Wages
Massachusetts – The secretary of state certified over 84,000 signatures submitted in support of placing an initiative on the Nov. ballot to eliminate the tip credit by 2029. Roughly 75,000 signatures were needed. The process in Massachusetts is unique. The initiative, along with six others, was delivered to the legislature this week. Lawmakers have three options for each question: approve it as drafted, suggest a substitute version, or take no action. If they do not act by April 30, campaigns will need to collect another 12,429 voter signatures and file them with local officials by June 19, then the secretary of state’s office by July 3. One Fair Wage is the organizing entity behind the measure. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association will likely take legal action at some point focusing on ballot wording and the state’s single subject rule. More details.
Ohio – Raise the Wage Ohio, an offshoot of One Fair Wage, announced that they have already gathered more than 350,000 signatures in support of placing a measure on the Nov. ballot to increase the minimum wage and eliminate the tip credit. Supporters have until July to get more than 400,000 valid signatures. The proposed amendment would increase the state minimum wage to $12.75/hr on Jan. 1, 2025 and then to $15/hr by 2026. The tipped wage would be phased-out over time until full elimination in 2029. The signatures have not been verified as yet and the group aims to collect 700,000 signatures in total to ensure certification. More details.
Oklahoma – A pending ballot initiative to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage to $15/hr minimum wage by 2029 is now in court. The Oklahoma State Chamber and Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation filed a protest with the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking the court to declare the petition legally insufficient. They argue that a portion of the petition violates the state constitution and that the proposed wording of the ballot initiative is misleading. A decision is likely soon. More details.
Paid Leave
Massachusetts – House-approved legislation is pending in the senate that would require employers to “allow sufficient time” for voting on Election Day in a state or municipal election. If a voter doesn’t have “sufficient” time outside of their regular working hours to cast their ballot, they’d be allowed to “without loss of pay, take off enough working time that, when added to the voting time available outside of working hours,” cast their ballot, provided the employee gives their employer at least three days’ notice. Under the bill, an employee’s time off for voting “shall be at the beginning or end of the employee’s regular working hours, whichever allows the most time for voting and the least time off from the regular working hours, unless otherwise mutually agreed between the employer and the employee.” Employers who violate the proposed law by not giving “sufficient time off to vote” would be required to pay a “full day’s pay,” to the impacted worker, according to the bill’s text. The state attorney general’s office would handle enforcement of the statute. More details.
Pittsburgh, PA – The city switched agencies responsible for enforcement of their paid leave law and have promised vigorous investigations in 2024. Previously, the city’s comptroller office was in charge of enforcement but now the city’s Office of Equal Protection will take over. The act was originally passed by city council in 2015 but didn’t go into effect until March 2020 after a lengthy court battle over its legality. Businesses with 15 or more employees are required to provide an hour of sick time for every 35 hours an employee works within city limits. Those businesses are required to establish a paid sick days policy and provide notice to their employees. Templates for the notices in a variety of languages can be found on the city’s website for employers to use. More details.
Labor Policy
Washington – Legislation was pre-filed in both the house and senate to prohibit captive audience meetings. The legislation would prohibit employers from firing, disciplining, or threatening adverse employment actions against workers who refuse to attend meetings on political matters, including unionization. If passed, Washington would be the sixth state to enact this type of law. The legislature convenes Jan. 8. More details.
Labor Activism
Anheuser-Busch – The union representing thousands of workers at breweries across the country voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if the union and the company can’t hammer out a deal on a new contract. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that 99 percent of its members voted in favor of authorizing a strike that could lead to walkouts at 12 breweries across the U.S. The Teamsters contract with the company expires at the end of Feb. The union says that it has reached tentative agreements with the company on health care and some retiree benefits, but it is pushing for more job security assurances for its members. If further negotiations stall, a strike is likely which could significantly disrupt supply chains. More details.
Key Takeaways
- This week, a joint letter to all employees from both Costco’s outgoing and incoming CEO regarding a recent successful unionization campaign by the Teamsters is instructive on the new world order with regard to labor organizing. In the letter, the executives strike a conciliatory tone and take responsibility for creating an environment in which employees at the Norfolk, VA store in question thought unionization was necessary. They vowed to improve the culture and employee experience going forward. Costco has long had unionized stores in California but the recent election before Christmas was the first in over twenty years. Regardless, their approach is in direct contrast with the approach of Amazon and Starbucks and certainly intended to mollify any future unionization sentiments. More importantly, it may be a recognition by executives of the difficulty companies now face under the NLRB’s new post-CEMEX rules making unionization significantly easier. Regardless of intent, their actions create a new marker that other targeted bands may be measured against and new expectations from workers on how a given company chooses to conduct itself. Brands should recognize these developments and ensure they inform the internal decision making process if and when they face similar unionization efforts.
- This week, Starbucks announced a new program where customers will be able to use their own clean, personal cup for every visit at all company-operated stores and participating licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada – including drive-thru and the Starbucks app. This is part of a larger cultural movement the company is leading to shift toward reusables and away from single-use plastics. What’s important for industry players to recognize is that this action alters the political playing field for the industry and potentially renders moot many of the traditional arguments that industry leaders have leveraged when opposing certain proposed restrictions on packing, primarily Polystyrene. While the industry has been arguing that certain proposals from the environmental community are unworkable, Starbucks may be potentially proving that they are, in fact, workable. Brands and industry associations will need to closely watch the progress of Starbucks’ initiative and consider the possibility that many of their legislative arguments have been marginalized.
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 Restaurant Business online website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.