WASHINGTON — When IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel met privately with senators recently, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee asked for his assessment of a startling report: A whistleblower estimated that 95% of claims now being made by businesses for a COVID-era tax break were fraudulent. “He looked at his shoes and he basically said, … Read more
Trader Joe’s is facing a litany of union-busting charges before the National Labor Relations Board. The agency’s prosecutors have accused the company of illegally retaliating against workers, firing a union supporter and spreading false information in an effort to chill an organizing campaign. But in a hearing last Tuesday, the grocer’s attorney briefly summarized a … Read more
An Israeli company has received a preliminary green light from health officials to sell the world’s first steaks made from cultivated beef cells, not the entire animal, officials said. The move follows approval of lab-grown chicken in the U.S. last year. Aleph Farms, of Rehovot, Israel, was granted the initial go-ahead by the Israeli Health … Read more
The publisher of Sports Illustrated has notified employees it is planning to lay off a significant portion — possibly all — of the outlet’s staff after its license to use the iconic brand’s name in print and digital was revoked. In an email to employees Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and … Read more
Federal labor officials allege in a new complaint that Trader Joe’s shut down its wine shop in New York City in 2022 in order to blunt a union organizing effort. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board argues that the grocer’s decision to close the store amounts to unlawful retaliation, and that Trader … Read more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday that it planned to fine meat processor Mar-Jac Poultry nearly $213,000 following a teenager’s death at the company’s Hattiesburg, Mississippi, plant last year. The 16-year-old boy was pulled into the rotating shaft of a machine while working on a cleaning crew in the plant’s deboning area July … Read more
D.J. Edwards comes home smelling like beer every morning. He works from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. as a filler operator at Anheuser-Busch’s brewery in Jacksonville, Florida, running a huge machine that fills 165 12-ounce cans every time it rotates. He takes a lot of pride in the job and says he’s willing to strike … Read more
Nine SpaceX employees were fired in June of 2022 shortly after disseminating an open letter that urged company executives to publicly condemn CEO Elon Musk’s public behavior. The letter referenced Elon’s sexual misconduct and hush money payments, his ‘harmful’ Twitter persona, and called him a ‘source of distraction and embarrassment.’ Those behind the letter were … Read more
If you’ve worried that candidate-screening algorithms could be standing between you and your dream job, reading Hilke Schellmann’s The Algorithm won’t ease your mind. The investigative reporter and NYU journalism professor’s new book demystifies how HR departments use automation software that not only propagate bias, but fail at the thing they claim to do: find … Read more
California’s fast food workers are set to get a nice bump in pay in 2024. Starting in April, California’s FAST Act kicks in and raises the state’s minimum wage for fast food workers to $22 an hour. It’s got the industry up in arms, because, you know, paying people a living wage is world-ending stuff … Read more
