schools are … ” Solis said.
In other words, when it comes to making a commitment about community schools, Dallas school trustees will want to do their homework first.
This story is part of KERA’s American Graduate initiative.
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Boulder resident among health-care protesters arrested at Cory Gardner’s Washington office
Boulder resident among health-care protesters arrested at Cory Gardner’s Washington office
A photograph of Boulder resident Barb Cardell being hauled off by Capitol police outside of Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner’s Washington, D.C., office on Monday shows pink name tags affixed to her...
A photograph of Boulder resident Barb Cardell being hauled off by Capitol police outside of Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner’s Washington, D.C., office on Monday shows pink name tags affixed to her shirt.
“Written on every piece of the pink tape is the name of someone I love and work with in Colorado,” she said. “They would lose their health care if this bill passes.”
Read the full article here.
$20 Million severance fund started for Toys R Us workers
A campaign supported by the advocacy groups Center for Popular Democracy and Gleason's group applauded the move in a news release as "the first important step in ensuring that Toys R Us employees...
A campaign supported by the advocacy groups Center for Popular Democracy and Gleason's group applauded the move in a news release as "the first important step in ensuring that Toys R Us employees who lost their livelihood receive the support they were promised."
Read the full article here.
Not one of the regional Fed banks has ever been run by a black or Latino
Not one of the regional Fed banks has ever been run by a black or Latino
Atlanta, located in the heart of the South, was a center of the civil rights movement, became a corporate hub of the New South economy, and boasts a large black professional class.
Can it...
Atlanta, located in the heart of the South, was a center of the civil rights movement, became a corporate hub of the New South economy, and boasts a large black professional class.
Can it help break the Federal Reserve's color barrier?
Dennis Lockhart's retirement early next year as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has spotlighted the selection of his replacement as members of Congress and a coalition of activist groups call for an aggressive search among blacks and Latinos with finance or economics expertise.
African-Americans have served on the Federal Reserve's Washington-based Board of Governors three times in the Fed's 103-year history, and the central bank now has a female chair, Janet Yellen.
But none of the regional banks have ever been run by a black or Latino, a lack of diversity some argue is worrisome on its face and could make the system as a whole less attentive to how policy impacts less advantaged communities.
"Grave racial disparities exist across our nation in unemployment, wages and income. ... It is critical that incoming leadership ... be committed to doing more," four African-American members of the House of Representatives wrote in a letter this week to Yellen and Thomas Fanning, chair of the Atlanta Fed's private board of directors.
"Lockhart's recent retirement announcement presents an opportunity to enhance and expand the Federal Reserve's leadership," they said in the letter.
In a public webcast on Thursday, Fanning said he wants to hold "one of the most transparent processes ever," and that the search committee has already received nominations from the public at large.
As in other districts, the search will be national in scope. There is no requirement that the head of the Atlanta Fed come from the bank's southeastern region, and the 12 regional Fed banks often bring in a president from outside their own geographic area.
Executive search firm SpencerStuart has been hired to run the search. Consultant John Harpole said the firm has helped place 1,600 women, minorities and other "underrepresented groups" in corporate positions, and would cast a wide net among local institutions, national organizations and its "strong network" of sitting executives to find candidates.
The issue is sensitive for the Fed, whose policies affect every citizen but which is designed to be immune from the day-to-day politics that influence other U.S. government agencies.
Group says Fed is unaccountable
Because monetary policy focuses on influencing interest rates that apply nationwide, Fed officials say it is too blunt a tool to address issues like the persistent gap between unemployment rates for blacks and white.
Activists counter that those sorts of problems might improve if unemployment was driven as low as possible — even at the risk of higher inflation. The Fed sets policy with two goals in mind, low employment and stable inflation of around 2 percent annually.
The U.S. unemployment rate in August, the latest month for which data is available, was 4.9 percent.
A labor-affiliated coalition of civic groups, known as Fed Up, has taken the argument even further, arguing that the Fed's very structure makes it unaccountable.
The regional banks in particular have supervisory power over local financial institutions as well as a voice in national policymaking, but are set up as private entities owned by the banks they oversee. The regional bank presidents are chosen by a local board of directors, though the choice must be approved by the Fed governors in Washington.
In a meeting with civic activists in August, New York Fed President William Dudley agreed the institution had done a "pretty lousy" job of promoting diversity. But Fed officials in general argue that the current structure has worked well, and that changes would need to offer clear advantages without risking the central bank's independence.
In that environment, the Atlanta Fed appointment will be watched closely. Though many regional bank heads come from within the broader Fed system, tapped from its ready pool of economists with doctoral degrees, Lockhart had a varied career in private equity and banking before taking over the Atlanta Fed 10 years ago.
And while the search will be national, Atlanta has a deep pool of black professionals - 10 percent of African-Americans in the city have a graduate or professional degree, three percentage points higher than the national average.
"That would be a great thing," Fanning said. "We want the best person as well."
By Howard Schneider
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2 months ago
2 months ago