National Consumers League statement on White House action on data security – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

October 17, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) today applauded the Obama Administration for its action to address the need for great data security protections for consumers’ sensitive information.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director:

As the number and magnitude of data breaches pile up, it is clear that more must be done to address the vulnerability of consumers’ personal financial information. When consumers’ data is compromised, real harm is done. Whether it be due to missed payments when debit or credit cards are canceled or the increased threat of identity theft, consumers pay the price when their data isn’t sufficiently protected.

That is why we are extremely pleased to see the White House today release its *Executive Order on data security. As a major early adopter of chip and PIN card technologies, the federal government can help spur adoption of this more secure method of payment. We are also encouraged by the Administration’s collaboration with businesses to increase consumer access to credit scores, identity theft monitoring and resolution support tools. We are encouraged to see many pro-consumer businesses like Visa, American Express, and MasterCard, partnering with the Administration to take positive steps towards better protections for consumers and we look forward to working with the White House and these businesses to strengthen consumers’ data security.

Finally, we look forward to being a part of the forthcoming Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit. As we have highlighted through NCL’s #DataInsecurity Project, the hacking threat is one of the great consumer protection challenges of our time. By convening stakeholders to address this problem at the highest level, the Administration can begin to tilt the data security playing field back in consumers’ favor.

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings

###

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 congratulates Satyarthi on Nobel Peace Prize – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

October 10, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) congratulates Kailash Satyarthi, a great friend and 1995 recipient of the NCL Trumpeter Award, for today’s announcement that he has received the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Satyarthi is the world’s leading champion in the fight to end global child labor and is credited with freeing tens of thousands of children from child labor in India.

Satyarthi shares the honor with Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel Prize recipient at 17 years old, a Pakistani teenager who bravely fought threats on her life and endured a gunshot wound to the head in her quest for access to education for girls across the Middle East.

Since NCL’s founding in 1899, the League has worked to end the scourge of child labor both domestically and abroad. Twenty-five years ago NCL founded—and has since co-chaired—the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), a group of 34 advocacy organizations dedicated to reducing the number of children trapped working in factories, mines, and agriculture around the globe. The CLC has worked closely with Satyarthi for the last two decades; in 2012, the CLC assisted him with the planning of an international child labor in agriculture conference that helped highlight the predominant child labor sector.

The following statement can be attributed to Sally Greenberg, executive director of NCL and co-chair of the CLC:

“Today, the world’s leading champion in the fight to end child labor was rightfully recognized by the international community. Today, 168 million children continue to toil in the worst of conditions: as domestic workers at very young ages, in artisanal mines, picking trash in dumps, carrying bricks, and diving for fish in dangerous waters.  Because of the work of Kailash and others, the number of child laborers has decreased by 70 million over the last decade.  Still, far too many children’s lives are cut short under the yoke of these oppressive conditions. This Nobel Prize recognition will focus the world’s attention once again on the scourge of child labor. Advocates like Kailash Satyarthi, who has committed his life to ensuring that children have access to education and a safe and healthy childhood, have helped raise awareness and helped to pull millions of children out of child labor and given these children new opportunity and hope.”

Satyarthi’s organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan or Save the Childhood Movement, is attributed with rescuing 83,000 children from servitude in India since 1981.

###

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 to honor AFL-CIO’s Trumka, Jobs with Justice’s Granich with annual awards – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

October 6, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC— The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, will honor Richard L. Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, with its highest honor, the Trumpeter Award, on Wednesday, October 8, in Washington, DC. The event will bring together a diverse group of representatives from nonprofit organizations, labor unions, consumer organizations, and industry to celebrate a busy year of victories for consumer and worker advocates. Lara Granich, Director of Missouri Jobs with Justice, will receive this year’s Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award.

“The Trumpeter Award is NCL’s highest honor, given to leaders who have dedicated their lives to improving the rights of consumers and workers. President Trumka fully embodies these values, as his career-long commitment to America’s families have had a measurable impact on conditions for our workforce,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “We are proud of NCL’s historical and modern-day ties to the labor community and look forward to working together to increase workplace protections for all Americans.”

Since 2009, Trumka has been president of AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in America. Throughout his career as a labor leader, first with the United Mine Workers of America, and since 1995 with AFL-CIO, Trumka has dedicated himself to fighting for fair and honest labor practices for American workers. He created investment programs for the labor movement, urged the creation of, and now chairs, the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, and was instrumental in developing tactics to rally the support of international labor on behalf of U.S. workers struggling for workplace justice against multinational conglomerates.

The first recipient of the Trumpeter Award, in 1973, was Senator Ted Kennedy. Previous honorees include Labor Secretaries Hilda Solis, Robert Reich, and Alexis Herman, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Senators Carl Levin and Paul Wellstone, Delores Huerta of the United Farm Workers, and many others. Last year Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner at the Federal Communication Commission, received the honor.

Lara Granich, Director of Missouri Jobs with Justice will receive this year’s Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award, named for NCL’s early leader and awarded to grassroots consumer advocates. In her time at Missouri Jobs with Justice, Granich has helped lead successful campaigns to increase the minimum wage, defend affirmative action, and support workers organizing unions and bargaining for better lives at work. She also co-chairs the Jobs with Justice National Board.

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

  • Cecil E. Roberts, International President, Untied Mine Workers of America
  • Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Commissioner, Federal trade Commission
  • Sarita Gupta, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice

Event details
What: National Consumers League’s 2014 Trumpeter Awards 

When: Wednesday, October 8, 2014
7 p.m. Dinner and Presentation of Awards

Where: Grand Hyatt Washington,1000 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
Questions or to RSVP: Call National Consumers League, (202) 835-3323

###

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.

Chase breach underscores cost of Congressional inaction on data security – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

October 3, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – News of yet another massive data breach — this time at JPMorgan Chase — underscores the urgent need for data security reforms in Congress, according to the National Consumers League. Affecting 76 million households and 7 million small businesses, the Chase breach comes on the heels of other mega-breaches this year at Home Depot, Jimmy Johns, eBay, and Community Health Services.

“These data breaches are occurring with frightening regularity, and striking some of the country’s biggest companies. It is clear that our cyber security systems are unable to stay one step ahead of these bad guys,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “It is time that our elected officials sit down with businesses and law enforcement to develop a comprehensive plan for protecting Americans’ personal information from cyber thieves.”

This summer NCL launched its #DataInsecurity Project to raise awareness about the impact of data breaches on consumer confidence in the marketplace. NCL is calling on Congress to pass a strong national data breach notification law, require businesses that hold consumers’ data to abide by data security standards, and give the Federal Trade Commission and states greater authority to hold companies that fail to protect consumers’ personal information accountable.

“Seventy-six million households at Chase, 56 million cards at Home Depot, 145 million accounts at eBay — enough is enough,” said John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud  “With each new breach, consumers’ trust in the marketplace is eroded. We must not accept the massive theft of consumers’ personal information as the ‘new normal.’ These breaches should serve as a wake-up call to Congress that we need reform now.”

###

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, U.S. PIRG reiterate support for FDA proposal – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 30, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – Two consumer organizations today reiterated their support for the Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to allow the same labeling rules for generic drugs as currently required for brand name drugs. The following statement can be attributed to Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League and Mike Russo, federal program director of U.S. PIRG.

“Allowing the generic manufacturers to initiate safety updates, as brand-name companies have done for 30 years, is essential to patients and consumers, as promptly updated warnings can provide informed consent to patients and physicians and prevent serious harm to patients. The National Consumers League and U.S. PIRG continue to support in the strongest terms the FDA’s labeling rule for generic drugs. We continue to encourage the FDA to publish a final rule, allowing generic drug manufacturers to unilaterally update their labels as quickly as possible to provide sufficient warnings and protect and inform consumers who take generic drugs.”

See the original letter sent to the FDA on September 9, 2014 here.

###

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 statement on FCC vote to end Sports Blackout Rule – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 30, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumer’s League today applauded the Federal Communications Commission for its unanimous vote to repeal the Sports Blackout Rule. In 2011, NCL joined four other public interest groups, led by the Sports Fans Coalition, in petitioning the FCC to repeal the Rule. Today’s FCC vote is the direct result of that petition and the coalition’s advocacy efforts.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

“Today’s unanimous, bipartisan vote to end the Sports Blackout Rule is a resounding victory for the millions of American consumers who enjoy professional football. In the face of unprecedented lobbying by the NFL and others, the FCC today decided to stand with sports fans everywhere and say ‘enough is enough.’ We applaud FCC Chairman Wheeler and the entire Commission for its work to bring an end to this anti-consumer Rule.”

###

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.

Soda companies cut calories – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 24, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC-  The Clinton Global Initiative announced this week that three of the biggest soft drink producers, Pepsi Co, Coca-Cola, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group, would aim to reduce calories consumed from sweetened beverages 20 percent by 2025. While the National Consumers League (NCL) is pleased to learn that the soda industry is committed to reducing calorie consumption, this announcement falls short.

“We appreciate that big soda is acknowledging the many negative consequences of empty calories that contribute to America’s obesity epidemic, but this commitment alone isn’t nearly enough to improve the nation’s health.” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of NCL. “To have a lasting and meaningful positive impact on public health, far tougher measures are needed such as a national soda tax.”

This decision comes as beverage industry sales for both artificially sweetened and regular soft drinks are falling. The soft drink producers do not intend to change or reduce the amount of calories in soda, but rather plan to sell smaller portion sizes and increase promotion of water and other low calorie drinks in an effort to curb soft drink calorie consumption. They also plan to promote calorie awareness on vending machines, an action that is required by the Affordable Care Act.

###

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 commends President’s actions to reduce antibiotic resistance – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 18, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL), the country’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, commends the President’s issuance of an Executive Order to combat antibiotic resistance. The order, signed Thursday, establishes a presidential Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, which will be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Defense, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services (HHS). The Task Force is charged, with a deadline of February 2015, with creating a five-year National Action Plan to reduce antimicrobial resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to Americans’ health, causing 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cost of illnesses caused by antimicrobial resistance are estimated to be over $50 billion, with $20 billion lost in health care costs and $35 billion lost in productivity due to hospitalizations and sick days. Antibiotic resistance stems from the overuse of antibiotics in both humans and animals.

“Antibiotic resistance is not an issue consumers can afford to take lightly,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “The President’s efforts have come not a moment too soon. It is vital to Americans’ health that actions are taken to track and diminish the increasing amount of antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing illness.”

In conjunction with the Executive Order, the administration also released a National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, and the Presidents’ Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is releasing a related report on Combating Antibiotic Resistance.

The Executive Order, the National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, and the PCAST report can be found here.

###

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 statement on new University of Massachusetts Amherst sociology research examining corporate ratings – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 17, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL), America’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, today welcomes newly published research on corporate ratings awards conducted by sociologists Tom Juravich and Essie Ablavsky of the University of Massachusetts Labor Center.  In “The Corporate Rating Sham: The Case of T-Mobile,” Juravich and Ablavsky found that these awards are largely self-serving and neither objective nor scientific.  

“This exposé of these ubiquitous corporate awards is an important service to consumers.  Too often, firms tout their awards as symbols of performance excellence, and too often they are little more than marketing ploys,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director.

According to Juravich and Ablavsky’s findings, the majority of these corporate recognition contests are based on self-nomination and company self-reports with little independent verification of data.  Awards programs lack transparency in the selection and evaluation criteria.  Some of the awards firms also provide consulting services to the very companies they are rating, creating a built-in conflict of interest.

The new research highlights the case of T-Mobile, the fourth-largest mobile service provider in the United States, which claims to be the recipient of at least 47 “best of” awards from 2011 to 2013.  Yet, this is a company that has been a target of concern among Members of Congress, investors, and progressive organizations for its poor treatment of workers, ranging from overbearing and disrespectful management styles, to suppression of workers’ rights. 

“T-Mobile is a good demonstration of what is wrong with corporate recognition awards,” said Greenberg. “The company’s well-known problematic labor practices put these ‘best of’ awards in doubt. A company’s treatment of workers must be a key factor in any ratings process, and awards for quality must not be allowed to mask abusive workplace policies.” 

The full report, “The Corporate Rating Sham: The Case of T-Mobile,” can be viewed here.

###

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 Congress for steps to remove children from hazardous tobacco farming – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

September 17, 2014

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

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, applauds members of Congress who have recently taken action to end the scourge of children working in hazardous tobacco fields. Last week, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) began circulating a sign-on letter to House members asking the Department of Labor to take narrowly-focused regulatory action to protect children from dangerous tobacco fields, where child farmworkers regularly suffer nicotine poisoning, toxic pesticide exposure, and work at dangerous heights.

“They can’t legally purchase cigarettes, but we permit these children to work in tobacco fields and suffer acute nicotine poisoning,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of NCL and co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), which NCL helped found 25 years ago. “We urge Congress to take immediate action to protect America’s most vulnerable workers—children in tobacco fields.”

The concern about children working on tobacco farms is growing. In May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the dangers in a report, Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming, finding that of 141 child tobacco workers interviewed in North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee, three-quarters reported falling ill. Many of their symptoms—nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, and dizziness—are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning (also known as “Green Tobacco Sickness”).  Exemptions to U.S. child labor law allow children as young as 12—and in some cases even younger—to work long hours in tobacco fields.

“These children are among the nation’s most vulnerable, and we must do more to protect them,” said Rep. Cartwright in his “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow Members.

A bill, HR 5327, introduced by Rep. Cicilline this summer, would classify tobacco as “hazardous oppressive labor”, allowing the U.S. Department of Labor to ban it for those under 18. “It seems to me that exposing young people to those kinds of dangers is something we should prevent,” Cicilline said in an interview.

Also this summer, 17 senators sent a letter to several large tobacco companies asking them to voluntarily ban children from their fields.

The Kentucky-based Council on Burley Tobacco has also taken a public stand on this issue: “We do not condone the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 for work in tobacco anywhere in the world.”

In July, 53 groups signed onto a Child Labor Coalition letter urging the largest tobacco corporations to take voluntary action to ban children from tobacco fields. Last month, in another CLC letter, 50 organizations wrote to President Obama to urge greater protections for child tobacco workers.

“In America today, children who harvest tobacco must protect themselves from nicotine and pesticide residues by wearing plastic garbage bags with holes punched in them for their arms and heads. They are standing in drying barns at heights of 20 feet or more on unbelievably narrow rafters,” said Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor advocacy and the coordinator of the CLC. “Exposing children to deplorable working conditions is not in keeping with American values—we are so much better than this as a nation. We applaud Congress for taking steps to protect these vulnerable child workers.”

###

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.