BossFeed Briefing for November 9, 2020. Last Sunday, a report showed that as many as 12 million Americans still haven't received the $1200 stimulus checks that went out in April. Last Tuesday, voters in Florida approved a $15/hr minimum wage, with more than 60% voting in favor of the measure. Last Wednesday, Washington gubernatorial runner-up Loren Culp found out that he's also losing his day job, after the Republic, WA Council voted to defund its police department (of which Culp is both the Chief and the sole member). This Wednesday is the 74th anniversary of the 1946 teachers' strike in St. Paul, MN, which was the first organized walkout by teachers in U.S. history. This Friday marks 33 weeks since the last time Congress passed a COVID relief bill.
Three things to know this week:
Economic pains are likely to worsen in the period between the election and inauguration. On deck for the winter: a renewed spike in COVID cases, the potential for a government shutdown, the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits, layoffs in the hospitality and tourism industry, and more.
San Francisco voters have approved an "Overpaid Executive Tax" on the earnings of CEOs who make at least 100x more than the median worker. City leaders say the tax will generate up to $140 million per year to address inequitable access to public health programs.
King County Public Health is creating an income support program for people with COVID-19 who need financial support to stay home and quarantine. Economic security is a critical piece of public health, and this kind of program is long-overdue and badly needed.
Two things to ask:
Hmmm...who could that be? An "unnamed" company has applied for a building permit in the Spokane Valley, apparently valued at $101 million, with plans to build an "Amazon-like" distribution facility. We'll let you do the detective work on this mystery.
Don't clocks go TikTok? Video game retailer GameStop earlier this week announced a sure-to-go-viral TikTok dance contest for employees — and as a prize, winning stores would get more work hours for staffers on Black Friday...and wait for it...staff would be paid for those hours! But before employees barely had time for a first choreography session, GameStop took down the competition in response to public backlash.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that dairy workers will now receive overtime pay when they work overtime hours. Workers argued that the predominantly Latinx agricultural workforce was wrongly and intentionally excluded from our state's overtime law because of racism. In its opinion, the court agreed, writing: "Excluding farmworkers from health and safety protections cannot be justified by an assertion that the agricultural industry...depends on a caste system that is repugnant to our nation's best self." While this particular case only applies to dairy workers, the ruling opens up the possibility of soon expanding overtime protections to all agricultural workers in our state — and the possibility of using similar legal arguments to address the many other racist exclusions that remain embedded in labor laws.
Read this far?
Consider yourself briefed, boss.
Let us know what you think about this week's look at the world of work, wages, and inequality!