Zara accused of creating culture of customer discrimination in new report
Mahita Gajanan, The Guardian, 06.22.2015 Black customers at Spanish fashion retailer Zara...
Black customers at Spanish fashion retailer Zara’s New York stores have been disproportionately identified as potential thieves, a significant proportion of employees surveyed by the Center for Popular Democracy have claimed in a new report released on Monday.
A survey of 251 employees and a round of focus groups conducted by the union-allied workers’ rights campaign group claims there is a practice within Zara to label suspicious customers or potential thieves with the code words “special orders”. Once a “special order” was identified and his or her location radioed to employees’ headsets, an employee would follow that customer around, the report claims.
Forty-three percent of the respondents did not answer questions referring to “special orders” or said they did not know the term.
But out of the 57% that did respond to that question, 46% claimed black customers were called special orders “always” or “often”, compared with 14% who said the same about Latino customers and 7% about whites.
Employees quoted in the survey claimed special orders were identified by “dressing a certain way” and were “mostly African American”, according to the CPD. One employee told the group he felt “that black customers were targeted when it came to stealing”, the report said.
One black employee claimed that when he had come in to pick up a check one day wearing a hooded jacket he was identified as a special order and prevented from entering a back office.
Connie Razza, CPD’s director of strategic research, said the code words used at Zara had now changed from “special orders” to a request for “customer service” to go to the location of the suspicious customer.
The report also claims that employees of color face unequal conditions within the company’s eight New York City stores.
“I was expecting some level of discrimination, but the degree of disparity with workers getting raises and hours that vary so dramatically was surprising,” said Razza.
The report claims:
Black employees are more than twice as dissatisfied with their hours as white employees.
Darker-skinned employees were least likely to be promoted, and received harsher treatment from managers.
Lighter-skinned employees of color and white employees experienced better treatment within the company, with higher status assignments, more work hours and a stronger likelihood of being promoted.
Many of the employees interviewed felt there was favoritism within the company based on race.
Razza said that while the retail industry was known for unpredictable working schedules and low wages, the situation was “even worse for black employees”.
The report, compiled from surveys conducted between February and April, claimed employees said that managers showed favoritism, and “many of the employees interviewed felt that favoritism is based on race”.
Such favoritism, they said, can have an impact on promotions, the distribution of work hours and management evaluation and treatment, the report claimed.
Of the 251 employees surveyed, 130 identified as Hispanic, 59 as black, 34 as white, 12 as Asian and 11 as mixed race. Employees were also identified by their skin color on a scale of one to four, with one indicating very light skin and four indicating dark skin. There are approximately 1,500 Zara employees in New York, suggesting one-sixth were surveyed.
“We found darker skinned employees were least likely to be promoted, and received harsher treatment from managers,” Razza said.
In some instances, the report claims, managers told employees not to take the survey. On at least one occasion, managers called the police on one of the employees taking the survey, the CPD claims.
A spokesperson for Zara USA denied any of the claims were accurate.
“Zara USA vehemently refutes the findings of the Center for Popular Democracy report, which was published without any attempt to contact the company,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian.
“The baseless report was prepared with ulterior motives and not because of any actual discrimination or mistreatment,” the statement went on. “It makes assertions that cannot be supported and do not reflect Zara’s diverse workforce. Zara USA believes that the report is completely inconsistent with the company’s true culture and the experiences of the over 1,500 Zara employees in New York City.
“We are an equal opportunity employer, and if there are individuals who are not satisfied with any aspect of their employment, we have multiple avenues for them to raise issues that we would immediately investigate and address.”
Referring to the claims about black customers being disproportionately identified with the code words “special orders”, it said: “We are a global multicultural company serving valued customers across 88 countries, and do not tolerate discrimination of any form.”
In a later statement, a Zara USA spokesperson added: “The expression ‘special order’ is a term used to designate a common situation in which associates are requested to enforce customer service and zone coverage on the floor. It does not designate a person or group of people of any category.”
Referring to claims about discrimination in promotions, the spokesperson said: “In its most recent round of internal promotions at Zara USA, approximately half were Hispanic or African American employees. In addition, approximately half of all hours are regularly allocated to Hispanic or African American employees. These facts clearly demonstrate that diversity and equal opportunity are two of the company’s core values.”
According Zara, approximately half of all Zara USA’s employees are Hispanic or African American.
The report arrives on the heels of a $40m discrimination lawsuit filed earlier this month by Ian Miller, who was general counsel for Zara USA Inc from 2008 until this March. According to the lawsuit, Miller – who is Jewish, American and gay – said he was excluded from meetings, given smaller raises than co-workers and subjected to racist, homophobic and antisemitic remarks because he did not fit the company’s “preferred profile” of Christian, Spanish and straight.
Miller also claimed his harassers were protected from punishment by company founder Amancio Ortega Gaona. He sued Zara, his former supervisor Dilip Patel and former Zara USA CEO Moíses Costas Rodríguez, under various New York state and city laws prohibiting pay discrimination, wrongful discharge, retaliation and hostile work environments.
Razza claimed discrimination pervaded the whole company.
“It’s a corporate culture that’s very problematic,” she said. “The lawsuit brings to light the depth that discrimination pervades Zara USA. Given the revelations of the lawsuit, we felt it was very important to reflect that it happens across all levels.”
The lawsuit and report follow a number of occasions during which Zara was criticized for selling items with racially insensitive designs. A bag embroidered with swastikas was pulled from stores after customers complained in 2007. In 2013, Zara sold necklaces with figurines in blackface.
Last August, the retailer was the subject of a backlash from customers for two different shirt designs — one striped and emblazoned with a gold star that resembled uniforms worn by Jewish victims in Nazi concentration camps and the second a white T-shirt displaying the words “White is the New Black”.
There is a recent history of controversies over alleged racism in the New York retail sector. In 2013, Macy’s and Barneys, two of New York’s most famous department stores, faced investigation from the state attorney general after several customers accused the stores of racially based discrimination.
Macy’s and Barneys both came to settlements for $650,000 and $525,000, respectively, in August 2014.
Razza said the CPD focused on Zara because of the company’s concentration in New York City and recent organization efforts by workers for fair wages at Zara.
Source: The Guardian
These Dems Are Fed Up With The Federal Reserve
Daily Caller - November 11, 2014, by Rachel Stoltzfoos - Over 30 liberal groups frustrated with the economy have formed...
Daily Caller - November 11, 2014, by Rachel Stoltzfoos - Over 30 liberal groups frustrated with the economy have formed a coalition to protest the policies of the Federal Reserve and demand it pay more attention to the needs of workers.
The coalition is led by a progressive organization that describes itself as pro-worker, pro-immigrant and pro-racial and economic justice — The Center for Popular Democracy — and includes labor unions, religious leaders and policy experts. They’re fed up with stagnant wages, high unemployment and slow job growth, and are not happy with the Fed’s recent decision to end its long-term bond buying stimulus program.
“The truth about the economy is obvious to most of us: not enough jobs, not enough hours, and not enough pay — particularly in communities of color and among young workers,” a statement on the coalition’s website reads.
“Some members of the Federal Reserve think that the economy has recovered. They want to raise interest rates to slow down job growth and prevent wages from rising faster. That’s a terrible idea.”
In open letter to Fed Chair Janet Yellen and two regional presidents who are retiring, the coalition called for policies centered around wage and job growth rather than big banks and corporations, and for a more transparent selection process that allows for public input.
“The Fed is the only policymaking institution currently providing significant support to the economic recovery — efforts Congress has severely damaged by enforcing fiscal austerity — so it’s crucial for it to continue prioritizing the fight against joblessness,” Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement about the letter.
The Fed consists of a central board of seven governors appointed by the president of the United States, and a network of 12 regional banks, each with its own president and nine-member board. The governors and five of the regional presidents come together on the Federal Open Market Committee to set monetary policy, which is then implemented by the regional presidents.
Each regional board consists of three bankers, three members elected by local banks and three members appointed by the board of governors in Washington. The regional boards are supposed to represent diverse views, including labor and consumers, but although a few are labor and community leaders, most of them are corporate executives.
The letter calls for a better representation of workers and consumers on the boards, and regular meetings between the regional boards and community members, and a more transparent process for replacing the regional presidents, including a public schedule, list of criteria, the names of candidates and public forums to discuss the process.
“It’s essential that concerned citizens are informed about and have their voices considered when monetary policy decisions are made,” Bevins added in his statement.
The coalition is scheduled to meet with Fed Chair Janet Yellen Friday to discuss their agenda.
Source
Queens activist Ana Maria Archila takes center stage in elevator showdown with Flake
Queens activist Ana Maria Archila takes center stage in elevator showdown with Flake
Message delivered, message received — Queens-style. Outerborough activist Ana Maria Archila, after angrily confronting...
Message delivered, message received — Queens-style.
Outerborough activist Ana Maria Archila, after angrily confronting Sen. Jeff Flake in a Capitol Hill elevator over his support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, said the accounts of America’s abused women were no longer falling on deaf ears after the Arizona Republican delayed a vote on the judge’s candidacy for a week.
Read the full article and watch the video here.
Senator Warren to Join Call to Alter Sales of Distressed Loans
Senator Warren to Join Call to Alter Sales of Distressed Loans
Housing advocates have attracted a prominent ally in their push to change the federal government’s policy of selling...
Housing advocates have attracted a prominent ally in their push to change the federal government’s policy of selling distressed mortgages at a discount to private equity firms and hedge funds.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, will join other lawmakers, advocates and community activists on Wednesday in a Washington rally to oppose the loan sale program.
The senator is expected to call on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal overseer of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to make it easier for nonprofit organizations to bid for the bundles of distressed mortgages put up for auction, people briefed on the matter said.
The sale of distressed mortgages by HUD and the government-sponsored mortgage finance firms is drawing growing criticism from housing advocates and lawyers in recent months. The critics are concerned that the private buyers of distressed mortgages are moving to quickly to put borrowers into foreclosure as opposed to modifying the loans as housing officials had hoped.
The investors are buying loans often at a 30 percent discount.
One of the biggest buyers of distressed mortgages is Lone Star Funds, a $60 billion private equity firm based in Dallas. The firm, which is also buying soured mortgages directly from banks, has raised billions of dollars from investors, including public pensions to invest in distressed home loans.
The private equity firm’s practices in dealing with delinquent borrowers was the subject of a front-page article in The New York Times this week.
The housing advocates said that, in addition to noon rally with elected officials, they intended to protest outside of Lone Star’s offices in Washington.
Source: New York Times
Its Integrity Questioned, SUNY Institute Retreats From Politically Tinged Study
The Chronicle of Higher Education - April 28, 2014, by Paul Basken - The State University of New York’s Nelson A....
The Chronicle of Higher Education - April 28, 2014, by Paul Basken - The State University of New York’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government is backing away from a politically divisive report critical of a worker’s-rights law, admitting that the industry-financed analysis has multiple major flaws that undermine its central finding.
The report, published in February, criticizes New York State’s so-called Scaffold Law, which holds contractors and property owners legally liable for on-site injuries and accidents. The analysis suffers from "really big weaknesses," said the institute’s director, Thomas L. Gais, who added that he considers the report as not officially a product of his institute. The key analytical section of the report "is just really awful," he said.
The Rockefeller Institute prides itself as a provider of unbiased and empirical policy analysis. Defenders of the Scaffold Law, however, have complained that the institute tainted itself by accepting an $82,000 payment from a business group with construction-industry supporters to produce the report.
The report is "junk" and "fundamentally biased," said the Center for Popular Democracy and the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, two groups representing unionized workers and immigrants.
The case has shined a spotlight on the question of whether universities and their research institutes, as declining public financing leaves them increasingly reliant on private-sector support, are able to provide policy makers with objective technical advice.
There are hundreds of such institutes at universities around the country, and it’s often possible to "predict the policy outcomes from where their support comes from," said Sheldon Krimsky, a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University who writes about bias in research.
A ‘Quality-Control Issue’
Mr. Gais, a social scientist who has led the Rockefeller Institute for four years, adamantly denied there was any bias in the report on behalf of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York. The alliance has long opposed the Scaffold Law, but Mr. Gais said he never expected to get any repeat business from the industry-affiliated group. "We got the money no matter what we wrote," he said.
The report instead suffered from what Mr. Gais called a "quality-control issue," in which a relatively new institute researcher, Michael R. Hattery, delivered it to the Lawsuit Reform Alliance without its being thoroughly reviewed at the institute.
Another major problem with the 89-page report, Mr. Gais said, lies with a section that uses a flawed statistical analysis to make the "counterintuitive" argument that New York’s worker-safety law actually leaves workers less safe.
That section’s author, R. Richard Geddes, an associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University, also has drawn criticism within his own institution. At least two members of the labor-studies department at Cornell wrote newspaper op-eds criticizing Mr. Geddes’s work.
One, Richard W. Hurd, a professor of industrial and labor relations, wrote that Mr. Geddes had "misused sophisticated statistical techniques and produced inaccurate results." Lee H. Adler, an instructor of labor and employment law at Cornell, wrote that the episode reflects more than a century of attempts by business leaders to deprive workers of the fundamental right to sue.
Mr. Geddes emotionally denounced the criticism in an interview with The Chronicle, saying he had absolutely not been influenced by the source of money and describing his work as a state-of-the-art analysis of who actually gets injured on construction sites in New York State.
"I find that offensive, I find that deeply offensive, that they said my work is biased, after we spent hours and hours collecting the best data we could find," Mr. Geddes said.
A Valid Concern
Among its arguments, the report compares worker-injury records in New York and Illinois, which repealed a similar worker-protection law in 1995. The study found that both accident rates and costs declined in Illinois after repeal.
The labor groups said the study’s shortfalls included a failure to take into account situations where higher union-membership rates would encourage workers to report accidents, and workplaces where greater percentages of immigrants might depress reporting statistics.
Mr. Geddes said the critics bore the responsibility of showing how such factors would substantially have affected the report’s conclusions. Mr. Hattery said he also stood by the report but recognized that the possible effect of those omissions was a valid concern that should be assessed in future studies.
Mr. Geddes said he recognized some drawbacks in a system where academic institutes rely more heavily on private supporters. "It has made it harder because people without any evidence at all, any support, are attacking, are saying you’re biased," he said. "I find that profoundly offensive."
Mr. Hattery, however, said he welcomed the process now unfolding. "I don’t at all resent or have a problem with these kinds of questions’ being asked," he said. "When you think you have integrity and are humble and a good conscience, you’re probably in trouble."
Source
Activists Rally in Front of Federal Reserve, Calling for End to ‘Economic Racism’
The St. Louis American - March 5, 2015, by Rebecca Rivas - African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing...
The St. Louis American - March 5, 2015, by Rebecca Rivas - African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing about an economic recovery that does not apply to them, said Derek Laney, an organizer for Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment.
In St. Louis, the unemployment rates for the black community remains triple the rate of white residents, 14.1 percent compared to 5.7 percent for whites, he said. However, some economists claim that the economy is rapidly approaching full employment.
“Is there only one set of the population that matters?” he said. “And if they are alright, we’re all alright? That’s something we can’t accept.”
Today (March 5,) activists attempted to ask James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, those same questions. At noon, a coalition of community-based organizations, faith leaders, elected officials, labor unions, and service organizations gathered in front of the bank in downtown St. Louis City, as a part of the national Fed Up Campaign (whatrecovery.org). They pointed to a new report released this month that details the difficulties for African-American families to find living wage employment. The report is titled, “Wall Street, Main Street, and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: Why African Americans Must Not Be Left Out of the Federal Reserve’s Full-Employment Mandate.”
In response to the protest, a St. Louis Fed spokewoman stated in an email to the St. Louis American: “We are aware of the protest at the St. Louis Fed and respect people’s right to protest peacefully.”
The coalition asked Bullard to prioritize full employment and rising wages for all communities. Laney said as the economy starts to recover, some are calling for the Fed to raise interest rates to prevent wages from rising – which would severely impact families still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. Tomorrow, the St. Louis Fed will release new numbers regarding unemployment, and in mid-March its leaders will meet to discuss its policies. Laney said they hoped the action today will help “shape those discussions.”
The report emphasizes that the Federal Reserve is responsible for keeping inflation stable, regulating the financial system and ensuring full employment.
“These mandates reflect the tension between the interests of Wall Street on the one hand and Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the other,” the report states. “As a general matter, corporate and finance executives want to limit wage growth— or, as they call it, ‘wage inflation’—and to maximize their future profits from lending money.”
The report argues that in past decades, the Federal Reserve resolved this tension in favor of banks and corporations, intentionally limiting wage growth and keeping unemployment excessively high.
“The Fed’s policy choices over the past 35 years have led to increased inequality, stagnant or falling wages, and an American Dream that is inaccessible to tens of millions of families—particularly Black families,” it states.
Since the Ferguson movement began, local and national leaders have emphasized the need to address the “structural racism” in the region.
“Economic racism cannot be delinked from racism by law enforcement and other governmental entities,” according to the coalition’s statement. “However, James Bullard has been silent on issues of economics and their impacts on communities of color in the region over the past seven months. Today, we are bringing these issues to his front door.”
Source
Fed, Rates and Sun
New York Times - August 22, 2014, by Victoria Shannon - Sun and a little fun mixed with speeches are the hallmarks of...
New York Times - August 22, 2014, by Victoria Shannon - Sun and a little fun mixed with speeches are the hallmarks of the annual retreat of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
But today was the first time participants could remember demonstrators showing up.
Protesters with green T-shirts reading “What Recovery?” were organized by the Center for Popular Democracy, a nonprofit group, to greet the bankers at their resort hotel.
“The demonstrators want to remind Fed officials, who tend to deal in abstractions, that real people are affected by their decisions,” says our Fed correspondent, Binyamin Appelbaum.
“Their presence has been mentioned repeatedly by Fed officials and speakers, suggesting that it has made an impression.”
Notably, the Fed chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, stopped by to express sympathy. In a speech today, she said the central bank needed more evidence of growing employment before deciding when to raise interest rates.
“Historically, particularly during the 1980s, the Fed faced a lot of public pressure as it raised interest rates,” Mr. Appelbaum says, “so this may be the first sign of things to come.”
Source
How Twitter vaulted 'Abolish ICE' into the mainstream
Ana Maria Archilla the co-executive director of Center for Popular Democracy, said that at first progressives "were...
Ana Maria Archilla the co-executive director of Center for Popular Democracy, said that at first progressives "were worried about the political implications."
But "when Randy could say it in rural Wisconsin, in Paul Ryan, territory,” she continued, activists felt they had made a breakthrough.
Read the full article here.
Home care workers rally in New Haven around terminated employee
Lara was joined by more than a dozen supporters Wednesday, organized by the Working Families Party, which has been...
Lara was joined by more than a dozen supporters Wednesday, organized by the Working Families Party, which has been advocating for a $15-an-hour wage, paid sick days and predictable schedules for this group of employees.
Management at Family Care VNA & Home Care at 495 Blake St., where Lara worked for more than three years in a 28-year career, called police to keep the protesters away from its office. The protesters continued to march on the sidewalk leading into the parking lot where the company is located.
After about an hour, Lindsay Farrell, state executive director for the Working Families Party, Julio Lopez of Make the Road, which is part of the Center for Popular Democracy, and Lara approached New Haven Officer Scott Durkin, who was standing outside the care agency’s office.
Durkin passed on a petition to management signed by more than 9,000 people asking that Family Care VNA & Home Care meet with Working Families to discuss workplace protections for its employees.
“I am here today because on Aug. 3 I got terminated for exercising ... freedom of speech. I was searching for a better workplace for my co-workers, for those who are afraid to speak, because this is their only source of income to maintain food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads,” Lara said.
The longtime certified nursing assistant has been on panels with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLaura, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Thomas E. Perez, secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, talking about the conditions that CNAs face.
Lara said she never mentioned her employer, but spoke generally about the industry and the need for a pay upgrade, benefits and schedules they can count on.
“I believe that no human being should be treated like animals, because that is what they treated us like, paying us $10 an hour. We are a big asset to the company and if not physically fit ... how can we go out there and do our jobs?” Lara asked.
“What I am searching for is justice for me and so many other workers that do the same job as I do,” she said to the crowd.
Lara said this all began when she took off two days for emergency surgery for her gallbladder on Feb. 26. Her doctor recommended she stay out of work for two to three weeks.
A message seeking comment was left with Donna Simmons, a human resource specialist at Family Care.
Lara said she ended up back in the hospital because she returned to work too early. On May 22 and June 3, she had additional surgeries for an abscess on her breast for a total of eight days missed for health problems.
Lara said she put up with the $10-an-hour pay because “I like what I do and I enjoyed working with my patients and I didn’t want to leave them hanging.”
She said after the last surgery, her hours were cut from 54 hours a week to 14 hours, putting her behind on her rent and bills.
Lara said the firing not only hurt her financially, but “has taken away what I like and what I enjoy, which is working with people.” She said she is collecting unemployment compensation.
Lara said she feels that she was being punished for taking time off “to take care of my physical health.
She said when she was terminated, management alleged that she had used profanity in front of a client, but Lara said that was not true. She said they told her at that meeting Aug. 3 that she was being fired for “bashing the company.”
Lara said Lou Mangini, who works on constituent concerns in DeLauro’s New Haven office, has been in touch with her.
The letter from Working Families to Rita Krett, who is listed as the owner of the company, said Lara’s firing was “unacceptable and immoral.”
It promised to escalate its support of Lara and other workers if the company doesn’t improve conditions.
Interviews for Resistance: New Progressive Coalition Calls for “Millions of Jobs”
Interviews for Resistance: New Progressive Coalition Calls for “Millions of Jobs”
A coalition of unions and other progressive organizations is pushing lawmakers on a jobs and infrastructure bill that...
A coalition of unions and other progressive organizations is pushing lawmakers on a jobs and infrastructure bill that would put millions of people to work.
Read the full article here.
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