Letter to the Editor: Queens Center Mall Should Pay Living Wage by David M. Quintana - Leader-Observer

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Dear Editor:

On Saturday May 21^st, I attended a Town Hall meeting at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Corona with hundreds of others to demand that the owner of the highly profitable Queens Center Mall, the Macerich Company, give back to the community by transforming the publicly subsidized mall from a poverty wage center into a responsible development for workers of Queens.

Among those participating in the event were elected officials: NY State Senator Jose Peralta, NY Assembly Member Francisco Moya, NY Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubrey, and New York City Council Members Julissa Ferreras and Daniel Dromm.

The meeting was hosted by Make the Road New York (MRNY), Queens Congregations United for Action (QCUA), the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the Retail Action Project (RAP)

In exchange for the more than $100 million in tax breaks Macerich receives, a growing community, labor, clergy coalition is pushing to hold the Queens Center Mall owner accountable to the public by requiring retailers to pay a living wage with benefits, respect workers' rights to organize a union without threats or intimidation, and provide space for community services

The owners of the mall receive tens of millions of dollars in subsidies from our tax dollars and what does the community receive in return? Absolutely nothing.

Retail is one of the areas where the largest number of jobs are being created, and it is past time for retail workers to receive a living wage and be able to unionize without being threatened by their employers. It shouldn’t even be a question for the Queens Center Mall, one of the most profitable malls in the country (profits of $876 per sq foot) to become a living wage center and not a poverty wage one,

Many people who work at the mall barely make the minimum wage. As everyone knows, it’s not possible to live on such a low salary here in Queens, much less support a family.

I feel it's important that when we talk about economic development in our community, we should be talking about jobs that provide economic stability, jobs that can support a family and not part-time jobs with poverty wages and no benefits. Macerich should be made to require union neutrality from its retailers, so employees can decide whether or not to organize a union without fear of threats or retaliation.

A living wage bill is being debated in the NYC Council which would require businesses that receive tax breaks or City subsidies to pay their workers a living wage of $11.50 an hour without benefits or $10 an hour with benefits.

I would urge anyone reading this letter to contact their City Council member and tell them that they should vote to pass a living wage law in New York City. I believe it is a moral imperative that if someone works full-time they should be able to support their family and feed their children. Thank you.

Sincerely,

David M. Quintana

Ozone Park, NY

NY City Council Hearing on the Living Wage Bill - May 12th, 2011

Click here to view these pictures larger

Over 400 people turned out to the high-energy rally. Kimberly Ortiz, a member of the Retail Action Project, testified about working at a concession stand at the Statue of Liberty for $9.00 an hour. "Does that sound like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to you?" she asked. Council Member Darlene Mealy, who hosted the hearing as Chair of the Contracts Committee said "Our rents keep going up, food keep[s] going up, gas keep[s] going up, but our salaries don't go up." The rally culminated in a powerful moment of prayer during which the clergy marched across to 250 Broadway and the crowd turned to face the building. We raised up our hands and shouted for the walls of oppression to come tumbling down like the walls of Jericho, while the Shofar sounded seven times.

An extraordinary number both supportive and undecided council members participated in the hearing, a testament to the importance of this issue. For two and a half hours they went toe to toe with Bloomberg's representative Tukombo Shobowale. Citing the bogus million dollar study, he painted a doomsday scenario of tremendous job loss and stalled development in the outer boroughs. Council members did not buy it. Brad Lander called the study a “$1 million whitewash.” Charles Barron said "Wall Street profits, while we suffer. The study is a lie. You can alter a study to say anything." And Robert Jackson asked the Economic Development Corporation to try living on a salary of $20,000 a year.

Our team provided powerful testimony. Linda Archer, a McDonald's worker who was only given a 20 cent raise and a "rising star" t-shirt for her stellar job performance at the fast-food chain told the council they would be "rising stars" if they passed the bill. We also heard from Caitlin Kelly, author of the book "Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail," Rev. Stephen Phelps of the Riverside Church, Dr. Ray Rivera of the Latino Pastoral Action Center and our excellent team of policy experts, including an expert from LA, testified that this law will help lift people out of poverty without all the negative consequences Bloomberg claims. Scroll down for links to media coverage.

Upcoming Event in Queens:

Town Hall about the Queens Center Mall: 

Mall Workers Speak Out for a Living Wage!

This Saturday May 21st, 3-5pm

St. Paul The Apostle Church

98-16 55th Ave., Corona

M/R train to Woodhaven Blvd

Media Coverage:

NY Daily News: Poll Finds NY Voters Support Living Wage

Bronx BP on Huffington Post: Why New York City Needs a "Living Wage" Law

NY1: Controversy Heats Up Over Living Wage Bill

"Inside City Hall" on NY1: Living Wage Debate

NY Times: Bloomberg Administration is Criticized on Wages

Politicker: Living Wage Fight Comes to City Hall

Crains: 'Living Wage' Backers Storm City Hall

Gotham Gazette: Living Wage Gets its Hearing

Moms Unite to Tell Wal-mart to Stay Out of NYC

Citing Back-to-Back Recalls on Games and Bunk Beds, Higher Prices on Toys, and the Largest Sex Discrimination Case in U.S. History, Moms Say Wal-mart Can’t Be Trusted

Honorable Una Clarke, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, Former Working Mother at Wal-mart, and Local Mother & Daughter Come Together on Mother’s Day to Oppose Wal-mart

New York- On Mother’s Day, mothers from across New York came together to say ‘no’ to Wal-mart and to tell the Arkansas based giant that it can’t be trusted, and isn’t welcome in New York City. The mothers said they are unsettled by Wal-mart's track record of putting women and children in harm's way:

· Wal-mart is facing the largest class action lawsuit for sex discrimination in U.S. history

· Hazardous bunk beds sold at Wal-mart were recalled Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

· Wal-mart raised prices on kids’ toys during the holiday shopping season

· Largest seller of guns in the U.S.

“Having worked at Wal-mart and knowing how they treat moms I can tell you it’s never Mothers Day there,” said Zorylaine Perez, a mother of five and former Wal-mart employee who has joined Make the Road New York to stop Wal-mart from coming to the City. “Wal-mart can spend all the money they want to tell people otherwise but when it comes down to it they don’t value the ability of working moms to support their families as demonstrated by low wages I earned.”

“Mother's Day is a day we set aside to celebrate the sacrifices and contributions our mothers have made in our lives. However there are those who choose to take advantage and misunderstand the sacrifices by paying sub-par wages that are not in line with the cost of living. Wal-mart is a company that takes advantage of our mother's and we cannot allow them to take advantage of NYC's mothers. This Mother’s Day I honor my mother and all the mothers by reminding Wal-mart we will not let you walk all over them in stripping our mothers dignity with subpar wages,” said New York City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras.

Minister Patricia Malcolm from CUSH said: “As women of faith and great value we are tired of being used, abused, underpaid and underserved. On this day, mother’s day we stand united to protect all that we stand for, recognizing that we are the backbones of our families and community and will no longer put up with those whose intentions are to further take advantage of us, like Wal-mart does.”

Nikeisha Sinclair, a retail worker of 3 years, Retail Action Project member and mother of a 6 year old daughter, “ Wal-mart keeps paying low wages even though the cost of everything is going up these days. New York’s moms deserve better than a retailer who is the biggest corporation in the world yet still cuts corners preventing mothers like me from providing for our families.”

Wal-mart has suffered 7 consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines in the US[1] and last year, Wal-mart Stores lost U.S. market share to its competitors for the first time in a decade.[2] To make up for falling sales, Wal-mart is looking to expand into major cities including New York.

“Wal-mart does not share mothers’ values,” said Former New York City Councilwoman Una Clarke, mother of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. “Wal-mart raised prices on kids’ toys at Christmas. They sell bunk beds at risk of falling. They’re accused of discriminating against more than a million women- many of whom are mothers. New York’s mothers and grandmothers deserve better.”

"The world's largest retailer - Wal-Mart -- has already handed out its Mother's Day present in the form of unfair wages, and discriminatory promotion practices according to thousands of Californian women who have brought the country's largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit against the company. But this is "business as usual" for the retailer whose unfair labor practices in the past have ranged from such issues as breach of wage and hour laws, paying workers impoverished wages to violations of child labor laws and illegal intimidation of workers who have the right to choose a union to protect them. This abuse of workers offers the public just a small glimpse into this company's standard operating procedures -- a patriarchal culture that profits on the exploitation of vulnerable workers such as working mothers. So, this Mother's Day, in addition to those chocolates and flowers we will invariably send our mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, and partners, send a special message from New Yorkers to Wal-Mart -- only fair retailers need apply,” said Fran Moccio Former Director, Institute for Women and Work at Cornell University

“Mothers on the Move is committed to fighting for economic justice for all New Yorkers—that’s why we oppose any Wal-mart stores in our neighborhoods,” said Mothers on the Move. “Wal-mart squeezes out neighborhood stores and the workers they employ. We won’t let that happen here.”

Rep Weiner, CM Ferreras Call on City to Sell Sexist Statue on Craigslist

Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn), Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Chair of the Women's Issues Committee, and representatives from local women’s organizations called on the City to get rid of the sexist statue near Queens Borough Hall, Triumph of Civic Virtue, which depicts a nude man standing atop two women, and sell it on Craigslist to raise funds.

Sculpted by Frederick MacMonnies, the Civic Virtue statue has been the source of controversy in the Kew Gardens community since 1941, when then-Mayor LaGuardia moved the offensive figure out of City Hall Park to Kew Gardens. The marble statue, which depicts a nude man with standing over the necks of two woman, has been an eyesore on the community ever since.

With the passage of time, the statue has worn down significantly – and considerations are now underway to restore the decaying, misogynistic figure. Potential repairs, according to the Parks Department, would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Standing in front of the statue, representatives from the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy and the Queens County Young Democrats Women’s Caucus joined Weiner and Council Member Ferreras in expressing their outrage over the offensive figure and urged the City to place the statue on Craigslist as means of raising revenue – rather than using already scarce funds to restore it.

“Mayor LaGuardia had it right when he banished this offensive statue from City Hall Park. Queens residents don’t want this sitting in our backward any longer,” Weiner said. “This statue is neither civil nor virtuous – and it’s time for it to go.”

"There is nothing NYC about this statue. It depicts women as weak and inferior to men- which is far from the truth- the statue has no place in a public space,” Council Member Ferreras said. “This should not be the first thing women see when getting out of the subway. The statue is located just one block away from the Queens Family Justice Center and sends the wrong message. It belongs in a museum."

Today’s press conference comes in the midst of recent anti-women proposals by the new GOP-led Congress, including the “Protect Life Act,” which would allow hospitals the right to refuse emergency abortions even when a woman’s life at stake, and the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," which would impose tax penalties on Americans with private insurance plans that include abortion coverage.

Today, Rep. Weiner wrote to Edna Wells Handy, Commissioner of Department of Citywide Administrative Services, asking that the offensive Civic Virtue statue be removed and sold.

In the letter, Weiner stated, “Rather than pouring money into restoring the statue, the city should sell it on Craigslist. I am sure the city could come up with some productive uses for the proceeds.”

Full text of Weiner’s letter is below:

February 25, 2011

Ms. Edna Wells Handy

Commissioner

Department of Citywide Administrative Services

City of New York

1 Centre Street, Floor 17

New York, New York 10007-1602

Dear Commissioner Handy:

It’s time to get rid of Civic Virtue. Not the ideal, the statue. It’s sexist. It’s ugly. It’s time for it to go. I am writing to urge you to put the statue, located next to Queens Borough Hall, up for sale and removal.

The statue has been there since 1941, when then Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia moved it from City Hall Park in Manhattan. From the time the statue was moved to Queens, many members of the community have objected to the sexist nature of the statue, and I agree with them.

I appreciate the wealth and diversity of arts and humanities displays in the Borough of Queens. We have museums, cultural centers, stadiums and theatres – This statue does not contribute to the mix. It’s an eyesore that depicts a nude man standing triumphantly atop two women at one of the busiest intersection in Queens.

The statue apparently wasn’t appropriate for City Hall in the 1940s, and it’s an insult to think that it is fine for Queens today. What might have at one time been seen as a socially acceptable demonstration of our desire to stamp out vice and corruption is simply not appropriate today. This is particularly true given the assault on the rights of women underway today in Washington

I thank you in advance for your prompt attention and reply to this matter.

Sincerely,

ANTHONY D. WEINER

Member of Congress