About 7 years ago

03/16/2017 - Midnight Reads – Uber Has Produced 18 Episodes of a Podcast Warning Drivers About the Dangers of Joining a Union

Uber Has Produced 18 Episodes of a Podcast Warning Drivers About the Dangers of Joining a Union

– Quartz

Anti-trust laws generally prohibit unions from organizing independent contractors, but Seattle passed a first-of-its-kind ordinance in late 2015 allowing collective bargaining of Uber and Lyft drivers. Not surprisingly, Uber is using some creative technologies to channel its anti-union message to drivers in Seattle in hopes of veering them away from unionization efforts by the Teamsters, one of America’s strongest unions.

 

Big Chains Don’t Want to Be Considered Employers of Franchise Workers

– The Pew Charitable Trusts

Since 2015, 10 states have passed laws that guarantee, with some exceptions, that parent companies won’t be held responsible for franchise owners or workers under state wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws. Similar bills are currently pending in 11 other states. If it were easier to call franchisers joint employers, it would be easier for franchisee workers to unionize across establishments and to sue their parent company over wage and hour issues which could undermine the whole franchising business model.

 

What’s Madison Avenue Pitching Now? Cultural and Political Awareness

– The New York Times 

There is a pivot among many agencies in the advertising sector away from pitching consumer products to the masses and towards making public statements on social causes and beliefs. Advertising executives say the motivation is due feeling compelled to use their industry’s skills to draw attention to issues that matter in a divided culture.

 

The Limits of Café Urbanism

– Governing 

Hip restaurants have helped revive cities. But is the boom fizzling out? The fact is that most of the chic independent restaurants that bring excitement to gentrifying neighborhoods have never been especially profitable. Even restaurants that turn in good numbers at the cash register are getting hit by escalating costs. Underlying this whole subject is the question of whether café urbanism is a sufficient strategy for sustaining long-term urban revival.