BossFeed Briefing for July 12, 2021. Last Monday was centi-billionaire Jeff Bezos’ last day as CEO at Amazon, though he’ll remain as the company’s Executive Chairman. Yesterday, billionaire Richard Branson flew to space, joining the cohort of super rich humans who are evidently unsatisfied merely escaping taxes here on earth and are instead intent on escaping earth itself. Today is International Town Crier Day, a day celebrating a profession that’s been on the decline for quite a while at this point. This Wednesday is the birthday of late folk singer and activist Woody Guthrie. This Friday marks the start of the 18-day voting period for WA’s August 3rd primary election.
Three things to know this week:
The WA Department of Labor and Industries released a new emergency rule intended to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat. The rule requires employers to provide workers with cool water when temperatures hit 89 degrees, and access to shade if temperatures rise to 100 degrees.
President Biden issued an executive order last week restricting many non-compete agreements. An estimated 60 million people in the United States are subject to these agreements, which make it difficult for workers to move to better-paying jobs within the same industry.
Jeff Bezos increased his wealth by $8.4 billion in a single day last week as Amazon’s stock price surged. Incidentally, the annual operating budget for the entire City of Seattle in 2021 is $6.8 billion (hat tip to Alex Garland on Twitter for pointing this one out).
Two things to ask:
Was he hoping nobody would notice? The new Chief of Staff at the US Department of Labor, Daniel Koh, owned (until recently) $100-250K in Amazon stock, in addition to shares in Uber. After details of his financial assets became public, Koh announced he had divested from Amazon.
So they’re not even gonna pretend to be concerned? Workers at Chipotle restaurants say they were overwhelmed, understaffed, and driven to tears as they faced chaotic conditions during the chain’s recent free burrito promotion. A corporate statement declared it “a very successful day” for Chipotle.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
Fast food workers in New York City are now protected by ‘just cause’ laws preventing companies from firing them for no reason — and their victory could spark a wave of similar measures around the country, reports Josh Eidelson in a deep dive piece for Bloomberg. Nearly all American workers — whether they work in fast food or a fancy corporate office — are “at-will” employees, which means people can pretty much get fired for any reason at any time, or for no reason at all. Just-cause laws shift that unequal balance of power back towards workers, requiring employers to provide an adequate reason before taking away someone’s livelihood, which ensures workers greater job security and makes it harder for employers to retaliate when people speak up about issues in the workplace. Leaders in more & more places are talking about these protections — including Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda in Seattle — so the win in New York could prove to be the start of something big.
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!