At no point since Independent Joe began publishing in 2012 has there been as strong a push to unionize quick-service restaurants as there is today. In the last edition of this magazine, with the cover echoing patriot Paul Revere’s call, “The unions are coming! The unions are coming!” we saw how a nascent effort to…
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For two years, Dunkin’ franchisees have had to operate under unprecedented regulatory conditions due to the pandemic – from mandatory store shutdowns to proof-of-vaccination orders. But could the regulatory nightmare finally be coming to an end? It sure looks like it, based on political and coronavirus-immunity trends of late. Still, there will be no shortage…
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Since the coronavirus pandemic was first declared an emergency here in the United States, we’ve been making slow, but steady progress and we’re now starting to see the fruits of those efforts. Oh, not with regard to COVID. I’m talking about the FTC Franchise Rule and government efforts to clamp down on abusive franchisors,…
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At one time, omicron was known by most people as a Greek letter. The word literally means “little O.” But today, the word has followed the virus it is named for as a phenomenon that swept the planet. In many ways, governments and business have responded the way they did nearly two years ago, when…
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Increased Worker Stress Creates ‘Fertile Ground’ for Union Organizing The Unions are Coming! The Unions are Coming! Many franchise owners are hearing this Paul Revere-type refrain in their heads after learning that workers at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, N.Y. voted to form a union—making it the first of more than 8,000 corporate Starbucks locations…
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It’s been a long journey since the coronavirus pandemic reached our shores back in early 2020. Over the course of those first few months, governments ordered non-essential businesses shut, indoor dining was banned and people who left their homes were told to wear masks (even for a solitary jog). Houses of worship were ordered…
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Every day, every week, every month seems to pose new challenges for Dunkin’ franchisees, thanks largely to the pandemic and economic turmoil of late. The latest challenge: increased union-organizing activity within the food-service industry. In this edition of “What’s Brewing,” we explain why Dunkin’ franchisees should be concerned, though not alarmed, about the unionization trend,…
Read More »With minimum wage increases staying in the forefront in a number of jurisdictions across the country, the state of Florida is likewise moving closer to putting the question of raising the state minimum wage on the November 2020 ballot. Florida for a Fair Wage, the primary PAC behind the measure, has thus far submitted just…
Read More »A few weeks ago, we advised you that an employee of the Bernie Sanders Campaign had filed an unfair labor practice against the Democratic Socialist Senator from Vermont’s presidential campaign. Well, his supporters must have union issues front and center as another Bernie Sanders employee filed another unfair labor practice – but this one was…
Read More »Organized labor was active as usual in the elections this past Tuesday, but this year those efforts apparently paid some pretty good dividends for the unions. Unions (especially SEIU and the Fight for $15) are claiming credit for a couple of gubernatorial victories – the defeat of Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Illinois Governor…
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