THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

Masterworks with Commentary in Between the Notes at Library, April 22

Posted on April 12, 2018 by John Bailey

You won’t want to miss pianists Matthew Harrison and Vlada Yaneva who will perform on Sunday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m. in the Library Auditorium. Harrison and Yaneva—who performed here several years ago—have brought Masterwork Conversations to audiences since their inaugural Chopin series in 2010.

Their performances have taken them from stages in Europe to Carnegie Hall to the airwaves of WQXR. This open conversation recital format has brought new musical insight and enjoyment to audiences of every age and experience. In 2015, they released their debut CD, The Imagination of the Folk.

Their program on the 22nd is called “A Night in the Garden of Spain” and will feature a selection of Spanish composers, including Manuel de Falla, as well as composers such as Ravel and Debussy who were inspired by Spain. Join us for what will certainly be a delightful musical siesta.

“A Night in the Garden of Spain” is supported by the Friends of the White Plains Library.

200 Gather at Garden of Remembrance on Yom Hashoah Holocaust Commemoration

Posted on April 12, 2018 by John Bailey

Rememberers gathered at the Garden of Remembrance today in tribute and commemoration of the 6 million who died in the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945 under Nazi Germany in vicious acts of violence and in deliberate premedidated extermination/concentration camps in Europe.

Holocaust Survivor Agnes Vertes noted that fewer and fewer survivors of the Holocaust remain with us each year, closing her talk charging those in attendance it is their mission to never forget the Holocaust and to always remember it.

The remembrance program was highlighted by a procession of rescued Torahs, such as the one shown in the center of this picture above, as its bearer left the ceremony.

At the closing of the somber ceremony, Cantor Leslie Friedlander and Fredda Mendelson of Kol Hazzanim-The Cantors of Westchester performed the following evocative, haunting close. WPCNR shares it with you on this link:

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Union Cleaners Lose Jobs in Favor of Non-Union Workers in WP Downtown. Union Says Action Violates County Law

Posted on April 12, 2018 by John Bailey

Members and supporters of 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union protesting the firing of 7 of their union members by Caspi Development, owners of the building in the background, adjacent City Hall today in White Plains.

WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. From the Service Employees International Union with WPCNR Interview. April 12, 2018.Updated 9:45 A.M.

Seven union office cleaners were given notice within the last two weeks, when Caspi Development, owners of 235-234 Main Street, the building adjacent White Plains City Hall, changed cleaning contractors without notice.

Today the union held a protest on Main Street in front of City Hall. Tim McGrath, Field Supervisor for the Hudson Valley Region for 32BJ SEIU told WPCNR what Caspi did and what SEIU is going to do next in this WPCNR video at this link

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The union workers dismissed were making $15 an hour, plus health and vacation benets, and were dismissed in favor of Integrated Building Management workers whom Caspi would be paying less and were non-union, according to Frank Soults, a spokesperson for the SEIU 32BJ union.

Soults told WPCNR this morning the 32BJ SEIU had filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday of this week.

When the cleaners reported to work on Monday, April 2, the union says a new company was operating at their building site, and they were told they could not apply for their old jobs because they belonged to a union. The 32BJ SEIU states the action by the new company violates Westchester County’s Displaced Service Employee Protection Law.

The union held a protest today at 12:15 P.M. in front of 234-235 Main Street to demand the workers be reinstated and rehired by the new company, International Building Management, not necessarily at the same wage. “We want to negotiate with them,” Soults said.

Members of the Communication Workers of America joined the protest, as well as Assemblyman David Buchwald.

Soults said Caspi Development by law should have given the dismissed employees 60 says notice according to the Westchester County Displaced Service employee Protection Law, signed by former County Executive Robert Astorino after it had passed the County Board of Legislators, 16-0.

Soults said Westchester County could choose to take some kind of legal action under their (the county’s)own law.

“This is not the way to treat the people who have been cleaning this building for years,” Lenore Friedlaender, Assistant to the President of 32BJ SEIU, the workers’ union. “The owner not only violated county law, he has displaced longstanding and productive members of the local workforce and upset good relations with building tenants. Caspi Development can surely afford to behave decently. We are very grateful to elected officials and community members who are joining us to ask Caspi to do the right thing and bring these committed workers back on the job by requiring its contractor to comply with the law and hire these workers back.”

According to the Westchester County Displaced Service Employee Protection Law:

Under the DSEPL, a successor employer of building service employees is required to extend a written offer of employment to the predecessor employer’s incumbent employees and retain such employees for a period of 60 days, subject to the existence of just cause or a change in the number of employees needed to perform the applicable work.

At the conclusion of the 60-day period, the just cause protection no longer applies, and any continued employment shall be under the successor employer’s policies and applicable law.

In order to facilitate the successor employer’s retention obligations, the DSEPL requires that the awarding authority to provide certain notifications to the successor employer, affected employees and any collective bargaining representative at least 15 days before terminating any service contract.

The DSEPL is enforced through a private right of action in New York Supreme Court for employees who have been discharged or not retained in violation of the law.

The court may order injunctive relief, as well as a damage award that includes back pay, cost of benefits the successor employer would have incurred if it had complied with the law, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any damages caused by the awarding authority’s failure to comply with its obligations.

County Executive Signs Ani Pay Discrimination Equality Bill

Posted on April 12, 2018 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. (Spanish translation is at the end of the article.) April 12, 2018:

On National Equal Pay Day, Westchester County Executive George Latimer signed the Wage History Anti-Discrimination Law. The measure passed the Board of Legislators with a resounding 16-0 vote.

The law prohibits employers from asking prospective employees about their previous salary history. Employers often ask prospective employees to provide prior salary histories in order to set salary pay rates, a practice that perpetuates discrimination against women and people of color who historically earn lower salaries throughout their careers.

According to A Better Balance and PowHer New York, in New York State, women working full-time make only 89 cents for every dollar a man earns.

The gap for women of color is even wider. Black women in New York earn just 66 cents for every dollar a white man earns. Even further, Latina women earn an astonishing 56 percent of what white men in New York earn.

Latimer said: “In 2018, it is time we do something about the 1950’s Mad Men-esque workplace conditions women and people of color in Westchester face when it comes to pay equity. An applicant’s salary should be based on the quality of work they will do – nothing else. Working families depend on income from all members of the household; this legislation aims to boost incomes across all levels. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in government today and sign this important piece of legislation.”

New York State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef said: “I am so proud to live in Westchester County and to have this very critical legislation passed. I really view this as an issue that is not just about women. I’ve had men come to me in my office and say they are in the same situation. This legislation is good for everyone, and hopefully we’ll be able to get this done statewide.”

Westchester County Legislator Catherine Borgia said: “This legislation makes the transaction between a job seeker and an employer much cleaner. The legislation does not prevent applicants from saying their salary if they feel it is of an advantage to them, but if we want to make real change, we have to start looking at these systemic biases. This was truly a team effort, and we thank the business community and all the advocates who fought hard to make sure this became law in Westchester County.”

Board Member of the Westchester Women’s Agenda CarLa Horton said: “The Westchester Women’s Agenda commends the Board of Legislators and County Executive George Latimer for their leadership in supporting legislation that would make it an unlawful and discriminatory practice to rely upon, request, or seek the wage history of a prospective employee. The WWA fully supports the wage history legislation and sees it as a giant step forward in reducing the gender wage gap for women. If progress toward closing the gender wage gap continued at the current rate, women in New York would not achieve equal pay until the year 2049.”

Equal Pay Day is recognized each year to bring further attention to the gender-wage gap which exists in our society. The Wage History Anti-Discrimination Law takes effect in 90 days.

UN DÍA DE IGUALDAD DE PAGO, LATIMER FIRMA LA LEY EN CONTRA DE LA DISCRIMINACIÓN SALARIAL

En el Día Nacional de Igualdad Salarial, el Ejecutivo del Condado George Latimer firmo la ley Anti-Discriminatoria en la historia salarial. Esta medida fue aprobada por la Junta de Legisladores con el rotundo voto de 16-0.

La ley prohíbe que empleadores pregunten a prospectos empleados su salario historial. Una norma que a menudo los empleadores usan para determinar las tasas salariales, una práctica que ha perpetuado la discriminación en contra de mujeres y personas de color que historialmente han ganado sueldos más bajos a lo largo de su carrera.

De acuerdo al Better Balance and PowHer en Nueva York – Mejor Balance de Poder Femenino (en Ingles), la mujeres que trabajan tiempo completo solo ganan 89 centavos por cada dólar que un hombre gana. La brecha salarial para mujeres de color es aun todavía más grande. Las mujeres afroamericanas en Nueva York solo ganan 66 centavos por cada dólar comparado con cada dólar que ganan los hombres blancos.

Latimer dijo. “En el 2018, es tiempo de que hagamos algo sobre las condiciones que las mujeres y gente de color en Westchester han enfrentado cuando viene a ser sobre desigualdad salarial que existía en los años ’50. El salario de un solicitante debe ser basado en la calidad de trabajo que él o ella han desempeñado – nada más. Familias trabajadoras dependen del ingreso familiar; el propósito de esta legislación es dar estimulo salarial a todo nivel. Me siento orgulloso de apoyar a mis colegas gubernamentales hoy para firmar esta ley tan importante en nuestra legislación”

La Asambleísta del Estado de Nueva York Sandy Galef dijo: “Me siento orgullosa de vivir en el Condado de Westchester y ver que esta ley fue aprobada. Veo que este tema no toca solamente a mujeres. Muchos hombres han venido a mi oficina a decir que se encuentran en la misma situación. Esta ley cubre a todos, y espero que se pueda llevar a cabo en todo el estado.”

La legisladora del Condado de Westchester Catherine Borgia dijo: “Esta ley hace que la transacción entre el solicitante y el empleador sea más fácil. Esta ley no impide que los solicitantes mencionen su salario si piensan que les beneficiaria, pero si queremos ver un cambio, tenemos que ver estos sesgos sistémicos. Esto que se llevó a cabo fue un esfuerzo de equipo, y le damos las gracias a la comunidad negociante y a todos aquellos defensores que pelearon mucho para que esta ley se llevase a cabo en el Condado de Westchester.”

Carla Horton, un miembro de la Agenda de Mujeres de Westchester elogio a la Junta de Legisladores y al Ejecutivo del Condado George Latimer por su liderazgo en apoyar la legislación que haría ilegal la práctica discriminatoria de basarse en el historial salarial del prospecto empleado. La Agenda de Mujeres de Westchester apoya totalmente la legislación historial salarial y lo ve como un gran paso reduciendo la brecha salarial de mujeres. Si el progreso hacia el cierre de esta brecha salarial de genero continua como lo estamos viendo ahora, las mujeres en Nueva York no lograrían la igualdad salarial hasta el año 2049.”

El Día de Igualdad de Pago se reconoce cada año para atraer más atención a la brecha salarial de género que existe en nuestra sociedad. La Ley Salarial Anti-discriminatoria toma efecto en 90 días.