Call to Action: Boycott Western Union!
Calling all immigrant advocates! Now is the time to give something back to immigrants’ communities both in the United States as well as in their home countries.
On May 10th, members of the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (TIGRA) called on Western Union to adopt a more equitable and more humane policy. TIGRA, made up of over 180 immigrant rights organizations, gave Western Union 100 days to adopt the Transnational Community Benefits Agreement (TCBA), which would lower remittance fees, establish fairer exchange rates, and provide for community reinvestment.
Martha Ugarte explains, “Western Union and other money transfer agencies often function as the primary banking service in immigrant communities, yet they remain unregulated by the Community Reinvestment Act and are unaccountable to their primarily low-wage customer base. Immigrants depend on remittances, or money transfers, to send money for food, urgent medical care, and education to their communities of origin.” She goes on to explain the problem, “Western Union reinvests only 41 cents for every $100 of profit, as compared to $2.30 reinvested by Wal-Mart and $7.50 reinvested by Ben and Jerry’s. The ‘Tres por Uno’ program boosts this number to 77 cents for five participating Mexican states. The TCBA would require Western Union to reinvest $1 per every transaction.”
Their lack of reinvestment initiatives is not the only problem. Western Union’s fees are exorbitant. Ugarte tells us, “Although an individual money transfer costs Western Union less than $5 (dropping to $3.27 for second and subsequent transactions), the company charges more than $20. The World Bank estimates Western Union could cut its fees by one-third and still retain profits comparable to its competitors.”
To find out more about the movement and what activists are doing in your community, check out the website here.
Stop back by tomorrow for another look at migrant communities and Western Union.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
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