Wages
U.S. Senate – Sen. Bernie Sanders along with 29 Democratic cosponsors introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $17/hr by 2028. The Raise the Wage Act also calls for elimination of the tip credit and subminimum wages for youth and workers with disabilities. It also allows for the Labor Department to adjust wages in the future if necessary. Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S House. The bill is merely a messaging bill and has no change of passage in this Congress. More details.
Massachusetts – A new poll conducted by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, a Boston-based free market think tank, finds voters split on a proposed increase in the minimum wage to $20/hr. By a 44-42 percent margin, voters only slightly support a $20/hr proposal. Activists are pursuing placing a minimum wage measure on the 2024 ballot. More details.
Minneapolis, MN – The city council is considering an ordinance that would guarantee a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers within the city limits. If passed, drivers would get at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute, or $5, whichever is greater. The rule would only apply to the portion of each ride within the city. It would also guarantee riders and drivers are provided receipts, detailing how much the rider was charged versus what the driver received. In May, Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz vetoed a bill that would have mandated higher pay and job security for Lyft and Uber drivers in the state. Walz said at the time that rideshare drivers deserve fair wages and safe working conditions, but it wasn’t the “right bill” to achieve those goals. Seattle, New York City, and Washington state have passed similar laws. More details.
Labor Policy
NLRB – According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) agenda published in the Federal Register this week, the Board will publish its new joint employer rule next month. Last fall, the NLRB announced a draft of its new joint employer definition, under which companies could face legal action for labor law violations committed by their contractors or franchisees. Under the proposed rule, two or more employers would be considered joint employers if they “share or codetermine those matters governing employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment,” such as wages, benefits and other compensation, work and schooling, hiring and discharge, discipline, workplace health and safety, supervision, assignment, and work rules. The current rule holds that a business is a joint employer only where it has “substantial direct and immediate control” over the essential terms and conditions of another company’s employee. More details.
OSHA – The agency announced it will step up heat-related inspections of worksites to prevent heat stress. The announcement comes in the wake of record national heat levels and dissatisfaction from worker groups and Congress over the agency’s stalled heat standards. Earlier this week, dozens of lawmakers sent a letter to acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and OSHA head Doug Parker, urging them to finish a long-languishing rule on heat standards. More details.
Labor Department – Flex, the coalition of gig companies that launched last year to protect the industry’s business model “is demanding the Biden administration refrain from issuing a high-profile rule on gig workers until a Senate-confirmed secretary heads the department.” The group argued that any new rules and regulations issued by Julie Su while serving as the Acting Labor Department Secretary would be on shaky legal ground. The coalition’s warnings echo comments by House Republicans and offer a likely preview of challenges ahead given that the White House has opted to keep her in the role indefinitely despite the fact that her confirmation is unlikely. App-based companies have thrown up fierce resistance to efforts to reclassify their workers as employees rather than independent contractors, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a 2020 fight over a California ballot referendum and bulking up their footprints in D.C. More details.
Starbucks – An NLRB official dismissed a petition to oust the union at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Manhattan after the NLRB regional director cited unfair labor practice charges against the company from workers at the cafe. The workers intending to decertify the union are represented pro bono by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an employer-funded group opposed to unions. Petitions to decertify can be filed no sooner than one year after a union’s certification, and at least 30 percent of workers must sign in support of the move when there is no collective bargaining agreement in place, according to NLRB rules. The union is dissolved if a majority of workers ultimately vote against representation. More details.
Study – A new report shows that seventeen states matched or surpassed record low unemployment rates in June according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Additionally, more than a dozen others are within 0.2 percentage points above all-time lows. The results likely mean that upward pressure on wages will continue into the foreseeable future. More details.
Sustainability
New Jersey – The governor signed legislation banning gestational pig crates. The bill is the same as one that former Gov. Chris Christie vetoed in 2013. A coalition led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Humane Society of the United States has sought for 13 years to ban the use of small crates that confine mother pigs and calves to raise veal. While there is almost no pork industry in the state, the victory is symbolic and the latest victory for the animal rights community. More details.
Key Takeaway
- This week, the Labor Department released data citing the number of children found working illegally in the U.S. has risen by 44 percent over the last 10 months. More than 4,470 children were found working in violation of federal child labor laws between Oct. of last year and last week. The data was culled from over 700 cases of child labor cases with more than another 700 still pending. This comes against the backdrop of increasing bipartisan pressure from Capitol Hill for the agency to increase investigations, as well as increased focus by state regulators. Brands need to understand the escalating focus in this space and educate field teams and franchisees regarding increased enforcement vigilance.
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.