Hoping Treasury Secretary-designee Lew takes a new tack – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

It appears that when the government was handing out TARP funds and bailing out ailing financial firms, the “special master for compensation” Patricia Geoghegan approved $6.2 million in raises for General Motors, Ally, and AIG. These are the findings of Christy Romero, special inspector general for TARP in her new report.

Surprise, surprise. Sheila Bair documents this preferential treatment for fat-cat executives in her book, Bull by the Horns. From Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to Presidential Advisor Larry Summers, you can count on high-level government officials with ties to Wall Street time and again to look after their friends first before the American taxpayer.

When these bonuses were being bestowed on the industry icons, Treasury’s Compensation Chief Kenneth Feinberg (and former NCL Trumpeter Honoree), was appointed to a special oversight post created during the crisis. He scolded the companies for what he called “ill-advised” payouts to executives and vowed to curb lavish pay. Treasury nonetheless allowed seven firms to bypass pay restrictions from 2009 to 2011, according to this latest report from Christy Romero’s office. Romero said that “Treasury made no meaningful reform to its processes. Lacking criteria and an effective decision-making process, Treasury risks continuing to award executives of bailed out companies excessive cash compensation without good cause.”

That says it all. We can only hope that the new Treasury Secretary-designee, Jacob Lew, if he’s confirmed, will take a different tack. Forbes Magazine columnist Robert Lenzner has high hopes. He says in a recent column about Lew, “It’s a relief to have a man who is not in the hip pocket of the big banks, who is not part of the pin-striped old boys club, who’s likely to put the interests of his former brethren high on the priority list.” That’s a hopeful sign.

Medication adherence challenge live today – National Consumers League

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By Rebecca Burkholder, NCL Vice President for Health Policy

Today marks the launch of the 2013 Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a month-long competitive outreach project to engage student pharmacists and other health care professional students and faculty in coming up with creative solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. With nearly three out of four Americans not taking their medications as directed—which results in serious health consequences, especially for people with chronic diseases—it will take a team of health care professionals to moved the needle on adherence.

The Challenge is just one part of the National Consumers League’s Script Your Future campaign, a 3-year program to raise awareness of the importance of medication adherence. Launched in 2011, the campaign has more than 130 public and private stakeholder organizations, and provides tools to help patients and health care professionals better communicate about ways to improve medication adherence.

During the month of February the Challenge will engage interdisciplinary student teams from pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and other health professions to tackle the problem of poor adherence.  The teams will be implementing creative solutions and outreach in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence, using Script Your Future materials.  At the end of the Challenge, select schools or colleges will be recognized nationally for their efforts to improve medication adherence.

“One of the best hopes we have for changing our culture of nonadherence is to train the next generation of health care professionals to be proactive about engaging their patients, and that starts in the classroom through the innovation brought forward by health professions faculty,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director.

The Challenge is returning to university campuses across the country after a successful first year of student innovation. To learn more about last year’s winners visit the Script Your Future Web site. The winners of Challenge 2013 will be announced later this spring.

This year’s Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the American Medical Association (AMA), and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

For more information on the Challenge visit the Challenge Community at https://syfadherencechallenge.ning.com/. Follow the challenge on Twitter at #SYFchallenge.  To learn more about the campaign, go to www.ScriptYourFuture.org.

Good, bad, ugly of restaurant work featured at ‘Kitchen Ethical’ event – National Consumers League

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By Michell K. McIntyre, Director of NCL’s Special Project on Wage Theft

How would you like to work for a week and at the end of your pay period receive a voided check? Or have to choose between going to work with the flu or not being able to pay for groceries for your children? Or have to rely on the kindness of customers to cover 70 percent of your wages or know that management it taking a cut of your tips? For too many restaurant workers, that’s reality and is just the tip of the iceberg.

Earlier this month, NCL co-hosted Kitchen Ethical with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United). Kitchen Ethical concentrated on the good, the bad and the ugly of the restaurant industry.  The event consisted of two panels: Success & the Ethical Employer – with two DC-based restaurant owners who believe and provide all their employees with paid sick days and employ ethical work practices; and Taking Off the Gloves – with restaurant workers sharing their stories of wage theft abuses, trying to survive on the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 an hour and the real consequences of the lack of paid sick days.

As someone who has never worked in the restaurant industry, it’s hard to imagine working and not receiving a paycheck. As consumers, we have some power to affect change in a way that fines and regulations are not. Restaurants need customers in order to be successful, and — if customers demand change — then owners will have to listen.

Did you know that if you leave your tip on your credit card, your server might not receive their tip? Last year, celebrity chef and restaurant owner Mario Batali and his business partners were successfully sued for $5.25 million for a tip skimming scheme, a wage theft abuse. Unfortunately, this is not a one-time occurrence but is something that probably happens in a large portion of restaurants in the nation. But if we tip in cash, we can help eliminate this form of wage theft.

The lack of paid sick days not only puts workers in jeopardy but it also puts all consumers at risk. With the current flu epidemic at near record highs, the lack of paid sick days becomes a public health issue as well as a food safety issue. Who knows how safe or germ-free your food is if either your server or chef is sick?

For about 22 years, since 1991, the federal tipped minimum wage has been stuck at an appalling $2.13 an hour. According to NCL’s survey, released on the same day as Kitchen Ethical, 87 percent of consumers agree that it is time to raise the tipped minimum wage. Tipped workers are supposed to make up the remainder of their wage with tips from their customers. According to ROC-United’s 2011 Behind the Kitchen Door study, the median wage for restaurant workers is $8.90 an hour and based on a 40 hour week comes to just under the poverty line for a family of three. Any way you slice it, it’s not enough to survive on.

So what can we do? If there is only one thing you remember when eating out, let it be that as customers, we can affect change in this vital industry that desperately needs it.  Workers’ health and well-being not to mention livelihood are put in danger when unethical business practices are allowed to flourish. Public health and food safety suffer when business owners cut corners and deny their workers paid sick days and worker survival is at a great risk when the government prohibits poverty level wages and wage theft abuses are permitted. We, as voters, need to encourage our representatives to pass worker friendly legislation. As consumers, we need to demand that places we patronize treat their workers with the respect and dignity. No worker should have to work while sick, be paid a poverty wage, or worry that their employer is cheating them out of their hard-earned money.

Check out video clips from Kitchen Ethical.

Should more be done to police fuel mileage reporting? – National Consumers League

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By Alex Lipow

Alex Lipow, a public policy, telecommunications and fraud intern at NCL this winter, is taking a gap year after high school before starting college at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall.  In high school, Alex was actively involved in debate, Model United Nations, and student government. Alex has experience working as an intern in Congressman Steve Cohen’s office and as a fellow on President Obama’s re-election campaign.

A recent article written by Dave Hurst in Forbes discusses the discovery that some major auto manufactures intentionally over-reported the fuel economy of their cars.  This in turn raised the reported average fuel economy of their entire fleets. According to Hurst, the EPA mandates that certain procedures be used to test the fuel economy of cars but relies a great deal on manufactures to conduct the tests themselves. The results of these tests are then used in advertising and are displayed on window stickers for consumer reference.  The goal of this process is to give consumers the ability to compare cars sold by different companies based upon their stated mileage.

The EPA first audited Hyundai and Kia after receiving complaints about the accuracy of their reported fuel economy figures. The audits show that Hyundai and Kia exaggerated mileage data showing that some of their vehicles had reached 40 miles per gallon (mpg). In some cases, the fuel economy was exaggerated by as many as six miles per gallon. This practice appears to be widespread. A class-action lawsuit is pending against Ford for misrepresenting mileage numbers in its C-Max and Fusion hybrids and Honda was recently in court over mileage claims of its Civic hybrid.

When I first read Hurst’s article, I could not help but ask who is protecting consumers and holding corporations accountable for malfeasance like this? Reliable information is crucial to the buying process, whether it be homes, toasters or cars. When comparing vehicles, fuel economy is often one of the most important features consumers consider. If it is listed inaccurately, as in the instances described above, would so many people have bought these cars?

How has this misreporting become so widespread? One reason may be the relatively few resources the EPA dedicates to mileage testing. A 2009 Car and Driver article found, for example, that just 18 EPA employees are responsible for mileage testing. With such a small staff, the EPA is only able to test 200 to 250 vehicles per year, roughly 15 percent of the total number of new car models introduced in a given year. It may be time for the EPA to consider more closely monitoring mileage testing or levying sizable fines against companies that misreport mileage. At the very least the EPA should devote more resources to its own testing program so that it can protect consumers from this type of deceptive practice. Had regulators been able to supervise the testing and reporting of this information, consumers may have been able to make a better decision about the product they would have preferred to buy.

As the flu season hits hard, learn how to protect yourself – National Consumers League

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92_ayannaBy Ayanna Johnson, Health Policy Associate

After the first of the year, it seems like influenza (flu) season magically appeared, with a fierce intensity. Cases of flu are growing fast, and it is predicted that this season might be one of the worst in years. Hospitals and emergency departments are being inundated with cases; many people are quite sick and some have died. The flu is scary, but it’s not too late to get vaccinated against this year’s strain.

In New York alone, more than 19,000 cases of flu have been reported thus far; compare that to just 4,000 cases last year.  Boston has seen more than 700 cases and has declared a state of public health emergency. Twenty-nine states are reporting higher than average levels of influenza.  To find out where the flu is near you, check out Flunearyou.org, an interactive map that shows the number of cases people are reporting in your area.

The flu has caused dozens of deaths across the US; two have been children. Though the CDC only collects data on adult deaths at the end of flu season; some states have released early figures. On January 11, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania each reported over 20 deaths. As of January 5, 2013, CDC reported that “the proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza is slightly above the epidemic threshold for the first time this season.”

Is it the cold or Flu?

One of the most common questions heard during the flu season is “How do I know if I have the flu or a cold?” That’s a great question that can be difficult to untangle. Colds typically are less severe and accompanied by a stuffy or runny nose. The flu is often characterized by a fever, cough and/or sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, body aches, chills, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea (most common in children).

Check out this infographic from APHA to determine if what you have might be the flu or a cold. Of course, it is always best to consult your health care provider.

Get Vaccinated!

  • As of November 2012, 36.5% of all people eligible to receive the vaccine have done so. This is about the same rate as this time last year, but the flu this year is worse than in 2011.
  •  It’s not too late to get vaccinated against the flu and doing so is a great idea. The vaccine protects you and your family (and even those around you) from getting sick. For more information on what vaccines do check out this information from the CDC.
  •  This year’s flu vaccine protects against three flu strains: influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and an influenza B virus. Preliminary research finds that the vaccine is also about 62% effective in preventing the flu. Flu vaccines typically range in effectiveness from 30-70 percent.
  • The vaccine is recommended for everyone over 6 months of age, especially if you live with someone who has a high risk of complications from the flu, which includes the following people:
    • Children and infants
    • Pregnant women (the flu shot is approved for pregnant women. Protects mom and baby!)
    • Seniors
    • People with disabilities
    • People with health conditions like asthma
    • Travelers and people living abroad
  • Your primary care provider can give you the flu vaccine and local pharmacies may have the flu vaccine to protect you during this flu season. Be sure to check with them first. You can also use the flu vaccine finder to find out where the flu vaccine is near you.

As flu season continues, keep yourself healthy by following the age-old tips of washing your hands often and covering your mouth when you sneeze (Don’t use your hands! The upper arm will do). The CDC recommends following public health advice about outbreaks and advice from your health care provider and avoiding contact with sick people. If you do get sick and are prescribed an antiviral drug for your flu symptoms, take the medicine as directed by your provider.

Help protect American workers from on-the-job silica exposure – National Consumers League

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Guest post by Scott Schneider, MS, CIH, Director of Occupational Safety and Health, Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America

Silica is not a new problem in the workplace. More than 80 years ago hundreds of workers died from acute silicosis digging the Gauley Bridge tunnel in West Virginia. Congressional hearings were held and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins held an investigation and declared that it was our duty to eliminate silicosis from the workplace. In the 1970’s the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed recommendations to reduce exposures to silica in the workplace yet it wasn’t until the 1990s when OSHA began to take action. The initiated a rule to reduce silica exposures and kicked off a campaign (”It’s Not Just Dust”) to increase awareness of the problem.

Over the years we have learned even more about the dangers of silica. Overexposure to silica not only causes silicosis, an irreversible, progressive lung disease, it is also associated with lung cancer, chronic renal disease and autoimmune disorders. An estimated 1.7 million U.S. workers are still exposed to this serious hazard. Public health experts estimate that 280 workers die each year from silicosis and thousands more develop silicosis as a result of workplace exposures

After many years work and delays OSHA finally sent a draft silica standard to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in February 2011. OMB normally has 90 days to review a proposed regulation. As of next month, it will have held onto this proposal for two years. Each year of delay means additional thousands of workers will be exposed and at risk of illness or death.

Releasing the proposal and publishing it in the Federal Register is just the start of a very public process which includes OSHA public hearings and comment periods. The White House needs to release this standard for publication so OSHA can proceed with a rulemaking. Lives are at stake.

You can help by signing a petition on the White House Web site. The petition requires 25,000 signatures by February 11 to elicit a formal response from the White House. Please add your signature today to help us take this next step towards protecting workers from this serious hazard.

Manti Te’o a victim of a romance scam? – National Consumers League

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By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

The bizarre tale of Manti Te’o’s relationship with a fictitious person going by the name of “Lennay Kekua,” has captivated more than just the sports world over the past 24 hours.  While many of the details of the episode remain unclear, Te’o’s story bears many of the hallmarks of the romance/friendship scam complaints that NCL’s Fraud Center receives on a regular basis. This type of fraud is especially attractive to scammers for one simple reason: it pays. In 2011, victims of these scams reported losing an average of $5,500, making romance/friendship scams the single most costly type of scam reported to NCL. These types of scams were the 7th most-reported scam to NCL in 2011.

Manti Te’o’s story bears many of the hallmarks of romance/friendship scams reported to NCL, including:

  • The relationship is exclusively virtual – It has been reported that Te’o never met “Lennay Kekua” in person. Most of their interactions were apparently over the Internet or via telephone calls. Numerous in-person meetings were reportedly arranged, but “Kekua” never arrived.
  • Use of others’ photos to gain trust – Reportedly, the perpetrator of the scam against Te’o used photos pulled from another person’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. This is a common tactic used by romance/friendship scammers to make their online persona more believable and thereby gain the victim’s trust.
  • “Tragic” event – “Kekua” told Te’o that she had been in serious car accident and then discovered that she had contracted leukemia. In the complaints that NCL receives about romance/friendship scams, it is not unusual that a supposedly “tragic” event is reported as an excuse to ask for money from the victim (often for fictitious “hospital bills”).

The goal of most fraudsters in romance/friendship scams is to gain the trust of their mark and eventually persuade them to send money. It is unknown whether Te’o ever sent money to the fictitious “Lennay Kekua.” However, it seems plausible that a scammer who discovered that their mark was highly-touted NFL prospect would continue to string the victim along even if the scammer was not getting paid immediately.

Much of the sad story of Manti Te’o and “Lennay Kekua” remains to be told. More details are sure to emerge in the coming days and weeks.  What this episode does illustrate is that no one, not even star football players, is immune to being taken in by skilled scammers.

Hopefully, the publicity this story generates will give other victims of these types of scams the courage to report these scams. Unfortunately, fraud is notoriously underreported, and in the case of romance/friendship scams likely even more so. Victims are understandably embarrassed and often go to great lengths to avoid facing the reality of the crime. Only by reporting the fraud can the criminal perpetrating these be brought to justice. To report a romance/friendship scam or another other instance of fraud, use NCL’s secure online complaint form. Complaints received by NCL are shared with our network of more than 90 federal, state, local and international law enforcement and consumer protection partners.

Education-for-girls activist Malala Yousafzai walks out of hospital after assassination attempt – National Consumers League

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

The world is celebrating great news that came in with the New Year: 15-year-old education activist Malala Yousafzai walked out of a Birmingham, England hospital on January 4th, nearly three months after the Taliban shot her in the head and neck during an assassination attempt in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Malala spoke out on behalf of her generation of girls having access to education —a position that was in sharp variance with Taliban extremists who tried to silence her.

Malala’s recovery, although far from complete, is being hailed as a miracle and her resilience is being celebrated far and wide. Malala’s courage has touched many, including pop-star Madonna, who dedicated a song to the girl in the days after the attack. She appeared at a concert with Malala’s name in large letters across her back.

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown cited Malala as a hero and visited Pakistan to press for open access to education. “Can Pakistan convert its momentary desire to speak out in support of Malala into a long-term commitment to getting its three million girls and five million children into school?” asked Brown, who is currently serving as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education. Brown’s advocacy in support of Malala has led to calls to provide school access to all girls by 2015.

For more than two decades, the Child Labor Coalition has fought to protect children from the worst forms of child labor and Malala’s vision is central to that effort. “Access to education is one of the keys to reducing child labor—that’s what Malala is fighting for and that’s why her work has been so important,” noted CLC Co-Chair Sally Greenberg and the Executive Director of the National Consumers League. According to the Global Campaign for Education, 53 percent of out-of-school youth worldwide are girls, and millions of girls face discrimination, sexual and physical abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.

In Pakistan, educational inequalities abound. The World Bank estimates that only 57 percent of girls and women can read and write, and in rural areas, only 22 percent of girls have completed primary-level schooling, compared with 47 percent of boys. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, nearly one-third of Pakistani children aged 5-14 are deprived of schooling, and the country is making “no advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.” Inspired by Malala’s case, however, the government of Pakistan has signaled its desire to provide equal access to education.

“The right to education is fundamental, and we stand with Malala and all those around the world who are working with us to make sure all children have equal access to high-quality public education,” said American Federation of Teachers Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson, also a CLC co-chair, in the days following the attack.

Malala’s education advocacy began at age 11, when she blogged about Taliban atrocities in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. She wrote about the closing of schools for girls, which were a result of ultra conservative views—supported by the Taliban—toward women’s roles in Pakistani society. According to published reports, Malala felt forced to hide her school books and feared for her life, knowing that advocacy might make her a target of the Taliban. At age 11 she said, “All I want is an education. And I am afraid of no one.”

“Education is power, especially for girls. Malala knows this and has used her voice to advocate for others,” Lily Eskelsen, vice president of the National Education Association, a Child Labor Coalition member reminded us at the time of the shooting. “The Taliban underestimated Malala from the beginning, but her power has already been unleashed. They cannot call it back. An educated girl becomes an informed woman, able to make the best choices for her own well-being and that of her family; generations are impacted.”

Despite the unequal access to education faced by many girls around the world, there is some good news. According to the International Labor Organization’s latest statistics, the number of girls in child labor worldwide fell between 2004 and 2008 from 103 million to 88 million. “We need to keep that progress up. We need to keep Malala’s vision alive and provide girls with unfettered access to education,” said the CLC’s Greenberg.

Although Malala faces many challenges ahead, including additional surgeries, her recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Her heroism and advocacy for girls inspires us all and may indeed lead to lasting changes in educational access for girls and women.

Smoking is becoming passé in the States—a good thing! – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

Over the holidays I took a vacation in a Caribbean Island and experienced what America was like 20 years ago in bars and restaurants. Literally everyone at every table inside and outside was smoking cigarettes or cigars. I felt like I was living out a scene from Mad Men. And I hated it. Not only that but the exhaust from the cars combined with the ubiquitous cigarette smoke reminded me how lucky we are in the United States to be free of that smoke-filled environment. And how much healthier we are as a result.

Indeed, the latest news is that curbs on smoking in American companies and businesses continues to grow. Effective New Year’s Day this year, employees of 3M and in Delaware State Government will no longer be able to duck outside for a cigarette. North Dakota banned smoking in most public places. Curbs are under discussion in Bangor, Maine and San Francisco. The best news of all is that efforts to ban and otherwise discourage smoking appear to be working: We’re at 19 percent of Americans smoking now, compared to 42 percent in 1965, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that smoking and secondhand smoke cause 20 percent of the deaths in the United States each year.

So as I sat there, miserably taking in secondhand smoke during my Caribbean vacation, and cursing the tobacco companies for importing the cigarettes that Americans aren’t smoking to lesser-developed countries, I realized how grateful I am to live in a country where smoking is rapidly going out of style. And we are all far healthier for it.

Newtown charity scams show no event too tragic for fraudsters – National Consumers League

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By John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

It seems almost unimaginable that someone would try to take advantage of the Newtown school shooting to defraud consumers. Unfortunately, in this tragedy as with others, scam artists are all too willing to stoop to a new low.  According to a report from Jeff Rossen and Avni Patel of NBC’s “Today” show, a scam artist in the Bronx posed as the aunt of Newtown victim Noah Pozner in a ploy to collect donations for a fictitious charity fund. While the scammer in this case was later arrested, the high-profile of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy is sure to generate other charity scams.

Unfortunately, such scams have become a predictable part of most major natural disasters or other tragedies. They cropped up in 2004 after the Indonesian tsunami, in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, in 2010 after the Haiti earthquake, and earlier this year after the Aurora theater shooting, to name but a few. In each case, unscrupulous con artists took advantage of the natural inclination of good Samaritans to help others in times of need. Charity scammers are adept at setting up fake Web sites, sending out telephone solicitations, and using email and direct mail to try and create a sense of trust with their victims. Rarely does any money donated to these outfits make its way to the intended charitable causes.

Charity scams are doubly damaging, since they not only cost victims money, but they also deprive legitimate charities of badly needed contributions. Consumers who are approached to donate money to a charity should be sure to check out the charity ahead of time before giving. Web sites like Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance are good places to start when researching a charitable organization.

Unfortunately, these aren’t foolproof ways to protect oneself from charity scams. Scammers often pose as legitimate charities such as the Red Cross or UNICEF, even going so far as to set up Web sites or Facebook pages that look like the real organization’s sites. They may include the logos of respected organizations in emails or other solicitations to make themselves seem more legitimate. If you receive a solicitation to support a particular charitable organization, even one you may have heard of before, it’s usually a good idea to contact the charity directly (either via the Web or a listed telephone number for the group) and make your donation that way.

A good rule of thumb to remember is that major news events, especially ones with victims that tug at our heartstrings, are sure to bring out scammers. While it’s right to want to support others in their time of need, make sure and donate smartly to avoid becoming a victim of a charity scam. For more information on spotting and avoiding charity scams, click here.