BossFeed Briefing for November 23, 2020. Last Wednesday, the Institute for Policy Studies released a new report highlighting 12 big companies—including Walmart, Amazon, and Instacart— that have profited off the pandemic while conditions for workers hit new lows. Last Thursday, Starbucks announced it will raise barista pay by 10%, but the move will still leave many workers across the country paid less than $15/hr. Last Friday, managers at a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Iowa were exposed for betting money on how many employees would get COVID. This Friday is Black Friday, a particularly dangerous day for the warehouse workers who are pushed to the brink as they fulfill the rush of orders. Next Monday is Cyber Monday, capping off the year's most branded weekend.
Three things to know this week:
The restaurant industry has launched an aggressive effort to overturn WA’s new COVID restrictions on indoor dining. Restaurant workers, meanwhile, are concerned about their own safety, especially as dine-in customers have often ignored masking requirements, owners have pushed to seat large parties, and many employers have failed to share information about COVID-positive coworkers and customers.
Tens of thousands of hotel workers in New York City will receive $500 million in a settlement with hotel owners over massive COVID layoffs. It’s the largest-ever settlement of its kind for hotel workers.
A Senate panel is proposing $696 billion in military spending for 2021. Since passing the CARES Act back in March, the Senate has approved $0 in additional support for unemployed workers or any other relief.
Two things to ask:
Would you tax that? The private jet business has been booming during the pandemic, with boutique airline brokers reporting heightened demand for their services. Wealthy wanderlusters are apparently turning to private planes as a “safe travel” option — and this list of Top Private Jet Destinations is here to help.
How sick were the gains, though? Despite initially vowing to remain open in defiance of new COVID restrictions on indoor workouts, a Spokane gym owner has decided to comply with safety guidelines, after all. The change of heart was reportedly due to fear that all the negative publicity might hurt business.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
Amazon has been raking in record profits during the pandemic and consolidating its monopolistic control over...everything it can get its hands on, writes John Harris in this piece for The Guardian. The company’s relentless expansion includes forays into TV shows, home electronics, surveillance, web services, and workforce automation, and there’s no sign they’re slowing down. One warehouse worker says that the pace at which she’s required to work “makes [her] want to cry” — but crying isn’t an emotion experienced by the literal robots she works alongside. The effort to rein-in Amazon is building strength, and former Amazon executive-turned-critic Tim Bray says that government will need to step in: “[Do we say] be nice, Jeff, play nice, be a better person? Or do we establish a legal and regulatory framework that simply makes it impossible to do what they’re doing?”
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!