Edition 55: a federal win for fast-food workers

(This newsletter was sent to email subscribers on September 25, 2020.)

Happy Friday, muggles. Did you know that local newspapers are responsible for 50% of original reporting in the U.S. even though they only make up 25% of media outlets? These local publications have played a critical role in pandemic and election coverage, but all is not well. Advertising revenue is dropping, and more local newsrooms are disappearing across the country. So if you’re able to help, consider signing up for a subscription or spending some ad $$$ on local news, just like you should spend time on these important stories.

SURVEILLANCE

San Francisco police accessed hundreds of private surveillance cameras during BLM protests

Mon Sep 14

While protestors knew all eyes were on them during the Black Lives Matter protests, it wasn’t clear just how much. A new report has uncovered that the San Francisco Police Department received not only live access to 375 cameras owned by the Union Square Business Improvement District, but also previously recorded footage from May-June protests.

Why was this collected?

Police and law enforcement are saying…

• They used the recorded footage to collect evidence of “illegal activity”
• That mass surveillance is in the interest of public safety

Privacy experts and activists disagree, saying police surveillance undermines people’s civil liberties and the right to protest. In fact, San Francisco even has a law regulating the use of surveillance technology by the city called the Surveillance Oversight and Transparency Ordinance. This ordinance:

• Bans the use of facial recognition technology
• Outlines procedures that city departments must follow for new surveillance methods
• This includes a report of potential impacts and an opportunity for community feedback

Activists believe SFPD violated this ordinance, but police say looting and vandalism justified the use of private surveillance without requiring board approval.

SOURCES: Coda Story, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Intercept

ECONOMY

The pandemic caused a food crisis in Cuba

Mon Sep 14

Although Cuba has been able to control the spread of the coronavirus, the country hasn’t been able to avoid the pandemic altogether. The island’s already brittle economy buckled under the weight of the pandemic, leading to a major food shortage.

Is COVID fully to blame?

Cuba’s economy was struggling before the pandemic due to U.S. sanctions and mismanagement. But when lockdowns and travel restrictions hit the country, the tourism industry plummeted and created the food crisis.

How is this food shortage playing out?

• Food is only found in government-run stores
• Food is sold in U.S. dollars to try to get currency from wealthy Cubans or those with friends/relatives abroad
• Prices can be very high
• Supplies are imported and still limited — only a third of their food produced locally

There’s also the problem with Venezuela…

Cuba has historically received aid from Venezuela, but that recently shrunk as the dictatorship there has caused the economy to collapse.

SOURCES: The New York Times, New York Post, Reuters

LEGAL

Corporations are now responsible for their franchises

Thu Sep 17

If you worked at a McDonald’s store and were seeking compensation for workplace violations, the McDonald’s corporation has historically not been liable. Instead, the local owner of the McDonald’s you specifically worked at (the franchisee) would have been on the hook for all employee liability, leaving you with nothing if that store owner went bankrupt. But now, a federal judge in New York has changed that.

What’s changed?

The judge overturned a Trump administration rule called “joint employer” that made it difficult for workers to seek damages from restaurant chains and corporations for labor violations committed by franchisees.

But now, millions of restaurant chain and franchisee workers are able to recover more wages, negotiate larger-scale contracts, and be protected in the case of stolen assets. This is a major win for workers — strict uses of the joint employer rule has cost workers more than $1 billion in wage theft and other labor violations.

All that said, the judge’s decision is still expected to be appealed, so this likely isn’t the end of the war just yet.

SOURCES: The Counter, NYS Attorney General

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That’s all for today. Have a magical weekend.✨