Five years ago, the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to come up with rules requiring American companies to calculate and report the ratio between a CEO’s pay and that of the company’s typical employee. After repeated delays and claims from big business that the math was too complicated, the SEC has finally voted to approve these rules. [More]
wage wars
Strikes Canceled By Security, Baggage Handlers At JFK, LaGuardia
By 7.22.15
Passengers set to fly in and out of New York’s LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports tonight and tomorrow no longer need to brace for travel disruptions related to a planned strike by contracted security workers, baggage handlers and wheelchair attendants, after the employees reached an agreement with their security services provider. [More]
NY State Wage Board Recommends $15/Hour Pay By 2021 For Fast Food Workers
By 7.22.15
The New York state Dept. of Labor panel tasked with reviewing fast food wages in the Empire State today released its recommendation for a plan to increase pay for workers at McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and others to $15/hour over the next six years, and even sooner for workers in New York City. [More]
Baggage Handlers, Security Workers Set To Strike At New York Airports, Could Disrupt Travel
By 7.21.15
The fight for higher wages could disrupt travel for Delta Air Lines and United Airlines passengers flying in and out of New York’s two largest airports starting Wednesday night, as a union representing some security workers, baggage handlers and wheelchair attendants approved a strike. [More]
Papa John’s Franchise Owner Faces Jail Time, $500,000 In Back Pay & Penalties For Skirting Wage Laws
By 7.15.15
For the third time this year, prosecutors have accused an owner of a New York-area Papa John’s pizza franchise of not paying employees minimum wage and overtime. This time, the franchise owner is accused of not only failing to pay his workers properly, but devising a scheme to carry out the non-payment through falsified tax documents. Now, he and his company are not only facing more than $500,000 in payments to employees and fines, but jail time. [More]
IKEA Raising Minimum Wage Again, This Time To $11.87/Hour
By 6.24.15
Almost exactly a year after IKEA announced it would raise the hourly starting wage for employees from $9.17 to $10.76, the furniture retailer says it will give workers another 10% pay boost. [More]
Los Angeles One Step Closer To Raising Minimum Wage To $15/Hour By 2020
By 6.4.15
The Los Angeles City Council took another step on Wednesday in its mission to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020, but the finalization of the ordinance will have to wait for a second vote next week. [More]
Walmart’s Key To Happy Employees: Relaxing The Dress Code, Making Sure Stores Aren’t Freezing
By 6.3.15
In an effort to show employees – and the rest of the world – that it cares, Walmart says it plans to address worker concerns by relaxing its dress code and making stores warmer. [More]
Forcing McDonald’s Workers To Accept Wages On Debit Cards Not Okay In PA, Says Judge
By 6.2.15
Two years ago, a Pennsylvania woman sued her former employers at McDonald’s because they forced her and other workers to accept their wages on fee-laden prepaid debit cards. Though the fast food franchisee, who runs 16 McDonald’s, later changed this policy, the lawsuit continued to move forward, and last week a judge ruled against the franchisee’s claims that the debit card requirement was completely legal. [More]
Walmart Raising Hourly Wages For 100,000 Specialty Department Employees
By 6.2.15
Four months after Walmart began raising wages for around 40% of its workers, the nation’s largest retailer is announcing another round of pay increases affecting around 100,000 additional employees. [More]
L.A. City Council Votes To Raise Minimum Wage To $15/Hour By 2020
By 5.19.15
At $9/hour, the current minimum wage in Los Angeles is already well above the $7.25/hour federal minimum. But today the L.A. City Council voted for a plan that will increase that wage to $15/hour by 2020. [More]
New York Launches Task Force To Combat Nail Salon Labor Abuses
By 5.11.15
In the wake of news reports and an undercover state Dept. of Labor investigation into allegedly horrid labor practices — from employees who don’t get paid until the boss deems they are ready to illnesses believed to be caused by chemicals in the products they use — at nail salons in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says his administration is taking immediate action to protect employees’ health and wages. [More]
New York Papa John’s Franchisee Ordered To Pay Workers More Than $2M For Wage Violations
By 3.6.15
A New York Papa John’s franchisee must pay more than $2 million to workers as part of a judgment resolving charges that the company underpaid hundreds of delivery workers at five Harlem-area restaurants. [More]
T.J. Maxx, Marshalls & HomeGoods To Increase Minimum Wage To $9/Hour
By 2.25.15
In another sign that retail companies are re-evaluating the way they pay employees, TJX Cos. – the parent company of stores like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods – announced it intends to increase hourly wages for worker starting this year. [More]
Walmart To Give Nearly 40% Of Employees Pay Increases Over The Next Year
By 2.19.15
Just before Christmas Walmart announced it would raise the base pay for employees at 1,434 stores because of state minimum wage hikes. Today, the company announced plans to change the way it pays and trains not only those employees but nearly 500,000 more across the U.S. [More]
Walmart To Raise Base Pay At 1,434 Stores Because Of State Minimum Wage Hikes
By 12.24.14
As a result of minimum wage increases coming in nearly half of the U.S. states next year, the lowest-paid employees at about 1/3 of Walmart’s U.S. stores are reportedly due for a pay bump in 2015. [More]
NLRB Judge Rules That Walmart Illegally Punished California Workers For Participating In Protests
By 12.11.14
In recent years, some Walmart workers have staged public protests about inadequate wages and unfair treatment. A number of these employees claim that management has retaliated against them for expressing their views. Now a court has ordered Walmart to reverse disciplinary action taken against protesting workers and put a stop to future retaliation.
26-Year Delta Air Lines Vet Says He Was Fired After Criticizing Baggage Handler Pay
By 12.5.14
There is a game of he said/airline said going on between a baggage handler who was recently fired after more than two decades on the job. He claims he was fired for speaking out publicly on his co-workers’ wages while Delta maintains that the man’s statements were untrue and in violation of company policy. [More]
