We respect the rights and autonomy of freelancers and gig workers to be paid a fair and living wage. Transcriptionists are the heart and soul of Rev.com and decreasing pay abruptly and without announcement or community input puts undue strain on workers, who deserve to be treated as vital participants in any company success.

About Milk with Dignity: Milk with Dignity was created by Migrant Justice, a human rights organization founded and led by immigrant farmworkers in Vermont. The program enlists the resources and market power of companies to improve labor and housing conditions on dairy farms. Companies pay a premium for milk from participating farms that agree to comply with standards in the Program’s Code of Conduct. For decades, low milk prices and industry consolidation have created downward economic pressure on dairy farms, leading to low wages and systemic rights abuses. Though conditions vary from farm to farm, the dairy industry relies on a primarily immigrant labor force working extremely long hours for low pay, in dangerous conditions, with few labor protections, and living in substandard housing. Milk with Dignity advances a systemic solution to a systemic problem by enlisting companies to require dignified labor and housing conditions from suppliers and to pay a premium to help raise wages and improve conditions. Participating companies commit to prioritize sourcing milk from farms that enroll in the program. Those farms, in turn, receive a premium from the company to reward and facilitate compliance. Migrant Justice provides comprehensive education to farmers and farmworkers on their rights and responsibilities under the Program. Compliance is monitored by an independent third party organization -- the Milk with Dignity Standards Council (MDSC) -- that staffs a 24-hour hotline and conducts annual audits. The MDSC works with farmers and workers to resolve complaints and achieve compliance with the Code of Conduct. The Milk with Dignity Program provides a unique and essential resource to farmers to improve labor and housing conditions and to raise industry standards. Premiums from participating companies cover worker bonuses, wage raises, new protective equipment, housing improvements, and other costs associated with compliance. The MDSC supports communication between employers and workers, creating a transparent and collaborative process. Ben & Jerry’s became the first company to join the Milk with Dignity Program by signing an agreement with Migrant Justice on October 3rd, 2017. The Program launched in 2018 and currently covers nearly 70 farms in Vermont and New York, totaling 100% of Ben & Jerry’s northeast dairy volume purchases. Over 250 farmworkers -- both immigrant and U.S.-born -- are protected by the Code of Conduct and have seen dramatic improvements in wages, scheduling, safety protections, and housing. Milk with Dignity is a “worker-driven social responsibility” (WSR) program. WSR starts with the premise that corporations must take responsibility for the labor conditions in their supply chains. And the only way to authentically and effectively ensure human rights is by following the lead of workers themselves, implementing worker-defined standards backed by strong enforcement mechanisms. Milk with Dignity is adapted from the globally-renowned Fair Food Program, a pioneering WSR initiative created by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Several supermarket brands owned by Ahold Delhaize have joined the Fair Food Program, committing to source their tomatoes in accordance with workers’ human rights. Hannaford now has the opportunity to take a similar step with the Milk with Dignity Program.

A living wage is the most urgent concern for all workers. It reflects how much a company values its employees and their dignity as human beings. With the cost of living rising ever higher and wages continuing to stagnate, the working class continues to deteriorate and if this goes on there will be nothing left to salvage. These current circumstances are already unsustainable, it is past time that we are rewarded for all of our continued hard work. Individual states have already started to introduce $15 minimum wages and those states are flourishing. Publix is a pleasure to shop and work at, we provide better service than our contemporaries and yet they have raised their wages (Aldi's, Whole Foods, Target, and Walmart ). I believe that if we provide the best service that our wages should reflect that. If you agree then please sign, it's not too late to regain our dignities back. (I'm using a pseudonym)

As a partner at DLA Piper, Ms. Guerrero alleges that she was sexually assaulted and harassed by another partner at the firm, then retaliated against for reporting this misconduct. [2] Ms. Guerrero is not alone in the treatment she has experienced while working for a law firm. A global survey found that one in three women report experiencing sexual harassment while working at firms. [3] Sex discrimination remains pervasive within the legal profession, and the upper echelons of the profession remain overwhelmingly white and male. [4] [5] Despite these shocking allegations, Ms. Guerrero is currently unable to take her claims to court. Instead, DLA Piper is attempting to force her into secret, binding arbitration in which the rules are stacked against her. Employees are far less likely to win in forced arbitration than they are in a court of law, and even when they do win, they recover far less than they would in court. [6] Despite the overwhelming evidence that forced arbitration enables workplace abuse and impedes access to justice for workers, DLA Piper remains unashamed of the practice. As recently as 2018, the firm proudly stood by their forced arbitration policy, stating that: “There are advantages and disadvantages to every type of dispute resolution process. It has been our experience as a firm that arbitration is a fair and efficient way to resolve internal disputes, and one that benefits all parties in what are often sensitive matters for everyone involved.” [7] DLA is one of only a handful of law firms that has continued to use forced arbitration for its own employees. Recent survey data shows that nearly 86% of law firms have rejected forced arbitration in employment contracts for all employees, making DLA’s continued use of the practice all the more troubling, especially for future lawyers considering their employment prospects. [8] Ms. Guerrero’s experiences at DLA Piper exemplify what is wrong with the legal profession. Rather than acting swiftly to protect its employees from workplace abuse, DLA Piper refuses to drop its harmful forced arbitration policy—perhaps because it is afraid of being held accountable for illegal behavior. Instead, it is forcing its employees to choose between the ability to vindicate their civil rights in a court of law and their job. As the future of the legal profession, we condemn DLA’s actions, and call on the firm to end its use of forced arbitration in employment contracts for all employees, including Ms. Guerrero, other lawyers, and all non-attorney staff. As Ms. Guerrero’s experience at DLA Piper vividly demonstrates, the legal profession is a long way from justice. DLA Piper can begin to rectify the harm it has caused by ending its use of forced arbitration, once and for all. [1] https://www.dlapiper.com/en/us/people/d/de-verneuil-vanina/ [2] https://medium.com/@VaninaGuerrero/open-letter-womens-rights-at-dla-piper-1aaf2b330214 [3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-14/third-of-female-lawyers-sexually-harassed-metoo-report-finds [4] https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/jones-day-accused-by-female-lawyers-of-sex-bias-unequal-pay-1 [5] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/us/paul-weiss-partner-diversity-law-firm.html [6] https://www.epi.org/publication/the-arbitration-epidemic/ [7] https://www.law360.com/articles/1105619 [8] http://www.peoplesparity.org/survey-says-law-firms-are-ditching-forced-arbitration-but-heres-how-to-avoid-the-ones-that-arent/

As Game Workers Unite co-founder and tech industry labor organizer Emma Kinema said in her recent XOXO speech, Kickstarter's mission to democratize the way in which people create art, music, games, tech, and writing is a noble and important pursuit, and it is only natural that it is at Kickstarter where we are seeing one of the first tangible signs of democratizing a tech industry workplace through unionization. Workers throughout tech, games, and many traditionally unorganized industries are watching, cheering on, and standing with the workers of Kickstarter in solidarity. Kickstarter United has sparked all of our imaginations and have our fullest support. Stand with them today!

Target has rolled out a new plan called "Modernization" which is turning our jobs into Amazon jobs. New metric systems to monitor our movements and progress, time limits with the threat of disciplinary action, and unrealistic workloads which team members cannot fulfill, setting us up for failure and creating an incredibly stressful experience where we live under the constant threat of "coachings" for not meeting these unrealistic expectations. Target tries to justify this on the basis of raising our wages, but Target also has slashed our hours so we actually have less time to do even more work. This makes Target more money and gives us less despite the wage being raised. This is what Amazon has done with their recent wage increase to $15 an hour. We want a stop to the "Modernization Plan" so we can give our community members the full attention they deserve when they come to our stores. We need more workers on the salesfloor, more workers on the registers, and end this ridiculous multitasking that stretches us too thin and upsets our community members who can't find workers to help them find the items they need.

The dress code policy at Loves Travel Stop is outdated. They need to change their policies about hair coloration. I’ve had several employees harassed and severely upset with the corporation due to these policies. Hard workers shouldn’t lose their jobs over the color of their hair.

“Hey, do you know if I can block someone on Slack?” a friend texted me. Someone at her workplace had a crush on her, and he wouldn’t stop sending creepy messages over Slack—the platform she is required to use for many hours a day to do her job. She therefore couldn’t ignore it every time it pings her with messages, even though they were often from her harasser. Though she could attempt to avoid him physically in the office, as soon as she opened her computer, her dot would turn green. Because her coworkers need to know where she is, it meant he could see whenever she was online, too. He would immediately start messaging her; she felt like she had nowhere to hide. As it turns out, Slack does not have the functionality for a user to mute or block anyone. This is despite the fact nearly every social network now gives you the ability to block someone: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all offer easy ways to mute and block users, and they even have dedicated channels to help users through this process. But Slack technically isn’t a social network, even if it’s used socially. Slack views itself as a tool, an infrastructure for production and producing. From alumni organizations to conferences and meet ups, it helps businesses and employees plan, document, and work. The friend I mentioned earlier uses Slack as the main method of communication with her coworkers. Without it, she couldn’t plan meetings, share links, or document her progress for projects. You can’t simply choose not to use that tool without causing a significant workplace fallout. This is a scenario many women and marginalized groups suffer through: someone makes them feel uncomfortable, but if they raise the issue, it may reflect badly on them for overreacting. So they don’t say anything at all, and continue putting up with the microagressions. Online harassment can affect anyone, but it affects marginalized groups the most. On most social-media platforms, a victim can block a harasser and file a harassment report. But Slack doesn’t even mention harassment in their policies. In its “Acceptable Use Policy,” it only outlines that Slack cannot be used for inciting hatred or violence against individuals or groups. The company doesn’t have an official page—or even a blog post—on what to do when their product is used to harass people. Everyone should have the ability to mute, block, and generally augment their experiences online, because having the ability to tailor your privacy settings and how people can reach you creates safety. Ideally your workplace has a system in place to mitigate both online and offline harassment—but what happens if that person doesn’t stop? It’s time for Slack to catch up with other tech platforms and do more to protect victims of harassment.

Having higher wages will attract people who are looking to develop into higher positions. Right now we get college students or high school students who don’t plan on staying long-term and don’t take the job seriously. I also feel like it will help employees feel like the work is worth it. We deal with very high end customers who expect expensive service, but baristas feel overworked and under-paid so they don’t have the drive to work at their best or go out of their way for a customer. Higher wages will make a huge difference on the environment of the workplace because they will demonstrate to employees that their work is valued and appreciated. I know the perks that Starbucks offers are amazing and I’m not doubting that, but they just don’t suffice when you can’t afford to live. I’m here to make a difference and to improve the customer experience, employees’ livelihood, and the overall morale of the business.

Making these changes would help cut down on food waste costs and labor costs across the company. And would ensure each store had a consistent and inviting pastry case display.

This is important to us as Katy Langford is a great bus driver who has always cared about the safety and well-being of our children. Our children loved riding Mrs Katy’s bus and I never had to worry! She has great communication skills and would regularly send updates with information regarding bus times, changes, or activities. Katy took pride in her job and she did it very well!

If you're like me, you are immensely proud of Zoom's mission to not only lead the charge on workplace happiness, but also to set a new standard for the impact we have on the community around us. This is evident in programs like our maternity/paternity benefits, in our grassroots nonprofit projects like Erin Kehoe's PB&J sandwich drive, and in our partnership with the Ronald McDonald House. Not to mention the incredible crew that makes it all happen (Thank you Emily Crane and Melissa Dorsch!). I am also just as proud of Denver's heart for being leaders in similar initiatives, like Denver's Housing First Program which has received $11 million from the city in the last 2 years and has an 89% retention rate among homeless recipients, to $447 million for 35 school construction projects across Colorado for 2018-2019. Zooms culture in Denver is the perfect storm, and we are constantly working towards setting new standards in responsible and forward-thinking community impact. One of the initiatives which Zoom has leaned into more recently is one around emissions/waste/environmental. From metal straws, to recycled plates and utensils, to public transportation benefits, Zoom has made a point of encouraging employees to reduce their environmental impact. Even our platform has massive benefit for customers via reduction in travel, which translates into unbelievable emissions savings (1 roundtrip flight from SF to London = 1 Ton of CO2). Where we currently lag far behind, especially in the Denver office of all places, is Bicycle accommodations. Bicycles are considered the most efficient form of transportation, and are widely accepted and accommodated for in the Tech industry, especially in Colorado. We know it may be an uphill battle with our building, but it is truly a small ask considering its impact, especially in the city where this is the standard.