Amalgamated Bank announces $15 minimum wage
When many people envision a banker, they usually think of the Hollywood image of the arrogant, Wall Street type. But...
When many people envision a banker, they usually think of the Hollywood image of the arrogant, Wall Street type. But they don’t think of the tellers who deal with customers every day.
All that has changed, at least with Amalgamated Bank, which announced a company-wide $15 minimum wage for all employees. The news drew praise from the likes of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who stated that every bank in New York show follow Amalgamated Bank’s example.
“Large employers with workforces so underpaid they rely on public assistance is a story we hear all too often in connection with big-box stores and fast-food chains,” said Brewer in a statement. “But the shocking truth is that 40 percent of workers in New York’s banks rely on public assistance, and nearly three quarters of New York’s bank tellers earn less than $15 per hour.”
“While Amalgamated’s new policy is a major step forward, positive actions by individual employers are still no substitute for progress on statewide and nationwide minimum wage increases. We must keep fighting for Albany and Washington to raise the minimum wage.”
According to analysis that the National Employment Law Project provided to ThinkProgress.org, the most common occupation with bank companies is bank teller, and nearly 75 percent of them make less than $15 an hour. Close to a half million people work as bank tellers, with the median hourly wage at just $12.44. Just over 71 percent make less than $15, and wages have fallen by 3.4 percent between 2009 and 2014 as the cost of living has risen.
The NELP report didn’t stop there. It also revealed that more than 40 percent of bank customer service representatives makes less than $15 an hour. According to NELP, a quarter of the people in banking who work in maintenance, production and protective service make less than $15 an hour as well. The report further stated that bank tellers are overwhelmingly female (85 percent of the bank teller workforce) and are disproportionately Latino (20 percent of bank tellers though 16.5 percent of the overall American workforce). Close to a third have to rely on some sort of public assistance.
NELP’s analysis concluded that bank tellers should get a $15 minimum wage.
Brian Kettenring, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, praised Amalgamated Bank’s actions.
“Workers across the country are fighting for a $15 minimum wage because it means dignity and a chance for us to break down barriers that keep us from sustaining our families,” said Kettenring in a statement. “This bold step by Amalgamated Bank is what happens when sensible employers understand courageous organizing. We commend the bank for giving workers the pay they’ve earned and call on others in the industry to follow. Raising the wage is inevitable, and employers would be smart to raise wages proactively.
“Our communities will continue building the movement for $15 and a union, and we won’t stop until we’ve achieved it,” concluded Kettenring.
Source: Amsterdam News
Blackstone and JPMorgan CEOs still under pressure over Trump
Trump's business advisory councils have been dissolved. But protestors aren't done yet with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon...
Trump's business advisory councils have been dissolved. But protestors aren't done yet with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
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As the federal government fails the people of Puerto Rico, local governments and states must step up
As the federal government fails the people of Puerto Rico, local governments and states must step up
“Most recently, I’ve answered the call to service within my Delaware community. As the Program Director for Achievement...
“Most recently, I’ve answered the call to service within my Delaware community. As the Program Director for Achievement Matters, I lead a team working with youth to close the educational achievement gap. Through the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, I teach young people how to fight for social change. I also work with the Center for Popular Democracy on solutions to the opioid crisis, healthcare, immigration, and taxes, and as the Kent County Coordinator for Network Delaware, I’m organizing to increase engagement throughout Delaware.
Read the full article here.
Dems to Fed: Increase your diversity
Democrats in Congress are pushing the Federal Reserve to emphasize diversity when filling top policymaking roles. In a...
Democrats in Congress are pushing the Federal Reserve to emphasize diversity when filling top policymaking roles.
In a new letter sent to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, the lawmakers noted that the overwhelming majority of top central bank positions are filled by white men, and they urged a rapid change.
“The importance of ensuring that such positions are filled by persons that reflect and represent the interests of our diverse country cannot be overstated,” they wrote. “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, spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), garnered signatures from 11 senators and 116 House Democrats. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential contender, signed the letter, as did every Democrat in the Congressional Black Caucus.
Hillary Clinton jumped into the fray as well, issuing a statement Thursday echoing that message and calling for reforms at the Fed to limit Wall Street input.
"Secretary Clinton believes that the Fed needs to be more representative of America as a whole as well as that commonsense reforms -- like getting bankers off the boards of regional Federal Reserve banks -- are long overdue," said a campaign spokesperson.
The members called for the Fed to consider a range of factors when filling upcoming vacancies, including a candidate's ethnicity, economic and professional background.
They note that while unemployment has fallen sharply over the last several months, minority groups still fall behind. White unemployment is 4.3 percent, Hispanic unemployment is 6.1 percent, and black unemployment is 8.8 percent.
The lawmakers noted that every member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets the nation’s interest rate policy, is white.
In response to the lawmaker critique, the Fed said it was committing to boosting diversity, and touted its recent efforts along those lines.
"We have focused considerable attention in recent years on recruiting directors with diverse backgrounds and experiences," said a Fed spokesperson. "By law, we consider the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. We also are aiming to increase ethnic and gender diversity. "
Thursday’s letter is the latest in a growing leftward push to influence the Fed, as liberals view the central bank as disproportionately influenced by input from Wall Street. With the economy on the mend and the Fed eyeing upcoming interest rate increases, they argue that too many Americans lower on the economic scale are not yet feeling those economic gains and need more support from the central bank.
Yellen was previously asked about diversity at the Fed at a congressional hearing earlier this year, and she committed to look into the matter.
Did you know 67% of all job growth comes from small businesses? Read More
A top priority for the lawmakers is ensuring increased diversity at the 12 regional Fed banks scattered across the country. Those banks occupy five rotating seats on the FOMC. But their boards are mostly filled by commercial banks, which directly back each institution.
Democrats have said for years that the arrangement ensures that the financial sector enjoys a prime seat in communicating with the Fed. Thursday’s letter noted that no regional bank head is black or Latino, and no African-American has ever helmed a regional Fed bank in the organization's 100-year history.
By Peter Schroeder
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NY coalition pushes for reliable work schedules nationally
NY coalition pushes for reliable work schedules nationally
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A coalition of New York-based advocates on Tuesday launched a national campaign to press large...
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A coalition of New York-based advocates on Tuesday launched a national campaign to press large retailers, restaurant chains and other companies to end on-call and last-minute scheduling, which allows companies to assign shifts to workers with only a few hours’ notice.
The campaign follows recent agreements by several large retailers with New York’s attorney general to end the practice in that state.
The Center for Popular Democracy, the Rockefeller Foundation and the online organization Purpose are calling for scheduling at least two weeks in advance, eliminating on-call assignments that leave employees scrambling for child care, unable to hold second jobs and with uncertain paychecks.
“Already major employers are responding to mounting public pressure to deliver more stable work schedules to their front-line employees,” said Carrie Gleason, director of the center’s Fair Workweek Initiative. “This movement is about a greater voice in how much and when we work — predictable and stable hours, more input and the opportunity to work enough hours to make ends meet.”
They say three in five American workers — about 75 million people — are paid hourly, with recent job growth mainly in low-wage jobs, often part-time and subject to last-minute scheduling practices.
The Workshift campaign, formed by Purpose and the Rockefeller Foundation last year, says employer software aimed at savings and efficiency is behind the growth in last-minute worker scheduling with broad consequences. Those include lower pay, higher job turnover and unhealthy series of changing or extended shifts with little rest.
“For too long, hourly workers at retail chains, fast food companies and other businesses have been squeezed by companies who employ unfair scheduling practices to maximize their profits at the expense of their workers,” said Jose Martinez Diaz, Workshift campaign director. The organization is asking people to sign its online petition for predictable scheduling.
In December, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Pier 1 Imports had agreed to end on-call shifts at stores nationally, posting schedules at least 10 to 14 days in advance.
His office had sent letters to 14 retailers questioning the practice and citing possible violations of New York’s requirement to pay hourly staff for at least four hours when they report for work.
Retailers that have agreed to stop included Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret. Other companies contacted say they weren’t using on-call scheduling.
In April, attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia sent letters to retailers with outlets in their states expressing concerns about on-call scheduling. Companies included American Eagle, Aeropostale, Payless, Disney, Coach, PacSun, Forever 21, Vans, Justice Just for Girls, BCBG Maxazria, Tilly’s Inc., David’s Tea, Zumiez, Uniqlo and Carter’s.
The states were California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island.
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
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New York City Council Passes Free Legal Counsel for Poor Immigrants Facing Deportation
Latin Post - June 30, 2014, by Michael Oleaga - New York Assemblyman Francisco Moya, author of the state's DREAM Act,...
Latin Post - June 30, 2014, by Michael Oleaga - New York Assemblyman Francisco Moya, author of the state's DREAM Act, told Latin Post, "The New York City Council's decision to create the nation's first public defender system for immigrants facing deportation is a bold move for justice and I am proud to say that I was an early supporter of this initiative on the state level. One of my proudest accomplishments this year is that I was able to secure funds in the state budget for the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project."
"Facing a judge without counsel provides an unreasonable barrier to justice," Moya added. "If you wind up in immigration court and must defend yourself against trained attorneys, it's almost impossible to avoid deportation. Providing counsel for those facing deportation is about justice and family unity. No one should have to lose a family member to deportation just because they couldn't afford an attorney. I applaud the efforts of the New York City Council and look forward to taking up my bill to expand this program statewide again next year."
New York City became the first jurisdiction in the United States to provide free legal counsel to detained undocumented immigrants facing deportation. New York City's Council passed the $4.9 billion program known as the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) after a "successful" yearlong trial.
The NYIFUP's funding from the City Council grants legal representation for nearly 1,380 detained immigrants in the city.
The program is also the result of a five-year study by the Center for Popular Democracy, the Immigrant Justice Clinic of Cardozo Law School, Make the Road New York and the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR). According to the Vera Institute of Justice, more than 7,000 U.S. citizen children in New York City lost a parent to deportation between 2005 and 2010. Sixty-seven percent of detained immigrants in the city continue their deportation hearings without legal counsel, and only 3 percent find success. Vera noted immigrants with legal representation are 10 times more likely to find a successful outcome in immigration court.
"In addition to the financial hardship caused by the loss of a primary breadwinner, these children have been shown to suffer significant emotional and psychological effects," said Vera, which administered the initial one-year-pilot program and sought to increase "court effectiveness and decrease detention times" and would save taxpayer dollars.
"In time, NYIFUP would become a model for other jurisdictions that value their immigrants and counterbalance overtly hostile immigration policies enacted in states like Arizona and Alabama," NMCIR stated. "New York State has an opportunity to lead by making resources available to address a critically important unmet need and to keep New York families together."
NMCIR Executive Director Angela Fernandez acknowledged deportation proceedings do not require the government to provide lawyers since it is considered a "civil" matter rather than criminal.
"However, to the immigrants who are held in county jails, shackled and forced to litigate in one of our most complex arenas of law against trained government attorneys, the civil designation is cold comfort," Fernandez said.
"New York City's investment in the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project will not only help those who receive legal representation in decisions that will profoundly affect their lives, but it will also send a clear message that the city values and protects all families," Make the Road New York's Immigration Project's Cesar Palomeque said in a statement.
"The City Council should be congratulated for its leadership in ensuring that no detained New Yorker will be deported without an opportunity to show that she or he is entitled to remain in the country," Vera Director of the Center on Immigration and Justice Oren Root said.
Credit for the NYIFUP has been given to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Councilmembers Carlos Menchaca, Julissa Ferreras and Daniel Dromm.
On a federal level, House Democrats have proposed the Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act (VIVA) (H.R. 4936) legislation that would provide legal representation to unaccompanied minors and mentally disabled individuals during immigration proceedings. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nearly 90,000 children will immigrate to the U.S. without an adult by the end of 2014.
"Currently, thousands of these children are stuck in a legal limbo as they seek a brighter future in the United States and most will not have legal representation," National Immigration Forum's Executive Director Ali Noorani told Latin Post.
The National Immigrant Justice Center's Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy, Senate and House immigration reforms such as S. 744 and H.R. 15 provides legal representation to undocumented people for immigration court, but both bills have stalled in Congress.
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Report: East African Workers Make Poverty Wages in Minnesota
FOX 9 Minneapolis - April 8, 2015 - A new report released by the Center for Popular Democracy says there's a...
FOX 9 Minneapolis - April 8, 2015 - A new report released by the Center for Popular Democracy says there's a disproportionately high poverty rate for the East African communities in Minnesota, and that Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the largest employer of those workers in the state, can help.
According to the report, 63 percent of Somalis in the state are living below the poverty line, and the poverty rate for the Ethiopian community jumped 25 percent since 2000.
The Center for Popular Democracy contends $15 hourly wages at the airport “would have a dramatic impact on the workers and the growing East African population in our state.”
This push comes on the heels of Gov. Mark Dayton's effort to raise minimum wage in the state.
“Raising wages to the $15 range at the airport would mean over $30 million in additional wages for East African workers, and would infuse even more than that into our local economy via local spending and taxes,” said report author Eden Yosief, a Social Justice Research Fellow with Center for Popular Democracy. “This would start to lift families out of poverty, and would stimulate further job growth by circulating money into our state that right now is going to things like sky-high CEO pay.”
Gov. Dayton recently appointed Ibrahim Mohamed as a Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) Commissioner, the first East African and minimum wage airport worker to hold the position. The report said there are about 2,500 current badge-holders at the airport from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Metropolitan Airports Commission response
“The Metropolitan Airports Commission has long had a strong relationship with labor and takes steps to ensure vendors providing services to the Commission compensate their employees fairly for that work. At issue are employees who work for private businesses under contract to airlines. In December the Commission board passed a policy requiring those businesses to provide paid leave to employees and to protect employees should an airline change service vendors. The MAC board will be discussing wage issues over the next couple of months.”
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Seattle Unanimously Passes an 'Amazon Tax' to Fund Affordable Housing
Seattle Unanimously Passes an 'Amazon Tax' to Fund Affordable Housing
Nearly 40 elected city officials from all corners of the U.S., including from metros bracing for Amazon HQ2 like Boston...
Nearly 40 elected city officials from all corners of the U.S., including from metros bracing for Amazon HQ2 like Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and Washington, D.C., signed an open letter on Monday urging Seattle City Council to stay the course and criticizing Amazon’s tactics during the head tax debate.” “This is particularly concerning to us given Amazon’s approach to the competition for HQ2, in which the company has promoted a bidding war of jurisdictions competing with each other to offer greater incentive packages,” the letter read. “If Amazon were serious about its support for strong affordable housing solutions, it would fully back this tax proposal and chip in to help address Seattle’s homelessness crisis. By threatening Seattle over this tax, Amazon is sending a message to all of our cities: We play by our own rules.”
Read the full article here.
It’s Time to Reimagine Safety and Security in Our Communities
It’s Time to Reimagine Safety and Security in Our Communities
The over-policing and mass criminalization of Black and brown people is the moral crisis of our time. The United States...
The over-policing and mass criminalization of Black and brown people is the moral crisis of our time.
The United States has the world’s largest incarcerated population with approximately 2.2 million people currently behind prisons and jails (21 percent of the world’s prisoners) while several police departments across the country are under investigation for charges of police brutality, gross misconduct and civil rights violations.
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Franken scandal haunts Gillibrand’s 2020 chances
Today, nearly a year after Gillibrand led the charge in calling for Franken’s resignation, the anger is fresh on the...
Today, nearly a year after Gillibrand led the charge in calling for Franken’s resignation, the anger is fresh on the minds of major donors across the country...Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director for the Center for Popular Democracy, called Gillibrand’s response “important and courageous.” “It probably made her more enemies than friends,” said Archila, who famously confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in a congressional elevator this summer during the Kavanaugh hearings.
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2 months ago
2 months ago