Episode 273: What Did The Industry Learn From The Minimum Wage Ballot Initiatives

We do a deeper dive into some of the ballot initiatives this past election, especially the minimum wage measures across the country. We are joined by Mike Saltzman, Partner at Berman & Company, to discuss those outcomes and what they may tell us about industry engagement going forward. Starbucks workers staged a unique but effective walkout before Thanksgiving co-opting the company’s Red Cup Day and turning it into the Red Cup rebellion. We’ll discuss the state of the organizing campaign at the company and look at the dynamics of national unionization efforts. And the SEIU has given birth to a new organizing entity focused on service workers in the South. Dubbed the Union of Southern Service Workers, the group looks to be extra aggressive and will focus on leveraging the South’s difficult history of race relations. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.