SoylentNews

"gewg_" writes:

from the better-compensated-workers-makes-many-people-happy dept.

The Center for American Progress reports [thinkprogress.org]

In August, New York-based Amalgamated Bank announced [amalgamatedbank.com] it would immediately raise its minimum pay to at least $15 an hour.

The bank, which is owned by the union OPEIU, came to the $15 wage floor in the midst of contract negotiations with the union. The contract also specifies automatic 3 percent increases each year.

[...]"Morale in our bank is just great after this" [said CEO Keith Mestrich.] He's even heard from potential customers who say they have sought out the bank after the announcement.

[...]But the bank isn't satisfied to make its own changes. It also wants to change the industry. A recent report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that bank tellers, the most common job in the financial services industry, make a median wage of just $12.44 [thinkprogress.org] an hour and three-quarters make below $15. That means that about a third [thinkprogress.org] of bank tellers rely on some kind of public [assistance], such as Medicaid, food stamps, or the Earned Income Tax Credit, to get by. Many who work in customer service, maintenance, protective service, and production also make below that wage.

[...]Amalgamated has launched a campaign [amalgamatedbank.com] to get a $15 minimum wage--a level that has already been passed [thinkprogress.org] in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle--and encourage all other banks to adopt one in their own businesses. It also recently sent a letter [amalgamatedbank.com] to other banks urging them to adopt other practices that it calls "principles of responsible banking" such as ending the intense opposition to regulation, advocating for policies that would help customers, and embracing corporate transparency.

I hope you have your bloat blockers engaged before clicking the links to the bank's site.

Original Submission