‘Compensation Czar’, Surgeon General to be honored with NCL Trumpeter Award – National Consumers League

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October 7, 2010

Contact: 202-835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, D.C.—The National Consumers League will honor ‘Compensation Czar’ Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation and administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Unit and United States Surgeon General Vice Admiral Regina Benjamin, M.D. with its highest honor, the Trumpeter Award, today in Washington DC. The event will bring together a diverse group of representatives of the labor unions, advocates, legislators, organizations, and industries touched by the two advocates’ esteemed careers.

“The Trumpeter Award is NCL’s highest honor, given to leaders who are not afraid to speak out for social justice and for the rights of consumers. No one fits that description better than Kenneth Feinberg and Dr. Regina Benjamin,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Their dedication to improving the quality of life for workers and consumers in the United States has earned them this year’s Trumpeter Award.”

NCL will also be honoring Jean Ann Fox, Director of Financial Services at Consumer Federation of America, with the Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award, named for NCL’s early leader and awarded to grassroots consumer advocates.

The event will feature a reception, dinner, and speaking appearances by the two honorees, as well as:

The Honorable Chuck Hagel, Distinguished Professor, Georgetown University; Co-Chair, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and Chairman of The Altantic Council

Dr. Winston Price, President, National African American Drug Policy Coalition

Teresa Schwartz, Professor at George Washington University Law School and Chair of the Consumers Union Board of Directors

Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

Jane King, NCL Board of Directors, Chair

Pastor Herrera, Jr., NCL Board of Directors, Vice Chair

What: National Consumers League’s 2010 Trumpeter Awards Dinner

When: Thursday, October 7, 2010 | 6 p.m. Reception | 7 p.m. Dinner and Presentation of Awards

Where: Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW, Washington, DC

Questions or to RSVP: Larry Bostian, National Consumers League 202-835-3323

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Wake up, America – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

Last week a new coalition of consumer and labor groups affiliated with Retirement USA launched a campaign called “Wake Up America” to highlight the crisis facing Americans, and not just those considering retirement. I’ve blogged about Retirement USA’s principles for reform, and the coalition’s work to ensure that consumers have a secure and adequate retirement.

Leaders of the coalition include the Economic Policy Institute, the Pension Rights Center, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Service Employees International Union, which holds a seat on the NCL Board of Directors. Retirement USA’s goal is to get widespread agreement on a series of principles that move Americans toward a far more sound retirement system than what exists today. But Wake Up America’s program is a renewed effort to be just that – a wake up call for policy makers on American’s lack of readiness for retirement security. We face a $6.6 trillion deficit in retirement income.

The facts about Americans entering retirement are grim:

  • Only half of full-time private sector employees participate in a retirement system
  • The participation rate drops to 45 percent if part-time employees are included
  • Only 20 percent of American private sector workers participate in traditional pension plans that provide guaranteed, lifetime benefits
  • 30 percent of American private sector workers rely entirely on 401(k) plans to supplement Social Security
  • 2/3 of 401(k) plan investments are in stock, and stocks have lost more than half their value since 2007
  • ½ of all workers with 401(k) type plans had less than $25,000 in their accounts – before the stock market meltdown – and the median 401(k) balance for workers over 55 was only $40,000
  • 64 percent of older Americans depend on Social Security for more than half of their income, and one of five receive all of their income from Social Security
  • Social Security benefits for the average retiree are now $13,863, just barely more than the minimum wage
  • Half of people age 65 and over receive income of less than $17,382 a year from all sources

Wake Up America and Retirement USA has laid out a series of important principles that would – if adopted – help to secure adequate retirement for all workers:

  • Universal coverage – every worker should be covered be a retirement plan in addition to social security
  • Secure retirement – Retirement shouldn’t be a gamble – workers should be able to count on a steady lifetime stream of retirement income to supplement Social Security
  • Adequate Income – everyone should have an adequate retirement income after a lifetime of work
  • Shared responsibility – employers, employees and the government should share this responsibility
  • Required contributions – employees and employers should be required to contribute a specified percent of pay; government should subsidize lower-income workers
  • Contributions to the system should be pooled and professionally managed to minimize risk
  • Payouts should only be permitted before retirement except for permanent disability
  • Benefits should be paid out over lifetime of retirees and not given in a lump sum
  • Benefits should be portable when workers change jobs
  • Voluntary contributions should be permitted
  • Efficient and transparent administration of benefits by a government agency or a private nonprofit
  • There ought to be effective oversight of the new system by a single government regulator dedicated solely to promoting retirement security

The National Consumers League supports these principles, especially in light of the dire economic reality most American workers face when they retire. The League’s early leaders were strong supporters of Social Security, which is a lifeline to older Americans, but was never intended to be their sole support. Retirement USA has laid out the blueprint for reform. Now it is time for consumer groups, unions, and others to make that blueprint a reality.

Longoria, Colbert highlight farmworker plight – National Consumers League

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By Reid Maki, Coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition and Director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards

America’s farmworkers are mostly invisible these days. The men, women, and children who pick our fruit and vegetables go largely ignored by the public and Congress, which has failed to update the Fair Labor Standards Act leaving farmworkers mostly unprotected from workplace abuses. This September, however, two celebrities—Eva Longoria and Stephen Colbert—traveled to Capitol Hill in an effort to shine a much-needed spotlight on the plight of farmworkers.

On September 15, Longoria, a cast member from the television hit “Desperate Housewives,” appeared at an informal briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building to promote “The Harvest”, a documentary she is producing about child labor in agriculture. Longoria and filmmaker Robin Romano showed clips of child workers featured in the film, which will premier at the Sundance Film Festival. The Harvest follows kids as they migrate and perform back-breaking work that many adults will not do because it is too hard and the pay is too low.

Despite being “a long time advocate for farmworkers,” Longoria said she was unaware that hundreds of thousands of children toiled in America’s fields because of loopholes in our country’s child labor laws. She noted that the educational impact on farmworker kids is profound: two out of three migrant students do not graduate high school. The high drop out rate, she added, contributes to a cycle of poverty that grips the farmworker community. Children are faced with the dilemma of providing needed family income or pursuing their educational needs. “No child should have to make that decision,” Longoria said, urging the briefing attendees to support H.R. 3564, the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment or CARE, legislation that would extend labor protections to farmworker kids.

The bill’s author, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), told attendees that passing CARE “would be a great step forward in protecting children.”

On September 24th, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship & Border Security’s hearing on “Protecting America’s Harvest,” addressed attempts to ensure that there are enough workers to harvest crops. TV humorist Stephen Colbert was one of the “expert” witnesses based on his recent experience as a farmworker. His testimony was pure satire that would have made H.L. Mencken smile: “Congresswoman Lofgren has asked me to share my vast experience spending one day as a migrant farmworker.”

“I’m happy to use my celebrity to draw attention to this important, complicated issue and I certainly hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to CSPAN 1,” Colbert told a crowded hearing room.

“As you’ve heard this morning, America’s farms are far too dependent upon immigrant labor to pick its fruits and vegetables. Now, the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. And if you look at recent obesity statistics you can see that many Americans have already started.”

“I reject this idea that farm work is among the semi-mythical jobs that Americans won’t do…Really, no Americans? I did, as part of my ongoing series—“Stephen Colbert’s Fall Back Position” — where I try other jobs and realize that mine is way better. I participated in the UFW’s “Take Our Jobs” campaign. One of only 16 people in Americans to take up the challenge, although that number may increase in the near future as I understand many democrats may be looking for work come November,” quipped Colbert.

“I’ll admit I started my work day with preconceived notions of migrant labor, but after working with these men and women, picking beans, packing corn for hours on end, side by side in the unforgiving sun, I’d have to say—and I do mean this sincerely—please don’t make me do this again. It is really, really hard.”

“For one thing, when you’re picking beans you have to spend all day bending over. It turns out—and I did not know this— most soil is at ground level. If we can put a man on the moon why can’t we make the earth waist high?” asked Colbert in exaggerated mock pain.

The subcommittee also heard testimony from Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers, who told members of Congress that “most of the food on your table has been harvested and cared for by unauthorized workers.”

“There’s another indisputable fact. The life of a U.S. farmworker in 2010 is not an easy one: most farmworkers live in poverty, endure poor working conditions, and receive no government assistance,” said Rodriguez.

“Undocumented farmworkers take jobs that other Americans won’t do, for pay that other Americans won’t accept, and under conditions other American won’t tolerate,” said Rodriguez, who urged Congress to support the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act, or “AgJOBS” bill, which would allow undocumented farmworkers already here in the U.S. to earn legal status by continuing to work in agriculture. “It is time to acknowledge the dignity of the current farm labor workforce and ensure the safety and abundance of America’s food supply by passing the AgJOBS bill. A failure to do so would be both a human and economic tragedy,” said Rodriguez.

Congress should take action, Colbert suggested. “This brief experience gave me some small understanding of why so few Americans are clamoring to begin a career as seasonal migrant field worker. So what’s the answer?” he asked. “I’m a free market guy. Normally I would leave this to the invisible hand of the market but the invisible hand of the market has already moved over 84,000 acres of production and over 22,000 farm jobs to Mexico and shut down over a million acres of U.S. farm land due to lack available labor because apparently even the invisible hand doesn’t want to pick beans.”

“Maybe this AgJOBS bill would help. I don’t know. Like most members of Congress I haven’t read it,” quipped Colbert, who suggested that offering more visas to immigrant laborers might help. “This improved legal status might allow immigrants recourse if they are abused.”

“It just stands to reason to me,” explained Colbert, “that if your coworker can’t be exploited then you’re less likely to be exploited yourself, and that itself might improve pay and working conditions on these farms and eventually Americans may consider taking these jobs again.”

“The point is we have to do something, because I am not going back out there,” said a horrified Colbert. “At this point, I break into a cold sweat at the sight of a salad bar.”

Colbert couldn’t help giving Congress one last tweak as he ended his testimony: “I trust that following my testimony both sides will work together on this issue in the best interest of the American people as you always do.” The packed hearing room laughed loudly at Colbert’s reference to the increasing lack of bipartisanship in the current Congress.

Not everyone seemed amused by having a humorist on a congressional panel. The Subcommittee’s ranking minority member Steve King (R-Iowa) sat unsmiling through the satiric Colbert testimony and during questioning suggested that film footage of Colbert working on a farm was “staged.” King later said it was insulting to suggest that American workers do not want to do farm work.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the chair of the full Judiciary Committee, suggested that Colbert leave the hearing during the Q and A so that members could get down to business. He was politely “overruled” by Subcommittee chair Zoe Lofgren (D- Calif.), who said that Americans are interested in Colbert’s views.

Subcommittee members asked Colbert questions about the conditions he encountered in his brief time in the fields. “It was very hot,” said Colbert. “It was hotter than I like to be….It’s not a job I want to do and not a lot of people took Mr. Rodriguez up on his offer….[statistics] seems to say that Americans don’t want to take these jobs, but I don’t want to say definitively that they won’t.

Colbert turned a bit serious when Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) asked him why he chose to take a stand on the working conditions endured by farmworkers when there are so many issues to weigh in on. “I like talking about people who don’t have any power and this seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States—our migrant workers who come and do our work but who don’t have any rights…Yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. That’s an interesting contradiction to me.”

View all of Colbert’s testimony on YouTube here and here.

Eating out traps – National Consumers League

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Today, Americans spend nearly half their food dollars on meals and snacks eaten outside the home. And meals that restaurants serve up tend to contain more calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium than the ones consumers prepare for themselves at home. Even for those who eat out less often than the average American, the extra calories can add up quickly.

To further complicate matters, a number of “eating out traps” can thwart even the most well-intentioned diner looking to order a healthful restaurant meal.  Knowing where to look for those hidden calories, however, is half the battle; read on to steer clear of some of the biggest calorie culprits:

Oversized portions and value meals

Over the past two decades, restaurants portion sizes have significantly increased. And studies show that when individuals are served larger portions, they tend to eat more in a given sitting than when they are served smaller meals. Unless you’re careful, when dining at a restaurant you can easily consume two or three times the amount of food you might serve yourself at home. The “value meal” only exacerbates this problem. Economically, spending only pennies more for a larger portion makes sense; given that “supersize” options tend to be available only for cheap, unhealthy foods (such as French fries and soda), however, they can be a diet landmine. To keep your portions in check, try the following tips:

  • Split an entrée with a family member or friend, and order a side salad or extra veggies to round out your meal
  • Save half of your meal for lunch or dinner the next day (ask for a box at the beginning of the meal and put away your “second portion” if you doubt your ability to leave half on the plate)
  • Just say “no” to supersizing – in fact…
  • Order a kid’s meal at a fast food restaurant, and pay less to eat less

To determine whether you’ve been served one meal or three, remember these estimates:

  • 3 ounces of meat = a deck of cards
  • 1 cup of potatoes, rice, or pasta = a tennis ball
  • 1 slice of bread = audiocassette tape
  • 1 ounce of cheese = pair of dice
  • 1 tsp butter, margarine = tip of a thumb
  • ½ cup of ice cream = half of a baseball

Sneaky salads

In theory, a salad should be a great choice when dining out. In practice, too many tasty toppers often send salad calorie counts soaring. Many chain restaurant salads pack in well over 1,000 calories, more than other menu options that seem less healthy. Luckily, you can easily transform these less-than-healthy offerings into a nutritious – and still delicious – meal with a few tweaks:

  • Keep fried items off of salads, bypass the tortilla bowl, and request that anything “crispy,” “crunchy,” or “crusted” not be served on your salad
  • Cheese, nuts, bacon, and avocado are fine on top of healthy greens, colorful vegetables, and lean protein – but not all together; pick one or two, and request that the kitchen keep the rest
  • Order dressing on the side, and use creamy dressings sparingly; if you like your salad more heavily dressed, order a low-cal dressing option and remember that an appropriate serving is still only two tablespoons, rather than a small bowl

Bottomless bread baskets

There’s nothing wrong with a little bread and butter to start or finish your meal. It can be far too easy, however, to pack away half a loaf – or more! – while waiting to order or for your meal to arrive, particularly with free and frequent refills. Try to limit yourself to a piece or two, and if you can’t stop there, kindly request that your server remove the bread basket.

Creamy sauces and hidden fats

At restaurants, it’s often the meal components that you can’t see that turn seemingly healthy dishes into diet disasters. Sautéed proteins and vegetables may contain far more oil than you would ever use at home, and everything from lean steak to broccoli is fair game, when it comes to an unexpected pat of butter. To avoid unhealthy cooking methods, ask your server how dishes are prepared and request a style of preparation that works for you.

  • Healthy preparation styles include the following: broiling, roasting, baking, steaming, poaching, blackening, grilling (grilled veggies may contain a lot of oil, so ask before ordering)
  • Less healthy preparation styles: fried, pan-fried, deep-fried, sautéed, battered, breaded, crispy

When it comes to sauces and sides, terminology can also help lead you towards healthier options and away from fat-traps:

  • Opt for: broth-based soups, tomato-based pasta sauces, plain baked potatoes, whole grains
  • Avoid (or consume with caution): au gratin, buttered, cheesy, béarnaise, creamy, hollandaise, alfredo

If you don’t want to pass up your favorite high-fat sauce, order it on the side and use it sparingly.

Salt, salt, salt!

While not a “calorie culprit,” salt nevertheless deserves its own section when it comes to eating out traps, due to its overabundance in American restaurant and packaged foods as well as the health risks that come with excessive consumption. To decrease your intake of sodium while dining out, follow these tips:

  • Choose made-to-order meals over buffet-style dining or fast food, and request that your meal is prepared without added sodium
  • Ask your server for low-sodium menu suggestions
  • Avoid (or sparingly consume) the following items
    • Soy sauce
    • Smoked, cured, and salted meat, fish, and poultry
    • Ham, bacon, hot dogs, and lunch meats
    • Pickles and olives
    • Ketchup
    • Processed tomato sauce
    • Canned vegetables
  • Eat low-sodium, non-processed foods the rest of the day when dining out, in order to keep your daily sodium intake within reason

October personal finance month at LifeSmarts.org – National Consumers League

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By Jacob Markey, LifeSmarts intern

It’s October, a month where the leaves begin to change in northern climates and the weather begins to turn. Football season is also up and running. For my beloved Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers, I continue to hope for great success. And LifeSmarts competitors are already at work studying hard to qualify for their state competitions!

This month’s LifeSmarts topic area is Personal Finance. A significant part of personal finance is money management, something immensely important to everyone. The average credit card debt per US household with credit card debt is over $15,000, and even the federal government is trillions of dollars in debt. With these numbers in mind, becoming aware of how you manage your money is truly important. Here are some great tips to look at to learn how to better handle your finances:

  • Make a budget. Listing your revenue and expenses will help you determine your current financial state and allow you to better grasp any potential changes you may need to make to your lifestyle. It is a great habit to develop is useful for the rest of your life.
  • Ask questions before you buy and avoid impulse purchases. Will that new shirt or TV be less expensive somewhere else? Do I really even need it? Will I need the money for something else I want? By asking these types of questions, you can become a smarter consumer and help separate things you want from things you really need.
  • Set financial goals. Whether you really want to buy a new TV or car, or pay back a loan, by setting goals you can better understand how much you will need to save, and for what period of time, in order to accomplish your goals.
  • Teens especially should learn about the different types of credit. By knowing the difference between a credit and a debit card and the pros and cons of using plastic instead of cash, you can be aware of whether a card is right for you at this point in your life.

Some teens may think they do not need to learn about money management at their age. They are sorely mistaken. With college or full-time jobs waiting within the next few years and having to pay for tuition, rent and other expenses, the importance of keeping track of your finances will become apparent very soon. Smart money management at an early age will help throughout the rest of your life. By learning how to manage your finances, you will be in better financial shape for the future.

Drama unfolds at egg recall hearing – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

One of the great things about living in Washington, DC is that you can witness the drama of politics up close and personal and for free. On Wednesday I went down to the House of Representatives to attend the oversight and investigations hearing on the 500 million egg recall that took place over this past summer. The drama was to be the apology offered by Jack DeCoster and his son Peter, who run the million+ hen facility that sent the millions of eggs contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) into the stream of commerce. More than 1,600 (1,608 to be exact) reported cases were identified.

For me the drama was less the questions put to the DeCosters. I thought it was far more powerful – and scary – to hear from two women, one 30 years old, the other over 70, who had eaten food contaminated with the SE pathogen. Each time I hear stories about what the most virulent foodborne pathogens do to victims I’m always stunned. It’s not the overnight upset stomach or throwing up/diarrhea that most of have experienced from a bout of food poisoning. Each of these women would likely have died had it not been for medical intervention. They described high fevers, severe dehydration, emergency room admissions, and days spent with IVs in their veins, unable to function or get out of bed. The older woman testified that she had permanently lost her old vitality and enjoyment of life . . . and eating had become a scary experience.

Both had conditions that compromised their immune systems, making them particularly vulnerable. The 30-year-old mother of two had consumed a custard pie made with uncooked eggs. The older victim consumed something like a crab cake with a sauce that she guessed harbored the pathogen.

The DeCosters – father and son – owners of the huge facility that produced the effected eggs – argued that they had done all they could to keep the plant running well. Sounds reasonable except for the fact that Committee investigators had photos of 8-foot-high piles of manure, maggots, hundreds of live and dead flies, buildings oozing liquid manure, rodents, holes in the floor where mice entered the plant, and piles of dead chickens. The DeCosters really couldn’t explain the discrepancy – the elder DeCoster, who former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called “a rotten egg” in a recent blog because of his many violations of the law – said “we were small and then we got big and that’s where we got into trouble.” Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who chairs the full committee, challenged the DeCoster’s statement that the plant is well run: “that’s not what the record indicates” naming all of the above violations – and suggesting they needed to fire their quality control manager.

Finally, the FDA’s second-in-command, Dr. Josh Sharfstein, gave compelling testimony about the new rules for egg regulation that have just gone into effect allowing the FDA to set stronger standards for egg production, while also stressing the importance of passing the food safety bill that is being held up by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) in the Senate because it will give the FDA mandatory recall powers (which they lack today). Two other dramatic moments took place: ranking member Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-MI) nearly came to blows over procedural issues, with Burgess constantly complaining he wasn’t given his allotted time to speak, and Stupak eventually turning off his microphone.

And the moment the DeCosters sat down to testify, a small group of protesters arose from their seats, holding up a banner and chanting that factory farming egg production is corrupt and should be stopped. They were escorted out of the hearing room by Capital Police.

You can understand why I talked about the drama of politics. On a serious note, if anyone wonders why we need improved food safety rules, the harrowing stories of these two women – victims of a virulent salmonella strain – should provide the answer. Now if we could just get Senator Coburn to lift his hold on the bill.

As American as apple…picking! – National Consumers League

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By Courtney Brein, Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow

The pools have closed, the school year has begun, and the weather has started to change: apple season is here! In some parts of the country, orchards have already opened for “pick your own” apples, and in the coming weeks, the season will swing into full force, lasting through October.

Apples taste best when freshly picked from the tree, and when you’ve picked them yourself. For a fun fall outing with family or friends, find a local orchard and head over to wander through the trees and pick a few bushels. To prevent your apples from bruising, place them gently in the basket, rather than tossing them in.

Low in calories, high in fiber, and full of antioxidants, apples make the perfect snack. To extend their shelf life post-picking, store your apples in a cool place and refrain from washing them until you want to use them.

Happy picking!

High school dropout rate hitting close to home – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

At a recent meeting in downtown Washington, I heard an expert on teenage high school dropout prevention talk about new strategies for keeping kids in school or luring them back after they’ve dropped out. The expert told us that in some of the worst schools – “dropout factories” (schools where 60 percent or more of children graduate) most common in high poverty rural areas and inner cities – as many as 70 percent of the students drop out.

This issue touches the National Consumers League’s issues in several ways. First, it was the mission of Florence Kelley, our first leader, to get kids out of sweatshops, factories, steel mills, and mines and into school. Dropping out flies in the face of those fundamental goals. Secondly, NCL has a teenage financial literacy and consumer education program for teens called LifeSmarts, but most of our youngsters compete through their schools. As a result, kids who drop out have little chance of being able to benefit from all of the wonderful and practical education that LifeSmarts provides.

Finally, NCL is working hard to pass legislation that will provide rights and protections to farmworker kids. These children suffer much higher than average dropout rates. Their families travel from farm to farm, often in different states, picking crops; understandably these youngsters have a hard time staying in one school and graduating with their peers. The dropout rates for farmworker kids are perilously high. We need to have strategies to keep those kids engaged, learning, and graduating from high school.

In Minneapolis, the school system has launched the “We Want You Back” campaign, in which volunteers go door-to-door. In the Little Earth community in Minneapolis, largely American Indian, the graduation rate is a shocking 22 percent. The Minneapolis campaign is modeled on a Houston, Texas drive that has successfully brought 50-100 dropouts back to schools – which can include online courses, independent study or actual schools – each year. Dropouts need to feel wanted and valued and see a pathway to their degrees. According to one volunteer, “it’s news to people that we care.”

We at NCL support campaigns to keep kids in school and bring back into the fold those who’ve dropped out. These young people deserve all the support we can give them, and when they succeed, we can only believe they will be better informed and wiser consumers and citizens.

NCL to Congress: get tough on gold ‘investments’ with H.R. 6149 – National Consumers League

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September 23, 2010

Contact: 202-835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest nonprofit consumer organization, has offered its support for H.R. 6149, the “Coin and Precious Metal Disclosure Act,” which the consumer watchdog says would do much to give consumers an accurate picture of the risks associated with buying gold and precious coins. Consumers may consider gold and precious coins to be an effective investment hedge against inflation.  However, recent investigations by federal, state and local enforcement agencies suggest that some gold dealers may be leveraging recessionary fears to steer consumers into buying gold and precious coins at inflated prices.

In a letter to Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection for the Committee on Energy and Commerce, NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg conveyed the nonprofit organization’s concerns about the proliferation of gold coins being marketed to consumers as investments, particularly in the midst of a difficult economy.  The subcommittee is holding a hearing today to discuss the proposed legislation and potentially deceptive practices in the gold and precious coins marketplace.

“Purchasing gold may be a useful way for consumers to diversify their investment portfolios. However, we are disturbed by reports of gold dealers pressuring customers to purchase collectible coins at prices inflated far beyond market value,” wrote Greenberg. “Further, it concerns us that salespeople working for a prominent gold dealer were found by the Securities Division of the Secretary of State of Missouri to be offering financial advice to consumers without being licensed as investment advisors.”

H.R. 6149 will address these concerns by requiring disclosure of relevant fees and the purchase price, melt value, and resale value of coins and metal bullion. NCL believes that these disclosures will help consumers more effectively evaluate gold investment opportunities and applauds Congressman Weiner for introducing this bill and convening a hearing on the matter.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

‘Strike’ one up for the ‘Little Guy’: company abandons plans to cut salaries and benefits at Mott’s plant – National Consumers League

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By Reid Maki, Director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards

After a four-month strike, 300-plus workers at the Mott’s applesauce plant in Williamson, New York, have won their battle and have avoided pay and benefit cuts the conglomerate that owns the plant was trying to cram down their throats despite earning huge profits last year.

In addition to Mott’s, Dr Pepper, and Snapple, Dr Pepper Snapple Group makes Sunkist soda, 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Crush, Squirt, Hawaiian Punch, Penafiel, Clamato, Schweppes, and Venom Energy.

According to the  New York Times, Dr Pepper Snapple Group–despite profits of over a half billion dollars in 2009–tried to slash workers’ wages $1.50 an hour because it felt that the facility’s pay was too high for the area, which is economically depressed after years of layoffs from firms like Kodak and Xerox.

“It used to be that corporations…moaned about how bad they were doing when they demanded givebacks. Now they don’t bother. ‘We’re doing great, we admit it…but we want more, more, more,’” said one observer.

In addition to the wage cut, the company wanted to eliminate pensions for future workers, freeze pensions for current workers, decrease its contributions to the 401 K plan, and increase employee contributions toward health care premiums and co-pays.

Hopefully, the workers’ “victory,” extensive media coverage it garnered, and the strong support the workers received from New York’s congressional delegation (29 members of which asked the company to return to the negotiating table) will serve as a signal to corporations that they should think twice before they cut workers’ wages and benefits while they are generating huge profits.

To add insult to injury, Larry Young, the CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, made $6.5 million last year, and he’s averaged nearly 30 percent raises for each of the last three years. By contrast, veteran plant workers earned less than $40,000 a year without overtime.

It’s a sad comment on the current state of labor relations that a contract for level pay is considered a victory. We think the Mott’s workers deserved a raise and a share of the parent company’s success. At least the company’s arrogant and insulting attempt to drive down wages was beaten back.