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GUESTS: Martha Ugarte, David Villalobos, Southern California organizers with TRIGA

On Monday of this week 158 immigrant advocacy groups launched a nationwide boycott against the Colorado-based Western Union. The boycott comes on the heels of a year long negotiation with the agency to lower their fees and reinvest in their immigrant communities. Key to this boycott is Western Union’s role in remittances, or money immigrants send back to families in their home countries. The World Bank estimates that in 2005 developing nations, received more than $250 billion in remittances from international workers, more than all the foreign aid combined. In some instances, an individual money transfer costs Western Union $5 but the company can charge more than $20. The world Bank Estimates that Western Union could cut its fees by one-third and still retain profits comparable to its competitors. Western union which handled over 147 million consumer to consumer money transfers last year controlled 17.4 of the global remittance market. Currently Western union only reinvests $.41 cents for every $100 of profit, compared to $2.30 by Walmart and $.50 by Ben Jerry’s. The proposal for reinvestment would require Western Union to reinvest $1.

For More www.boycottwesternunion.net/