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Nov 2 6 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
You’ve probably seen headlines like this.

But it turns out corporate execs might just be making up the retail theft crisis.

Thread. The Hill headline by Xavier Walton that reads: Walmart CEO: Stores could close with uptick in shoplifting
A new report finds that retailers seem to be exaggerating reports of theft. /2

cnn.com/2023/10/27/bus…
Screenshot from CNN article Nathaniel Meyersohn with the headline: Chains are using theft to mask other issues, report says.
Corporations are trying to pass the blame for lower profit margins to everyone but themselves. Fabricating a crime wave distracts from other issues, like inventory mismanagement or steep discounts. /3 RETAIL Retailers say organized theft is biting into profits, but internal issues may really be to blame
Target recently closed 9 stores, allegedly because of theft and “organized retail crime”.

But an analysis from Popular Information found that the stores closing in NY and San Francisco had lower reported theft rates than other locations in the area. /4

popular.info/p/target-says-…
Retailers can also use exaggerated theft reports as a way to influence public policy and get harsher punishments for shoplifters. /5

cnn.com/2023/10/27/bus…
Alex Vitale, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College who studies policing, said business leaders had turned retail theft into a “moral panic” to mobilize a stronger police and criminal justice response.  Cities and states are passing new laws with harsher punishments for organized retail crime offenses and shoplifting. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential favorite in 2024, has said shoplifters should be shot.
While retailers whip up a moral panic over “organized retail crime”, they ignore the fact that they’re responsible for the most expensive crime in the United States: wage theft.

(6/6)
. inthesetimes.com/article/wage-t…
Employers Steal Up to $50 Billion From Workers Every Year. It’s Time to Reclaim It. A recent victory over wage theft shows what workers everywhere need to claw back their stolen pay—support, resources and enforcement. MINDY ISSER FEBRUARY 13, 2023

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More from @MorePerfectUS

Oct 26
The @UAW has won massive gains in its tentative agreement with Ford, like a 68% increase in the starting wage, a 150% increase for temp workers, and improvements unlike anything seen in decades.

But even that isn’t the full picture. Thread.
.@UAW members at Ford are going back to work.

It’s part of the union’s strategy to keep the pressure on GM and Stellantis, where an agreement has yet to be reached.

But they’re also about to vote. Here’s our in-depth look at what’s in the agreement Ford workers will vote on:
@UAW Ford started negotiations by offering:

- 9% wage increases
- 6 year progression to top wage
- $12,000 in COLA bonuses
- No changes to its 6.4% 401(k) contribution

media.ford.com/content/fordme…
Read 10 tweets
Oct 25
The federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25 an hour. This is already a poverty wage.

But did you know companies can and do pay disabled workers HALF that poverty wage? And it’s totally legal.

Thread.
Employers can get 14(c) certificates from the Department of Labor, which allows them to pay disabled workers below the minimum wage.

Most workers who make this subminimum wage have an intellectual or developmental disability — and are paid less than $3.50 an hour. /2
Between 2012 and 2021, the Department of Labor found that employers had kept $15 million from more than 73,500 disabled workers. /3

gao.gov/products/gao-2…
Read 7 tweets
Oct 19
BREAKING: The FTC has voted to assert its net neutrality authority.

By a 3-2 vote the commission has just paved the way for new net neutrality regulations to be implemented next year.
A big fight still lies ahead with The Internet & Television Association, which represents cable providers including Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications.

These giant firms will likely sponsor a legal battle, which could go to the Supreme Court.
But the argument for net neutrality is that "internet providers are meant to act as pipes for data the same way phone companies do for calls."

Therefore providers shouldn't be able to slow service for one website or provider, and speed it up for another.
techcrunch.com/2023/10/19/fcc…
Read 4 tweets
Oct 13
Chick-Fil-A says that "Biblical principles" inspire its "culture of care" for workers.

Turns out only 18% of Chick-Fil-A workers get paid sick leave—one of the worst rates across the entire U.S. service sector.

It’s one of many major brands exposed by new sick leave data.

🧵 Chick-Fil-A website text:  "From the beginning, Truett based his business on Biblical principles that he believed were also good business principles, and since 1982, our Corporate Purpose has guided all that we do. We keep our Purpose front and center because it helps us to steward our business and our work to positively influence everyone we meet.  "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.  "To live out our Purpose and honor Truett's legacy, we are focused on creating ...
Harvard's Shift Project (@Shift_HKS) surveys thousands of service sector workers about their jobs.

They have a new study showing that half of all hourly service workers at large U.S. companies don't have access to a single day of paid sick leave. 2/

shift.hks.harvard.edu/most-workers-s…
@Shift_HKS In fast food, Chick-Fil-A ranks almost dead last, above only Subway and Diary Queen.

These billion-dollar chains make workers decide between treating their illnesses and getting paid.

People serving your food say they often have no choice but to work sick.

3/ Chart showing what percent of workers at different fast food chains have access to paid sick leave:  Chipotle: 89 In-N-Out: 89 Starbucks: 84 Panera: 47 Taco Bell: 38 Dunkin Donuts: 29 McDonald's: 25 Papa John's: 24 Burger King: 22 Chick-Fil-A: 18 Pizza Hut: 18 Wendy's: 18 Subway: 15 Dairy Queen: 12
Read 6 tweets
Oct 12
BREAKING: The Texas Senate has passed a voucher program that would divert half a billion dollars in public funding to private schools.

The bill faces a battle in the House, where bipartisan majorities have repeatedly defeated vouchers.

🧵

substack.perfectunion.us/p/can-a-texas-…
Texas Republicans have tried for decades to pass school vouchers, which have expanded in half a dozen states this year.

It's part of a coordinated drive to redirect funding away from public education and into private, for-profit and religious schools. /2
“The states that have tried these voucher schemes have seen that they don't improve student performance. But they do siphon off billions from already underfunded public schools to subsidize the private education for the wealthy few,” Texas Rep @JamesTalarico told us. /3
Read 13 tweets
Oct 5
Peanuts are the 7th most valuable cash crop in the U.S, contributing over $4 billion to the economy every year.

But two companies process most U.S. peanuts.

So now, peanut farmers are forming their own co-ops to take on Big Peanut—and succeeding. Thread.
openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/r…
In the peanut economy, shelling companies play a big role as the middleman between farmers and food manufacturers.

They process raw peanuts and sell them to manufacturers to be turned into oils, butters, and tons of other products. /2
In 1970, there were 92 peanut shelling companies.

By 2020, they had consolidated down to just 14.

And by 2019, just two shellers, Birdsong and Golden Peanut, bought over 80% of all peanuts. /3
openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/r…
Read 7 tweets

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