BossFeed Briefing for September 7, 2021. Last Monday, the Seattle Times reported that King County ranks 8th among US counties with the highest per capita passive income from financial assets. Last Thursday was the 100th anniversary of a deadly attack on striking West Virginia coal miners by the US military. Today, BossFeed returns from a month-long hiatus. Tomorrow is the 56th anniversary of the start to the Delano Grape Strike. This Thursday marks 3 weeks until the WA eviction moratorium is slated to expire.
Three things to know this week:
120,000 unemployed workers in WA saw their unemployment benefits go to zero over Labor Day weekend. So far, both federal and WA state leaders have failed to step in with relief.
The WA Department of Labor & Industries issued 12 health & safety citations to Dick’s Drive-In, including 7 citations for serious violations. The findings confirm complaints filed by workers back in March, which the President of Dick’s insisted were “without merit”.
GoPuff drivers are organizing to fight back after the gig delivery app dramatically cut their pay. Workers are demanding livable wages, an end to discrimination and unjust termination, and the flexibility they were promised.
Two things to ask:
Who invaded whom? A bunch of Argentinian capybaras have moved into a gated community outside Buenos Aires, destroying lawns, biting dogs, and generally wreaking havoc. Wealthy residents whose homes were built on the rodent’s natural wetland habitat are calling it an “invasion.”
But how many know how to enable screenshare? One in four corporate executives say they’ve fired someone for a mistake made on a video call, according to a survey of 200 corporate managers at major US companies. The survey was paid for by a firm which "helps companies manage their workplace collaboration and communication systems."
And one thing that's worth a closer look:
Amazon has announced it’s hiring 12,500 new corporate and tech employees in Seattle, the company’s largest expansion anywhere in the country. Last year, big business lobby groups, the Seattle Times Editorial Board, and business commentators breathlessly warned that Seattle’s Jumpstart proposal — a small tax on the highest salaries at the biggest companies, including Amazon — would kill jobs, have a chilling effect on business, and cause companies to flee the city. One columnist even insisted the tax would push the city past a doomsday “tipping point” from which it would struggle to recover. But the tax was passed, and thousands more jobs are now coming to Seattle — proof that Jumpstart's biggest impact is the resources it provides to ensure everyone in the city can buy groceries, afford rent, and make ends meet.
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!