BossFeed Briefing for July 6, 2021. Last Wednesday, WA state ended most COVID-19 public health restrictions. Last Thursday was the 2nd anniversary of the Seattle Domestic Workers Bill of Rights taking effect. Last Sunday marked the 1 week anniversary of all-time record high temperatures across the state of WA. Today BossFeed is back from a brief summer hiatus. Tomorrow is Global Forgiveness Day — just not for these two Exxon lobbyists.
Three things to know this week:
Workers on GoPuff, a delivery app that promises on-demand delivery of beer and chips, made national news with an open letter calling for fair pay, an end to discrimination & unjust termination, and the flexibility they were promised. You can read the letter and add your name in support right here.
Kroger announced a $1 billion stock buyback program to enrich investors as yearly earnings projections skyrocketed. Earlier this year, the same Kroger corporation abruptly closed two grocery stores in Seattle, citing the additional cost of being forced to pay hazard pay to workers during a pandemic.
Fast food workers in New York City now have labor protections that prohibit companies from firing employees without just cause. Under the new city law, fast food restaurants must provide an adequate reason before taking away someone’s livelihood.
Two things to ask:
Are WA elected officials taking notes? The state of California announced it will pay off all past-due rent accrued during the pandemic for low-income residents. Here in WA, the state recently extended the eviction moratorium through September 30, but several hundred thousand people still owe back rent.
How fun is that? Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi decided to moonlight as an Uber Eats driver last week for a whopping 5 hours, completing a grand total of 16 deliveries and earning $150 (including tips and not accounting for expenses). Khosrowshahi did not release a plan to make 25 million more deliveries to earn his net worth of $235 million.
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
A pair of studies out of Iceland found that shortening the workweek with no reduction in pay does not negatively impact worker productivity, reports Kati Pohjanpalo for Bloomberg. The pilot program, conducted between 2015 and 2019, cut the workweek from 40 hours to 35 hours for 2,500 workers across Iceland. As a result of reduced hours, researchers say employee “wellbeing dramatically increased”, with workers reporting less stress and better work-life balance overall — and since then, some 86% of workers in Iceland have moved to shorter workweeks. Turns out that it’s a bona fide Good Thing when more people have more time to rest, recharge, stay healthy, and live life outside of work...who could have guessed?
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!