Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week


In the midst of mass layoffs amongst several tech companies, an article that addresses a move at Amazon to scale back some its HR department is especially timely and noteworthy.  While the three below articles are all worth a read, I call particular attention to the article that delves into the HR related development.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Where a Minimum Wage Rate Goes the Furthest…& Where it Does Not

Last week, an article was published that took a look at what parts of the country the minimum wage rate goes furthest and where it falls short.  As the article notes, hourly workers in Denver and Spokane (among a few other cities) seem to be doing well, while hourly workers in Honolulu and Plano see just the opposite.  The article notes that the high(er) cost of living in a place like Honolulu impacts how far an hourly worker can stretch their dollar compared to a lower cost of living location like Denver.


Amazon Set to Scale Back HR Workforce That Assists Warehouse Workers

Lauren Rosenblatt at The Seattle Times wrote an article recently in which it was noted that Amazon is on the verge of drastically scaling back its HR workforce that interacts with the company’s warehouse workers.  According to the article, last August, Amazon created a system in which it enabled warehouse workers to talk to and interact with an actual human in HR rather than a bot when a warehouse worker had questions over pay, time off, etc.  However, as part of the company’s announced layoff of 18,000 employees, Amazon intends to cut from its HR department (notwithstanding the buyouts it has recently offered HR staff.)


Support For Organized Labor Is Up, But Membership Is Stagnant?

Axios published an article a few days ago in which it was noted that despite there being an uptick in support for organized labor across the board, actual union membership has not taken off as well.  As the article notes, there are several reasons for why this may be the case including pushback from companies and missteps by organized labor.  Will union membership start to gain traction while organized labor is on somewhat of a win streak?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Minimum Wage Hike

A few months ago, readers might remember that I pointed out that the New Jersey Legislature had voted to approve a minimum wage hike in the state .  Under the approved legislation, the minimum wage rate would rise to $10.10/hour in the next year and at least $15/hour over the next five.  (The current minimum wage rate in the state is $8.38/hour).  In that article, I had noted that the bill was then going to go before Governor Chris Christie for his approval or veto. As I had suggested previously, I thought that the Governor would likely veto the bill based upon his prior actions and comments on similar legislation.  Well, a few days ago, Governor Christie did just that and vetoed the bill on the grounds that it "would trigger an escalation of wages that will make doing business in New Jersey unfathomable."  Pointing to the increase in hourly minimum wage rates, the Governor referred to the bill as a "really radical increase."  (It is interesting to c...
Post a Comment
Read more