Connect with us
blank

Podcast Place

PODCAST REVIEW: The Daily Dive

The Daily Dive podcast hosted by Oscar Ramirez dives into the complexity of unionizing an Amazon warehouse in the Deep South and what a move like this means for the future of one of America’s largest employers.

Ryan Hedrick

Published

on

blank

An effort is underway by Amazon workers in Alabama to form a union. The effort is being led by the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) who says that despite Amazon’s last-ditch effort to delay a vote on unionizing, a vote will indeed take place on Monday.

If workers vote yes, it would be the first Amazon warehouse in the United State to have union representation.

The Daily Dive podcast hosted by Oscar Ramirez dives into the complexity of unionizing an Amazon warehouse in the Deep South and what a move like this means for the future of one of America’s largest employers. Joining Ramirez on the podcast is Jay Green, technology reporter for the Washington Post.

“There are a group of workers at a warehouse that Amazon opened last March in Bessemer, Alabama, and they want to organize a union,” Green said. “The workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to form the union. The NLRB determined that there would be 5,805 workers that would be considered part of the bargaining unit.”

The head of the RWDSU recently issued a statement on the impending unionization vote accusing Amazon of blatantly disregarding the health and safety of its own workforce.

“The decision to move forward with the vote to form a union proves that it’s long past time that Amazon start respecting its own employees; and allow them to cast their votes without intimidation and interference.”

Amazon has said that a union is unnecessary because the company already offers competitive wages, health insurance, and a retirement plan.

“The union countered and said this really isn’t about money, they want dignity and respect,” Green said. “Workers in Amazon’s warehouses are measured on specific performance metrics. Workers say the facility in Bessemer can get hot in the summer, some workers say  they’ve been overwhelmed by heat.” 

A vote to unionize has brought endless amounts of texts, Facebook ads, and anti-union pamphlets from Amazon. The Washington Post reported that the company is even putting anti-union literature in warehouse bathrooms. “They get right in your face when you’re using the bathroom,” said one worker.

Amazon created a website to tell its workers that if they vote to form a union they will have to pay dues to RWDSU. “Be a doer, not a due’r,” the site warns. “If you’re paying dues…It will be restrictive, meaning it won’t be easy to be as helpful and social with each other. So be a doer, stay friendly and get things done versus paying dues.”

“At the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon gave workers a bonus. but at the end of May, the company eliminated that bonus,” Green said. “Workers would like to see that bonus come back because as we all know, the pandemic continues to rage.”

Despite claims in Bessemer that the unionization vote isn’t about money, there is tangible proof that union workers earn better wages than nonunion workers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, among full-time wage salary workers, union members had median weekly earnings of $1,144 compared to $958 for nonunion members in 2020.

The desire to unionize seems to be driven by a couple of things; “Most of this is being driven by the pandemic,”Green said. “They’re showing up to a job and they see coworkers getting the virus and they get scared that they might get it too. The other thing that is going on is that as the pandemic rages on, more and more people started ordering online. Amazon has made a ton of money off that, but that has also put a lot of pressure on its workers.”

Amazon has been criticized, and in one case sued, for its failure to provide workers with adequate protection amid the pandemic. In November, former warehouse worker Christian Smalls filed suit, citing a failure to provide workers with proper personal protective equipment.

“I was a loyal worker and gave my all to Amazon until I was unceremoniously terminated and tossed aside like yesterday’s trash  because I insisted that Amazon protect its dedicated workers from COVID-19,” Smalls said. “I just wanted Amazon to provide basic protective gear to the workers and sanitize the workplace.” Smalls filed the lawsuit eight months after he was fired for organizing a walkout at a State Island fulfillment center.

The big fear for Amazon is that if Bessemer votes to unionize, it’s going to spark interest around the country for other warehouses to do the same thing. 

“That’s why Amazon is particularly concerned about this,” Green said. “You see it in the methods that they are using to discourage workers from voting to join the union.” 

You can hear a new The Daily Dive podcast each weekday morning beginning at 6:00 a.m. ET as the show takes a deeper look into the top news topics happening now. The podcast is available for streaming or download via iHeartMedia and podcast platforms.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

BSM Podcast

Sports Talkers Podcast: Danny Parkins, 670 The Score

Avatar photo

Published

on

blank

Danny Parkins opens up to Stephen Strom about why he is so passionate about defending Chicago. He also gives his best career advice and explains why a best friend is more important sometimes than an agent.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Podcast Place

PODCAST REVIEW: Millennial Money with Shannah Compton Game

Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

Ryan Hedrick

Published

on

blank

No one could have predicted what the COVID-19 pandemic was going to do to the economy. Some of the unintended consequences from the spread of last year’s virus include millions of people getting behind in either rent or mortgage payments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 10 million people were behind in their rent payments at the beginning of the month.

Recently, President Joe Biden extended the federal eviction moratorium through the end of the month. The Millennial Money podcast withShannah Compton Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

“This temporary moratorium extends some of these vital protections to millions of renters that are at risk of eviction,” said Baksh. “They are also state and local moratoriums that remain in effect who may not qualify for assistance under the federal guidelines.”

Landlords across the country have been put in a tough situation with continuing moratoriums at the federal, state, and local levels. The typical delinquent renter owes nearly $6,000, according to a report published from Moody’s Analytics. The $900 billion relief package passed in December provided $25 billion for both landlords and renters.

“What we have seen happening since the economic crisis related to the coronavirus is that a lot of people who have been affected in terms of the industries that have been adversely affected such as travel, tourism, restaurants, and places where people have to engage directly, a lot of those people happen to be renters,” Kapfidze said,  “So obviously if you are not getting paid and not getting income it is a challenge to pay for your rent.”

To qualify for the funds, which are being disbursed by states and can be used for past and present rent, a renter must show that they suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic, have incomes below 80 percent of their median income and are at risk of becoming homeless.

“Right now, renters and owners find themselves in a significant cash crunch,” said Baksh. “We are entering into the second year of this pandemic and many renters are just accruing late fees and debt and so we are seeing a large buildup of these late payments. With that said, there are policies in place to protect renters and homeowners from being evicted and provide them with rental relief.”

Landlords still must pay mortgages on these properties that are not collecting rent. Lenders started the foreclosure process on 5,999 U.S. properties in February 2021, up 15 percent from last month but down 78 percent from a year ago. The highest foreclosure rates in Utah, Delaware, and Florida.

Lenders repossessed 1,545 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in February 2021, up 8 percent from last month but still down 85 from last year. 

“Renters should alert their landlords of their inability to pay their rent,” said Baksh. “Have an honest and open conversation with them about your situation. Try to seek a solution, landlords may be willing to negotiate during this tough time and agree to payment arrangements.”

 The one thing that renters should know about eviction moratoriums is that they do not dissolve you of the responsibility of paying your landlord.

“The devil is in the details,” said Kapfidze. “Eviction moratorium, it means that if you are the renters you are accumulating debt, you are still under contract if you are renting, and you still have an obligation to pay your bill. “In terms of the rental relief funds there are different structures of plans, but the money is not always easy to access.”

To learn more about the Millennial Money podcast with Shannah Compton Game click here

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Podcast Place

PODCAST REVIEW: Consider This from NPR

Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louis Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

Ryan Hedrick

Published

on

blank

There is a movement to raise awareness about the threat of violence against Asian Americans living in the United States. Last week, a 21-year-old white man murdered six women of Asian descent and two other people at Atlanta area massage businesses. Robert Aaron Long told police that his killing spree was not motivate by race by rather by his sex addiction.

The incident has motivated discussions and rallies over the past several days. Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louise Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

The podcast documents several incidents that did not make national news headlines. In San Francisco, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for a morning walk when out of nowhere, a man shoved him violently to the ground. He died two days later. It was not the only attack like that in the region.

A local resident who is sick and tired of seeing violence carried out against his community is getting involved.  JoJo Au launched a fundraiser to hire armed private security guards to patrol her own neighborhood, Oakland’s Chinatown. She has raised almost a hundred thousand dollars.

“Honestly, I didn’t know that it was going to spread like wildfire,” said JoJo Au. “And so many people were so concerned about it and wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what. You know, the merchants, they even say they feel safer. Some of the shoppers here, they feel safer. So, you know, I’m glad that I did this.”

Kelly said the pattern is clear – Asian American communities are being terrorized by harassment and violence. “Consider this – all those crimes you just heard about happened this year before a man in Georgia shot and killed eight people, most of whom were women of Asian descent.”

A group called Stop AAPI Hate tracks violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since the start of the pandemic, they have received reports of nearly 4,000 hate incidents across the United States. 

Connie Chung Joe is CEO of a legal aid group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.

“Almost half of them are coming from California,” Chung said. “Another thing is that women are targeted more than twice as often as men. And then we are seeing a spate of hate and violence targeted at our seniors.

Chung said the Asian American that she knows are advising their parents and grandparents to stay in the house. “Even for things like daily walks or trips to the grocery store. So, folks are really worried about this. And there’s also a lot of outrage about why this is still allowed to happen in our society?”

Ben Nguyen is a Georgia state representative. Her district covers part of Atlanta and DeKalb County. She believes that Robert Long killed the women because of hate and nothing else.

“We know that these are three businesses that are Asian-owned,” Nguyen said. “We know that most people who work there are Asian. And I think for anyone who lives in Atlanta and you hear the word massage parlor, that there is an understanding that perhaps there are other sex worker-related things that take place in these massage parlors. And it’s largely accepted.”

Federally, there is an effort to address violence against Asian American communities. One of the leaders of that effort is Congresswoman Grace Meng, Democrat from New York. She’s introduced legislation on the issue. Her district covers parts of New York City and Queens. We spoke this week before the shootings in Georgia.

“People are scared. People are literally telling their elderly parents and grandparents, “do not go out,” said Meng.  “You know, we’ll buy groceries for you. I had a mom – that night when I heard about that incident, she had seen it on the news, and she texted me. She said, that’s it; I’m not letting my kids play outside anymore.” 

The U.S. Department of Justice could choose to bring federal hate crime charges against Long if they uncover any evidence to prove Long targeted the victims specifically because of their race.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

blank

Advertisement

blank

Advertisement

blank

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2023 Barrett Media.