Yuli Ban wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 7:20 pm
It's clear there's going to be a MASSIVE collapse in a few months. I can only wonder what a boring piece of toast like Biden's going to do about it.
You say this with such confidence it concerns me. I would not worry about Biden to be honest because with how globally intertwined everything is it will be a global effort to keep everything under control. Hope the folks of this community will be ok if that happens
More than 800 Boston city workers suspended over vaccine mandate
Source: The Hill
More than 800 Boston city employees have been suspended without pay for not adhering to the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate or agreeing to weekly testing, The Associated Press reported. Acting Mayor Kim Janey (D) announced in August that all individuals employed by the state — roughly 18,000 workers — would be required to report their COVID-19 vaccination status or agree to weekly testing. The deadline was Tuesday.
The policy applies to all City of Boston employees, onsite contractors and volunteers who work at city worksites, according to Janey. Tuesday’s suspensions comprised more than 4 percent of city employees, according to the AP. The mayor’s office said it is working up plans to address staff shortages that may arise as a result.
Suspended employees will be allowed to return to work if they provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test, the AP reported, citing the mayor's office. Boston is one of a number of employers to discipline workers for not complying with vaccine mandates.
United CEO confirms 232 employees are being fired for not complying with its vaccine mandate
Thomas Pallini
Wed, October 13, 2021, 10:31 AM · 3 min read
-- United Airlines is in the process of terminating 232 employees that haven't received the COVID-19 vaccine.
-- CEO Scott Kirby said that 99.7% of United's 67,000 US employees have been vaccinated.
-- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order likely won't affect United since nearly all workers are vaccinated.
United Airlines is currently in the process of terminating its remaining US employees that are unvaccinated against COVID-19. A total of 232 employees in the US have chosen not to be vaccinated, CEO Scott Kirby told CBS Mornings, out of the airline's 67,000.
"I wish we would have gotten to 100% but out of our 67,000 US employees, there are 232 who haven't been vaccinated and they are going through the termination process now," Kirby said on Wednesday.
United was the first US airline to mandate vaccines when it announced in August that employees would have until October 25 or five weeks from the first full approval of a COVID-19 vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration, whichever came first. Pfizer's vaccine was given that approval on August 23, starting the clock for United employees.
Costco raised its minimum wage to $17 an hour
Source: CNN
New York (CNN Business)Costco this week raised its starting wage for hourly store workers in the United States for the second time this year as businesses hike pay to draw and retain workers amid a labor shortage.
Costco (COST) told employees last week that it would increase its minimum wage from $16 an hour to $17 starting on Monday. Costco has around 180,000 US employees, and 90% of them work hourly. Costco's new starting wage puts the chain— which has among the lowest turnover rates in the retail industry— $2 per hour above Amazon (AMZN), Target (TGT) and other top retailers' minimum wage, and $5 an hour above Walmart's (WMT).
Costco's latest pay bump comes as many retailers, restaurants and other service sector employers raise pay, offer signing bonuses and sweeten their benefits packages in response to struggles hiring workers.
Costco raised its minimum wage to $14 in 2018 and $15 in 2019. In February, the Issaquah, Washington-based company hiked it to $16 an hour. Business Insider first reported its most recent increase.
(Axios) American venture capitalists are investing record sums in European startups, setting themselves up to repatriate returns.
By the numbers: European deal value with U.S. VC participation hit €50.8 billion over the first three quarters of 2021, per PitchBook.
A record 21.2% of European deals in 2021 had at least one U.S. investor on board, up from 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2019.
The big picture: Europe's venture market has matured, enticing Silicon Valley firms like Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners to open local offices.
"This is in some ways what we’ve been waiting for," says Moonfire Ventures' Mattias Ljungman, who co-founded famed European VC firm Atomico with Skype's Niklas Zennstrom in 2006. "This is making the ecosystem better."
European VCs I spoke with at Web Summit this week in Lisbon, Portugal, were all positive about the U.S. influx, largely because it means more follow-on capital.
"The strength of the U.S. is more specialized investors that can be helpful," Northzone Ventures general partner Michiel Kotting explains.
Strong sales, profit from Walmart on cusp of holiday season
Source: Associated Press
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO 47 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart topped almost all expectations in the third quarter, an encouraging sign for the upcoming holiday shopping season already beset by snarled supply chains and rising costs.
The Bentonville, Arkansas, company also raised its full-year earnings guidance and shares rose before the opening bell Tuesday.
It did not escape some of the supply chain issues that have settled across almost every economic sector. Consolidated gross profit rate took a hit primarily due to increased supply chain costs, the company said, in addition to other issues.
In addition to rising costs for shipping and goods, Walmart is also spending more on wages for its workers. The company is chartering vessels to ensure that store shelves are stocked for the holidays.
Kaiser Permanente strike off after deal between unions and healthcare giant
Source: The Guardian
An alliance of unions representing 50,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California, Oregon and six other states called off strike set for Monday, after reaching a tentative labor deal with the healthcare network.
The Alliance of Health Care Unions and Kaiser Permanente jointly announced the agreement, staving off a potentially crippling strike in which 32,000 employees, most of them in southern California, threatened to walk off the job to protest understaffing and wage cuts for new hires.
Additional members of the alliance, comprised of 21 local unions, authorized a one-day “sympathy strike” on 18 November.
CVS Health to close hundreds of drugstores [View all]
Source: AP
By TOM MURPHY
CVS Health will close hundreds of drugstores over the next three years, as the retail giant adjusts to changing customer needs and converts to new store formats.
The company said Thursday that it will close about 300 stores a year for the next three years, nearly a tenth of its roughly 10,000 retail locations. as it reduces store count density in some places.
The company said Thursday that it has been evaluating population changes, customer buying patterns and future health needs to “ensure it has the right kinds of stores in the right locations.”
A statement from the company didn’t say where the store closures would take place.