RWDSU

NEWARK — New Jersey Labor Unions are splitting tickets in the heated battle for the 10th Congressional District seat.

Donald Payne Jr. today picked up the endorsement of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 108 which represents 5,000 retail workers. The announcement comes just a day after Ron C. Rice picked up a valuable nod from the Communications Workers of America, the state’s biggest union representing 70,000 members.

“Our members heard directly from all the candidates, and Ron clearly stood out. He has been a dedicated leader in our community who has taken tough stands for working people and has stayed true to progressive values,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA’s state director in a statement. “In Congress we know that Ron Rice will continue to fight every day for New Jersey and stand up to the corporate special interests who have too much power in Washington.”

SEIU Local 617 President Rahaman Muhammad is also supporting Rice, and the statewide union is expected to make an endorsement this week.

Muhammad said many of the 10th District candidates have good labor credentials, but Rice has the best.

“I’m supporting Ron Rice because he has the most progressive record,” Muhammad said. “But they all have good labor records.”

Still, labor is not going solely for Rice. Payne has picked up the endorsements of the Teamsters and today of the retail workers.

“Donald M. Payne Jr. has long been a champion of the many progressive causes that matter to working families in this Congressional district,” said RWDSU Local 108 President Charles N. Hall Jr. “Just as Don has been on the ground supporting our community, we will be on the ground doing everything we can to ensure his victory.”

On Thursday, May 24, Rutgers’ WRNU Radio show, “All Politics are Local” will host the only debate in the race with Payne, Rice, State Sen. Nia Gill and Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith at 6 p.m. at the Newark campus’ Paul Robeson Center.

Also running are Dennis Flynn and Cathy Wright. The Democratic primary will be held June 5.

ALBANY — More than three-quarters of New York State voters support a proposal by Democrats in the Legislature to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour from $7.25, according to a new poll released on Monday.

The poll (pdf), conducted by Siena College from May 6 to 10, found broad support for what has emerged as the highest-profile issue in the closing weeks of this year’s legislative session, which is scheduled to conclude in six weeks.

Democrats and independent voters were strongly supportive of raising the minimum wage, the poll found, with 88 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents in support. And while the Republican majority in the State Senate has derided the proposal as a job killer, a majority of Republican voters – 58 percent – said they supported it, as did 64 percent of voters who described themselves as politically conservative.

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walmartfreenyc:

Sign the petition and tell Walmart to address abuses in the supply chain!

Last week thousands of workers at two different Thai food processing facilities protested their extremely poor working conditions. Both facilities, Phattahana Seafood and Vita Food Factory, are suppliers to Walmart stores across the US. Disturbing reports coming out of the region indicate that the questionable treatment of workers extends well-beyond the US border and signals deeper global issues.

Early reports indicate a series of severe human and worker rights violations, including confiscation of passports and conditions that appear to fit the definition of human trafficking and debt bondage.

In response to these egregious violations, Making Change at Walmart sent a letter to Walmart’s Ethical Sourcing director calling for the immediate defense of migrant workers in the food processing facilities. The letter detailed violations being committed by two separate plants, including one fruit (primarily pineapple) processor and one seafood (primarily shrimp) producer. Phattahan Seafood Factory may be holding as many as 2,000 confiscated passports belonging to migrant workers from Myanmar and Cambodia. A number of the workers have started to illegally flee the plant to return to their country despite lack of documentation.

Excerpt from the letter:

As the largest grocer in the world and the largest importer of shrimp in the United States, Walmart has a responsibility to call for an end to this treatment of workers and do more to ensure that this treatment is not occurring in other supplier factories.

Since the release of Walmart’s Global Responsibility Report on Monday, environmental groups have raised questions about a number of items that may have been overlooked in the report. To be sure, these latest accusations fly in the face of claims of responsible and sustainable sourcing.

This weekend has many of us scrambling to figure out how to honor Mom.

Should we give her flowers? Take her to brunch?

For too many New York mothers straining to make ends meet, the best gift they could receive is an increase in the minimum wage.

Read more.

walmartfreenyc:

Wal-Mart may have entered the Golden Years, but its self-dealing and covers ups have seriously tarnished the brand, and put its “independent” governance in a state of crisis. Read the full story.

RWDSU Northern Joint Council President, and UFCW International Vice-President, Derik McArthur received The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal on May 4 for his outstanding public service and strong community leadership.

“UFCW Canada is very pleased to see President McArthur receive recognition for the excellent work he and the Northern Joint Council are doing for working families in a number of communities throughout Ontario,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “On behalf of more than 250,000 UFCW Canada members, I congratulate Derik for this important and well-earned acknowledgement.”

Read the full story.

washnewyork:

(New York, NY — Sharyn Jackson, WNYC) New York City City Council members have introduced legislation that would require all car washes register for a license with the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the bill to more than 50 protestors who gathered on the steps of City Hall. She said she was surprised when she learned that car washes didn’t already need licenses.

“This industry, I mean, you’re talking about heavy machinery, you’re talking about chemicals that are being used, it’s not regulated in any way,” she said. “But as a city, we’ve got to step up to the plate, and ensure that they’re doing right by these workers.”

The industry is under fire for allegations of overworking and underpaying employees. According to an investigation by the New York State Department of Labor, almost 80 percent of the city’s car wash owners had wage and hour violations.

“New York City, we love to be stylish here, there’s no question,” said Councilman James Sanders, who chaired a council hearing on the bill today. “We love our cars and we love to look good, but we don’t want to do it at the expense of anyone.”

But car wash owners have told Transportation Nation they treat their workers fairly and safely.

washnewyork:

The New York City Council is looking to clean up the city’s car wash industry.

City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the Car Wash Accountability Act Wednesday. Currently, city car washes are unregulated, and don’t require a license to operate. Mark-Viverito says this leads to hazardous working conditions and unfair wages. “There have been reports by the Department of Labor that have documented the number of labor violations against workers,” she says, “We need to have these owners be accountable and be responsible.”

Adan Nicholas, a car wash worker from Astoria, says he makes less than minimum wage and doesn’t receive any tips.

“Two times a week they make us sign a paper declaring that we make $20-$25 a day in tips,” he says speaking through an english translator, “but it’s not true.”

The act will require car washes to get a license from the city in order to operate.

Click here to read the original story and listen to the segment.

washnewyork:

To improve working conditions, lawmakers push for annual licensing of the city’s 200 car-wash operators. Fines could reach $15,000 a year.

Local lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that would force the city’s 200 car-wash operators to obtain an annual license or pay fines of up to $15,000 a year.

To get a license from the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs, operators would have to divulge details of company ownership, certify compliance with local, state and federal laws, and obtain a $300,000 bond to cover unpaid fines and penalties. A business could be denied a license based on past violations or unpaid taxes.

Consumer Affairs already licenses 55 industries in the city, ranging from Laundromats to locksmiths. The measure’s prime sponsor, City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, said her bill would ensure “that workers are protected from harm” and “consumers receive a car wash at a standard they can count on.”

The bill is the latest effort by unions and community groups to improve the conditions for approximately 5,000 car-wash workers in the city. Make the Road York and New York Communities for Change are leading the effort and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is simultaneously trying to organize workers into a union.

In addition to the legislation, the City Council is also holding a hearing Wednesday afternoon on working conditions at car washes. In 2008, state investigators found nearly 80% of operators in the city violated minimum wage and overtime laws.

The New York State Car Wash Association, the local industry’s leading advocacy group, only has three members in the city and said it did not yet have a comment on the bill. Since the car-wash campaign began, the group has tried to distinguish its members, who operate primarily upstate and on Long Island, from nonmember operators in the city. The group has conducted seminars with the state Department of Labor on minimum wage and overtime laws.

“We do not condone business practices that violate the law and our membership standards,” said Suzanne Stansbury, executive director of the association.

The campaign has focused much of its attention on Lage Management Corp., a Pelham-based operator with about 20 car washes in the five boroughs. A press release on the bill cited an investigation of Lage by the state attorney general’s office.

“As of right now we don’t know if it will be positive or negative for us,” said Jennifer Lage, a company manager. “We value our employees, so whatever benefits them, we’re not afraid of it.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Affairs did not have an immediate comment. In California, the other major city where efforts have been made to organize workers at car washes, operators must apply for a registration certificate from the state’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

washnewyork:

City Council bill, which would make car washes get a license, comes after accusations of labor law violations

City lawmakers say they hope to clean up New York’s car wash industry — by making operators follow the same licensing rules as tow truck companies, garages and more than 50 other businesses.

“I was actually surprised when I learned that car washes don’t need any license from the city in order to operate,” said City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan).

“It’s just creating these steps to get this industry in line. It’s been demonstrated consistently that car wash operators have been in violation of labor laws.”

On Wednesday, Mark-Viverito plans to introduce the Car Wash Accountability Act, which would require all city washes to get a yearly license from the city Consumer Affairs Department.

The penalty for operating without a license would be $200 a day, maxing out at $15,000.

In order to be licensed, car wash operators would have to share details of ownership, show they comply with city, state and federal laws and get a bond to cover any unpaid fines or damages.

“This is an industry that seems to have a remarkable capacity to violate the law,” said Deborah Axt of Make the Road New York.

She said a licensing bill would be a good first step.

“It seems like a no-brainer to us,” Axt said.

Immigrant workers have been speaking out about low pay and harsh conditions at local car washes as part of a campaign by Axt’s group and New York Communities for Change.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is also trying to organize the workers.

NEW YORK — The 2,000 workers at Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship voted in favor of a new five-year union contract with the store that opens the way for a general wage increase, more health care options and more flexibility when it comes to scheduling hours.

Workers at the store will get a $3.05 an hour pay hike over the life of the contract, which was ratified by Local 3 United Storeworkers of the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union.

According to the union, the new deal lets senior employees choose their preferred hours first. All workers will get to choose one weekend a month to take off and which late nights they want to work. Managers must honor the choices made by workers. A spokesman for the union said this aspect of the contract sets a new standard for retail.

The scheduling provisions in the contract exceed what parent Macy’s Inc. agreed to when the contract for the company’s 34th Street Macy’s store was negotiated.

“This particular victory will have industry-wide implications because it comes as many retail workers struggle with underemployment and find it difficult to get the hours they want and deserve,” the union said. “A recent study of the retail industry in New York City revealed that only 17 percent of workers have a regular schedule.”

The union said it is still hammering out some details with the store regarding a medical fund that’s overseen by the union.

A spokeswoman for Bloomingdale’s said, “Last night’s positive vote covered a significant portion of our new contract, but we still have some work to do towards full ratification.”

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union announced the ratification of a new five-year contract with Bloomingdale’s covering 2,000 workers at the flagship store on East 59th Street.

Paternity leave is among the benefits that the East 59th Street department store’s workers will receive.

For the first time, new dads at Bloomingdale’s will be able to take time off to spend with their newborns. As part of a new union contract, workers at the retailer’s East 59th Street flagship location will receive paternity leave.

The majority of the contract, negotiated with Local 3 United Storeworkers division of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store union, was ratified Tuesday evening. The new contract will affect the flagship’s 2,000 employees. A spokesman for Macy’s Inc., which owns Bloomingdale’s, noted that though a significant portion of the new contract was approved, there is still some work to do toward full ratification.

“We continue to have discussions with the union in good faith,” he said, but declined to disclose specifics.

The new contract, expected to go into effect this week according to a union spokesman, also added lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender nondiscrimination language for the first time. A general wage increase over five years, increased health-care options and seniority protection were also included, according to the union.

Michael Weber, a partner at Littler Mendelson, a law firm which specializes in employment law, said some of the contract provisions appear innovative.

“These kinds of terms and conditions are new in the collective bargaining setting—paternity leave in particular,” he said. “Bloomingdale’s might be on the cutting edge—my guess is they agreed to these terms because it would be an improved working condition for employees.”

Representatives from the union were pleased with the contract.

“It will improve the lives of our members for many years to come,” said Cassandra Berrocal, president of Local 3. In April, the union and workers rallied in front of Bloomingdale’s flagship, and visited the store with labor leaders including New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez to build support for a new contract.

The contract will increase the wage for hourly employees by $3.05 over five years and give scheduling priority to workers with seniority among other things.

“Given the economy and the overall picture, it’s an excellent package,” said Allen Mayne, a deputy director of field operations at the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

A top item on the list of employee demands was alterations to the store’s commission policy.

“Bloomingdale’s has an excellent return policy for the public, but unfortunately it’s very hard for the commission sales force,” said Mayne, who negotiated the terms of the deal on behalf of store workers, members of the Local 3 United Storeworkers Union. Under the new contract, the period of time that shoppers’ returns can be deducted from workers’ commissions will gradually be shortened to 120 days.

Read the full story.

NY1 VIDEO: Inside City Hall’s Errol Louis hosted a debate over the living wage legislation with two supporters — Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and President Stuart Appelbaum of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — and two opponents — Greg David, the director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at CUNY Journalism School and contributor to Crain’s New York Business, and attorney Robert Altman, who represents the Queens & Bronx Building Association and the Building Industry Association of New York City. Watch the video.

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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