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Amazon warehouse injury numbers highlight pressure on workers
Amazon's relentless drive for efficiency and to meet its self-imposed tight delivery deadlines has reportedly played a role in serious injuries among warehouse workers. A joint investigation by Reveal and The Atlantic, along with a separate report from Gizmodo, highlighted the extent of the injury epidemic based on Amazon's internal incident reports. They also underscore the pressure employees are facing to hit their targets.
Hundreds of employees criticize Facebook's political ad policies
Over the past month, Facebook has come under criticism for allowing politicians to run false or misleading ads. Now, employees are speaking out. More than 250 Facebook employees wrote a letter addressed to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and top Facebook officials calling Facebook's political ad policies "a threat to what FB stands for."
NLRB tells Google to remind workers they can speak freely (updated)
Google has agreed to a proposed settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to remind employees they can freely discuss workplace issues, which follows a directive from the company ordering Googlers to "avoid controversies that are disruptive to the workplace." The NLRB was responding to formal complaints claiming Google punishes people who speak out on those matters and political issues, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Amazon employees will reportedly walk out over climate change inaction
More than 900 Amazon employees plan to protest the company's lack of action around climate change. In an internal petition, the employees have pledged to walk out on September 20th at 11:30AM PT. They've outlined three demands: that Amazon stop donating to politicians and lobbying groups that deny climate change, that the company stop working with oil and gas companies on fossil fuel extraction and that Amazon achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Google employees still face retaliation for reporting workplace issues
It's been nearly a year since 20,000 Google employees held a walkout to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment and misconduct. While Google promised to make changes, employees have since charged the company with having a "retaliation culture." Today, Recode reports that a dozen current and former Google employees are still afraid to report workplace issues.
Huawei accuses the US of cyberattacks and other ‘unscrupulous’ behavior
Today, Huawei accused the US of carrying out cyberattacks, attempted entrapment, unlawful searches and more. The company says the US has "been using every tool at its disposal" including "unscrupulous means" to disrupt the business operations of Huawei and its partners. The accusations, which were made without evidence, come one day after the US and Poland signed an agreement to rigorously investigate 5G network equipment from foreign providers like Huawei.
Google's internal community guidelines discourage political discussions
Today, Google released a new set of community guidelines that bans political discussions inside the company and reminds Googlers that they are responsible for their words and will be held accountable for them. The policy change appears to be an attempt to avoid the controversies that have sprung up amongst employees, but it could be seen as a way to curb employee outcry over Google's policies.
Huawei technicians may have helped African governments spy on opponents
An investigation by The Washington Post claims Huawei technicians helped African governments spy on domestic political opponents. According to the report, Huawei employees helped authorities in Uganda intercept encrypted messages and allowed police in Zambia to locate opposition bloggers. Such claims could validate the Trump administration's concerns about the use of Huawei technology in the US, but Huawei told The Washington Post it has "never been engaged in 'hacking' activities."
Amazon plans new solar and wind farms in Ireland and Virginia
Months after Amazon shareholders turned down a plea by employees to do more about climate change, the company announced two new renewable energy projects. Today, Amazon shared plans for a wind farm in Ireland and a solar farm in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. When completed sometime in 2020, these projects are expected to generate a combined 168,000 MWh of clean energy annually, helping Amazon reach its goal to power 100 percent of its operations with renewable power.
Facebook plans to double its minority employees in the next five years
Facebook is more diverse than it was six years ago, but the company admits it has a long way to go. Today, Facebook released its 2019 Diversity Report, and while it employs more women and minorities than it did a few years ago, it's still predominantly male. In the US, the majority of its employees are White or Asian. But those numbers are expected to change. In the next five years, Facebook hopes at least half of its workforce will be women, under-represented minorities, people with disabilities and veterans.
Facebook increases pay for contractors and content moderators
It's no secret that Facebook depends on contract laborers, who do everything from moderate content to help train AI. But the work those contractors do is often anxiety-inducing and under-paid. In response to an exposé by The Verge earlier this year, Facebook said it would improve moderator job conditions. Now, the company says it will increase contractors' pay and offer additional benefits to content moderators.
Google employees will sit-in to protest retaliation culture
Google employees will hold a sit-in tomorrow at 11am to protest what they call a "culture of retaliation." The group Google Walkout For Real Change announced the event on Twitter, saying they've encountered everything from being told to take sick leave when they're not sick to losing reports as punishment for actions Google doesn't approve.
Tesla is laying off 7 percent of its full-time employees
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company is laying off 7 percent of its full-time employees in an effort to cut costs and increase profits. He revealed that while Tesla will run a second consecutive quarterly profit, it will be less than what it earned last quarter. Over the past year or two, Tesla had massively increased its workforce to try to fulfill hundreds of thousands of orders. "We grew by 30 percent last year, which is more than we can support," he said, adding that the company will only retain the most critical temps and contractors.
Uber's fight over worker status is headed to the UK Supreme Court
Uber is about to face a definitive battle over its classification of ridesharing drivers. The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a 2016 ruling that Uber drivers are considered employees and thus qualify for holiday pay, the minimum wage and other protections. As Uber told Wired it planned to appeal the decision in the country's Supreme Court, the company now faces a definitive battle over worker status.
Proposed law would insist on work-life balance for New Yorkers
With all of us connected to our phones day and night, it's pretty easy to respond to work requests after official office hours are over. European countries like France have passed laws allowing employees to ignore employers after hours, giving citizens the right to disconnect. Now New Yorkers may have a similar freedom if a new bill proposed by the city council passes.
Apple will open its own medical clinics for employees
Apple is launching its own medical clinics called "AC Wellness," in a move that will allow it to take employee healthcare into its own hands. Following similar news about Amazon's venture with Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, Apple plans to offer what it calls the "world's best health care experience" to workers. It quietly published a website for the venture with a careers page seeking a primary care doctors, nurses, an exercise coach, "care navigator," and on-site lab test personnel.
Uber can't dodge assault lawsuit because of contract drivers
Uber drivers may legally be contractors rather than employees, but that doesn't absolve the company of liability in assault cases. A federal judge in California has denied the ride-sharing company's motion to dismiss a lawsuit for attacks against two riders. One of Uber's main arguments was that its drivers aren't employees, so it isn't responsible for their actions. However, the judge ruled that "plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to claim plausibly that an employment relationship exists."
Uber drivers partner with the Teamsters Union in California
Just because Uber has settled two big disputes with drivers doesn't mean that its rank-and-file is happy. Uber drivers in California have partnered with the Teamsters Union to create a new group, the App-Based Drivers Association, to represent ridesharing workers in the state. Much like the (currently embattled) union in Seattle, this organization will push for better benefits and conditions among drivers that normally don't get much say.
Apple is (very) slowly improving its employee diversity
Apple mildly improved employee diversity this year, but voted against a proposal to improve it where the problem is worst -- the executive suite. According to the company's latest EEO-1 Federal Employer Information (FEI) filing, it had a net increase of 1,475 black employees, 1,633 hispanics and 4,586 women. That bumped the overall percentages slightly for black and hispanic people, while the number of female employees rose from 28.7 to 30 percent. Earlier this year, Tim Cook said that the company hired 11,000 women in 2015, 65 percent more than last year. If that's accurate, then the EE0-1 reports shows that a lot of women and minority employees also left the company in 2015.
Food delivery apps face lawsuits over employee benefits
The fight over employee benefits when it comes to app-based on-demand services continues. The Chicago Tribune reports that food delivery companies GrubHub, DoorDash and Caviar were all hit with separate lawsuits in San Francisco this week. The suits allege that each failed to offer employee benefits after treating them like full-time workers. In other words, the companies misclassified employees as contractors. If that sounds familiar it's because Uber facing a similar lawsuit in San Francisco over its drivers. In fact, the same attorney that represents plaintiffs in proceedings with Uber and Lyft is working with the delivery drivers in these three new cases. Like Uber, the suits against GrubHub and DoorDash are class actions while the demand arbitration request with Caviar is on behalf of a single driver. Based on the filings, GrubHub allegedly treated its workers as employees but failing to offer proper benefits like reimbursements for gas, parking and phone data. It also allegedly failed to meet wage requirements and offer overtime pay. [Image credit: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
