The owners of the Simco's stands in Mattapan and Roslindale today acknowledged they paid 20 workers below even the federal minimum wage and refused to pay overtime, in a proposed settlement of a US Department of Labor complaint filed in US District Court in Boston. Read more.
WFXT reports Wayfair is making the cuts due to declining sales. On its most recent quarterly sales call the company reported a loss for the second quarter of this year atop declines in both revenue and the number of "active" customers.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that a federal law that lets certain workers engaged in interstate commerce file class-action suits over pay disputes doesn't apply to GrubHub drivers who clicked their agreement to settle any disagreements in arbitration with the company. Read more.
City Feed Unite reports that workers at the two City Feed stores voted 20-10 yesterday to unionize, as members of the Boston Industrial Workers of the World.
WBUR reports a worker died in a construction incident at 65 Northern Ave. in the Seaport around 6:30 this morning.
The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health reports the man died during "the unloading of street curbing material when the heavy blocks became loose and crushed him."
Workers at the Starbucks at 1948 Beacon St. in Brighton struck this morning after they say the shop's owners refused repeated requests to fix problems that finally cascaded into water coming out of ceiling lighting fixtures, streaming down "onto the floors, espresso machines, counter spaces and the partners themselves" for several hours yesterday. Read more.
Negotiators for the town and the Brookline Educators Union reached a contract deal at 4:20 this morning, and school will be open first thing.
State Rep. Tommy Vitolo reports the deal runs through 2026 and "with improvements in pay and working conditions."
Teachers disregarded state law and that court order and walked off the job today. Turlach MacDonagh shows us some of the picketing action at Town Hall, including these possible music teachers jamming to encourage their fellow teachers. Read more.
Update: Brookline public schools are closed on Monday.
After last-minute contract talks failed around 3:50 this morning, the Brookline Educations Union says it's ready to have members form picket lines tomorrow morning, despite a judge's injunction Friday ordering them to stay on the job. Read more.
Update: Owner denies threatening anybody.
The US Department of Labor yesterday sued Sound Bites Cafe and its owner, Yasser Mirza, on charges he reacted to an employee seeking back overtime pay by threatening to have something bad happen to his family unless he called off federal investigators looking into the issue. Read more.
Photo by Patrick Maguire.
Patrick Maguire reports the Whole Foods on Beacon Street in Audubon Circle at the Brookline/Fenway line is closing this coming Wednesday. He reports a regional manager broke the news to employees this morning.
For the second time in five months, a federal court has ruled that Mass General Brigham employees who refused to get Covid-19 shots are not entitled to their jobs or pay back while their lawsuit over their firings or decisions to quit wends through the court system. Read more.
A man who worked as a delivery driver for Pat's Pizza, 2254 Dorchester Ave. for 18 months yesterday filed suit, alleging the restaurant failed to reimburse him for all the mileage he put on his car, paid him less than the state minimum for overtime and kept all the "delivery charges" that customers might have thought were meant as tips. Read more.
Starbucks Workers United reports workers at the Starbucks at 1304 Commonwealth Ave. in Allston and 277 Harvard St. in Coolidge Corner both voted unanimously to unionize today.
Starting March 1, Northeastern University will still make testing available to students and staff, but people without any symptoms will only have to take a test if they feel like it, the school announced today. Along with that, the university will be dropping its Covid-19 dashboard.
A Massachusetts Appeals Court justice today extended her ban on the Wu administration's efforts to make city workers get Covid-19 shots by threatening their jobs, saying the requirement would cause the workers and their unions "irreparable harm" and that the city's public-health claims are overblown since most city workers are already vaccinated. Read more.
Two Boston teachers who belong to the anti-vax group that holds morning protests outside Mayor Wu's house today sued the Boston Teachers Union for a signing an agreement with the Wu administration that could force unvaccinated teachers to dip into accumulated sick leave to keep getting paid while on leave until citywide coronavirus numbers dip below city benchmarks. Read more.
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