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Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 339,000 in May, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, government, health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. This news release presents statistics from two monthly […]
By Haley Klundt and Kevin Cooksey “Creative destruction” is often said to be one of the main drivers of economic growth.1 New businesses, innovative ideas, and modern technology replace outdated processes and production to support healthy economic systems. Similarly, the creation and destruction of businesses and jobs provided by those businesses facilitate robust and resilient […]
Continue reading …Gig economy‘It’s a sweat factory’: Instacart workers ready to strike for pay and conditionsGig workers report falling wages, unmanageable orders and lack of concern from the company Gloria Oladipo@gaoladipoFri 15 Oct 2021 07.39 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 09.13 EDTFor Instacart workers across the country, the popular grocery delivery app promised flexibility and a solid wage, perks that enticed thousands to join the app during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.But amid worsening working conditions including plummeting pay, safety concerns, and a punitive rating system, Instacart employees, known as shoppers, will be staging a walkout on 16 October and will continue striking until the company meets their demands for better treatment.Workers, uniting as the Gig Workers Collective, have been organizing against Instacart for years, citing what they say is a trend of unresponsiveness from the company in the face of their concerns. The collective’s asks are mostly for a restoration of features the company has dropped: reinstating Instacart’s commission pay model, paying its shoppers per order rather than bundling them, a 10% default tip instead of the current 5%, transparency about how orders are assigned, and a rating system that doesn’t hurt shoppers forproblems outside their control.Shoppers have also asked for occupational death benefits, noting the increasing dangers shoppers face on the job.Ahead of the walk-off, the Guardian spoke to three Instacart shoppers on their journey to joining Instacart, problems they have encountered since joining the app, and why …
Continue reading …Supply chain crisisShips backed up outside US ports pumping out pollutants as they idleThe Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, two of the nation’s busiest, create more than 100 tons a day of smog that choke local communities Gabrielle Canon in Los Angeles@GabrielleCanonFri 15 Oct 2021 07.05 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 07.07 EDTDozens of behemoth cargo ships adorned with tall stacks of brightly colored containers still dot the coastline off southern California. Part of a shipping bottleneck plaguing US ports, the ships – their diesel-fueled engines always ablaze – are also pumping out pollutants as they idle, anchored off-shore.The clogged supply chain has been described as an economic calamity as the delayed cargo caused shortages in common goods and drove consumer prices higher. But environmentalists and public health advocates are concerned it’s also turning into a climate catastrophe.The container ships awaiting entry are compounding the levels of contaminants that have long come from the ports and that impact the local environment, coastal communities and ambitious carbon targets needed to curb the worst effects of climate change. With the holiday shopping frenzy just around the corner, there are now concerns the problem may get worse before it gets better.“The conversation right now is really focused on supply chain backlog and refilling the shelves with products – but that’s not the whole story,” said Madeline Rose, the climate campaign director for Pacific Environment, a climate advocacy organization that has …
Continue reading …RussiaPrivacy fears as Moscow metro rolls out facial recognition pay systemCampaigners say Face Pay, launched in over 240 stations, is ‘dangerous step’ in efforts to control population Pjotr Sauer in MoscowFri 15 Oct 2021 06.53 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 11.12 EDTThe Moscow metro has rolled out what authorities have lauded as the world’s first mass-scale facial recognition payment system, amid privacy concerns over the new technology.The cashless, cardless and phoneless system, named Face Pay, launched at more than 240 stations across the Russian capital on Friday.“Now all the passengers will be able to pay for travel without taking out their phone, metro or bank card,” the Moscow mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, tweeted on Thursday evening.To activate Face Pay, Sobyanin said, passengers will need to connect their photo, bank card and metro card to the service through the metro’s mobile app. “It will be enough just to look at the camera to pass through the turnstiles,” Sobyanin said.The Moscow authorities, who expect up to 15% of metro passengers will use Face Pay regularly in the next three years, said the system would quicken the flow of people, particularly at busy times.“Moscow is the first in the world to introduce Face Pay on such a scale. The technology is new and very complex, we will continue to work on improving it,” the mayor added.Authorities have said passengers’ data will be “securely encrypted”, saying the information collected will be stored in data …
Continue reading …US unions‘We are not machines’: Hollywood workers poised to strike for better conditionsUnion leaders say a strike will start Monday if there is no deal with studios as workers describe low pay and grueling days without breaks Michael SainatoFri 15 Oct 2021 05.00 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 12.55 EDTAt the start of the pandemic, Hollywood productions abruptly shut down, leaving many workers out of work before things began to resume with Covid-19 safety protocols in place.Since then, workers in Hollywood say they have worked long schedules and endured increased workloads, including staggering work because of social distancing; wearing and distributing personal protective equipment through long work days; and regularly getting tested for Covid-19.“We were working at breakneck speeds, and that was something that was supposed to have changed. We were supposed to have the time we needed to work in that kind of environment,” said Mike Loomer, a set dresser in Hollywood and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 44 member.“The only thing that changed is what we had to endure to make the product that they had to have to get out for the public to see.”Studios will again go quiet around the US as IATSE leaders say its 60,000 members will go on strike from 12.01 PT on Monday if a deal is not reached with employers. It would be the first such national strike since the IATSE was formed 128 years ago.Members of …
Continue reading …BoeingBoeing pilot indicted for allegedly deceiving US regulators over 737 MaxMark A Forkner accused of giving FAA false information about flight-control system in plane that was involved in two crashes Associated PressThu 14 Oct 2021 20.25 EDTA Boeing pilot involved in testing the 737 Max jetliner was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of deceiving safety regulators who were evaluating the plane, which was later involved in two deadly crashes.The indictment accuses Mark A Forkner of giving the Federal Aviation Administration false and incomplete information about an automated flight-control system that played a role in the crashes, which killed 346 people.Prosecutors said that because of Forkner’s “alleged deception”, the system was not mentioned in key FAA documents, pilot manuals or pilot-training material supplied to airlines.The flight-control system automatically pushed down the noses of Max jets that crashed in 2018 in Indonesia, and 2019 in Ethiopia. The pilots tried unsuccessfully to regain control, but both planes went into nosedives minutes after taking off.Most pilots were unaware of the system, called the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, until after the first crash.Boeing directors to face investor lawsuit over 737 Max fatal crashesRead moreForkner, 49, was charged with two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce and four counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said he was expected to make his first appearance in court on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas. If …
Continue reading …US unionsOver 10,000 John Deere workers strike over ‘years’ of poor treatmentWorkers wage biggest private sector strike in the US for two years, saying they were forced to do overtime consistently while company made record profits Michael SainatoThu 14 Oct 2021 08.35 EDTLast modified on Thu 14 Oct 2021 09.19 EDTMore than 10,000 production and warehouse workers at 14 John Deere plants in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia walked off the job at midnight on 14 October in the latest in a wave of industrial unrest in the US.The workers, represented by nine locals with the United Auto Workers (UAW), voted 99% in favor of a strike authorization in September after receiving the initial six-year contract proposal from John Deere.It is the biggest private sector strike in the US for two years, since the UAW led an action against General Motors. It also comes amid threats of other strikes in the US and widespread labor problems in an economy still recovering form the battering inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.On 10 October, workers voted overwhelmingly by 90% to reject the tentative contract agreement offered by John Deere, with a strike deadline set for 11.59pm CT on Wednesday, 13 October.David Schmelzer, a quality control inspector at John Deere in Milan, Illinois for 24 years and former chairman of UAW Local 79, explained in 1997 workers took several concessions from John Deere in contract negotiations at the time, which included creating a two-tier …
Continue reading …Green lightEnvironmentCorporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?Reuse, watershed restoration and new cooling methods back companies’ commitments to conserve scarce water resources Supported byAbout this contentAmanda SchupakThu 14 Oct 2021 08.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 14 Oct 2021 08.38 EDTOne of PepsiCo’s largest food manufacturing plants sits in the perennially water-stressed Valley of Mexico watershed, which provides water to 21 million people in Mexico City and its surrounding suburbs. The aquifer running below the city is so drastically depleted that the metropolis is sinking as the water table falls, and the pipes that bring water in from far-off rivers and lakes are in disrepair.“The city cannot provide the water that we need, so we truck it in,” said Roberta Barbieri, vice-president for global sustainability at PepsiCo. It’s an expensive solution to an intractable problem – the water shortage is not sustainable from either a human or business standpoint. So Pepsi has promised to decrease its water consumption in the region and replenish what it uses. By treating wastewater on site, for example, the factory can reuse 80% of the water it draws from the tap or the truck. “We’re pushing to get that close to 100%,” Barbieri said.The efforts are part of the company’s “water positive” commitment to put more water into areas where they operate than they take out.The last year has seen a flurry of such promises from large corporations. Microsoft, Facebook and Google have …
Continue reading …Joe Biden Biden orders companies to ease supply chain bottlenecks or he’ll ‘call them out’President eager to avert political damage from choked ports, highways and railways causing higher prices and empty shelves David Smith in Washington@smithinamericaWed 13 Oct 2021 16.58 EDTLast modified on Wed 13 Oct 2021 19.16 EDTJoe Biden has warned companies that he will “call them out” if they fail to “step up” to ease supply chain bottlenecks ahead of the holiday season.The US president, facing grim opinion polls and a stalling legislative agenda, is eager to avert fresh political damage from choked ports, highways and railways resulting in higher prices and empty shelves.‘You never know what you’re going to get’: US supply chain woes leave schools scrambling to feed kids lunchRead more“I know you’re hearing a lot about something called supply chains and how hard it is to get a range of things from a toaster to sneakers to bicycles to bedroom furniture,” Biden acknowledged in a short address at the White House on Wednesday. “With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time.”Biden announced that the Port of Los Angeles – which has recently suffered a record backlog – will expand to 24/7 operations, following the example of the Port of Long Beach, also in California.About 40% of shipping containers imported to the US come through the two ports, …
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