BossFeed Briefing for May 17, 2021. Last Tuesday, Governor Inslee signed into law a bill ensuring overtime pay for agricultural workers in WA. Last Thursday, DoorDash reported $9.9 billion in gross order revenue, 3x greater than a year ago. Last Friday, Governor Inslee announced that WA would “reopen” the economy by June 30th. Tomorrow, all WA counties will advance to Phase 3 of 4 in the state’s reopening plan. This Thursday is National Be A Millionaire Day, a day this website says is dedicated to the "idea of being a millionaire", complete with plenty of suggestions about how to become one.
Three things to know this week:
A Port Orchard restaurant owner posted a public list outing the names, phone numbers, and emails of everyone who reported his business to the state for remaining open in defiance of public guidelines. People on the list say they’ve received threatening voicemails and Facebook messages from strangers, while owner Craig Kenady claims his list isn’t meant to encourage retaliation.
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen took home $22.4 million in total compensation over the past year. Kroger hauled in major profits this year as grocery sales climbed, but in April the company closed two Seattle grocery stores in a fit of spite after the Seattle City Council passed a law requiring hazard pay for grocery workers.
McDonald’s Inc. announced last week it will raise pay in company-owned stores to an average of $15/hr, evidently hoping everyone forgets that an average wage is quite different from a minimum wage. The pay hike only applies to the 5% of locations directly owned (not franchised) by the company, not the other 95% of stores with the McDonald's logo selling McDonald's products to McDonald's customers.
Two things to ask:
How will it be enforced? Costco announced its stores will no longer require masks for fully vaccinated customers. The company did not offer any way for workers to identify who should still be wearing a mask or how they can otherwise keep themselves safe.
Will Seattle City Council take action this year? Gig workers in Seattle won emergency hazard pay and sick leave protections last summer. Now, the Seattle City Council is considering making a formal commitment to pass new laws that permanently raise pay, protect flexibility, and provide transparency for 40,000+ gig workers — you can click here to urge them to take action now.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
Amazon is rolling out a shiny new safety initiative for warehouse workers called AmaZen, reports Edward Ongweso Jr. of Vice News. Warehouses will soon feature self-care kiosks that guide workers through short mindfulness and breathing exercises, prompt them to watch brief safety videos, and walk them through one minute stretch breaks (the company is presumably aware that legally mandated rest break are 10 minutes long, not one). Workplace injury rates at Amazon’s distribution warehouse are twice the industry average, so some meditation and stretching certainly can’t hurt. But no matter how many hundreds of downward facing dog poses workers complete, they'll still be expected to grab about 300 items from shelves every hour: Amazon says it has no intention of reducing robotic productivity quotas as part of this latest “safety” push.
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!