WEC Staff

According to public opinion polls, Americans typically believe a good pay ratio is 7 to 1. In other words, the top paid CEO in the United States should make 7 times what the average worker makes. And yet the American reality is much different. In fact, the top paid CEOs in the United States make roughly 844 times what the average worker makes. This stunning statistic represents the antithesis of the American dream: the idea that if someone works hard then they deserve financial security; it also belies the myth that as the pool of wealth increases, all boats rise. These outrageously disparate numbers indicate a broken economy, engineered by the top 1/10th of the 1% wealthiest Americans, which has fostered a destructive and amoral distribution of wealth. In a move to address the extreme and corrupt distribution of wealth, the city council of Portland, Oregon passed a tax this Wednesday on companies in which the top-ranked executives make more than 100 times the median pay of their average workers. In doing so, the city of Portland has shown it is willing to take steps to reverse the negative effects that extreme income inequality has on its residents. [...]

WEC hosted our annual membership meeting at the NJEA headquarters in Trenton, NJ on December 5. We were pleased to be joined by representatives of more than 30 organizations, most of whom are WEC members. Members in attendance voted to affirm the nominees for executive leadership. Attendees also enjoyed a panel presentation: Preparing for the Future: Addressing Climate Change in New Jersey. New Jersey Sea Level Rise Report Marjorie Kaplan New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance Marjorie Kaplan began the discussion by highlighting the New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance's recent report on sea-level rise in New Jersey. Bottom line: coastal communities will face increasing sea-level rise throughout this century. Slides Climate Resiliency for Urban Communities Nicole Scott Harris New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance Nicole Scott-Harris, recent recipient of the WEC Rising Star Award, highlighted the disproportionate impact on environmental justice (EJ) communities, and talked about how climate change is already effecting NJ communities today. Slides Sandy's Impact on Lives in New Jersey Amanda Devecka-Rinear New Jersey Organizing Project Amanda Devecka-Rinear spoke about the incredible work of [...]

It’s no secret that many of the international trade deals made by the United States have hurt workers both here and abroad. Several political leaders have targeted deals like NAFTA, and identified them as the source of many labor issues, including diminished safety and environmental regulations, and a horrific race to the bottom for wages. There is more to this story, however, and trade deals which enable international mobility for corporations are only a symptom of a much more sinister problem. In an article originally published on the Huffington Post, Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality, investigated the root cause of declining wages, lax labor regulations and fleeing jobs. After an SEC rule change in 1982, hedge fund and private equity investors were incentivized to siphon as much wealth from companies they invest in as possible, so that they could then buy back its stock. This artificially inflates the value of shares and gives hedge managers and private equity managers an instant windfall. “In 1970, before stock buybacks became the norm, the pay gap between the top CEOs and the average worker was $45 to $1. Today it is an incomprehensible $844 to $1. So there’s a co-dependency between [...]

The election results on November 9th symbolized a terrible victory for the worst part of ourselves, and the worst parts of our national identity. Those results, which many of us witnessed with increasing despair in the early morning hours, will have immediate, ugly, concrete ramifications for all of us, for our culture, and for our economy. The results will force us to reassess how to protect the progress every single person who is concerned about labor rights, women’s rights, and immigrant rights, has fought for in recent history. This we know, and we should keep talking about it. However, looking forward, and look forward we must, there’s plenty to remain optimistic about right here in New Jersey. Our political landscape is shifting, and the opportunities available for everyone here to fight for positive, progressive, state-based reform are numerous and exciting. This is our opportunity to demonstrate that New Jersey can once again become an innovator, a leader, and that we won’t give in to despair. We are, all of us, going to turn New Jersey into a state that represents the ideals we value, a state that repudiates of the politics of meanness and corporate greed. We’re going to strengthen [...]