Retail Hell Underground

Apple CEO Tim Cook Reveals Chart That Shows How Grossly Unfair The US Tax System

From Huff Po: Apple CEO Tim Cook waved a magic wand in front of America on Tuesday, vanishing our outrage over how shamelessly companies avoid paying taxes, leaving the rest of us to foot the bill. As a public service to you, here is a chart that should enrage you about corporate tax rates all over again!

Notice the beige stripe that is shrinking steadily? That stripe is the percentage corporate taxes contribute to total federal revenue. And notice the olive-green stripe that has swollen to be larger than the beige stripe used to be? That is the contribution of payroll taxes to federal revenue.

What this shows is how dramatically corporate tax contributions have shrunk in the past several decades, and how our personal taxes have risen to fill the gap. Payroll taxes now make up 35 percent of all federal government tax receipts, up from 11 percent in 1950. Corporate income taxes, meanwhile, now make up less than 10 percent of federal revenue, down from about 26 percent in 1950.

To 'splain those numbers a little more clearly: We who are on the payrolls of companies now bear way more of a tax burden than those companies bore decades ago. Those companies, meanwhile, bear less of a burden than we ever did.

And this doesn't include individual income tax, which accounts for about 46 percent of total federal tax receipts, roughly the same as 60 years ago.

Update: This chart of course does not reflect the fact that employers typically cover half of the payroll taxes collected by the government. Assuming companies pay half of the payroll taxes in this chart, the total tax burden for individual Americans is reduced to about 63 percent of total federal revenue, instead of 81 percent, as I estimated in an earlier version of this story. But that is up from about 45 percent in 1950.

And the total corporate contribution to federal revenue, including employers' share of payroll taxes, has dwindled from 32 percent in 1950 to about 17 percent today. Employer contributions to payroll taxes make the unfairness of the tax code slightly less unfair, but the trend is still clear and dramatic: Corporations are paying a lot less than they used to.

This chart was produced for a September 2012 report (download-y PDF file) about corporate tax avoidance by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Walter Hickey of Business Insider helpfully republished the chart on Tuesday, in honor of Cook's testimony before the same subcommittee.

Cook was there to techsplain how Apple holding $102 billion of cash offshore isn't really tax avoidance so much as good old fashioned ingenuity. Also, have you forgotten the shiny objects Apple makes (including the dreamy MacBook Air on which this here story was typed)? By the end of the hearing, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had demanded that Congress apologize to Apple for the inconvenience, and Sen. John McCain (R-My Lawn) was reduced to gently jibing Cook about how often he has to update his apps.

And Rand Paul is kind of right, you guys, as is Tim Cook: We should not be so mad at Apple for doing what the law allows. We should be mad that the law allows Apple and other companies to keep billions of dollars of cash offshore and out of the government coffers, where it could be helping the unemployed and our crumbling infrastructure and such. Another thing we can get mad about is how the "corporate tax reform" that Cook and other corporate leaders are always banging on about will actually serve to make it so companies pay even less in taxes than they do now.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Walmart Believes You Have "A Lot of Freedom" When Dressing For Work There

The Top 20 Companies With The Most Low-Wage Workers

From Business Insider: During the State of the Union address President Barack Obama indicated that he hoped to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 from its current stance of $7.25.

As it stands, the only state in the U.S. with a minimum wage higher than $9.00 is Washington.

Were the increase to go through, every other state in the nation will have to adapt. 

Already people have come out to label the program a job killer, and the companies that will be impacted most should the policy become law will be the companies that employ a large quantity of low-income workers making at or slightly above the federal minimum wage. 

The National Employment Law Project studies industries and identifies companies where employees have low wages. In July 2012 the group released a study listing the largest U.S. companies that primarily have low-wage employees. 

Note that there's no hard numbers on how many of these companies workers are making the exact minimum wage. And the column of the US Workforce refers to all of these companies' US workers, not just their workers making a low wage.

 

via www.businessinsider.com

Fast-Food Workers Decry Widespread Wage Theft In New York

Huff Po: Vicente de Jesus Garcia says he had a bad feeling when he arrived at a Harlem housing project three years ago to deliver a pizza. He didn't like the looks of the place, so he told the customers to meet him outside. As he waited, a group of men pulled him into the lobby, threw him to the ground, kicked him until he was black and blue, and stole $400.

On Thursday, Garcia, a Mexican immigrant and a father of seven, appeared at a rally outside a fast-food outlet in New York City to denounce the people he views as the real thieves -– not the men who took his cash in the lobby but the multinational corporation that employs him.

According to Garcia, the owner of the Papa John's franchise where Garcia worked held him accountable for the stolen money.

"I had to use my rent money to pay him back," he said through an interpreter. "It’s bad enough that it’s dangerous and I get robbed doing this job. To make me pay back the money if I want to keep my job, is an insult on top of it."

Garcia's story is just one of the more dramatic episodes highlighted in a new report from the labor campaign Fast Food Forward on the prevalence of wage theft in New York's fast-food industry. In a survey commissioned by the campaign, which advocates for higher pay for fast-food workers, 84 percent of those surveyed said that their employers engaged in practices that amount to what the group has identified as theft. Respondents described performing duties before and after clocking in, working during scheduled meal breaks, working overtime without getting paid extra for it, and, in the case of delivery workers, receiving no reimbursement for money spent on gas, bicycle helmets and other job-related necessities.

On Thursday, the New York state attorney general's office acknowledged that its investigators are looking into these practices. In an email, spokesman Damien LaVera called the report's findings "deeply troubling" and said they "shed light on potentially broad labor violations by the fast food industry."

Representatives for Papa John's and the National Restaurant Association did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Democratic New York City councilwoman who represents parts of Harlem and the Bronx, was among several local leaders at the rally who framed the report as evidence of a "hidden crime wave."

"This is a crime wave that is not being engaged in by petty thieves, but by a multimillion dollar industry," she said.

The demonstration, which took place outside of a KFC on the Brooklyn-Queens border, came on the heels of a series of strikes and protests by fast-food and retail workers around the country. In November, about 200 workers affiliated with the Fast Food Forward campaign walked out of their restaurants in New York City, demanding better pay and the right to form a union.

In April, more than 400 workers participated in a second New York strike, inspiring a wave of similar actions in Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Milwaukee.

By law, fast-food workers must be paid at least the federal minimum wage, which is now $7.25 an hour. In recent years, these jobs have become much more common; since the official end of the economic downturn, jobs in the fast-food sector and other low-paying industries have grown nearly three times as fast as jobs with better pay.

One of the workers who spoke at the rally was Joseph Barrera, a 22-year-old employee of the KFC that loomed in the background. Barrera was the subject of a recent Huffington Post story exploring the prevalence of poverty among people who work for a living.

Although some employees at the franchise where he works end up contributing more than 40 hours a week to the company, Barrera said, the boss divides their hours among different franchises, so that he doesn't have to pay them overtime.

"They want to play games with us," Barrera said. "We're not playing games no more."

via www.huffingtonpost.com

14 Retailers Decline To Sign Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord

Huff Po: The deadline to sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh passed on Tuesday, and at least 14 major North American retailers declined to participate.

The agreement, which demands a five-year commitment from participating retailers to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and pay up to $500,000 per year toward safety improvements, has seen greater support abroad than in the U.S.

Major European retailers -- for example, Marks & Spencer and Carrefour -- have joined the agreement. Others who've signed on include companies recently involved with factory disasters in Bangladesh, such as Swedish retailer H&M and Italian fashion house Benetton. A 2010 factory fire at a facility that made cardigans for H&M killed 21 people, and Bennetton had a supplier in the Rana Plaza factory that collapsed last month, killing more than 1,100 people.

PVH, parent to Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, signed the accord, along with Abercrombie & Fitch, which agreed just hours before the deadline. That leaves plenty of U.S. retailers absent from the agreement, according to the Worker Rights Consortium, an international labor monitoring group. However, some retailers, like Walmart, claim they are working on separate initiatives to improve conditions and workplace safety in Bangladesh.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Abercrombie and Finch's Reputation Taking a Nosedive According To Brand Researcher

Huff Po: Abercrombie and Fitch? More like Abercrombie and Ditch.

The apparel retailer has seen its reputation nosedive over the past two weeks since controversial comments made by its CEO Mike Jeffries resurfaced online, according to brand researcher YouGov BrandIndex.

(In case you missed it, Business Insider published a story that contained comments Jeffries originally made in an interview with Salon in 2006 saying he doesn't want "fat" or "not so cool" kids wearing his company's clothes.)

YouGov's BrandIndex measures positive versus negative feedback about a brand. The chart below illustrates consumer perception among 18 to 34 year olds as compared to American Eagle and H&M.

Jeffries is now doing his best to remedy the situation. He even posted a rebuttal on Facebook saying that his company is “completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior.”

But the mea culpa may not be enough. Many, including Kirstie Alley, have condemned Jeffries' comments. A YouTube video deriding Abercrombie and Fitch’s self-prescribed cool kid image has already reached over 4.5 million views.

A phone call request for comment from Abercrombie and Fitch was not immediately returned Thursday evening.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

More Douchiness From Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jefferies: Not Selling To Overweight People

From Business Insider: Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't stock XL or XXL sizes in women's clothing because they don't want overweight women wearing their brand. 

They want the "cool kids," and they don't consider plus-sized women as being a part of that group. 

Abercrombie is sticking to its guns of conventional beauty, even as that standard becomes outdated. 

Contrast Abercrombie with H&M, another favorite with the teen set, who just subtly introduced a plus-sized model in its latest swimwear collection. 

H&M has a plus-sized line. American Eagle, Abercrombie's biggest competitor, offers up to size XXL for men and women. 

Abercrombie doesn't even list women's XL or XXL on its size chart. Its largest women's pants are a size 10, while H&M's standard line goes up to a size 16, and American Eagle offers up to 18. 

It's not surprising that Abercrombie excludes plus-sized women considering the attitude of CEO Mike Jeffries, said Robin Lewis, co-author of The New Rules of Retail and CEO of newsletter The Robin Report.

"He doesn't want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people," Lewis told Business Insider. "He doesn't want his core customers to see people who aren't as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they're one of the 'cool kids.'" 

The only reason Abercrombie offers XL and XXL men's sizes is probably to appeal to beefy football players and wrestlers, Lewis said. 

We asked the company why it doesn't offer larger sizes for women. A spokeswoman told us that Abercrombie wasn't available to provide a comment. 

In a 2006 interview with Salon, Jeffries himself said that his business was built around sex appeal. 

“It’s almost everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,” Jeffries said. 

Jeffries also told Salon that he wasn't bothered by excluding some customers. 

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he told the site. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."

Jeffries said he thinks that including everyone would make his business boring. 

"Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either," he told Salon. 

While a specialty retailer like Abercrombie can't be expected to appeal to everyone, the brand's standard of beauty is quickly becoming stale. 

Plus-sized is no longer a niche market: 67 percent of the apparel purchasing population fit that label, and the number is growing all the time. 

For too long, this sizable and growing segment has been ignored," writes Margaret Bogenrief at ACM Partners. "Treated shabbily, ostracized by the “pro-skinny fashion world,” and seemingly discarded by designers, department stores, and retailers alike, plus-size fashion consumers, critics, and bloggers are taking back their spending and sartorial power and, in turn, changing both the e-commerce and retailing landscapes."

Ignoring this "revolution" could be costly for businesses, Bogenrief writes. 

More brands are featuring curvy, "real-sized," models. 

In addition to H&M's Jennie Runk, Dove's wildly popular "Real Beauty" campaign highlights women who aren't as thin as traditional models.

But it's unlikely that Abercrombie will ever sway from its image, Lewis told us.  

"Abercrombie is only interested in people with washboard stomachs who look like they're about to jump on a surfboard," Lewis said.

via www.businessinsider.com

8 Companies That Owe Their Employees a Raise

From 24/7 Wall Street:

1. Walt Disney
> 1-yr. stock price change: 50.94%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 93.49%
> Employees: 166,000
> CEO pay: $40,227,848

Walt Disney founded the company in 1923 as The Disney Brothers Studio. The company has since expanded to include Walt Disney studios, Disney consumer products, a network television business, which includes ABC and a majority interest in ESPN and and the company’s interactive division. Disney is widely regarded for its employee customer training. The company even has an operation called the Disney Institute, which trains management and workers from other companies. According to the company, BusinessWeek’s Best Internships survey ranked Disney #11 on internship opportunities for undergraduates. Disney reported revenue of $42.3 billion in the most recent fiscal year, up 3% from the prior year, and net income was $5.7 billion, up 18%. The improvements were mostly driven by success from its parks and resorts division, which started with the founding of Disneyland in 1955 and employs a number of low-paid workers, including the the theme parks cast members.

2. Comcast:    
> 1-yr. stock price change: 44.45%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 93.63%
> Employees: 129,000
> CEO pay: $29,124,014

Comcast is the largest cable company in the U.S. In fiscal 2012, Comcast’s net income was $6.2 billion, a nearly 50% increase from the previous year. In the past 12 months, the company’s stock rose by roughly 44%. In what many consider to be a smart move, the company diversified its operations by buying control of NBCUniversal two years ago. Earlier this year, it paid GE $16.7 billion for the remaining 49% ownership position. NBCUniversal operates the cable and broadcast television business, and the studio businesses dominated by Universal Pictures. Comcast customer care and direct sales jobs often pay modestly. The average salary for a Customer Account Executive at Comcast was just $13.39 an hour, according to Glassdoor.

3. McDonald’s
> 1-yr. stock price change: 6.91%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 68.15%
> Employees: 440,000
> CEO pay: $13,751,919

The fast-food industry, lead by McDonald’s, fared better than nearly any other industry during the economic downturn. Yet the situation for most of the fast-food giant’s employees hasn’t improved. The company is still paying its front-line workers minimum wage or very close to it. According to Glassdoor, the average pay of a cashier was a mere $7.69 an hour. Yet with payroll one of the company’s major expenses, investors are concerned about a possible minimum wage increase. The day after President Barack Obama announced a plan to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour, McDonald’s share price tumbled. On the other hand, the low wages could be hurting company’s morale. Recently, company executives notified franchisees that more than anything, customers complained about “rude and unprofessional employees.” Still, McDonald’s hasn’t announced any plans to pass some of its billions of dollars in profits to employees. Instead, in late 2012, the company said it would return $5.5 billion to shareholders by the end of the year through both an increased dividend and share repurchases. The company has raised its dividend every year since 1976.

4. AT&T
> 1-yr. stock price change: 13.45%
> 5-yr. stock price change: -7.10%
> Employees: 241,800
> CEO pay: $22,234,703

AT&T had a net profit of $7.3 billion in 2012 on revenue of $127.4 billion. This is an improvement from the $3.9 billion profit on revenue of $126.7 billion in 2011. The company’s CEO, Randall Stephenson, received more than $20 million per year between 2010 and 2010. In late November, the company stated that it would continue to phase-out its landline telephone service by spending $14 billion over the next three years to extend its broadband-based service to 75% of its landline customers. This will likely result in more job cuts in the landline business, which has already suffered from reduction in headcount in recent years. But these reductions have, in the opinions of many, hurt customer service. According to Glassdoor, the customer service representatives and retail associates are getting the worst pay, with some making as a low as $10 an hour.

5. Yum! Brands
> 1-yr. stock price change: -3.95%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 68.74%
> Employees: 523,000
> CEO pay: $14,168,355

Yum! Brands — which includes fast food chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — is another company that is well known for paying a large portion of its workers either minimum wage or just slightly over that. For example, a crew member at Taco Bell makes an average of jthust $7.76 an hour, according to Glassdoor. Meanwhile, the company’s chairman and CEO, David Novak, received more than $14 million in 2010 and 2012, as well as more than $20 million in 2011. Though restaurant workers at Yum! Brands chains are not unionized, they have gone on strike in recent months, seeking higher pay. Meanwhile, Yum!’s stock price has soared almost 70% in the past five years as both revenue and earnings have increased solidly in recent years.

6. DirecTV
> 1-yr. stock price change: 15.29%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 123.89%
> Employees: 27,200
> CEO pay: $18,043,266

DirecTV has performed very well in recent years, providing handsome rewards to shareholders. In the past five years, the company’s stock price has risen nearly 124%, compared to a roughly 15% increase in the S&P 500 during that time. Like the other companies on this list, DirectTV’s CEO is paid very well, taking home more than $18 million in 2012. But like other cable providers, its call-center workers and technicians are generally paid relatively low wages. According to the American Customer Service Index, DirecTV provided slightly better customer service than many of its competitors. However, DirecTV’s reputation took a hit last year when it lost the rights to broadcast certain cable channels because of a dispute with Viacom over licensing fees. The blackout ended within weeks when an agreement between the two companies was reached.

7. Public Storage
> 1-yr. stock price change: 18.57%    
> 5-yr. stock price change: 80.87%
> Employees: 5,000
> CEO pay: $15,339,125

Public Storage operates more than 142 million square feet of rentable self-storage space across the world. The business has been exceptionally profitable in recent years, with a net profit margin of 50%, third-highest of any company on the S&P 500. The company reported a net profit of more than $939 million on revenue of more than $1.8 billion in 2012. Public storage has also provided stellar returns to investors over the last five years, at nearly 81% versus 16% for the S&P 500. But the company’s 5,000 employees have not been as lucky as its investors and managers — including CEO Ronald Havner, Jr., who took home over $15 million last year. A large number of the company’s currently open positions in retail sales pay roughly $9 to $10 dollars an hour .

8. Time Warner Cable
> 1-yr. stock price change: 22.03%
> 5-yr. stock price change: 8.83%
> Employees: 50,250
> CEO pay: $17,352,728

In the last year, Time Warner Cable’s stock price has risen by roughly 22%, better than the 18% rise in the S&P 500 during that time. The CEO has been compensated quite well during the same time, receiving more than $17 million in 2010 and 2012, and more than $16 million in 2011. But customer service positions and field technicians tend to receive average wages of between $12 to $15 an hour. The company does have its shortcomings. Unlike DirecTV and AT&T, Time Warner Cable actually scored worse on the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

via 247wallst.com

Fast Food Workers Strike

Any RHUer striking? Let's us know how it went?

Huff PO: Workers at a Detroit McDonald's walked off the job early Friday morning, part of a wave of fast food industry strikes that have recently swept across cities around the nation.

Campaign organizers are expecting hundreds of workers to strike in Metro Detroit throughout the day at national chains like McDonald’s, Popeyes, Wendy’s, Little Caesars and Subway. Striking employees are demanding $15 an hour -- far more than the state's $7.40 an hour minimum wage many fast food industry workers are paid -- and the right to form a union without retaliation.

Though fast food work generally pays much less than needed to support a family, with many employees earning so little they are officially poor, in the Detroit area such jobs now outnumber those in the auto industry by nearly two-to-one, according to organizers.

About 20 employees began striking at 6 a.m. at a McDonald's located at 10400 Gratiot Ave. in Detroit, according to a release from D15, the campaign helping to coordinate the Detroit actions. The operation's management brought in replacement workers who also walked off the job, according to social media reports. Seven employees of a Long John Silvers at 3755 E. 8 Mile also left their posts this morning in Warren, Mich., shutting down that operation as well, according to the D15.

McDonald's worker Keith Bullard, who has started an online petition for support through the website MoveOn, explained his reasons for participating in the strike in an email sent to The Huffington Post

"This morning, I walked off my job at McDonald's. I'm a 29-year-old husband and a father of two. My wife can't work because of health problems—and the $7.50 an hour I make at McDonald's just isn't enough to cover my family's basic needs," he said.

"Can anybody really feed children and take care of a family on the current minimum wage of $7.40 an hour?" Pastor Charles Williams II of Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, a leader involved with the campaign, asked in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post. "If we truly want to stimulate the economy then we must stimulate the wages of those who collectively have the buying power to strengthen the economy. It's simple. I support the workers today because, raising their wage, raises our economy."

Fast-food jobs are among the most common jobs in the U.S., as well as the lowest-paying. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 there were 2.9 million "food prep and serving workers," a category covering fast food employees, who were earning an average of just $19,100, or $9.18 per hour.

Detroit is the fourth city to see fast food strikes in recent weeks, after New York City, Chicago, and St. Louis, where workers are all demanding living wages.

Although the workers and advocates in each city are affiliated with different organizations, they've communicated with one another and have even travelled on charter buses to one another's cities to show support during the strikes.

This recent wave of strikes can be traced back to November, when about 200 fast-food workers in New York walked out of their restaurants, demanding 15 dollars an hour and the right to form a union. In April, around twice as many New York fast-food workers participated in a second strike, and that action, in turn, inspired both fast-food and retail workers to stage a similar demonstration in Chicago.

On Wednesday, dozens of fast-food workers in St. Louis followed suit. Among them was Jamanda Gordon, a college student who said half her paycheck goes to pay off the loan on her car, which she needs to travel between home, school, and work. She said she was tired of working hard just to stay out of debt. "I'm over it," she said.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

American Apparel CEO Rips Industry's 'Blind Pursuit' Of Low Wages

Huff Po: On the heels of the recent tragedy in Bangladesh, American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has a message for the rest of the retail industry: It's time for change.

"The apparel industry's relentless and blind pursuit of the lowest possible wages cannot be sustained over time, ethically or fiscally," Charney wrote in a recent message. "As labor and transportation costs increase worldwide, exploitation will not only be morally offensive and dated, it will not even be financially viable."

Charney's message accompanied a company email over the weekend urging people to buy American and reminding them that American Apparel is “sweatshop free." (You can scroll down to see the full email.) This is nothing new: American Apparel always has produced clothes in the U.S. and reminded shoppers of its sweatshop-free pledge on tags, in emails and in ads. But the recent Bangladesh factory collapse that killed more than 600 has brought renewed attention to Western retailers’ reliance on cheap clothing producers they can’t closely monitor.

“We emphasize this because it actually makes a difference,” the company email sent over the weekend states. “Thousands of industrial workers making our clothing at our state-of-the-art factory in downtown Los Angeles earn an average of $12/per hour, plus medical and other comprehensive benefits for themselves and their families, wh

via www.huffingtonpost.com

 

Turkish Airlines Bans Lipstick For Flight Attendants

Huff Po: Flight attendants may be the friendliest frequent fliers in the atmosphere -- but it's time for some to kiss a glamorous look goodbye. Turkish Airlines announced on Friday that they will ban their crew from wearing red lipstick and nail polish while in-air, Reuters reports.

"As a consequence of our current cabin uniforms not including red, dark pink, et cetera, the use of lipstick and nail polish in these colors by our cabin crew impairs visual integrity," the aircraft carrier said in a statement. As an alternative, the airline prefers "simple make-up, immaculate and in pastel colours," the Telegraph reports. Critics have spoken out on social media against the restrictions, which may mark a cultural shift in Turkey.

According to Fox News, this decree reflects a move away from secular styles in Turkey and an attempt to bolster the country's Islamic values.

Distraction or not, the ban certainly inhibits flight attendants' ability to conceal dark spots and to try out all the latest nail art trends. What's your tak

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Shocking McDonald's Fact: Nearly Half of America Went To McD's In March And Sales Still Fell

Huff Po: McDonald's continues to be the most visited retail business in America, but it's not all golden arches and happy meals for the fast food restaurant.

Forty-nine percent of Americans over the age of 14 went to McDonald's in March, according to a study by the analytics firm Placed Insights. The world's largest restaurant chain beat out Walmart, Walgreens and CVS for the top spot. Placed's findings are based on data from more than 70,000 customers who volunteered to share where they went over the course of a month.

Despite catering to such a significant customer base, McDonald's sales are down. In April, the fast food chain reported its first quarterly sales decline in a decade as the famed Dollar Menu failed to boost its numbers.

McDonald's could not immediately be reached for comment.

Burger King, which was visited by roughly one in four Americans in March according to the survey, saw declining same-store sales in the first quarter of 2013.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

McDonald's New Zealand Employee Harassed By Management For Being "Too Gay"

From Huff Po: A New Zealand McDonald's employee says he was reprimanded and harassed by management for being "too gay."

Sean Bailey, an employee at a McDonald's franchise in Auckland, told TVNZ's OneNews that he was discriminated against for being gay on multiple occasions. He made the claims during a May 1 protest on Quay Street against the fast food chain.

Bailey allegedly faced three incidents of discrimination by two different managers -- one of which was reportedly about his voice sounding "too gay" -- and he says the encounters made him "embarrassed" to return to work.

"One of my managers said, 'If you act gay on my shift, I will discipline you,'" he told OneNews. "He also said, 'If you turn anyone else in the store gay, I will punish you and make you lose your job.'" Adding, "I had to call in sick just because I couldn't work with him, which meant I lost work hours and money."

Bailey has the support of Unite, a New Zealand workers' union that fights to improve workers' wages and work conditions. The group led Wednesday's picket, according to GayNZ. Unite rep Joe Carolan revealed one of the managers who harassed Bailey was moved to another location, which he likened to the Catholic Church's covering for sexually abusive priests.

"I think McDonald’s have gone for the Catholic Church solution here. Rather than reprimand or fire someone for gross discrimination, they simply moved him to another store," Carolan told GayNZ. “And I don’t know how gay or lesbian people at that store feel about this manager there. Will it be another couple of months before we have a similar report there?”

In response to the discrimination, Bailey wants to hold a "Turn McDonald’s Gay Day" kiss-in in Auckland, which has the backing of Unite as well as the Queer Avengers, a gay activist group.

“Management is trying to use homophobia to control workers,” Queer Avenger member Ian Anderson said in a press release. “But if we stand up and fight back together, we can overcome this tactic.” Anderson added that the group will support any action taken by McDonald's employees against discrimination and exploitation.

The Huffington Post previously spoke with a media representative for McDonald's U.S. about the company's stance on equal rights in regards to a story about transgender bathroom issues. That representative said McDonald's U.S. doesn't stand for discrimination of any kind.

“At McDonald’s, we respect and value everyone," the spokeswoman said. "We have a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination in our restaurants. We recognize and appreciate individuals’ rights and require all our restaurants to follow local, state and federal laws."

A global media relations representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

Unite Union gathered on Quay Street on Wednesday to picket the breakdown in negotiations with McDonald's over a collective agreement regarding better wages. Cops were called to the scene, even though the protest was peaceful, Yahoo! News New Zealand notes.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

 

Former JC Penney's CEO Caused Pricing Hell

From Huff Po: When J.C. Penney last month ousted chief executive officer Ron Johnson, aborting his disastrous turnaround campaign, one large group of employees quietly celebrated: the army of store workers who had been forced to tag and re-tag millions of items for sale as Johnson ceaselessly tweaked pricing.

“Every other month we had to re-ticket everything because he decided the color of the ticket should change,” an 18-year veteran J.C. Penney store employee told The Huffington Post, speaking on condition she not be named for fear of losing her job.

More than merely an annoyance for J.C. Penney’s employees, Johnson’s mercurial pricing strategy goes down as one of his biggest blunders at the helm of the company he was supposed to resuscitate. It was a primary reason the J.C. Penney board ousted him less than 17 months into his tenure, concluding he was out of touch with the company’s customers, its workforce and its culture.

“The unwillingness to test format and sales changes was unquestionably a mistake,” Chris DeRose, co-author of “Judgment on the Front Line: How Smart Companies Win by Trusting Their People,” told The Huffington Post. “One of the benefits of large retailers is that they can hive off part of their network to understand how customers and employees respond to changes without damaging their global results.”

Under Johnson’s direction, J.C. Penney embarked on a quest to kill coupons and sales, attempting to wean customers off what he considered “fake prices.” The tactic failed because management grossly underestimated its customers’ desire for deal-seeking, forcing Johnson and his team to backtrack after a year of abysmal sales numbers.

“We did not realize how deep some of the customers were into [coupons],” admitted former J.C. Penney chief operating officer Michael Kramer on an earnings call with investors and analysts three months after the pricing change began.

The constant changes to the pricing system without first testing consumer reaction wound up alienating customers while befuddling Wall Street analysts who track the company’s prospects -- none of which helped Johnson or J.C. Penney. The company declined to comment.

Johnson’s pricing fiasco provoked a mighty chorus of “I told you so.” Early in the metamorphosis, the retail legend and former J.C. Penney CEO Allen Questrom had been struck by Johnson’s audacity -- particularly by his willingness to make wholesale changes to the pricing regime without first studying the customer.

“We’ve all renovated stores over the years, and we always learn a lot from each time we do one, but to do them at one time without testing the first one, you have to question what kind of a strategy that is,” Questrom last year told CNBC, as J.C. Penney began constructing the branded shops at the core of Johnson’s strategy. The retailer’s only test facility was a small, 30,000-square-foot prototype, located on the third floor of a J.C. Penney store in a Dallas mall.

In fact, J.C. Penney made a conscious decision to avoid extensive testing. One executive, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal on the condition he not be named, recalled Johnson’s derisive reaction when it was suggested that he ought to test the no-discounts pricing strategy in a few stores before unleashing it in 1,100 stores across America.

“We didn’t test at Apple,” the executive heard Johnson say, referring to his former employer.

Johnson’s vacillation on pricing took its toll on workers inside J.C. Penney stores across the country. Whenever Johnson changed his mind, workers had to change the tickets -- the labels attached to all retail products, denoting size, price and other details -- and the signs inside stores.

Not only would Johnson change the prices, but he’d repeatedly alter the terminology and marketing, leaving coordinators to re-order all the materials.

Complying with those orders was no small feat, and it entailed considerable expense.
A former “Replenishment Lead Expert” -- J.C. Penney jargon for stockroom supervisor -- described the process to The Huffington Post: He and his team of 12 people were told they needed to take a class on how to place the stickers, and corporate presented them a new method to ticket their store. With 10 days left to finish the work, the frustrated supervisor and his workers abandoned the instructions from corporate, and went back to doing it their way.

All retailers have to re-ticket sections of merchandise in stores every time a sale alters prices -- a common occurrence. But at J.C. Penney, senior management’s constantly changing whims seemed to be out of control, according to employees. Stores were already contending with disruption from construction of new shop-in-shops -- a collection of branded mini-boutiques within the larger store -- another signature Johnson operation. On top of this, workers found themselves having to re-ticket entire stores to fix management’s failed strategies.

J.C. Penney used two basic types of tickets last summer. Red tickets indicated that the items were “everyday” merchandise prices, while clearance items had blue stickers and designated “best price,” as part of Johnson’s early “fair and square” pricing plan.

The result was widespread customer confusion. Customers didn’t understand the terminology and sales tanked, forcing Johnson to rethink his plan. The failure cost J.C. Penney president and marketing chief Michael Francis, who was brought in by Johnson as part of his “dream team” senior management squad, his job.

Workers privately scoffed at the orders barked from management far above them on the corporate ladder. Then J.C. Penney eliminated the position of in-store supervisor in charge of visuals and signage company-wide, further sapping any positive feelings employees had remaining. Morale plummeted amidst mass firings, leaving workers scared for their jobs. Nobody at the store level was willing to challenge corporate.

“To do it, you would have to put your head up and then you run the real risk of it getting chopped off,” said the former stockroom supervisor.

J.C. Penney changed “best price” to “clearance,” with the hope that a more familiar discounting term would influence customers’ shopping habits. It wasn’t enough, and Johnson admitted defeat. He would have to fully embrace sales and coupons in order to drive traffic into his stores. To do this, his team devised yet another new system that would roll out nationwide.

The chain would begin running sales every week, announced Johnson, and would use a reference price to show customers the money they would save if they purchased an item. These “compare to” prices would be included on price tags. Coupons made their triumphant return.

In the last week of January, J.C. Penney’s management team set a deadline for its stores: by Feb. 1, stores would have to re-ticket and re-sign their merchandise. No one had “the guts” to tell Johnson or corporate that it wasn’t possible in that timeframe, a J.C. Penney regional executive, who asked to remain anonymous, told HuffPost. The hurried employees screwed up, and the results were disastrous.

“They printed the wrong signs, price points are wrong, you can’t see ‘compare to’ prices because they’re re-printed in a light grey color on a white sign,” said the regional executive. “And best of all -- they sent them out late.”

Stores poured thousands of dollars into staffing, but since the signs were unsatisfactory, there was no work to be done, said the regional executive. Instead, the company would end up spending thousands more the next week, once the signs arrived, to complete the process. It all happened during a time when J.C. Penney was trying to save every penny, as management continued to cut staff in both stores and the company’s Plano, Texas, headquarters.

“Who dropped the ball on this? One year later and we’ve totally forgot how to sign a store?” asked the regional executive. “But then again, they fired everyone last April and May who knew how to make and ship the signs.”

Workers questioned initiatives they deemed superficial and unnecessary, believing they were done on a whim, or that resources could be better allocated elsewhere. After all, they watched tens of thousands of store employees get laid off in the interest of cost-cuts.

Johnson was going to buy the entire company workforce gingham shirts to wear as uniforms -- two per person -- along with new engraved name badges. Fortunately, the plan was put on hold, according to J.C. Penney associates.

Now, Johnson is gone, much to the delight of those employees once tasked with executing the latest pricing strategy. On a round of visits to stores just after Johnson’s departure, the regional executive said he noticed a sense of exhilaration and relief.

“I saw store employees crying from excitement and joy,” he said. “They told me, ‘Thankfully someone has finally listened to us. I just hope it’s not too late to save J.C. Penney.'”

The company has put former CEO Myron Ullman in charge until the retailer can find a permanent replacement. Ullman is pleading for forgiveness in a bid to get customers back in stores, promising the company will listen this time. The new regime must win back customers who defected to department store competitors Kohl’s, Dillard’s and Macy’s.

J.C. Penney debuted a new ad on its YouTube page Wednesday, apologizing to jilted customers. Development on the ad began a few months ago, during Johnson’s tenure, but the 30-second spot wasn’t released until after Ullman took over, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

“It’s no secret. Recently, J.C. Penney changed. Some changes you liked, and some you didn’t,” said the voiceover in the ad. “But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: to listen to you. To hear what you need to make your life more beautiful. Come back to J.C. Penney. We heard you. Now, we'd love to see you."

via www.huffingtonpost.com

T-Mobile Store Makes Pregnant Employee Clock Out To Use The Bathroom

From Huf Po: This story will astound you.

A 40-year-old pregnant woman who worked at a T-Mobile call center in Nashville, Tenn., says the company forced her to clock out just so she could use the bathroom.

Former T-Mobile employee Kristi Rifkin told ABC News that, even after being told to clock out, she still had to record all the times she used the bathroom and had to turn them in to her supervisor to prove she wasn't taking advantage of a doctor's note she had obtained for the privilege of using the toilet.

In a blog post published Thursday on MomsRising.org, Rifkin explained that T-Mobile had advised her to get the doctor's note because she had to visit the restroom frequently on account of a "difficult pregnancy" that required her to drink a lot of water. T-Mobile warned her she could lose her job for making too many trips to the toilet, Rifkin alleged in her post.

"Essentially the message was, 'You can go, but understand that if you don’t meet [your quota for time spent on the phone] at the end of the day, week and month, we have the opportunity to fill your seat,'" she wrote.

Rifkin told ABC she was fired by T-Mobile in the summer of 2010 -- about six weeks after giving birth -- for neglecting to remove an extra-charge feature from a customer's account. The commission for that extra-charge feature was just 12 cents.

"In addition to a 30-60 minute lunch break and two paid breaks of at least 15 minutes per day, T-Mobile hourly employees working in call center roles are able to take a reasonable amount of additional breaks as needed without any adverse effect on assessment of performance," T-Mobile spokesman Glenn Zaccara told The Huffington Post in an email. "When breaks become frequently in excess of the already generous paid breaks, we work together with our employee to see if there are ways to take additional time with pay, such as using FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act] time and their generous paid time off benefits."

The story has a happy ending, though.

Rifkin says she's "done with T-Mobile" and that her son, who turns 3 this month, is "very healthy."

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers make bathroom facilities available so that workers don't suffer from adverse health affects. But only nine states require that employees be paid for at least some of their bathroom breaks, and Tennessee isn't one of them.

via www.huffingtonpost.com