Random Business News

[Haighus]

Jul 18, 2023 10:21:59 GMT -5 Disciple of Fate said:

Maybe its just the impression I get, but extreme weather in relation to hurricanes seems to mostly point towards coastal communities, given that seemingly most of Florida's districts border some sort of coast, ignoring it seems like a risky electoral prospect.

You could say the same about a lot of Republican positions, including healthcare coverage- everyone gets ill at some point. Yet here we are.

Wealthy Floridians will be able to afford the insurance price hikes for awhile so won't kick up a fuss while they continue to get tax breaks and stealth segregation, and the GOP will probably just try to gaslight and distract everyone with culture war bullshit in the short term. They don't have a long term position anyway besides accumulating wealth and power.

[easye]

In this war, I side with TJs.

www.npr.org/taco-tuesday-trademark-taco-johns-taco-bell

Taco John's has given up its 'Taco Tuesday' trademark after a battle with Taco Bell

The phrase "Taco Tuesday" is now free to use after a taco chain restaurant relinquished its trademark on the popular phrase.

Taco John's has held the trademark since 1989, in all U.S. states except New Jersey. Taco Bell filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to have it reversed, arguing that no one should have the rights to a common phrase.

In a statement released Tuesday, Taco John's conceded and said they are "lovers, not fighters."

"We've always prided ourselves on being the home of Taco Tuesday, but paying millions of dollars to lawyers to defend our mark just doesn't feel like the right thing to do," Taco John's CEO Jim Creel said.

[easye]

These farmworkers thought a new overtime law would help them. Now, they want it gone

www.npr.org/2023/07/21/1188258994/overtime-farmworkers-washington-state-agriculture

"Take away the overtime"
Washington's overtime law included a three-year phase-in, meant to ease the process. Last year, overtime pay kicked in after 55 hours a week. This year, the threshold is 48 hours, and next year it drops to 40.

Schreiber says already, he cannot afford to pay overtime. Instead, he's brought in additional workers to spread the hours around. It's allowed him to keep nearly all his workers to 48 hours a week, not more.

This dramatic loss in hours has led Mendoza to a difficult conclusion.

"Take away the overtime," she says.

[easye]

Also in Business news......

Amid a record heat wave, Texas construction workers lose their right to rest breaks

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/21/1189179220/amid-a-record-heat-wave-texas-construction-workers-lose-their-right-to-rest-brea

A week after construction workers in Austin, Texas, learned they were about to lose their right to rest breaks, the city reached a record-high heat index of 118 degrees. From July 9 to 19, the state capital saw an unprecedented, 11-day streak of temperatures reaching 105 degrees or more.

The Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service has responded to 410 heat-related incidents just since June 1, according to a spokesperson, Capt. Christa Stedman. Among them: A middle-aged man, working outdoors, who called for help after experiencing signs of heat exhaustion.

"It progressed so quickly into heat stroke that, between the time he called 911 and the time that the paramedics arrived on scene, he was fully unconscious and his core temperature was over 106," Stedman said.

Construction worker Mario Ontiveros risks the same outcome. Because he works in Dallas, a local ordinance gives him the right to at least a 10-minute rest break every four hours. But this is the last summer he'll get to claim it.

On June 13, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 2127 — the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act — which bars cities and counties from passing regulations that are stricter than state ones. It also overturns local rules such as ordinances in Austin and Dallas that mandate rest breaks for construction workers. The law takes effect Sept. 1.

[bobtheinquisitor]

How did they sell that new law as a good thing?

[Disciple of Fate]

I have seen the framing as 'unifying standards for businesses in the state' and the usual drivel of asserting who is in charge over those liberal city elites.

[easye]

UPS and Union seem to have come to terms.... for now.....

UPS union calls off strike threat after securing pay raises for workers

www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1189956641/ups-union-calls-off-strike-threat-after-securing-pay-raises-for-workers

The Teamsters union said it has secured pay raises for United Parcel Service workers, averting what would have been one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.

"UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations," Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien said in a statement. "This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers."

Under the tentative five-year agreement, existing full and part-time UPS Teamsters will earn $2.75 more per hour in 2023, and $7.50 more per hour over the length of the contract. Wages for existing part-timers will also be raised to no less than $21 per hour, effective immediately, according to a Teamsters statement.

New part-time hires at UPS will start at $21 per hour and advance to $23 per hour.

The current five-year collective bargaining agreement expires July 31. It is the largest private-sector contract in North America, covering roughly 340,000 UPS workers. Local Teamsters chapters had been holding practice pickets in recent weeks in preparation for a strike if the company and the union failed to negotiate a new contract by the end of the month.

[easye]

The Yellow trucking company meltdown, explained

It's the end of the road for one of the nation's largest freight carriers.

Yellow, a trucking company that just three years ago took a $700 million federal pandemic loan, is shutting down, according to the Teamsters union, which represents the company's 22,000 unionized workers.

The company is expected to file for bankruptcy as soon as Monday, according to industry experts, following a recent exodus of customers amid union strife and on top of years of financial troubles.

With 30,000 jobs at stake, it's poised to be the largest trucking bankruptcy in the history of the U.S., experts said. The company, formerly known as YRC Worldwide, is the third largest less-than-truckload carrier by revenue, behind FedEx and Old Dominion. LTL companies move pallet-sized shipments — smaller than a container, but bigger than a parcel.

Yellow has not publicly announced any plans for bankruptcy or a potential shutdown.

[herzlos]

Starbucks is still being a [redacted] to Unionized stores:

edition.cnn.com/2022/12/16/business/starbucks-tipping/index.html

"Starbucks says that it can’t legally apply new benefits to stores that have voted to unionize. " including the option to pay tips via card.

"“Starbucks is introducing and rolling out all of these benefits in quick succession to essentially bribe non-union shops to remain non-union, and to retaliate against union workers — to discipline us for fighting for workers rights,” said Billie Adeosun, a Starbucks employee who organized the union drive at a location in Olympia, Washington. "

[skyth]

www.theverge.com/2023/7/31/23813935/ebay-tcgplayer-union-labor-unfair-complaint-cwa

The complaints were filed on behalf of workers at TCGplayer, a company eBay acquired in 2022 that’s known for selling and authenticating trading cards from games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering. The complaints allege that after workers at TCGplayer won their union election back in March, management of eBay and TCGplayer has refused to acknowledge the union and engaged in tactics designed to impede or delay workers’ ability to negotiate for a fair contract.

[Haighus]

Well, looks like Universal illegally murdered a bunch of mature trees just to deny striking actors and writers shade at the picket.

Apparently they will get a $250 fine as it is the first offence. Wow.

Edit: there is a LegalEagle vid on this, but I've not watched it yet.

[Haighus]

Jul 31, 2023 16:42:55 GMT -5 herzlos said:

Starbucks is still being a [redacted] to Unionized stores:

edition.cnn.com/2022/12/16/business/starbucks-tipping/index.html

"Starbucks says that it can’t legally apply new benefits to stores that have voted to unionize. " including the option to pay tips via card.

"“Starbucks is introducing and rolling out all of these benefits in quick succession to essentially bribe non-union shops to remain non-union, and to retaliate against union workers — to discipline us for fighting for workers rights,” said Billie Adeosun, a Starbucks employee who organized the union drive at a location in Olympia, Washington. "

That is just grimy.

All these anti-union efforts really show that unions are effective, or the companies wouldn't be putting so much effort into disrupting their activities. Unfortunately, it is cheaper to disrupt than actually treat your employees properly.

[Disciple of Fate]

The problem might be that the common striker can't outlast the big studios, because money is just numbers to them. F.e. Warner Brothers is 50 billion in debt and trucking along just fine, what's a little more debt to outlast a strike? Meanwhile if the striker doesn't have income,they don't have a roof over their head or food.

[herzlos]

That seems to be the ploy for the actors/writers strikes, but to be fair a lot of the actors are striking because they barely get paid as it is, and some big name actors have donated pretty substantial figures to fund the strikers.

I don't know who'll cave first here, but I've seen there's a more concerning outcome here in that it's giving fringe right-wing stuff is getting more oxygen. Like Sound of Freedom by Angel Studios which seems to have exploded in popularity among the US Christians :
www2.cbn.com/news/entertainment/angel-studios-sound-freedom-continues-box-office-hit-nears-150m-mark

So will big studios try and do more low budget stuff to appeal to the US Christian audience at the expense of, well, anything else?

[Haighus]

Aug 1, 2023 10:25:03 GMT -5 Disciple of Fate said:

The problem might be that the common striker can't outlast the big studios, because money is just numbers to them. F.e. Warner Brothers is 50 billion in debt and trucking along just fine, what's a little more debt to outlast a strike? Meanwhile if the striker doesn't have income,they don't have a roof over their head or food.

This is why strikes against goverments routinely fare worse than strikes against private entities. Governments can eat the financial losses much easier.