BossFeed Briefing for May 30, 2017. Yesterday was Memorial Day, a day off for many people who don’t work in retail, food, healthcare, or other frontline public-facing jobs, and also a day off for BossFeed. Last Tuesday was the annual Amazon shareholder meeting, which saw protests from various groups including security officers, delivery pilots, and anti-foie gras activists. And the second special session of the Washington State Legislature is now underway, after the first special session ended without visible signs of progress.
Three things to know this week:
Longshore workers at an Oakland shipping terminal walked off the job after finding nooses on work property. They halted cargo operations for several hours until the employer made a plan to address the racial harrassment and a return to work was negotiated.
Uber has admitted they took millions of dollars in fare revenue that should have belonged to their New York drivers. A spokesperson said the systematic miscalculation was just a mistake and that they’re “working hard to regain driver trust”.
Truck drivers earn an average of $43,600 a year — less than they did in 1980, after adjusting for inflation. The job is isolating, dangerous, in demand, and facing an uncertain future.
Two things to ask:
Do you think they left a tip? ICE agents raided a Michigan restaurant and questioned kitchen workers about their immigration status… but only after they finished eating breakfast there first. The agents claimed to be seeking a person who was not present, then detained three other people.
Where might they have gotten that idea? The New York City Council has passed a package of new laws that will provide more stable and predictable schedules for people who work at retail and fast-food chains in the city. Seattle workers won a landmark secure scheduling law last September.
And one thing that’s worth a closer look:
Four years ago yesterday, on May 29, 2013, the first Seattle fast food workers walked out on strike for $15/hour. Exactly a year after that, the Seattle City Council passed the nation’s first citywide $15 minimum wage. By now you’ve heard plenty of news about this from plenty of Important People — but if you want to hear from the workers who made it happen, we got you covered in video and book formats.
Read this far?
Consider yourself briefed, boss.
The BossFeed Briefing is our weekly look at the world of work, wages, and inequality.