COVID-19
Health and Safety – This week President Biden announced a six-point plan to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Most pertinent to the employer community is a new OSHA mandate that large employers (defined as 100 workers or more) ensure their workers are vaccinated, or they submit to weekly testing. At the local level, vaccine mandates for patrons are becoming more common as more municipalities continue to follow early adopters. More details.
Federal Relief – The Small Business Administration (SBA) this week increased the maximum amount of funding a small business can borrow through the EIDL program. The increase from $500,000 to $2 million can be used to hire and retain employees, purchase inventory/equipment, and pay off higher-interest debt. In related news, the Independent Restaurant Coalition held a press conference this week calling for more funding for the RRF program and releasing new survey results from their membership that showed 82 percent of their members would close without relief funds.
Unemployment Benefits – The federal enhanced unemployment benefit program has now ended. The program has been criticized for contributing to the tight labor market; however, the current available data shows that it had only a marginal impact. There is no indication, at this moment, that the Biden Administration or Congress intends to restart the program. More details.
California – Legislation is headed to the governor’s desk that would grant businesses with expanded outdoor dining space a one-year grace period to apply for a permanent expansion. The one-year grace period would begin after the emergency order is lifted to apply for a permanent expansion, allowing significantly expanded outdoor restaurant/bar seating with alcohol service on streets, parking lots, alleys or sidewalks. The legislation would also streamline the state’s alcohol licensing process by increasing to 36, from the current maximum of 24, the number of times businesses can use a catering license at a single location. More details.
Wages
Amazon – Following the lead of Walmart and other major employers, the company announced that it will cover the cost of tuition and books for employees pursuing bachelor’s degrees at various universities nationwide. Hourly employees will be eligible for the new benefit after 90 days on the job. Employees working as little as 20 hours a week will be eligible for the benefit. Amazon will pay 50 percent of college costs for part-time staffers under the program. More details.
Paid Leave
U.S. House – Democrats unveiled a major component of their pending $3.5 trillion infrastructure plan this week, 12 weeks of universal paid family and medical leave. The benefit would become available in 2023. It would be distributed on a sliding scale with lower-earning workers having the largest portion of their pay replaced while on leave. The benefit would be paid out monthly. The proposal has a long road to travel to be part of any final package; however, it’s inclusion is indicative of the importance Democratic leaders have placed on the issue. More details.
Tyson Foods – The company is offering its frontline workers paid sick leave for the first time. The new benefit is part of a larger agreement that earned union support and included a vaccine mandate for all U.S. employees. 90,000 – or 75 percent – of its 120,000 U.S. workers have now been vaccinated, up from 50 percent when it announced the mandate on Aug. 3. Workers have until Nov. 1 to get vaccinated. Under the agreement with the UFCW, Tyson workers can earn up to 20 hours of paid sick leave. More details.
Labor Policy
NLRB – National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has instructed the board’s regional offices to do everything in their power when punishing employers for unfair labor practices. This action aligns with Congressional Democrats’ efforts to include enhanced penalties (provisions of the PRO Act) in the infrastructure package that is currently being crafted.
Wisconsin – Legislation was heard this week that would expressly classify gig economy workers, like Uber and Lyft drivers, as independent contractors, preventing them from receiving workers compensation and other employee benefits. The proposed measure, AB-487, would also allow platform companies to provide benefits to their drivers without classifying them as employees. The legislation, in effect, would allow those employers to establish a benefits regime that resembles a traditional employment relationship. Proponents are advocating that the benefits could be portable. This is a new approach and model being pushed by platform companies. More details.
Labor Activism
Gallup Poll – On Labor Day, the Gallup organization released its annual poll on Americans’ attitudes toward labor unions. According to the findings, 68 percent of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest since 1965 when approval stood at 71 percent. Americans’ approval of labor unions has been trending upward in recent years and is now at its highest point in more than half a century. Approval among Democrats, which is nearly unanimous, has risen over the past year as President Joe Biden has said he expects his administration to be one of the most pro-union in history. Also of note, former President Donald Trump adopted many traditional union issues, as have other Republicans recently. More details.
Delivery
California – The assembly concurred with senate-passed amendments to legislation requiring third-party foodservice delivery companies to provide an itemized cost breakdown of each transaction to both customers and restaurants. The bill is on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature. More details.
New York, NY – DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats are suing New York City for capping the amounts they can collect in fees from restaurants. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the companies argue that the fee caps are government overreach that will harm businesses. Along with monetary damages and a jury trial, the three companies are seeking an injunction to keep New York from enforcing the fee-capping rule that the city made permanent in Aug. The city had previously put a temporary cap on delivery fees prohibiting platforms from charging restaurants more than 23 percent per order, which breaks down as 15 percent for delivery, 5 percent for having the restaurant listed on its app, and 3 percent for credit card processing feeds. More details.
Key Takeaways
- Workers at two additional Starbucks locations in Buffalo, NY filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking for a vote on union representation. Unlike efforts in other parts of the country, this is not being coordinated by local independent activists but in direct coordination with the SEIU. All brands with operations in the area should consider the city of Buffalo a union organizing “hot spot” and ensure both internal leaders and field management understand the volatile environment in which they are currently operating. Brands should assume that SEIU organizers in the area are in communication with their workers.
- The Gallup poll supports what we’ve known for some time – that the conditions (or atmospherics) for labor organizers are the most favorable that they have been in a very long time: the pandemic has created an environment where unions are organizing on issues other than wages and benefits; the political environment and social justice activism (particularly in blue metros) has connected young workers to the labor movement in a new way; the tight labor market is emboldening workers, and; the agencies – like the NLRB – overseeing activism and union elections are tilting the playing field in organizers’ direction. It’s a perfect storm for labor organizers. Employers should appreciate that their traditional tactics and approach may be outdated in this new environment.
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Nation’s Restaurant News website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.