August 14, 2015

Intuit: On-Demand Workers Will More Than Double By 2020

Intuit projects the population of on-demand workers will be more than twice as large by 2020 in new research–despite controversy about how to classify on-demand workers on Uber and other platforms. Currently, Intuit counts 3.2 million people who work regularly in the on-demand economy, but in five years, their numbers should hit 7.6 million, according to the findings.

Intuit announced the data as it embarks today on an extensive study with Emergent Research to understand the demographics, motivations and challenges of on-demand workers. It is collaborating with platforms including Upwork, Fiverr, OnForce, Visually, Wonolo, HourlyNerd, and Work Market on the study, as well as MBO Partners, which, like Emergent Research, studies the free-agent economy. Intuit, based in Mountain View, Calif., offers financial management software and solutions aimed at small business owners.

The growth in on-demand workers comes at a time when contingent work, from part-time jobs to contract gigs, is skyrocketing.

“We think this has been trending the last few decades,” Alex Chriss, vice president and general manager of Self-Employed Solutions at Intuit, said in an interview yesterday. In 1989, 6% of workers had contingent positions, he says. “We believe it could be 40% of the workforce by 2020.” He personally believes that number could go as high as 50%.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2015/08/13/intuit-on-demand-workers-will-more-than-double-by-2020/

August 14, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 14

National Creamsicle Day Celebrate Creamsicle Day by enjoying a delicious icey snack! Creamsicles are just one type of popsicle, which come in many colours and flavors. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/creamsicle-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august14.html

August 13, 2015

Woman sues Missouri restaurant known as “Home of Throwed Rolls” for being hit by a roll

OZARK, Mo. – A well-known Missouri restaurant, known for being the “Home of Throwed Rolls,” may be in some hot water for a guest who is saying she received a roll-related injury.

Lambert’s Cafe, the Sikeston-based restaurant chain, which features dinner rolls being thrown across the room by servers to guests, is being sued.

The suit was filed Tuesday by a woman named Troy Tucker who claims she “sustained a lacerated cornea with a vitreous detachment and all head, neck, eyes and vision were severely damaged” after being hit by a dinner roll during a visit in September of 2014.

Tucker is seeking at least $25,000 to cover for her medical bills and legal fees. The restaurant’s “carelessness and negligence” as the lawsuit alleges, has already caused expenses totaling $10,000.

http://fox4kc.com/2015/08/13/woman-sues-missouri-restaurant-known-as-home-of-throwed-rolls-for-being-hit-by-a-roll/

August 13, 2015

White House to Hold Summit to Amplify Employees’ Voice in Workplace

The White House will hold a summit in October to explore how American workers can amplify their voices on the job to get ahead, and it touted labor unions as a powerful way to enable that.

The “Worker Voice” summit will focus on how to ensure workers “are fully sharing in the benefits of the broad-based economic growth that they are helping to create,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday that announced the Oct. 7 event.

President Barack Obama said in March that he wanted to hold a summit but the details hadn’t been sorted yet. He said at the time that even as the economy was recovering many working families were still finding it hard to advance.

The summit is aimed at tackling income inequality and the administration made no secret of that. The White House said that as it continues to address economic inequality and adapt to workforce changes it wants “to energize a new generation of Americans to come together and recognize the potential power of their voice at work.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/08/12/white-house-to-hold-summit-to-amplify-employees-voice-in-workplace/

August 13, 2015

Businesses brace for game-changing labor decision

Business leaders in Washington are bracing for a labor ruling that they warn would redefine what constitutes an “employer” in the United States, exposing thousands of companies to new liabilities and potentially upending entire industries.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is widely expected to rule by month’s end that Browning-Ferris Industries, a Houston-based waste-disposal company, is a joint employer of workers provided to the firm by a staffing agency, experts say. As a result, the company would be forced to collectively bargain with those employees and could be held liable for any labor violations committed against them.

Such a decision could hit companies from a host of industries, including hospitality, retail, manufacturing, construction, financial service providers, cleaning services and security.

The expected action would be the latest in a string of major wins for labor groups under the Obama administration, which has already issued several sweeping executive actions on worker protections and wages.

http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/250880-businesses-brace-for-game-changing-labor-decision

August 13, 2015

A&P asks bankruptcy court to set aside union provisions

A&P has asked a bankruptcy court judge to set aside two key union provisions — bumping rights and full severance pay — after reaching a negotiation impasse with labor groups, officials said in court documents filed late Tuesday.

The supermarket wants to completely eliminate bumping rights, saying the administrative burden and costs associated with allowing workers to do that are too high and undesirable to would-be buyers of its stores. Bumping rights allow employees who work the longest for the company — and at a store slated to close — to take the job of a less senior worker at a supermarket that will continue to operate.

The other sticking point is the amount of severance pay A&P will pay and when. The supermarket has proposed paying employees who will lose their jobs as part of the bankruptcy 25 percent of the severance they are entitled to on a "timely basis" with a maximum cap of $10 million for all workers. The rest of the severance would be paid later, depending on how much remains after the stores have been sold and what other A&P creditors are due, as part of settling the bankruptcy case.

Besides these two sticking points, both parties appear to have reached an agreement on most of their other issues. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2015/08/12/aandp-bankruptcy-union-contracts/31522937/

August 13, 2015

Construction honcho in Chicago Yashvant Patel indicted on $1.9 million cash wages scheme

CHICAGO: Yashvant C. Patel, 59, of St. Charles, the former president of a Southwest Side construction company in Chicago paid off-the-books cash wages to workers and under-reported their hours as part of a scheme to defraud the benefit funds of the employees’ labor union, according to a federal indictment unsealed here, on Friday.

While serving as president of My Baps Construction Corp., Patel paid less-than-union-scale wages to dozens of employees, including illegal aliens, in order to reduce the employer contributions to the benefit funds of the Construction and General Laborers’ District Council of Chicago and Vicinity, according to the indictment, according to the Justice Department.

Patel falsely reported that My Baps and a sister company, Vijay Construction Corp., owed approximately $600,000 less to the benefit funds and approximately $1.3 million less to the companies’ employees than what was required by collective-bargaining agreements with the union, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Patel with four counts of mail fraud and four counts of making false statements in documents required to be kept pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The indictment seeks forfeiture from Patel of $1.9 million.

http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/08/11/indian-american-construction-honcho-in-chicago-indicted-on-1-9-million-cash-wages-scheme/

August 13, 2015

Bumble Bee Foods to pay $6 million in death of worker in pressure cooker

On one of his early morning shifts, Jose Melena stepped into a 35-foot-long cylinder-shaped oven at the Bumble Bee Foods plant in Santa Fe Springs.

The 62-year-old father of six needed to make a quick repair inside the massive industrial pressure cooker, which is used to sterilize thousands of cans of tuna at a time.

Not realizing Melena was inside, fellow employees shut the machine door behind him on that day in October 2012 and turned the oven on.

With temperatures reaching about 270 degrees, Melena was cooked to death. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bumble-bee-worker-killed-settlement-20150812-story.html

August 13, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 13

National Filet Mignon Day National Filet Mignon Day is observed annually on August 13th. Usually from a steer or heifer, a filet mignon is a steak cut of beef taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin of the beef carcass.

Filet mignon is French for “cute fillet” or “dainty fillet”.
In French, filet mignon may be called “filet de boeuf”, which translates to beef fillet in English.
When found on a French menu, filet mignon may also refer to pork rather than beef.
The tenderloin from which the filet mignon comes from, is the most tender cut of beef and is also considered the most desirable and therefore the most expensive.

Filet mignon is commonly cut into 1 inch to 2 inch thick portions, grilled and then served as is. When found in grocery stores, filet mignon is already cut into bacon wrapped portions. The usual method for cooking the filet mignon is to cook it on high heat by either grilling, pan frying, broiling or roasting. Restaurants may sometimes prepare the fillets served in a cognac cream sauce, au poivre with peppercorns or in a red wine reduction. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-filet-mignon-day-august-13/

International Lefthander's Day Being left handed isn’t that uncommon, but it’s a condition not widely catered for; Lefthanders Day promotes consideration for left handed people by promoting left handed activities, competitive challenges and general awareness raising. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lefthanders-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august13.html

August 12, 2015

PolitiFact: Americans For Prosperity’s ‘facts’ are FALSE

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), one of the Koch Brothers right-wing conservative front groups, is financing the right-to-work campaign in Missouri with TV and radio ads and print materials like door hangers.

The unvarnished truth, according to PolitiFact.com – a fact-checking project of the Tampa Bay Times and its partners, the “facts” used in AFP’s materials are all lies, distortions and half-truths.

That’s not the Labor Tribune’s assertion (we knew it all along) but the result of in-depth studies of AFP’s statements and issue papers made over time by PolitiFact.com, which has built a reputation for holding politicians and their front groups accountable their statements with a Truth-O-Meter rating.

As noted in the attached chart, based on independent review of 15 recent statements made by AFP not a single one was “True” or even “Mostly True.” They were all rated “Half Truth” (13%), “Mostly False” (40%), “False” (33%) and “Pants on Fire” or a total bald-faced lie (13%).

http://labortribune.com/politifact-americans-for-prosperitys-facts-are-false/