BossFeed Briefing for July 20, 2021. Last Tuesday, a Seattle City Council committee held a hearing on our PayUp policies to raise pay, protect flexibility, and provide transparency for 40K+ gig workers. Last Wednesday, a study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a full-time worker making minimum wage cannot afford rent in WA or any other state. Also last Wednesday, hundreds of Frito Lay workers in Topeka went on strike to protest forced overtime hours of up to 12 hours per shift. Today marks two weeks until ballots must be postmarked or dropped in a local dropbox for WA’s August 3rd primary election. And this Sunday is the 123rd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico.
Three things to know this week:
The WA Department of Labor & Industries released emergency rules intended to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke exposure. Once air quality reaches an "unhealthy" rating, the rules require employers to provide respirator masks and breaks in filtered air, but at no point are employers required to suspend outdoor work.
In a recent article, the owner of a restaurant in Bremerton expressed confusion about his inability to fill open positions. The restaurant is currently hiring for a server job at $13.50/hour when the statewide minimum wage is $13.69/hour.
Using Emojis can help staff feel more connected to one another and improve overall communication in the workplace, according to a new study. Here at BossFeed, we’re delighted to learn this news.
Two things to ask:
Are your emails sounding a bit too robotic? A Bellevue-based tech startup is developing an artificial intelligence “empathy engine” that will offer “real-time empathy correction” for office workers as they type text messages and emails. The humans who created this robot hope it will help fellow humans remember that still other humans have human feelings.
Have you added your name in support yet? GoPuff workers continue to gain national attention with their open letter. Workers on the app — which promises on-demand delivery of snacks, vapes, and beer — say they're trapped in "the worst of both worlds" and are demanding big changes.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
From his Nth vacation home on Uber-free Whidbey Island, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently sat for a lengthy interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. First, Dara bemoaned the fact that some Uber Eats drivers, in his view, “can’t understand” how to make the company's pay system work for them — however, one thing we can all understand is that Uber Eats pays less than minimum wage. Then, Dara bragged about the company's financial success under his tenure: Uber Eats has grown from a $2.5 billion business to over $50 billion. All in all, it's a pretty good case for why it's time to make Uber Eats pay up.
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!