Union membership hitting new low – National Consumers League

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SG_HEADSHOT.jpgThe sad news that union membership has hit the lowest levels on record in the U.S. means a further depression of wages and benefits. According to a report by the U.S. Labor Department (DOL), only 10.7 percent of workers were union members last year, down from 11 percent in 2015, and nearly 20 percent in the early 1980’s.

This is unfortunate because union members earn better wages and benefits than non-union members. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), on average, union workers’ wages are 27 percent higher than their nonunion counterparts.  

Furthermore, unionized workers are 60 percent more likely to have employer-provided pensions. More than 79 percent of union workers have jobs that provide health insurance benefits, but less than half of nonunion workers do. Unions help employers create a more stable, productive workforce—where workers have a say. There is no question that unions help bring workers out of poverty and into the middle class. In fact, in states where workers don’t have union rights, workers’ incomes are lower.

So why is unionization at such a low point? Some argue that is because manufacturing jobs that were typically unionized have been shipped overseas; that is undoubtedly a factor, but even when there are blue collar jobs, employers fight like the devil to keep unions out and often win through fear and anti-union propaganda. 

The recent International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ (IAM) efforts to unionize at Boeing in South Carolina is a case in point. In a vote last week, 74 percent chose not to unionize. Why? According to the Machinists, “North Charleston Boeing workers endured a multi-faceted anti-union campaign, which included captive-audience meetings and massive TV, radio and billboard ad buys.”

“Boeing management spent a lot of money to make sure power and profits remained concentrated at the very top. The company’s anti-union conduct reached new lows,” said IAM lead organizer Mike Evans. “The IAM remains committed to getting Boeing South Carolina workers the respect, wages and consistency they deserve.”

South Carolina is one of the most hostile states for unionizing workers. Indeed, Boeing was lured there on promises that there would be no support for unions from Governor Nikki Haley and other officials, not to mention the state’s Right to Work (for less) laws.

But as the BLS numbers show, unionized workers make more money, get better benefits, and are able to rise into the middle class because of it. It’s unlikely that President Donald Trump’s political appointees will be of any help, despite his broad support from union members. Certainly his failed DOL Secretary nominee, Andrew Pudzer could not have been more antagonist toward workers—fighting minimum wages, making misogynist comments about women, and saying he favored robots because they didn’t bring discrimination complaints. Alexander Acosta, the new Labor Secretary nominee, doesn’t seem too friendly to unions either based on his record with the National Labor Relations Board but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says to give him a chance. 

The huge profits companies like Boeing earn should be shared among those who do the day-to-day work. And workplaces with good labor management relations tend to thrive, as demonstrated by many European models. So the future doesn’t look terribly bright for maintaining even the current unionization numbers in the U.S. and workers pay every day for that in lower wages and opportunities.

 

 

 

 

Find yourself asking, ‘Where’s my refund?’ – National Consumers League

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The law requiring the IRS to delay issuing refunds for certain taxpayers has caused a lot of uncertainty this tax season. In fact, it is believed that this delay, which impacts those claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), is partially responsible for up to a 78 percent drop in refunds compared to this time last year. This has left many wondering when they can expect their refund in their bank account.

The long wait is almost over. The IRS will begin issuing refunds to those impacted today. While this means that many consumers are one step closer to a refund, the National Consumer League is warning consumers to be prepared to wait an additional two weeks. Due to processing times and the Presidents’ Day holiday, consumers may not receive their refunds until the week of February 27.

For those worried about the status of their refund, we encourage the following:

Visit irs.gov/refunds or the official IRS2Go mobile app. These remain the best ways to check the status of a refund. The official IRS2Go smartphone app is available in both English and Spanish on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon. 

The IRS will update their projected deposit dates for early EITC and ACTC refund filers a few days after Feb 15. Until then, taxpayers will not see a refund date on irs.gov/refunds or the official IRS2Go mobile app. While checking online won’t speed up the arrival of a refund check, these resources can help consumers better plan for any cash shortfall a refund delay causes.

President Trump’s Executive Order threatens rules that have saved millions of lives – National Consumers League

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The Trump Administration is waging war on regulations. The President signed an Executive Order this week demanding that with every new regulation, two must be rescinded. This is one of the most arbitrary and dangerous edicts ever sprung on Americans. We call on Mr. Trump to rethink this reckless Executive Order.

The premise of this edict is that regulations are red tape inflicted on well-intentioned corporations by bureaucrats who have nothing better to do than entangle business in useless red tape. That premise is false. Regulations ensure the safety and health of the public, including consumers of all ages. They provide critical protections for babies, toddlers, adult consumers, and workers; they protect our marshlands, wetlands, and wilderness; keep our air and water clean and healthy; ensure that we respect animals and wildlife, and so much more. To propose a blanket policy of eliminating two for every new one without knowing why is foolhardy.

A case in point: this week, three people testified at a hearing organized by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Bill Nelson, (D-FL), and moderated by Rachel Weintraub of the Consumer Federation of America. Relatives from two families who had lost a child and another with a near miss caused by dangerously designed products. Regulations are intended to address these gaps.

Think slats in cribs that were so wide that kids heads got caught and they strangled. Not anymore due to regulations.  Think regulations requiring child proof caps on bottles of bleach or medicine . Thousands of kids are alive today because of these regulations. The truth of the matter is–regulations save lives.

One of the witnesses at the hearing rescued his daughter from what could have been a fatal accident. Turns out, the company had already had 80+ incidents, but denied there was a problem when the Dad called to report it.  A mother told of her infant son’s death due to a supplemental mattress in a portable crib that suffocated him. The Grandfather of a girl strangled by a cord in a window blind – a hazard consumer advocates have been in trying to address for years – is one that has killed too many children. He talked about being pro-life, just like VP Mike Pence, but wondered protecting the kids already here isn’t getting the same attention.

Regulations don’t come out of left field. I’ve read and commented on scores of them. They are vitally important, developed in a thoughtful and deliberative manner under the Administrative Procedures Act; they require open comment periods and are frequently revised based on feedback from industry and consumers. Most require a cost-benefit analysis

The National Consumers League has a long record of advocating for consumer protections on products and in the workplace. Safe design of children’s toys and nursery items, such as cribs and high chairs, keep children and teens from working in the fields, where they are exposed to pesticides, heat, and tobacco poisoning. NCL supported regs to reduce worker exposure to coal or silica, which causes illness and sometimes death. We support the CPSC’s proposal for newly designed table saws that will prevent the 35,000 amputations each year from these devices. New technology can prevent nearly 100% of these excruciating injuries that cause lifelong pain and disability. Why wouldn’t we jump at this chance to have this groundbreaking injury prevention?

Let’s imagine a scenario in which we had no regulations to ensure our air quality. Would American cities become like those in India and China where citizens can’t go outside many days? Or imagine that we had no regulations on water quality. Our children might ingest high levels of lead or chemical runoff, leading to high incidences of cancer, which is exactly what happened to the residents of Woburn, MA because of industrial run off in their water. Rather than repealing these vital regulations, Americans should be grateful that we have a democratic process for keeping our families safe.

Below are examples of but a few regulations that save and protect consumers’ and workers’ lives:

Consumer regulations

  • The Refrigerator Safety Act (1956): This rule required all refrigerator doors to open from the inside to prevent children from being trapped and suffocating inside of them. The number of children suffocating in refrigerators has dwindled to almost none since refrigerators were redesigned under this rule.
  • Automatic garage door sensor (1990): A regulation that required garage door sensors preventing children from being entrapped. Since 1982, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) had reports of 54 children between the ages of two and 14 who died after becoming entrapped under doors with automatic openers. There have been zero reports of children becoming entrapped under garage doors since this rule went into effect.
  • Trunk Release (2001): During July-August 1998, at least 11 American children died in three separate incidents of car trunk entrapment. Many individuals have died entrapped in trunks over the decades. Consumer advocates succeeded in getting florescent yellow trunk releases required in every vehicle model in the years after 1998. Since trunk releases have been installed, advocates haven’t found a single case of death in cars where those releases were put in. The cost of these trunk releases is de minimus.

Worker regulations

  • Hard hats: An OSHA regulation requires hard hats to be worn in workplaces where there is a potential for injury from falling objects, such as in construction zones or other hazardous locations. There have been many cases in sectors such as industrial, construction, and mining, where hard hats have prevented workers from suffering serious head injuries and sometimes-fatal accidents. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011 almost 393 fatal injuries were caused by exposure to falling or flying objects and equipment at workplaces. Hard hats generally cost less than $10 each.
  • Rule to reduce miners’ exposure to respirable coal dust (2014): According to data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (also known as black lung) was a cause or contributing factor in the death of more than 76,000 miners since 1968. Caused by breathing unhealthy coal mine dust, this disease has cost more than $45 billion dollars in federal compensation benefits. After the 2014 rule’s enactment, we’ve seen the lowest fatal and injury rates in mining history.
  • OSHA rule requiring safety belts and harness working on stored materials in silos, grain bins, or other similar storage areas: Three workers (from Iowa, Michigan, and North Dakota) were killed in 2011 when they were engulfed (buried or trapped) by grain while on the job. In Texas, a fourth worker was also buried in grain, but was rescued and survived. Suffocation from engulfment is a leading cause of death in grain bins and the number of these deaths continues to rise. In fact, the number of deaths more than doubled between 2006 and 2010. These fatalities are preventable if employers follow work practices and provide training and equipment as required by OSHA’s Grain Handling Facilities standard, 29 CFR 1910.272.

Regulations save lives. Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. If there are unnecessary regulations, let the President and his cabinet secretaries tell us why and make their case. No one wants unnecessary red tape, but if this Executive Order is an excuse to repeal safety and health protections, that’s not okay, and all Americans – including the most vulnerable consumers – our children – will pay the price.

America needs the CFPB now more than ever – National Consumers League

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SG-headshot.jpgGiven the multiple fusillades the week-old Trump Administration has lobbed at civil liberties, the environment, and abortion rights, the attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) might seem rather minor. But nothing could be further from the truth. Two Republican Senators are asking President Trump to remove the director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray.

As the New York Times pointed out this weekend:

“The bureau is the only federal agency with the sole mission of looking out for Americans in their dealings with banks and other lenders. CFPB’s investigations have yielded ‘$12 billion to millions of Americans in the past five years—money that otherwise would have enriched lenders through high and hidden fees on bank accounts and credit cards, predatory mortgages, deceptive terms in student loans, illegal debt collection from military service members and unfair auto loans.”

As Liz Weston argued, the Bureau has done a tremendous amount in five short years including:

  • Created rules requiring lenders to consider people’s ability to repay a mortgage and curbed their ability to make the risky loans.
  • Ordered lenders that were illegally overcharging service members to refund millions of dollars to their military borrowers.
  • Forced multiple credit card issuers—including American Express, Bank of America, Chase, and Citibank—to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to consumers over illegal practices, including unfair billing and deceptive marketing.
  • Got the credit bureaus to finally update their dispute-processing software so that documents submitted by consumers, such as account statements or receipts, could be forwarded to companies reporting incorrect information.
  • Took steps to rein in the debt collection industry, including fining Chase $136 million for selling “zombie debts” to debt buyers that included accounts that were already settled, discharged in bankruptcy or simply not owed.

The CFPB also studied forced arbitration in consumer contracts and recommended outlawing them.

If the goal is to protect the average American from financial service exploitation, this is the most important agency we have. Cordray is an extraordinary public servant who has taken the Bureau through many challenging projects and has played the all-critical cop on the beat. This is one agency that is good for everyone across the political spectrum.

Hidden fees and the decline of the empowered consumer – National Consumers League

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byoung-92.jpgA fair and competitive marketplaces requires that consumers have the ability to make informed decisions and easily compare prices. A new report from the White House, however, finds that it’s becoming harder, not easier, for consumers to compare prices thanks to the proliferation of hidden fees in many industries.

One example the report cites is the growth of mandatory hotel resort fees, which are not included in advertised room prices. These fees make one room look artificially cheaper than a similar room that doesn’t charge a resort fee. And because it’s a mandatory fee, there’s no way for consumers to avoid it. This hurts competition by making it harder for consumers to find the “true” lowest room rates.

Another example is airline fees. Until recently, consumers could use an online travel agent and accurately compare the price of a plane ticket. Now, airlines are charging high fees for services that used to be included in the airfare, like baggage, seat assignments, and the ability to change or cancel a ticket. With some so-called “ultra low-cost” carriers, these fees can make a “deal” on airfare actually more expensive than buying a ticket from a traditional airline that doesn’t nickel-and-dime their customers.

Hidden fees are not just limited to airlines and hotels, either. The White House report details how companies in the automotive, banking, and telecom sectors hide their real prices from consumers by baking fees into their price structures. In short, the report argues that companies wanting to play fair with their customers are put at a disadvantage when their competitors look cheaper by deceptively burying fees in the fine print. This has profound and negative effects on competition and consumer welfare.

The White House report found three distinct ways that these deceptive pricing strategies are harming consumers. First, this pricing strategy prevents consumers from accurately comparing prices and may lead them to make the wrong shopping choices. Consumers who invest time in a checkout process that includes a steady drip of add-on fees are unlikely to restart the research and buying process over once the vendor reveals the true cost of a product. Thus, the typical consumer is likely to pay the extra costs even if the “deal” they found is no longer the cheaper or best option for them.

Second, the report found that these hidden fees condition consumers to think that a low price just means they will be slammed with fees at checkout. This in turn makes it harder for new cost-cutting competitors to enter the market since consumers just expect to be saddled with fees no matter what they do.

Finally, the report suggested that these fees may facilitate price collusion amongst competitors, particularly in the airline industry. Specifically, the report finds that these add-on fees provide an ideal anchor for coordinated pricing “because they are typically set at the national level and fluctuate less frequently than the base prices themselves.” Such practices are easily observed when, with few exceptions, all of the major U.S. airlines priced their ticket change fees in the same range. This pricing strategy has allowed the North American airlines to collect nearly $11 billion in 2015 off of de facto mandatory fees such as baggage and change fees.

 

The White House report provides a sobering account of the rise of hidden fees and the harm these deceptive pricing practices create. In its report, the White House stated that “consumers and consumer groups play a crucial role in moderating fees.” It is with this call to action in mind that NCL will continue to call attention to companies that increase hidden fees instead of competing in a fair and transparent way.

The people have spoken: Let’s rebuild our nation’s consumer friendly infrastructure – National Consumers League

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byoung-92.jpgWhile many people are questioning what the election results mean for our country, one thing is certain: Americans are demanding more public transportation funding. Thirty-three out of 48 public transit ballot measures were approved, meaning voters voluntarily agreed to pay more taxes or authorized their state and local municipalities to borrow money to improve their infrastructure. The bottom line is that voters who had the opportunity to vote for increased public transit options overwhelmingly chose to do so.

To transportation policy wonks, this does not come as a shock. Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) releases a report card that assess the condition of everything from our bridges and roads, to our rail and transit systems. The most recent report card gave the U.S. a D+ average, in large part due to the chronic underinvestment in infrastructure which is hurting the pocket books of consumers. The ASCE estimates that consumers will need to fork out an extra $3,400 per year, or $9 per day, in needless auto repairs due to pothole damage and the increased delivery costs carriers are forced to pass onto consumers due to added vehicle maintenance costs, and traffic congestion.

Additionally, Americans are also having their valuable time wasted as they spend countless hours in traffic or grappling with a crumbling public transportation system. The 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard estimates that consumers wasted an average of 42 hours sitting in traffic, with many urban locations like Washington, DC, wasting nearly double that commuting in outdated and inefficient infrastructure. Experts predict that the waiting game commuters are forced to confront each day will only worsen if our leaders continue to neglect making the necessary investments. Some analysts believe that by 2020, the amount of time Americans waste stuck in traffic will grow from 42 hours to 47 hours.

Unfortunately, the effects of chronic underinvestment in transportation infrastructure do not stop there. The lives of consumers are also being put at risk. In 2014, 4,884 pedestrians died and 65,000 were injured in traffic accidents. Many of these accidents could have been prevented with proper pedestrian infrastructure. In that same year, 726 bicyclists died and an additional 50,000 were injured; as with the pedestrians, many of these bicyclists could have had their lives saved had proper bike-friendly infrastructure been in place.   

With all of the financial, safety, and time benefits associated with improving our transportation infrastructure, it is not surprising that 70 percent of Americans want more funding to go to public infrastructure. Additionally, the Rockefeller Foundation found that 47 percent of millennials would happily give up their cars if their city had an efficient public transportation system. In spite of these encouraging trends in public opinion, local, state, and federal governments remain hesitant to provide the critical funding to maintain our infrastructure or increase public transportation options.

Investing in infrastructure will create jobs and in turn, save consumers time and money. If we fail to take action however, the infrastructure crisis will only continue to worsen. Fortunately, in the last election cycle, not only did voters choose to support public transportation funding but, both parties—including President-Elect Trump—promised a big investment in public infrastructure. It is now time for Washington to get to work and deliver on these promises. Consumers need smart investments to be made in maintaining our current roads and bridges, as well as a heavy expansion in public transportation and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

The dark side of 2016 holiday gift-giving – National Consumers League

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This blog post was originally published in the Huffington Post.

Holiday shopping season is already well underway. In fact, if you haven’t started putting your credit cards to use and checking gifts for loved ones off your lists, you might feel behind already. This year, Christmas-gift-purchasing Americans said they expected to spend an average of $831, according to Gallup—no small expense for most of us. And nearly one in three of us expects to spend $1,000 or more on Christmas gifts this year. But there’s a dark side to the enthusiastic holiday gift-buying…

 

… and giving that a majority of us doesn’t realize: many of the gifts we purchase to wear, eat, or use on a daily basis are made by the tiny hands of exploited child laborers aged anywhere from four to 17.

On six continents, in more than 70 countries, child labor contributes to the production of more than 130 categories of products—many of which will sit wrapped in foil and ribbon under American Christmas trees later this month.

Popular products that are gifted during the holidays such as diamonds, electronics, gold, and leather are produced by child labor in dozens of countries under some of the harshest conditions. Around the world more than a million children are toiling in dangerous mines producing metals like gold and tin and lesser known minerals like cobalt and tantalum that end up in our cell phones and other electronic gear. Children also work with caustic chemicals in leather tanneries—another dangerous job.

In addition to those expensive gifts, food products such as coffee, hazelnuts, and sugar cane are items that end up in classic American holiday treats like the gingerbread cookies and flavored lattes that we treasure with friends and family this time of year.

Today, an estimated 168 million children around the world are trapped in child labor, with about half working in hazardous conditions, performing back-breaking work, in dangerous heat, with insufficient protections, inadequate breaks, and lacking the physical abilities to meet the demands of work that is truly meant for adults.

Recently, the Child Labor Coalition developed the “ABC’s of Child Labor,” a short film narrated by children that explores how alarmingly widespread child labor is globally. In the brief film, four American elementary school kids go through the products—from A to Z—that are still today touched by child labor. You would be shocked to learn that, in this day and age, so many industries are still dependent on the ugliest forms of labor, that which preys on children who shouldn’t be considered eligible to perform it.

Unlike the four young narrators of the film, millions of children around the world will never have access to the education needed to become successful, prosperous, healthy adults. Instead, they spend their childhood stuck mining diamonds for tennis bracelets or harvesting cocoa for our Christmas Eve hot chocolates, robbed of that opportunity. We urge you to watch the film and to help us educate the public about the prevalence of child labor by sharing it with your friends.

America’s holiday traditions are often our most extravagant, excessive celebrations—which we look forward to, revel in, and remember fondly. But against the backdrop of the plight of young, exploited workers toiling in production of the overpriced bobbles and gadgets we lavish on each other this time of year, these gifts carry a very dark side.

We must not turn our backs from this reality, as hard as it is to face in light of the consumerism many of us embrace this time of year. If the fact that children are involved in the production of the goods you buy—in 2016—bothers you, you can do something about it. You can support the groups, like the Child Labor Coalition or its members, who fight every day to eradicate child labor in the U.S. and abroad. You can also download the Sweat and Toil smartphone app from the Department of Labor, and use it to research which products are made from child labor and forced labor.

Don’t let the opportunity this holiday season to take a stand for working children pass you by. This year, be informed about the products you purchase so you can give them with a clean conscience.

Preying on the vulnerable – National Consumers League

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cheniahd_92.jpgEarlier this November, NCL held a meeting with our Alliance Against Fraud coalition. We had presenters from the Federal Trade Commission (FCC) representing the government and AARP representing advocacy interests. If Frank Abagnale Jr. of Catch Me If You Can, and AARP’s newest spokesperson, taught us anything, it’s that scammers know their targets and their sights are almost always set on the most vulnerable consumers. Scammers also work together by distributing “sucker lists” amongst themselves that keep victims at the mercy of scammers.As AARP can attest, older Americans are frequent scam victims. Perhaps you’ve heard about the “grandparent scam.” In grandparent scam scenarios, fraudsters claim to be calling on behalf of a grandchild asking for funds to bail themselves or another loved one out of jail or out of some trouble. It was discussed that some scammers actually monitor obituaries of grandparents to find the information of a grandchild to use that name when making the call to the surviving grandparent.

They convince the grandparent that their loved one needs their money and direct the victim to a store to load money onto a gift card. Once the codes on that card are sent to the scammer, there is no turning back, the money is gone.

A new trend revealed at the meeting was that scammers are increasingly turning to iTunes, Target, and Amazon gift cards as payment methods. These cards, unlike credit or debit cards, don’t offer robust anti-fraud protection. Even wire transfer services like Western Union and MoneyGram–which have historically been a favored payment method amongst fraudsters–now have more protective anti-fraud protection protocols. But, as we’ve seen, as soon as one tactic starts to fail, scammers will undoubtedly find a new way to take advantage of victims.

In an interview with CBS News’ Carter Evans, a former scammer noted that elderly people are more “gullible, accessible, more likely to get emotionally invested and likely to do anything for their grandchildren.” It should also be noted that the strength of the bond between grandchild and grandparent will sometimes facilitate the willingness of the grandparent to not involve the child’s parents. We can keep older Americans and immigrants safe from scams that exploit them. NCL’s Fraud.org website and AARP’s Fraud Watch Network offer tips and resources for detecting and avoiding scams. For victims or family members of fraud victims, we suggest filing a complaint at Fraud.org or with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-382-4357.

Victory for hourly workers in four states despite the nation’s turn to the right – National Consumers League

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SG_HEADSHOT.jpgWhile American voters elected a president who campaigned against all things liberal on Tuesday, four states supported minimum wage increases in the same election. These add a measure of hope that progressive agenda issues can succeed, even in a year when progressives are not elected to the highest office.The winning tallies will raise hourly wages in Colorado, Arizona, Maine, and Washington. In Washington State, the wage will rise to $13.50 by 2020 and to $12 per hour in others, in the same time frame.

According to the Wall Street Journal, that would put them on the level of what is deemed the current statewide living wage by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living-wage calculator, which uses location-specific expenditure data to estimate the wage needed to support an individual or family in a given area.

The nonprofit Ballot Initiative Strategy Center helped to get these measures passed and by the look of things, they are very good at it. The group describes itself as “the only progressive organization that works across the many policy, organizing and political organizations, with local, state and national players to analyze and support the ballot measure landscape.”

In the one state, Arizona, that supported an increased minimum wage and also supported Donald Trump for president, education groups and about 200 local small businesses supported the measure, saying it would be better for their employees and the community as a whole. They won by a whopping 59 to 41 percent! The current minimum wage equates to about $17,000 a year. Both local and national groups put about $1.6 million into the campaign to support Prop. 206. Apparently, the restaurants and other businesses that opposed it didn’t put any money behind their campaign, which might explain the lopsided win.

The Washington state measure was backed by labor unions and worker advocates and appears to have won by a wide margin. Supporters argued that the state’s current minimum wage isn’t enough to live on, and a boost would mean workers have more to spend. They also argued that many workers don’t have access to paid sick leave, posing a public-health problem.

Business groups opposed the initiative, saying that while Seattle’s booming economy can support a high minimum wage, the rest of the state isn’t faring so well. Boosting the minimum wage in those areas could lead to higher prices and cuts in jobs and work hours, they say.

The Maine provision had a 56 percent lead when The Associated Press called the measure yesterday, while the effort in Colorado garnered around 55 percent of counted votes, compared with 44.9 percent against.

These resounding votes in support of minimum wage hikes are certainly an interesting development. They seem to show that the public largely supports fair wages for hourly workers, even in states that lean right. That’s an important message for progressives in an election year when not much went their way.

Updated November 10, 2016: Voters chose health in California and Boulder, Colorado, where measures were passed on November 8, 2016 to tax sugary beverages in hopes to decrease high rates of chronic disease and fund more public health programs.

Fighting penny soda tax gets pricey – National Consumers League

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Sally GreenbergEditor’s note: The measures discussed in this piece were approved on Election Day, 2016.

It’s hard to believe that corporate America would throw so much money fighting a penny-per-ounce tax on sodas, but that is exactly what’s happening in San Francisco and Oakland. The soft drink industry has thrown $50 million in efforts to fight this tax on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Sweetened beverages have been tied to diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay. Public health experts see measures to raise prices as a way to drive down consumption, which is the last thing Big Soda would want to promote.

These soda tax measures are proliferating. In June, Philadelphia adopted a soda tax, beating back a $10 million industry campaign petitioning it. Berkeley, CA passed its own tax two years ago. Boulder, CO is voting on a 2 cent tax today, and three California cities (San Francisco, Oakland, and Albany) will also have a sugary drink tax on the ballot. This is all happening as consumption of soda is slipping nationally.

These measures are similar: they would impose a tax of a penny per ounce on any drink with added sweetener, including soft drinks, iced teas, and smoothies. The taxes would be imposed on beverage distributors, not at checkout. Evidence from current soda taxes suggests price increases will be passed through to retailers, and, according to the New York Times, the price of a 2-liter bottle might increase 67 cents and a 12-pack of sodas would go up $1.44.

If the soda tax can achieve its dual goal: reducing consumption of sweetened drinks and using the proceeds for community and health initiatives, then this will be a success. NCL supports these efforts, and we wait eagerly to see whether both of these laudable goals will be achieved.