Roosevelt @ GWU

The corona virus pandemic has disrupted many aspects of life in D.C, businesses are closed, travel is restricted, and the university students have been sent home. The mayor has issued a stay at home order to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Stay at home orders are a necessary and effective step to limit the spread and cost of the virus. However, they leave behind those who are without homes to shelter in. In addition, many homeless shelters have struggled to accomodate the need for social distancing, and cities have struggled to find alternatives. Many cities forged agreements with their now empty hotels to provide housing for the homeless, giving them someplace to stay and avoiding the cramped conditions that allowed the corona virus to spread rapidly in homeless shelters. However, hotels are still an imperfect venue for social distancing given that their rooms do not have kitchens or eating areas. This necessitates residents to leave their rooms and interact with others frequently in order to get food. There is also difficulty in assembling enough capacity to house the 6,500 or so homeless people in the district.
A better alternative would be to use the now vacant college dorms in D.C. The city and George Washington University should forge an agreement to make use of the now vacant dorms at GW and other D.C schools to house the homeless. The dorms at GW and other now closed universities would provide a better way to house this vulnerable population. These dorms would not need to be filled to capacity and could instead each house 1 individual or family. At GW alone there are more than 1200 dorm units which include kitchens and eating areas, which would allow residents to social distance more effectively. If the district could forge such agreements with all of the 19 colleges and universities they should be more than able to house their homeless until the crisis is over. The Universities could rent out these rooms to the city at their upkeep cost and recoup some of the red ink the pandemic has caused, and the city could provide a safe residence for their vulnerable homeless population within blocks of the essential services they rely upon.

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April 7th was World Health Day, and it seems the world has never been more conscious of the work our nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers do. Amid the chaos of the coronavirus, millions of healthcare workers brave the harrowing halls of hospitals and emergency rooms across the country every day. They suit up with whatever personal protective equipment (PPE) they can find, but shortages around the globe means health care workers are forced to reuse the same PPE over several days and use makeshift alternatives, like trash bags. Our healthcare workers are ill-equipped, overworked, and know full well that they are likely to get sick themselves. Still, they go in.

That’s why they’re heroes. That’s why they’re warriors. That’s why they’re applauded. Rightly so, the rhetoric around the nurses, doctors, and health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus is inspiring. Here’s the thing, rhetoric is not enough. While many of these healthcare workers are compassionate, brave, and dedicated to their field, they’re doing their jobs. Jobs that have gotten significantly riskier (dare I say, hazardous) than ever before. At the same time, their jobs aren’t ones that can be moved to the living room (in fact, their jobs are actually keeping some out of their homes). These healthcare workers deserve just compensation for the increased dangers of their jobs; jobs that are critical to responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Our healthcare workers are putting their lives at risk to protect and save others, and there should be some kind of fair compensation for their added responsibilities and risks. Our healthcare workers have become (and I argue always have been) the backbone of our society through the pandemic, and they should be paid accordingly.

I am not alone in my beliefs. Earlier today, Senate Democrats proposed to give doctors, nurses and other essential workers up to $25,000 in hazard pay. Dubbed “The Heroes Fund” by Senate Democrats, this hazard pay is a step in the right direction for the heroes and warriors that must go to work every day. We can’t wait for private businesses to take the initiative to extend hazard pay to their essential employees (because, surprise, they won’t). Therefore, this provision is absolutely essential for any forthcoming stimulus package that comes out of Congress. I encourage all readers to take some time to contact their representatives to express support for such a provision, and take some time to look at the numerous petitions advocating a hazard pay for many essential employees. While our healthcare workers are heroes, they are also humans who deserve a fair wage for their immense contributions.

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It’s Time for Americans to Consider a National Health Service

3/16/2020

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(Photo Credit: Golden Cosmos/ NBC)

By: Daniel Ohiri

Currently the United States is struggling to address the global COVID-19 pandemic. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified to the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 2020; the United States is failing in its coronavirus testing. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” Dr. Fauci added. In this election year, we should push for not only the system we need but the system we deserve.

On March 13th, the Trump administration belatedly declared what most Americans knew —that we are in the midst of a national emergency. Policymakers and public health officials are attempting to cope with the lack of coherent leadership from the White House and its coronavirus task force. This coming week, Americans can expect that $40-50 billion of emergency funds will be freed up to combat coronavirus. Moreover, we can expect that Congress will pass, and the President will sign, a bill that will provide free coronavirus testing, $1 billion in food aid, and extended sick leave. Nevertheless, as the President said in the Rose Garden, “we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time. [It] wasn’t meant for this kind of event”. Trump is right – our healthcare system is not built for an overwhelming public health emergency. Let alone the fact that our healthcare system is not even built to provide affordable comprehensive health care to all Americans and residents. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our public policy shortcoming regarding healthcare.

Healthcare is the number one issue voters are concerned about going into the 2020 election. Because of the importance of access to healthcare, this election will prove to be pivotal. Candidates have proposed everything from a single-payer system to a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But now is the time for Americans to explore the creation of a national health service.

If healthcare is a human right, which I believe it is, then it is reasonable to expect the government to enact and enforce that right. In the same way that public schools, police departments, and libraries are services provided to the public so should medical care. No human being in this country should have to face bankruptcy for an unexpected medical expense. No son should have to make a plea on Facebook or GoFundMe to raise money for his mother’s knee replacement. Just as it is in the United Kingdom all medical procedures and appointments ought to be free at the point of use.

The NHS was created in the aftermath of World War II. U.K. citizens often have to pay no more than about $10 in out of pocket medical expenses. The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other OECD Nation at $10,586 per capita while the U.K. spends just $4,070—only 9.8% of the Kingdom’s GDP. Due in part to the NHS, the U.K. has a higher life expectancy than the U.S., along with a lower infant mortality rate, and a lower rate for potential deaths due to a lack of healthcare. The British NHS is a monument to effective social policy, it is a program that U.K. citizens cherish so much they proudly, and rightly, displayed to the world during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The average American household paid $6,015 for coverage in 2019 through its laggard, patchwork system. In Canada, a nation that has adopted a single-payer system over a national health service, the average citizen paid $6,604 in taxes for healthcare coverage. In both the United States and Canada, insurance is not comprehensive. Even in Canada, the government only pays 70% of healthcare costs ignoring coverage for prescription drugs, dental, and vision. Whereas, while in the U.K., the average citizen paid just $2,000 in taxes for coverage. The U.K. National Health Service is extraordinarily broad, providing in-patient care, vision, dental, mental, long-term, and rehabilitative care. In the NHS model, there is are very little cost-sharing and copayments are low. By administrating and staffing the hospitals, the United Kingdom lowers most barriers to access seen in the American and Canadian models; moreover, it virtually eliminates regional pricing discrepancies in ambulance, diagnostic, and other healthcare fees.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Services has enjoyed over 70 years of success and satisfaction. The NHS enjoys a 54% approval rating while only 30% of Americans are satisfied with their healthcare. In Great Britain, no qualified resident is uninsured, while in the United States 87 million adults were either uninsured or underinsured. The American healthcare system cannot stay the course, the status quo is reckless and deadly. The U.S requires a major overhaul to address lack of access, coverages, cost, and satisfaction. It is time that we seriously think about adopting a national, universal health care system in the United States.

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Democratic Access is on the ballot

11/5/2019

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By: Daniel Ohiri

It’s election day! All across the country, people will be voting for governors, attorneys general, state house, and city council. Thousands will also be voting for several municipal propositions. I want to focus on one of these referendums in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Proposition No. 2 says,

“Shall the City of Albuquerque adopt the following amendments to update the language of the Open and Ethical Elections Code, which provides for public financing of City candidates: Vied eligible city residents with Democracy Dollars, to contribute to their choice of qualified candidates , which the candidates could redeem with the city clerk, up to a limit, for funds to spend in support of their campaigns, as directed by the City Council, and increased funds for publicly financed mayoral define family candidates?”

This simply worded proposition actually radically alters the way we finance elections. Following a 5-4 ruling from the Supreme Court, municipalities nationwide had to redo their public financing system. Paraphrasing Justice Kagan’s dissent, this ruling significantly weakens election authorities’ ability to combat the hold special interests have in our political system. No city is safe from high dollar donors corrupting their politics. In Albuquerque, Demos found that, “A small pool of donors contributing at least $1,000 each provided the majority of campaign funds in the last city election”. In a city, where the per capita income is $28,229, we are currently crippling, in a major way, the average citizen’s ability to participate in politics.

The rising cost of city council elections is damaging to our democratic process. Take for example this year’s election in Albuquerque City Council District 8. In this district one of the candidates has opted to pursue private financing while the other has chosen to be publicly financed. Trudy Jones, who is privately financed and the incumbent, raised $31,305 (mostly from the real estate industry) during Reporting Period 7 (09/03/ 2019 – 10/11/2019). During the same reporting period her opponent, Maureen Skowran, raised $0.00. The race in District 8 demonstrates the advantages that affluent incumbents have in financing their campaigns. In elections across the country we are seeing more and more that big money is unfortunately essential to a modern campaign, and without it challengers face an uphill battle to even get on the ballot, let alone mount a successful campaign. The reliance on big donor financing is damaging because it limits the entryway into public service to the affluent or affluent adjacent. Therefore, it limits the socioeconomic diversity of thought and people in the halls of power and decision making. It also affects access to policymakers, there is evidence that suggests that politicians will listen more keenly and respond to the policy proposals put forth by high dollar donors instead of low dollar constituent contributors.

Albuquerque voters have a choice in filling the public financing hole created by the Supreme Court. They have a choice in following in the steps of Seattle, WA, when they created a similar program. They also have a choice to continue the status quo. Ultimately, the choice is theirs.

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The New Comprehensive Plan: A Positive Step for D.C

11/1/2019

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By: Sean Ruddy

This past month, the D.C. city council took landmark action when it unanimously passed an updated Framework of the city’s comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is a far-reaching document that guides the decision-making of the city's zoning commission for the next 20 years, having great influence on the landscape of the city. One of the main improvements to the comprehensive plan included encouraging the Zoning Commission to approve the development of planned unit developments (PUDs), which are a type of multi-purpose development that are exempted from some zoning restrictions if they provide a public good. One of the main changes to PUD developments is that they are no longer forbidden if the development would have “incompatibility” with a neighborhood but only when there are “unacceptable project impacts in the surrounding area.” This change will ensure that new crucially needed affordable housing developments are not blocked because of frivolous subjective reasons, such as distributing the “character” of a neighborhood, while still ensuring that current residents are not harmed.
The new comprehensive plan also requires that some PUDs and developments using city funds must help provide more equitable housing within DC. These changes to PUDs are expected to improve the amount of affordable housing units throughout the District. These necessary changes come at a crucial time, with a new report finding that DC is displacing lower-income residents at the highest rate in the country. These new housing developments will help stop this displacement and move the city towards the estimated 320,000 new units that have to be built by 2030 to keep up the job growth within the city. The plan gives priority to PUDs with a “build first” approach, which prevents residents from being displaced by allowing them to stay in their homes until new facilities are built. The amendments also establish a “right to return” clause that will make sure residents are able to return to their homes following housing redevelopment projects.

Other new improvements to the comprehensive plan coming from the amendments include a focus on development density instead of height, emphasizes on renewable energy sources in construction, and encouraging the development of multimodal public transportation to connect all residents to the bustling sectors of the city.

The Roosevelt Network praises the new amendments and appreciates the D.C. council’s commitment to preventing the displacement of its citizens. We hope to work with the council and other important stakeholders to monitor implementation and make certain that these changes help the city’s most vulnerable residents.

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How Congestion Pricing could increase mass transit ridership and reduce pollution

10/19/2019

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By Matthew Allen

Every day for as long as I can remember, my Dad has driven to and from work in Boston from our suburban town of Andover. This, according to 2018 numbers, has cost him a total of almost $50,000 in productivity over the last two decades due to the fact that Boston has the worst traffic of any city in the United States (and the eighth worst of any city on Earth). In 2018 alone, the average commuter that drove into Boston wasted over 160 hours of their life sitting in traffic, and, in rush hour, 60% of all roadways in the Greater Boston area are congested. Even worse, perhaps, is the fact that the average speed of driving in downtown Boston is 11 mph. However, this traffic doesn’t just plague the lives of commuters (and their employers). It plagues the environment, too. According to a 2014 EPA report, auto emissions serve as the largest source of air pollution in the state.

Despite all of this, very few commuters choose to take the commuter rail, as the trains are run-down, most lines have limited service, and many simply cannot afford the fares. These factors have led the MBTA’s commuter rail ridership to decrease by 25% since 2002, making Boston the only major city in the country whose commuter rail has decreased in riders since that point.

In order to address this important issue, I propose the implementation of a congestion pricing system in Boston, which will serve to: reduce overall traffic, decrease air pollution, and generate revenue to apply to more sustainable alternatives, such as the commuter rail. Congestion pricing is an idea that’s worked incredibly well in cities all over the globe. So well, that many American cities, such as New York and Seattle, are officially exploring implementing it themselves. However, Boston’s government has yet to follow their lead.

The fundamental concept of congestion pricing is that if we charge drivers a fee for entering a specific zone (generally the downtown area), people will choose to take alternative forms of transportation in order to avoid that fee, thus decreasing traffic and air pollution, and increasing public transportation ridership. And this has had immense success in cities such as Stockholm, Singapore, and London. Each of them has had a congestion pricing model for over a decade (Singapore has even had theirs since 1975). London’s system, which has been in place since 2003, includes an ￡8 ($13) daily flat fee for entering the congestion zone. This has helped to reduce traffic by 30%, and increase average downtown traffic speeds from 2-5 mph to 10 mph. It has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 16%, increased public transit ridership by 18%, and generated over $200 million in revenue annually. It’s even served to help business within the zone, as such businesses are growing twice as fast as those in other areas of the city.

It’s clear that Boston has a congestion problem; one that is doing significant harm to economic productivity, to the environment, and to the lives of hundreds of thousands of commuters. Implementing a congestion pricing system has been proven to alleviate these problems in myriad cities across the globe, and now I believe it’s time for Boston to give it a try.

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George Washington University is fostering an environment of wage theft

5/5/2019

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By Jeanna Korzun and Danjha Leon

Wage theft in America is a very real threat to thousands of workers across America, and Washington DC is no exception. There have been several cases where workers had been paid unfairly and mislead from their original contracts. While the Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act of 2014 introduced much-needed improvements to the city’s laws, its effects have not been felt by all workers.

Wage theft includes more than hourly pay below minimum wage, it includes uncompensated overtime, payments for work made after the promised deadline, and “failure to properly classify workers as employees instead of independent contractors.” The latter of these definitions is the most notorious for evading the law, as the classification of independent contractors has specific requirements. Often, hiring companies use this term to evade taxes and certain requirements for work that would otherwise be provided for traditional employees. When this manipulation of the law is paired with the coercion of workers who either do not know or do not understand the law, wage theft will continue to occur.
A prime example is the case of Power Design Inc. a Florida based company that does commercial electrical work in 28 states and the District of Columbia that has been sued numerous times for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, both here in D.C. and around the country. The component of the alleged lawsuits suggests that Power Design utilizes a competitive business model which misclassify employees, stealing wages, and exploit low-paid workers.

There are cases of contractors that worked the George Washington University, had issues related to wage theft. For example, A&D Drywall, drywall contractor pays their employees cash and gave no overtime. Dynamic Contracting, who uses labor brokers, is currently being sued for wage theft. Gilbane Construction, or GC, is also being sued for wage theft for work done around the city. Mid Atlantic Manganaro, which constructed buildings at GW, they are also being sued for wage theft (Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters).

Ultimately, the solution requires more comprehensive legislation, such as the inclusion of spread information to community members on what means wage theft and how to address it. Additionally, workers must be made aware of their rights, the D.C. government should aggressively oversee and prosecute wage theft offenders. Moreover, companies ought to establish internal regulators to specifically take charge of ensuring that each worker knows their rights and that each company is complying with the law. The Just Pay Campaign, led by DC Jobs for Justice, is working to improve policy and implementation of it plus leading a campaign to highlight enforcement failures by taking on bad actors (DC Jobs for Justice).
If you or someone you know suspects that they are a victim of wage theft, please refer to Know your Rights and Wage Theft websites to better identify the case and to proceed accordingly.

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The Strength of a Union: Why Rallying for Workers’ Rights at GW is Necessary this May Day

5/3/2019

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By Matt Girardi

May Day throughout much of the world is synonymous with a celebration of organized labor. To honor the Haymarket Affair, workers’ rights activists have long used May Day to highlight the continued fight against economic and social injustice that too many workers continue to face. This May Day, a number of student groups including the Progressive Student Union, Fair Jobs GW, Fossil Free GW, the YDSA, and Jewish Voice for Peace (amongst others) coalesced and planned a rally in Kogan plaza. Termed the “Rally for Fair Jobs”, its focus was intended to be the continued lack of security for too many GW Workers—both student and non-student. Since September 2018, Fair Jobs GW has campaigned on a series of 10 demands that they have named the “Fair Jobs Contract”. These demands range from recognizing the collective bargaining rights of all GW workers to ensuring accessible health care, clarifying overtime policies, ceasing GWs outsourcing practices, and ensuring that the university is paying all its workers a living wage. Taken altogether, if implemented, the Fair Jobs Contract would provide economic justice, security, and dignity for all GW Workers. If administration wants to show they understand and are willing to work with students to make the university an institution where the best and brightest and not just the children of the wealthiest can thrive, it should take note of the demands of the activists that were in Kogan and move towards adopting the recommendations of the Fair Jobs Contract- particularly in respect to collective bargaining.

While the administration recently took some steps in the right direction by working with the Student Association to lower costs of laundry, printing, and renting spaces, it has some way to go before GW becomes affordable and accessible to every one of the students who call this campus home. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing continued concerns by both student and non-student GW workers, administration has continued to block Workers’ Rights by partnering with the Trump Administration’s National Labor Relations Board to stop graduate students from unionizing and launched sustained efforts to stop Resident Advisor unionization. It has continued to use temporary hires to fill gaps in employment, relies on third party contractors to undercut efforts at solidarity and unionization by direct staff and continues to not move on adopting a UPASS program that would significantly reduce costs for GW workers. To add insult to injury, after sustained efforts by administration to undermine Resident Advisor Unionization efforts, it made promises of increased transparency and cooperation between management and RAs, and then announced sweeping changes to the RA program.

The surprise announcement included the requirement of additional work hours, random roommates for some RAs, and the transition from a cash stipend to a fully covered meal plan. To top it all off, the CSE announced the changes after the housing application deadline passed for most upperclassmen, so many returning RAs were stuck choosing between signing the unexpected contract or paying the full cost of housing after all their potential roommates already established housing plans for the coming year. One Resident Advisor, speaking on anonymity for fear of their job, remarked that “[this] seemingly unfair rollout onto next year’s staff, particularly veteran RAs returning to the role, raises a serious question – why is upper management exclusively deciding what is best for the program and its workers? RAs depend on their stipend to accommodate the cost of not only food but also clothing, books, tuition, and a healthy social life. Without any say in the process, students complied as the CSE bound their income to GW-sponsored dining establishments while decreasing their flexibility to fit other jobs into their already busy schedules.”

Ironically and sadly, by reneging on their promise of additional cooperation and transparency with RAs and transitioning their wages into meal plans, the CSE has magnified the absurdity of the insecurity at the 59th wealthiest university in North America: nearly 40 percent of its student body, and even its own Resident Advisors, cannot even afford to consistently eat three meals a day.

Nonetheless, according to administration, GW student workers can have their concerns taken seriously by administration without forming a union. In fact, after Graduate Students advocating for unionization known as “GW Grad Students United” repeatedly requested to meet with President LeBlanc, they were met with a response by Provost Forrest Maltzman where he opined “Although I do appreciate that unions have made important contributions in many industries and over time, I view our graduate students as primarily students. Nor do I believe it is appropriate to utilize a collective bargaining process to shape the graduate student experience.”

While Provost Maltzman is entitled to that opinion, it is difficult to not to see that the bigger picture is missed in his response. In the words of the aforementioned (anonymous) RA: “When university employment determines so much of one’s livelihood, students deserve a seat at the negotiating table.” After all, unionization and collective bargaining efforts are not about setting up conflicts: they are about allowing workers to create a collective voice that no individual, no one worker, and no one Provost could provide. Only through that collective, united voice can workers engage in a fair, meaningful, and equitable dialogue with management. Even in the administration’s Faculty-Staff culture survey, a theme of “inadequate faculty and staff appreciation, recognition and care” was noted as a major hindrance to development of a healthy campus culture. If administration wants to act on that survey, if it wants to cast aside old stereotype of GW being a school of, by, and for elites, and if it truly wants to tap into the energy of the workers and young people who do their best to make this school run every day, it should work with the people who have been working for them. This May Day, workers were out, about, and ready to engage. Will the administration finally be willing to reciprocate? We can only hope so.

Note: When contacted, Fair Jobs GWU responded “PSU and the Fair Jobs campaign support grad student unionization efforts, and when there was an active movement to unionize RAs, we supported those efforts as well.” Grad Students United did not return immediately a request to comment on student unionization efforts.

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The roosevelt Reader

Dorms for the homeless

Heroes Need Hazard Pay

It’s Time for Americans to Consider a National Health Service

Democratic Access is on the ballot

The New Comprehensive Plan: A Positive Step for D.C

How Congestion Pricing could increase mass transit ridership and reduce pollution

George Washington University is fostering an environment of wage theft

The Strength of a Union: Why Rallying for Workers’ Rights at GW is Necessary this May Day

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