Labor
Its Workers Keep Unionizing But Does Starbucks Smell the Coffee?
Capital & Main 6/10
Veronica Gonzalez can’t wait until July. That’s when a union election is scheduled for the Starbucks store where the 26-year-old barista works with 40 others in the Cypress Park neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles.
Fast-food workers push for bill to govern wages, working conditions
San Francisco Examiner 6/10
Teresa Molina says she receives minimal pay and reduced hours at her McDonald’s location in The City and that management keeps asking her to perform faster and faster.
Food Industry Policy
Gas-Stove Bans Are Starting to Look Racist
National Review 6/10
Dear Weekend Jolter,
The headline above might be harsh. (I pulled punches when I last posted about the burning topic of natural-gas bans.)
Smithfield Foods, Citing High Costs of Operating in California, to Close Pork Plant
Wall Street Journal 6/11
Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest pork processor in the U.S. by volume, is closing an 1,800-person plant in California and shrinking the size of its hog herd in the region, saying the cost of doing business in the state wasn’t worth it.
On the Side
What inflation looks like in Southern California: ‘It’s a losing battle’
Los Angeles Times 6/10
As U.S. inflation hit a four-decade high, rising prices in Southern California — where costs of shelter and food are among the highest in the nation — are warping the fabric of daily life: Shoppers are cutting grocery budgets, businesses are scaling back operations and low-wage workers are seeing their paychecks eaten away at the gas pump.
Dining Out This Summer
New York Times 6/10
Professional eaters give advice.
