RWDSU

Diverse Supporters Praise Legislation as Much-Needed Reform that Will Strengthen the Local Economy and Put an End to the City’s Costly Failure to Create Good Jobs

New York, NY—Today the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, legislation that grew out of an historic citywide campaign for living wage jobs and economic justice, passed the New York City Council by a wide margin of 44-5, drawing praise from elected officials, labor leaders, faith leaders, and business owners.

The campaign spawned a highly visible and vocal movement that engaged thousands of New Yorkers and led to overwhelming support for the legislation across the political spectrum—74% of voters overall, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, with 60 % percent of Republicans saying it is government’s responsibility to ensure workers are paid a decent wage.

Under the terms of the legislation, any private development project directly accepting $1 million or more in taxpayer subsidies must pay employees a living wage of $10/hour with supplemental health benefits or $11.50/hour without benefits. The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, co-sponsored by Council members Oliver Koppel and Annabel Palma, reforms the city’s taxpayer-funded economic development programs, which have failed to create good jobs for New Yorkers over the past decade because, until now, they lacked enforceable wage standards of any kind.

After billions of public dollars spent on poverty-wage jobs, this legislation will put an end to that costly failure and fundamentally transform the city’s approach to job creation and economic development. At a time of rising poverty and strained public resources, the living wage legislation is an act of fiscal responsibility and fundamental fairness: it establishes strong wage standards for jobs created via subsidized economic development projects, giving low-wage New Yorkers and taxpayers alike a boost. It will cover projects overseen by the largest urban economic development agency in the United States, New York City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and will have a far-reaching impact on thousands of future jobs in the city.

“We are proud to have played a lead role in building the living wage movement and shaping this legislation. The city needs to create higher-wage jobs, not poverty-wage jobs. Passage of this legislation is a major triumph for working people, for democracy, and for our city. It is a significant step toward reducing inequality and poverty in our city,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU, UFCW).

“For too long, major development projects have taken heavily from the taxpayer’s wallets while providing only poverty-wage jobs. The ‘Fair Wages for New Yorkers’ Act will guarantee that, when major developers take city dollars they will do right by their employees and taxpayers. “This legislation will fundamentally improve the way business is conducted here,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

“The reign of the rich is over! A new day has dawned in New York City. Together — faith leaders, labor leaders, community leaders and elected officials — are changing the culture of New York. We have only just begun to see the fruit of our growing faith-rooted movement for economic justice. Communities of faith will continue to organize for the dignity and respect of working people,” said Rev. Peter Goodwin Heltzel, Ph.D., Director of the Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary.

“This has been a long and arduous struggle and we still have much work to do. There are still forces in this city, led by our pro-poverty billionaire mayor, who believe that the pervasive income inequality that exists in this city should be the norm. But in this journey many have now discovered that organized people can always overcome organized money,” said Reverend Michael A. Walrond, Jr., Senior Pastor, First Corinthian Baptist Church of Harlem.

“By helping to empower New York’s employees this city can move more quickly towards more productivity and better conditions for all New Yorkers. Empowerment starts with a living wage - enough pay to support yourself and family through your work,” said Dal LaMagna, President and CEO of IceStone, a company based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“I am pleased with the passage of the living wage bill. This legislation will benefit the city by reducing dependency on government programs increasing consumer spending and adding to our tax revenue,” said City Council Member G. Oliver Koppell, lead sponsor of the bill.

“It’s been a long journey to get here, but with the help of all of our partners, I believe we have succeeded in producing landmark legislation that will immediately help to improve the lives of hundreds of working New Yorkers,” said Council Member Annabel Palma, co-sponsor of the bill with Council Member Oliver Koppell.

About the Living Wage NYC Coalition
Living Wage NYC, built and led by RWDSU, is a large, diverse and growing coalition representing many thousands of New Yorkers, including members of the faith community, anti-hunger groups, anti-poverty organizations, LGBTQ organizations, immigrant organizations, grassroots groups, and labor unions. We are calling on the city to ensure that developers and companies receiving taxpayer subsidies create living wage jobs that strengthen communities, neighborhoods, and households. For more information, visit www.livingwagenyc.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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walmartfreenyc:

This week, following a report in the Times on a bribery scandal in Mexico involving Walmart, the mayor weighed in in favor of Walmart’s right to come to New York, the governor took a pass on the question, and several Democratic office-seekers, mindful of the strong opposition to Walmart by organized labor, weighed in, strongly, against.

Before this renewed debate, Walmart had been out of the news in New York for a while, more or less since late 2010, when the retailer announced plans to open up a store in East New York, and the City Council decided to hold a hearing about it. (They ultimately had to push the meeting to January 2011 because they needed a location bigger than the council chambers after seeing how many union members and others planned to flood the room.)

It almost seemed as if Walmart’s long-held pursuit of a New York location had been put on ice.

But they’ve actually been campaigning here, quietly, the whole time.

Read more and view the slideshow of how Walmart has tried to win over NYC.

walmartfreenyc:

Walmart’s bribery scandal in Mexico is turning into fresh meat for its opponents in the United States. Labor unions and activist organizations fighting the big box retailer’s push into New York City and Los Angeles are drawing parallels between the company’s domestic expansion strategies and its alleged illegal tactics in Mexico.

In New York City on Tuesday afternoon, some 50 members of anti-Walmart groups that have long fought the retailer’s move into the region gathered on the steps of City Hall to denounce the company. Labor groups like the Retail Action Project, Alliance for a Greater New York and United Food and Commercial Workers are demanding that the company halt its plans to expand into New York City until the City Council investigates its local business dealings.

“We want to be assured what happened in Mexico doesn’t happen here,” declared Inez Barron, a New York Assembly member whose district includes the area of East New York where Walmart has been pushing to build a store. Behind her, the crowd held up signs with slogans like “Walmart Sucks the Life Out of Communities” and “Walmart bribed its way into Mexico … What will they try next to get into NYC?”

The protest was put together by Walmart Free NYC, an organization of workers, small businesses and elected officials, after news of bribery allegations surfaced on Saturday. “Now we have evidence of what we have been saying all along: that this company will stop at nothing to increase their bottom line!” claimed the organization on its Facebook invitation to the protest.

Walmart is facing investigation by the Department of Justice and Congress over allegations, first reported by The New York Times, that its subsidiary in Mexico engaged in widespread bribery so as to speed its expansion into that country.

In a lengthy statement published Tuesday on Walmart’s website, spokesman David Tovar defended the company against the recent barrage of criticism. “We are confident we are conducting a comprehensive investigation and if violations of our policies occurred, we will take appropriate action,” Tovar wrote.

New York City unions argue that Walmart’s efforts over the past two years to woo politicians with philanthropy and lobbying are simply more sanctioned versions of the influence peddling that occurred in Mexico. “The company spread money around in order to accelerate its entrance into Mexico and flouted laws, regulations, and public procedures,” wrote Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, in a statement on Monday. “Something similar has happened here.” At City Hall on Tuesday, members of Appelbaum’s union and other protestors called for every political donation Walmart has made in the United States to be investigated by the Department of Justice.

Last year in New York state alone, Walmart spent $2.8 million on lobbying — a rise from $113,482 in 2010, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group. As the company pushed to build its store in East New York, it also donated $4 million to New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program, eliciting praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who called the company “a good corporate citizen.”

At a Monday press conference, Bloomberg was singing a slightly different tune. “I’ve not been a big supporter of Walmart,” he said. “I have been a big supporter of government not telling people whether they can do business here.”

Tuesday’s City Hall protest called not only for a halt to Walmart’s expansion plans in New York City but also for the City Council to demand a response from two Walmart board members who live in New York, Michele Burns and Christopher Williams, who served on Walmart’s audit committee during the company’s internal audit of the alleged bribery in Mexico, according to protestors.

In Los Angeles, anti-Walmart groups are also making allegations about the company’s business practices. James Elmendorf, director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, sees similarities between the way Walmart quickly obtained a permit for its much contested store in Chinatown and its rapid-fire expansion in Mexico. In March, Walmart obtained building permits for that Los Angeles store only hours before the City Council was set to vote on an ordinance that would limit the expansion of big box stores.

“Frankly, it’s a pretty interesting thing that the allegations are of bribes in order to sneak through permits,” Elmendorf told The Huffington Post. “Here in Los Angeles, Walmart’s permit was issued more rapidly than anyone expected … We want to see some investigation into this question.”

“We submitted our application for building permits in November 2011 and went through an exhaustive review process with all required departments within the city of Los Angeles,” wrote Steve Restivo, a Walmart spokesman, in an email statement. Walmart says its expansion plans in New York and Los Angeles will not be affected by the allegations of bribery in Mexico.

“Our track record as a good corporate citizen is well-known and in large cities like New York and Los Angeles, residents continue to choose to shop and work at Walmart,” Restivo wrote. “As a result, we continue to evaluate opportunities to make access to our stores more convenient for customers.”

Anti-Walmart groups say they are not surprised by the allegations of bribery in Mexico raised in The New York Times investigative piece first released on Saturday night. The piece claimed that Walmart shut down an internal audit of the alleged bribery so as to cover it up. The article has since prompted a congressional inquiry. A Department of Justice investigation had already been launched last year.

walmartfreenyc:

Some call for City Council hearings to probe the retailers’ New York City business practices, including a full disclosure of the company’s philanthropic spending here.

The pressure is mounting on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to abandon its long-running plans to enter the New York City market. In the wake of the weekend’s revelations of alleged bribery and cover-up in the retail giant’s Mexican operations, local advocacy groups here who have opposed Wal-Mart’s Big Apple ambitions for years are pressing their advantage, and redoubling their efforts.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; the city’s public advocate, Bill de Blasio; and Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store union, all issued statements Monday criticizing Wal-Mart. On Tuesday afternoon, they, along with New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson and dozens of others, plan to throw their bodies behind the effort by attending a rally at City Hall. Demonstrators will call on the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer to give up its campaign for a New York City store.

“More and more New Yorkers are growing skeptical of Wal-Mart’s plans and promises for our city—and for good reason,” said Matt Ryan, executive director at the Alliance for a Greater New York, an anti-Wal-Mart group and a key organizer of Tuesday’s rally. “Armed with the latest news about Walmart de Mexico’s illegal practices, the city must investigate Wal-Mart’s recent dealings with public officials and developers in its bid to move to New York City.”

Yet Wal-Mart has reiterated that its plans for the Big Apple remain undeterred.

“Our track record as a good corporate citizen is well known and in large cities like New York, residents continue to choose to shop and work at Wal-Mart,” said Steve Restivo, Wal-Mart’s senior director of community affairs, noting the company’s involvement with issues like sustainability and nutrition. “As a result, we continue to evaluate opportunities here to make access to our stores more convenient for customers.”

Anti-Wal-Mart activists are also asking for City Council hearings to investigate Wal-Mart’s New York City business practices, including a full disclosure of the company’s philanthropic spending here. They’re also asking for an investigation into the practices of the retailer’s New York-based board members Michele Burns and Christopher Williams. Both Ms. Burns and Mr. Williams served on Wal-Mart’s audit committee in 2005 and 2006, the same years the alleged bribes took place. Neither immediately returned calls requesting comment.

The retailer is also facing stress from investors. By mid-day trading Tuesday, Wal-Mart’s stock price had fallen another 1.8% to $58.50. That follows a Monday plummet of nearly 5%.

walmartfreenyc:

Walmart is in a pickle, and not the kind that can be found in the canned goods aisle. Following the Mexican bribery scandal, pols high and low have reaffirmed their opposition to the store. But they are not the only ones. Even some of the big box retailers staunchest supporters have come out against the company, namely Greg David.

The Crain’s columnist and former editor for three decades of the influential business weekly is a big believer in capitalism and its important role in shaping the city—he just wrote a book about it. To that end, he has long supported Walmart’s efforts to open a store in the five boroughs (14 times at last count). Yet now, in light of the scandal, even Greg David doubts Walmart will ever open in New York. And he believes this is all Walmart’s fault.

Read more.

walmartfreenyc:

Wal-Mart’s stock fell almost 5 percent on Monday, accounting for about one-fifth of the losses in the Dow Jones industrial average, as investors reacted to a bribery scandal at the retailer’s Mexican subsidiary and a report that an internal investigation was quashed at corporate headquarters in Arkansas.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Wal-Mart investigators had found credible evidence that the subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico, had paid millions of dollars in bribes to support expansion in Mexico, where the retailer has one in five of its stores. Told of this evidence in 2005, top executives in Bentonville, Ark., shut down the investigation, The Times reported.

On Monday, politicians from Washington to Mexico City called for outside investigations into Wal-Mart’s conduct.

Read more.

walmartfreenyc:

Walmart certainly makes it hard for people who want to support the giant retailer— especially those of us (ranging from the mayor to major business groups to me) who have argued that it should be allowed to do business in New York City.

A huge scandal exploded over the weekend when The New York Times wrote that Walmart may have not only systematically bribed Mexican officials to ease its expansion in that country but also covered up the activities when alerted to them. It’s a major blow to Walmart’s efforts to open the stores in New York City. The question is whether it will be fatal to their plans here. The answer is likely to be yes, and it is Walmart’s fault.

Monday Walmart insisted it remains committed to New York. It’s most important supporter remained loyal as Mayor Bloomberg told reporters, “I’ve been a big supporter of the government not telling people where they can do business. Here the market decides and people decide. I have no idea what they did in Mexico and if it’s true or not. Walmart has the right to be here. You don’t have to work there and patronize them. But it’s totally up to you.”

The mayor is right on the substance but the politics is very different. He gave Walmart’s entry a strong and public endorsement late in the 2009 mayoral campaign, and the giant retailer capitalized on that with an adroit advertising and public-relations campaign. The success of Walmart’s efforts were clear from public opinion polls that showed that New Yorkers supported the retailer’s entry by huge margins, even among those who thought it would hurt small businesses. New Yorkers understood that Walmart would benefit consumers and rejected the idea that city government should decide which retailers could operate here.

Of course, the polls didn’t persuade any of the leading Democratic candidates for mayor in 2013, all of whom vociferously oppose Walmart—maybe on principle and maybe because unions carry so much clout in the Democratic primary. It’s been obvious for a long time that Walmart needed to open stores while Mr. Bloomberg remained in office even if the company targeted a location that didn’t need City Council approval.

Yet, Walmart squandered all that momentum by not announcing a plan to open stores. It is true that giant companies like Walmart march to their own beat, but the months of silence have clearly eroded its position.

The Mexican scandal hurts in two ways. It obviously means any move in New York will need to be delayed until the publicity dies down. More importantly, the New York Times story suggests current CEO Mike Duke, the driving force behind the effort to move into New York, could be implicated.

With the clock ticking toward a new mayor, Walmart may have just blown it.

walmartfreenyc:

After The New York Times uncovered the internal reaction of Wal-Mart’s top executives to an extensive bribery scheme in Mexico, depicting the company in a fairly negative light, a variety of New York City politicians latched onto the report in order to further their arguments against the superstore ever setting up shop in the city. The group of elected officials who have sent out statements on the issue includes three top mayoral candidate in 2013, as well as a congressional contender in Queens, demonstrating the salience of rhetorically torching the company in local politics.

Read more.

walmartfreenyc:

Local opponents of Walmart are seizing on allegations that the company paid bribes in Mexico for building permits and other government approvals to bolster their argument that opening a store here would be bad for New York.

The union representing retail workers, RWDSU, issued a statement in response to yesterday’s Times story about the alleged bribes.

Minutes later, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who was elected to his current office with crucial help from labor and is counting on union support for his mayoral run next year, said New York City isn’t for sale. De Blasio’s Democratic rivals, who are also courting labor, reacted similarly: Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer criticized the company and City Council Speaker Chrstine Quinn called the allegations the “the latest in a litany of despicable business practices.”

Walmart has spent millions of dollars trying to enter the New York market, and somewhat optimistically joined a local business group long before they were actually close to having a business here.

Read more.

walmartfreenyc:

Reports that Walmart bribed Mexican officials gave new ammunition yesterday to local mayoral hopefuls opposed to the chain coming here.

“The corporation’s tactics of bribery, scheming and corruption are the latest in a litany of despicable business practices,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called again for Walmart to be shut out after The New York Times yesterday reported that the company paid more than $24 million in bribes to get quick permits to build stores.

De Blasio said the city “cannot open its doors to a company that sanctions bribery.”

City Controller John Liu said “the report suggests a willful disregard for legal and ethical compliance at the highest levels of the corporation.”

Stuart Appelbaum, the president of Retail, Wholesale and department Store Union, compared Wal-Mart’s lobbying in New York City to the widespread bribing in Mexico.

“These so-called donations and contributions have been the core of Wal-Mart’s campaign to break into this coveted urban market…New Yorkers have a right to know what Wal-Mart has done and spent to buy its way into the city.”

Appelbaum is calling on Wal-Mart to disclose all spending in its campaign to get into New York.

walmartfreenyc:

NYT Reports Pay-Offs, Followed by Cover-ups, at Retailer’s Highest Levels In Mexico and U.S.

Walmart Free NYC Says Latest Allegations Prove Walmart Can’t Be Trusted To Play By the Rules; Urges New York Lawmakers to Conduct Sweeping Investigation Into Retailer’s Practices, including Charitable Contributions

Read the full press release.

walmartfreenyc:

Former Walmart executive Sergio Cicero Zapata, who resigned from Wal-Mart de Mexico in 2004, said the growth strategy in Mexico was to build hundreds of new stores so fast that competitors would not have time to react. Bribes, he explained, accelerated growth. They got zoning maps changed. They made environmental objections vanish. Permits that typically took months to process magically materialized in days. “What we were buying was time,” he said. Read more.

New York, NY - Hundreds of Bloomingdale’s workers in New York City have taken to the streets to demand a better contract with the company.

Mark Spellman was among the workers rallying outside Bloomingdale’s flagship store on Third Avenue today.

Union officials representing some 2,000 Bloomingdale’s employees say they are in negotiations with the company on a new four-year contract, but a large bridge divides the two sides when it comes to wages and health care.

Many employees say they are barely making ends meet as it is, and having to pay more for their health care would be disastrous for them. Union officials say Bloomingdale’s sales have been particularly strong according to numbers released by parent company Macy’s Inc., and they’d like to see some of that profit trickle down to the workers.

Cars, taxis, trucks and buses honked their horns as they passed Bloomingdale’s flagship store on 3rd Avenue on Wednesday, April 18 to show their support to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 3 members who rallied outside the store to demand a new contract from the company.

About 2,000 members, who work as sales clerks, shelf stockers and clerical workers at the 100-year old store, have been working without a contract since March 1. Both the union and company agreed to a 60-day extension so that negotiations could continue, but that window is slowing closing.

Read more.