Advocacy group to DC Mayor Gray: Veto of LRAA shameful – National Consumers League

/in /by

September 12, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org 

Washington, DC– Today the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy group expressed its disappointment at Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray’s vetoing of the Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA), legislation that would dramatically improve the lives of some minimum-wage workers in the District. The Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), which had previously supported the Act and praised the DC City Council for its passage, is today calling on the Council to override the Mayor’s veto. The LRAA would require DC retailers whose parent companies do more than $1 billion in sales to pay their employees the DC living wage and benefits of $12.50 an hour. 

NCL has a long history of supporting the interests of workers and consumers since its founding in 1899, and NCL’s first General Secretary, Florence Kelley, wrote the first state minimum wage legislation.

“We urge the DC City Council to override the Mayor’s veto on the Large Retailer Accountability Act and support the bill’s principles, to ‘safeguard the public health, safety, welfare and prosperity of all Washingtonians, the District must establish a code of conduct for responsible retailers in our community, ensuring that large retailers pay their workers a living wage and provide affordable health benefits,’” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director.

“This bill would affect some of the most profitable companies in the world, corporations that can well afford to improve the wages and working conditions of their employees without diminishing their profits. The City Council should stand up for workers, especially when companies can afford to pay them more. If the LRAA is enacted, taxpayers could stop subsidizing the paltry wages these retail giants pay. This law will help lift workers out of poverty,” said Greenberg.

The LRAA passed the City Council with an 8 to 5 in July. One more vote is needed – a total of 9 votes – to override the Mayor’s veto.

###

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.

NCL applauds Rep. Eshoo for addressing consumer harm caused by tv blackouts – National Consumers League

/in /by

September 11, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC –The National Consumers League, the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, today applauded Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18) for introducing the Video CHOICE (Consumers Have Options in Choosing Entertainment) Act.

The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

“Consumers should not be the pawns in the never-ending games of chicken between multi-billion dollar cable companies and broadcast networks. The increasing frequency of television blackouts — 91 in 2012 alone and 80 already this year – demonstrate that the current legal framework regarding retransmission consent is broken. The Video CHOICE Act recognizes this and seeks to implement a range of reforms. We look forward to a thorough debate on the proposals raised by Congresswoman Eshoo.” 

###

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.

LifeSmarts launches 20th anniversary season with all new LifeSmarts.org, other exciting expansions – National Consumers League

/in /by

September 9, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 207-2832, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The 2013-2014 LifeSmarts season is officially underway this week, with a new competition year going live at the program’s revamped online home, LifeSmarts.org, along with a variety of new coaching and study resources, new opportunities for participants, and new state programs across the country. LifeSmarts is an educational competition run by the National Consumers League that tests middle school and high school students nationwide on real-life consumer issues through online quizzes and live competition. It culminates in the annual national LifeSmarts championship, taking place this season in Orlando, FL, where winning teams and individuals are awarded academic scholarships and prizes. 

“We’re thrilled to be launching this, our 20th year of LifeSmarts,” said Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “LifeSmarts delivers life skills to students and allows them to shine in competitions where they demonstrate their knowledge of personal finance and consumer issues. It also provides thousands of teachers across the country with up-to-date, broad-based consumer education resources.”

Over the years, LifeSmarts has steadily grown in numbers of student and adult participants, state partnerships, and corporate sponsorships. In the most recent season, an estimated 100,000 students and teachers across the country answered more than 3.5 million LifeSmarts questions. This month, LifeSmarts has unveiled a new Web site with better navigation, usability, and social media integration.

“LifeSmarts content is keeping up with an increasingly challenging marketplace, providing the consumer literacy teens need to become the next generation of smart consumers and workers, and the materials are used both for competition and for classroom curriculum across the country,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “The all-new LifeSmarts.org will help students and coaches use study materials more easily, excel at competition, and share their success with others. We are excited to see what new and returning LifeSmarts teens think of the new online home.”

LifeSmarts provides participants with practical advice and information on consumer issues ranging from personal finance and health and safety to the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities. Starting online each fall, the competition progresses to live state play-offs, and then builds to a high-spirited National Championship. At last year’s national competition held in Atlanta, the Florida team took home top honors after competing for four days against state champion teams from across the country.

Later this month, LifeSmarts will also roll out a major expansion to its LifeSmarts program in partnership with the global safety science company Underwriters Laboratories, UL, providing participants with a community service learning opportunity in their communities.

The National Consumers League partners with volunteer state coordinators in 30 states including Better Business Bureaus, credit unions, consumer protection agencies, and State FCCLA organizations. Interested students and adults can visit the LifeSmarts Web site to connect with the program in their state.

“The National Consumers League’s mission is to inspire confidence and safety in the marketplace,” said Greenberg. “The LifeSmarts program, our consumer education initiative for youth, fosters students’ understanding of consumer issues and provides them with real-world knowledge they will need to take charge of their lives.”

Major LifeSmarts contributors include Visa, Experian, Google, Western Union, UL, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC, American Express, CBM Credit Education Foundation, and others. 

Visit the new LifeSmarts.org. LifeSmarts: Learn it. Live it.

###

About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

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.

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org, or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

Buyer Beware: Walgreens prices all over the map – National Consumers League

/in /by

September 5, 2013

Contact: Matt Painter, Change to Win Retail Initiatives, 646.705.3128,  matthew.painter@changetowin.org
Ben Klein, National Consumers League, 202.207.2832, benk@nclnet.org

New York, September 5, 2013 –Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) shoppers could be paying too much depending on which location of the chain they choose, with stores in the same market offering the same products for up to 55 percent more.  A new study of several markets throughout the country finds that price variation across Walgreens locations was up to five times higher than at Rite Aid and two-and-a-half times higher than CVS. The report, released by Change to Win (CtW) Retail Initiatives in partnership with the National Consumers League (NCL), compiles data on a basket of 25 items at 485 CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid locations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, and Orange County, California.

(Download PDF survey factsheets: national overview, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, and Orange County.)

“Certainly consumers expect different chains to offer different deals,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of NCL, the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization. “But price variation within a single chain is a wake-up call for consumers, who don’t tend to shop around and compare within a chain. This is a reminder that caveat emptor – let the buyer beware – applies even within the same chain, where prices may vary depending on where you’re shopping.”

Key findings for all markets surveyed include:

  • Walgreens prices were all over the map.  Walgreens stores in a single market were up to five times more likely than a competitor to charge different prices for the same item.  This price variation was not limited to one or two items; researchers encountered storewide price differences at Walgreens at a rate several times higher than the other chains in most markets.
  • Price differences at Walgreens often meant consumers were paying more.  In every market surveyed, Walgreens had the greatest percentage of products that cost at least 10 percent more than the market’s lowest price.
  • Walgreens had the biggest price differences between its stores.  In all markets surveyed, Walgreens had twice the number of products with a 20 percent or greater price range than did CVS.  Rite Aid had virtually no products with that big of a gap.  Walgreens also had significantly more items with a price range of a dollar or greater.

The study includes several tips for how shoppers can get the best price at drugstore chains. Tips include avoiding Walgreens flagship stores and asking managers about price matching.

“Price variation isn’t fair to consumers, who need their dollars to stretch in a tough economy and deserve to get the best price available, regardless of which Walgreens they happen to walk into,” said Nell Geiser, Research Director of CtW Retail Initiatives.

Since there are no Rite Aid stores in Dallas-Fort Worth, researchers only visited CVS and Walgreens locations in that market.

(Download PDF survey factsheets: national overview, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, and Orange County.)

###

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, 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. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

About Change to Win Retail Initiatives

Change to Win Retail Initiatives is committed to making retailers more accountable and transparent to all stakeholders.

NCL is pleased that the long overdue Silica Rule has been released – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 26, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323,  benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC — The National Consumers League cheers the release of the long overdue rule that will shield workers from excessive exposure to silica dust. The rule, released by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), lowers the legal limit of silica dust that workers are permitted to breath to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

There are an estimated 2.2 million American workers exposed to silica dust every year; about 1.8 million of those work in the construction industry. Many of these workers are exposed to silica dust when cutting, drilling, or grinding material.  Exposure can lead to silicosis, as well as increased susceptibility to lung cancer, kidney disease, and autoimmune disorders. This new regulation is estimated to save 700 lives and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis annually, according to OSHA.

“The release of this critical worker safety rule is long overdue,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “For over a decade limits on worker exposure to silica dust have been stymied by industry opposition and stalled by needless bureaucracy. During that time, thousands of workers have lost their lives or suffered grave illness. We are pleased that OSHA has finally taken necessary steps to address safety for millions of construction workers. There was no excuse for this rule to be held up.  NCL, the nation’s oldest consumer and worker advocacy group, urges the Obama administration to release other common sense rules passed by Congress or developed by federal agencies to improve worker safety.”

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, 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. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Consumer, worker advocacy group congratulates UMWA for ratifying union settlement – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 14, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323,  benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC — The National Consumers League, the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, congratulates members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) who work at Patriot Coal plants in Kentucky and West Virginia for ratifying a settlement the union reached with the company.

“We are gratified for our UMWA brothers and sisters, active workers and retirees alike, that a settlement with the company has been reached. We applaud union members for making it clear that they are willing to do their part to keep Patriot operating, keep their jobs, and ensure that thousands of retirees continue getting the health care they depend on and deserve,” said Sally Greenberg, the League’s Executive Director.

“This agreement will provide a way forward for current mine workers to continue in their jobs, provide for their families, and be strong economic drivers of their local communities. We realize that the current agreement will not provide lifetime health benefits to retired worker, but we are hopeful that Congress will enact legislation that ensures the government’s promises to provide health care to retired miners is kept.”

NCL has long been allied with the cause of American workers and has a close and abiding relationship with the UMWA. In 2012, NCL honored UMWA President Cecil Roberts with the Trumpeter Award, NCL’s highest honor.

In April of this year, NCL joined a protest in St. Louis aimed at Patriot Coal’s bankruptcy that placed in jeopardy the pension and heath care benefits of UMWA retirees. NCL believes that Patriot was set up to fail when it was formed by Peabody with more liabilities than assets in 2007. We stand with our brothers and sisters at the UMWA and will continue to pressure legislators, Peabody, and Arch, to live up to the agreements they made with workers. There’s no harder or more arduous job than going down into the mines for 12 hours a day. The work results in ailments from breathing in coal dust and Black Lung disease to injuries caused by the hard labor involved in mining. It’s only fair that these miners and their families get good lifetime health care and a decent retirement plan.

###

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.

National Consumers League statement on FCC actions to make prison phone rates affordable – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 14, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323,  benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League, the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, today applauded the Federal Communications Commission for taking action to make prison telephone calling rates more affordable for millions of inmates and their families. The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League:

“Years of struggle by prisoner justice advocates were rewarded last week when the FCC passed long-overdue reforms to cap inmate calling rates. We applaud not only their efforts, but also the leadership shown on this issue by acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. By capping rates for interstate long distance calls, the Commission ensured that millions of incarcerated Americans and their loved ones will be able to stay in touch without imposing exorbitant costs on strained family budgets.”

###

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.

NCL applauds the fifth anniversary of Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 12, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323,  benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League joins with our consumer colleagues and all other Americans in celebrating this week the fifth anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 14, 2008 and was the first major update to the authorizing legislation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal safety agency created in 1974.

The Commission came into being after Congress concluded that thousands of injuries annually from consumer products – including those leading to deaths of infants and young children from such diverse products as ingested nonfood items, poisons under the sink and in the medicine cabinet, over the counter drugs, dangerous garage doors, or poorly designed cribs, high chairs, and toys – needed the attention of a federal safety agency.

The CPSC today conducts research, holds hearings, issues safety regulations, and recalls products. And like the CPSC, the CPSIA had the overwhelming support of a bipartisan group of Senators and House members. The reforms include:

CPSIA enabled several significant safety breakthroughs:

“The reforms put in place by the CSPIA were long sought efforts by consumer advocates: a database for consumers to check safety before buying, a more effective recall system, mandatory testing of infant and toddler products before they hit the market, all of these sometimes seemed like impossible goals. It took a crisis and parents realizing that many children’s toys contained unacceptable levels of lead to get Congress to act.”

“NCL applauds the many consumer groups who worked overtime to get this law over the finish line, and thank the bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives who saw the need for these reforms and supported the bill. Today’s families are far less likely to face the terrible consequences of a toy laced with lead or a poorly designed crib,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s Executive Director.

“It’s hard to account for tragic events that don’t happen because of stronger safety standards. One statistic helps prove the point: 50 years ago, about 400 children a year died from unintentional poisoning, mostly from aspirin. Today, about 40 children a year die, still too many, but a 90 percent reduction in deaths that is due directly to CPSC regulations on packaging and child proof caps. And they work. We know that CPSIA reforms will work as well to save lives and prevent injuries. Happy Fifth Anniversary to this important legislation.”

###

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.

Consumers are ultimate losers in retransmission consent fights – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 6, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The ongoing carriage dispute between Time Warner Cable and CBS underscores the fact that the current retransmission consent regime is broken. Broadcasters have a systematic advantage over cable companies in these disputes – a fact that they continue to use to extract ever-higher carriage fees. Those costs are inevitably passed along on consumers’ cable bills.

The fallout from this dispute is now affecting more than just cable television subscribers. CBS is currently blocking subscribers of Time Warner Cable’s Internet service from its online content as well. This practice is reportedly affecting Time Warner Cable’s Internet service users indiscriminately, whether they are also cable television subscribers or not.

In response, the National Consumers League today called for movement towards much-needed reforms of broadcast retransmission consent rules to address the recurring threat of service disruptions and rising cable bills.  

“The current state of retransmission consent regulations leave consumers with two unappealing choices,” said John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud. “Rising consumer cable bills are due in no small part to broadcasters’ continual push for higher carriage fees. If a cable company plays hardball in negotiations, consumers risk paying for nothing when the broadcasters’ channels go dark. Either way, consumers lose.”

More than two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would partially address these ongoing disputes. The current Time Warner Cable-CBS squabble should demonstrate to the FCC that it cannot simply leave this proceeding open and hope the problem solves itself.  

In March of this year, former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told a Senate oversight panel that it “may be time to update those provisions to reduce the chances of blackouts during retransmission consent negotiations.” We couldn’t agree more. Consumers deserve an end to the never-ending cycle of higher fees and service disruptions. We urge acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and incoming Chairman Tom Wheeler to give this issue the time and attention it deserves.

###

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.

Consumer group strongly opposes the proposed REINS Act – National Consumers League

/in /by

August 1, 2013

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League expresses strong opposition to a bill the House will consider shortly that we believe will undermine critically important consumer protections. The so-called “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (the REINS Act),” “H.R. 367” is an ill-conceived measure that would undercut the ability of federal agencies to protect consumers from unsafe food, predatory financial products and schemes, and dangerous consumer products. The federal rulemaking process is already lengthy and difficult and this bill would only make it even more time-consuming, expensive, and burdensome for federal agencies to propose consumer protection measures. We believe the end result will be harm to American consumers.

The REINS Act requires that any agency that issues a rule with an economic impact of $100 million or more obtain approval from both houses of Congress of the entire rule without changes, within 70 legislative days of the rule’s being received by Congress. If both chambers do not approve the rule within this time frame, it cannot take effect and is tabled until the following congressional session.

This legislation affects all major rules, even the vast majority that are not controversial. With few exceptions, if Congress fails to act in the allotted time, the rule could not be brought up again until the next Congress and would not be implemented. This hurdle would be virtually impossible for important consumer protection rules to overcome.  The bill strips away the authority of federal agencies that Congress created to develop expertise on how to protect American consumers from dangerous products, tainted food and predatory financial products and services. Most agencies will simply give up trying to protect consumers. If an agency were to persist in its efforts, it would face the prospect of squandering enormous resources to research, write and evaluate an important consumer protection rule, only to be stymied by well-funded special interests able to bottle up the proposed rule in a single house of Congress over a short period of time.

In the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, and the Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, Congress delegated rulemaking authority to regulatory agencies precisely because that is the purpose and function of these agencies. Congress has a critical role to play in holding hearings and enacting legislation to address national problems. The regulatory agencies have the expertise to then craft and adopt rules in the highly technical areas governed by each bill. If Congress were to now reverse course and put itself into the role of approving all new rules, the result would be regulatory gridlock at great cost to the health and well being of our citizens.

The REINS Act would add a significant impediment to a regulatory process that already is fraught with delays in the implementation of important consumer protections. Further, this bill would give a majority of members of one chamber of Congress the ability to prevent any consumer protection from becoming law even if the rule is not controversial, is supported by the public and is necessary to protect American consumers. This bill hijacks the process for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and must be stopped.  We urge members of the House of Representatives to oppose this unfortunate and ill-conceived legislation.

If adopted, the REINS Acts would waste federal resources, minimize the ability of federal agencies to do their jobs to protect the public and ultimately harm American consumers. We strongly urge you to oppose this bill.

###

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.