Free Republic

Labor shortages at supermarkets across the country have increased in recent weeks as the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to spread. Workers are calling sick, and there are not enough cashiers, baggers, and stockers, forcing some supermarket chains to slash hours of operations. Compounding labor woes, supply chains are still severely snarled as food shortages are being reported nationwide. WSJ reports supermarkets are having difficulty staying open as workers call out sick because of infection. Some grocers are frantically hiring new employees, using temporary employment agencies, and overworking current staff to keep stores from shuttering. The seven-store supermarket chain Stew Leonard’s...

Citigroup Inc. workers who refuse to comply with the company’s vaccine mandate by Jan. 14 will be fired, Bloomberg reports. They will be put on unpaid leave and released from employment at the end of January. Employees will be required to sign an agreement stating that they will not pursue legal action against Citigroup to receive year-end bonus payments. Some workers will still receive certain payments.

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court turned down emergency requests by New York healthcare workers for a religious exemption from state requirements to vaccinate against Covid-19. A federal appeals court in New York previously denied the workers’ requests. The court denied the requests in brief written orders. As is typical for such emergency actions, the majority didn’t explain its thinking. Three conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch—said they would have allowed the exemptions. In October, the court denied a similar application from Maine healthcare workers seeking exemption from their state’s vaccination requirements, which lower courts had rejected. The same three conservatives...

After the number of U.S. workers voluntarily quitting their jobs reached a record high in September, White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein framed the labor crunch as a "good sign," saying that employees now have more leverage to negotiate better-paying roles. More than 4.4 million employees left their jobs last month, the highest figure in two decades, and a rise of about 164,000 from the last record set in August of 4.3 million, according to the Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Friday. As employers contemplate raising wages to attract workers amid their...

Very brief segment at 1:53 mark on linked video.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Thursday said he is “not having second thoughts” about mandating vaccines for first responders and other city workers ahead of Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline. He predicted many will get vaccinated anyway “once they really realize that they’re not going to get paid.” When asked about the likelihood of shortages of city workers Monday — from sanitation workers to first responders — the Democrat mayor made it clear he has no regrets.

In a rare move, federal labor officials have threatened to take over three states’ workplace safety programs because they failed to adopt emergency COVID-19 rules to protect healthcare workers. That admonition, labor advocates say, also serves as a thinly veiled warning that resisting the forthcoming federal vaccine mandate for most healthcare workers and employees at large companies likewise could cost states their regulatory power over workplace safety. “This is definitely an effort to send a message that [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] is going to take any defiance of the next standard very seriously,” said Jordan Barab, who served...

Southwest Airlines’ CEO said the company will not fire employees who do not get the COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 9 following a Biden administration mandate that was announced last month for federal contractors. In a statement to news outlets Friday, the Dallas-based carrier confirmed to Fox News it does not want to “lose any employee” over President Joe Biden’s mandate, adding that firing a worker over the vaccine “makes no sense.” It came a day after Southwest CEO Gary Kelly made a similar announcement during an earnings call. “This is an evolving process working with the government in terms of...

* Seven in 10 tech workers are considering quitting in the next year, per a new survey of 1,200 people. * Their top reasons included working hours, limited career progression, and toxic work environments. * The labor shortage continues to cause havoc across multiple industries.Seventy-two percent of US tech workers are considering quitting their jobs in the next 12 months, according to a new survey from learning software firm TalentLMS and Workable.About four in ten of the 1,200 IT, software, and tech workers surveyed said that limited career progression made them think about leaving their jobs.Other common reasons for considering...

Labor flexes its muscle as leverage tips from employers to workersNew York Workers are saying enough is enough. And many of them are either hitting the picket lines or quitting their jobs as a result. The changing dynamics of the US labor market, which has put employees rather than employers in the driver's seat in a way not seen for decades, is allowing unions to flex their muscle. Already on strike are 10,000 workers at John Deere (DE), who hit the picket lines early Thursday after rejecting a tentative deal which would have improved wages and benefits. They joined 1,400...

Department will seek to monitor vital signs, “psychosocial information." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seeking proposals for a new system that will allow it to track the biometric data of its workers in order to monitor their physical and mental well-being. DHS said in a call for proposals this week that it is looking to “find innovative technological solutions that will improve the overall health and wellness of those consistently placed in high-stress and dangerous conditions” under DHS employment. “DHS is seeking capabilities that not only promote intervention action when necessary, but preemptively and in real-time optimize DHS...

Brief: • Retail workers in August walked out on their jobs at one of the highest rates in the nation, with a total 721,000 quitting that month, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. • Their quit rate — which the Labor Department in its release said “can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs” — was 4.7% in August, a high since April. In the wider labor market, the overall quitting rate rose to a series high 2.9%, while the rate of layoffs and discharges was little changed at 0.9%,...

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) says he is moving forward with a proposal to pay city workers in bitcoin. During an interview on Bloomberg Technology on Tuesday, Suarez said the city is will request a proposal this month to allow employees to get paid in bitcoin, and even allow residents to pay fees and even taxes in bitcoin if the county allows. Suarez said it was a “major priority” for him as he wants to differentiate the city as a “crypto capital of the United States or of the world.”

SEATTLE — (AP) — The Boeing Co. has told employees they must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or possibly be fired. The Seattle Times reports the deadline for workers at the aerospace giant is Dec. 8. “Compliance with these requirements is a condition of employment,” states a Boeing internal presentation from Tuesday viewed by the newspaper. “Employees who are unable to meet these requirements ... may be released from the company.” Employees can request exemptions “due to a disability or sincerely held religious belief.” Any employee granted such an exemption will have to “undergo frequent testing for COVID-19” and be ready...

Coal supply shortages in Asia and Europe are pushing prices for the dirtiest fossil fuel to record highs and have become a challenge for US suppliers due to a shortage of miners, according to Bloomberg. For the last three and a half decades, the number of coal mining jobs in the US has collapsed from 180,000 to 42,500 in August. The industry remains 9,500 miners short from pre-COVID times. With coal prices worldwide screaming to all-time highs ahead of winter as China and Europe scramble for supplies, the US coal industry is failing to find new miners willing to do...

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has reportedly told employees who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus that they could face termination. In an internal email obtained by Politico, the DNC’s Chief Operations Officer Monica Guardiola said that unvaccinated workers could face “termination” if they have not obtained legal exemption for the jab. The policy goes into effect when in-person work begins at DNC headquarters, the outlet reported.

The unprecedented employment crisis that we are watching unfold around the globe is so bizarre that it could have been pulled straight out of an episode of the Twilight Zone. For the very first time in recorded history, there is an extremely severe shortage of workers in nations all over the planet. When this shortage first started to emerge earlier this year, I thought that it was very strange, because 2020 had been a year when we had seen unemployment absolutely skyrocket in the U.S. and other western nations.In fact, somewhere around 70 million Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits...

Why are companies all over the world suddenly desperate for workers? In my entire life I have never seen anything like this. When the labor shortage started in the United States, a lot of people blamed overly generous government handouts, but that doesn’t explain why the exact same thing is happening in nation after nation all over the globe. There aren’t enough factory workers, there aren’t enough truck drivers, there aren’t enough port workers, there aren’t enough employees to properly staff our stores, and the shortage of doctors and nurses is becoming a major crisis in some areas. During normal...

During a press conference held on August 23, 2021 President Joe Biden announced the FDA's approval of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. During this press conference President Biden issued the following statements: "We’ve hit another milestone, a key milestone in our nation’s fight against COVID. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, announced it has fully concluded it’s a thorough, independent, scientific review. After a strict process, the FDA has reaffirmed its findings that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and the FDA has given its full and final approval. So let me say this loudly and clearly, if you’re...

More than 2.9 million Americans are still on traditional state unemployment benefits as the number of people seeking weekly new claims appear to have settled at a level higher than previously hoped, the feds said Thursday. Continuing claims fell by 366,000 from just over 3.26 million the week before, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. That figure stood at almost 16 million at the same time last year, in the thick of the pandemic. Continuing claims have fallen significantly since peaks seen in 2020, but the figure remains about twice as high as pre-pandemic levels.