Crosspost

The ballot effort to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers faces a new challenge as opponents seek to disqualify signatures collected by organizers.

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association filed an objection to several signatures and petition sheets submitted to the secretary of state by the ballot campaign group, One Fair Wage. The signatures were the final hurdle for ballot organizers to get the issue in front of voters in November.

Nearly 90 per cent of Amazon India’s warehouse employees say they are not allowed sufficient time to use the restroom, according to a new survey that adds to a growing body of evidence of poor working conditions at the multinational corporation.

The results of the survey – conducted by the UNI Global Union, the Amazon India Workers Association and Jarrow Insights, a workers’ cooperative based in London – are detailed in an exhaustive report on the conditions that warehouse workers and drivers of the e-commerce giant in India have to daily endure.

The Independent last month reported an incident at the company’s Manesar warehouse in the northern Haryana state where workers were allegedly asked to make a pledge that they would not take any breaks, including to drink water or go to the bathroom, until they met their targets as they worked amid a brutal heatwave.

India’s labour ministry intervened after the national human rights commission asked for an investigation.

Responding to the ministry, Amazon India confirmed the incident but played it down as “unfortunate and isolated”.

The survey paints a contradictory picture.

Nearly 81 per cent of Amazon India warehouse employees say work targets set by the company are difficult or very difficult to achieve.

The United States is one of seven countries globally that does not have any guaranteed form of paid leave, the petition states.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/HzalS

Federal judges have blocked so much progress that Biden, his administration, and appointees have attempted to make. It's absurd

Layoffs and studio closures have been an unfortunately-common occurrence across the industry since last year, with layoffs in 2024 already matching 2023's total of over 10,000 developers being put out of work. Yet if there is one bright spot to find in this bleak reality, it is, ironically, in the same city as the departed Tango. Its closure, undeniably tragic, is an exception in a country seemingly insulated from the industry-wide devastation occurring beyond its borders.

It's a trend across the industry in the country. In my own conversations with Japanese developers, many have acknowledged the concerns for friends in the industry internationally while admitting a level of confidence and job security that simply no longer exists no matter the company beyond Japanese borders.

Under Japanese employment law, layoffs are incredibly difficult to implement – unless the company is under severe financial difficulty and at risk of insolvency in a manner layoffs could alleviate, after other cost-saving measures have been undertaken, layoffs for permanent employees are all-but impossible.