City Passes Historic Retail Workers Bill Of Rights

[RiverLover]

City Passes Historic Retail Workers Bill Of Rights
11/26/2014

On Tuesday evening, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Retail Workers Bill of Rights, the country’s first-ever legislation aimed at improving life for retail employees.

The new rules will require retail chains that have 11 or more locations across the country and employ 20 or more people in San Francisco to provide advance notice of schedules, improve the treatment of part-time employees, and give current workers the opportunity to take on more hours before hiring new people. Employers will have to give their workers at least two weeks’ advance notice of their schedules, and if they fail to do so they will have to give those workers additional “predictability pay.” Workers also get paid if they’re required to be on call but their shifts are canceled. Employers will have to give part-time employees the same starting wage as those working full time in the same position and access to the same benefits.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/26/3597287/san-francisco-retail-bill-of-rights/

Thank you San Francisco!

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[rug]

2. Excellent!

And just before Thanksgiving, the worst time of the year for retail workers.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. I knew it would be SF w/o even looking. Good for them.

[global1]

4. This Is Model Legislation - How Could We Get This Language To Congress?.....

Or like ALEC why don't this get written up and distributed to state and local governments all around the country. This shouldn't be something only for San Francisco.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. The "Schedules That Work Act" was proposed in July

http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/bill/schedules-work-act

[global1]

8. Great - Thanks For The Info....

now how do we get this passed?

[RiverLover]

10. Write your legislators, for a start, or raise awareness

by writing the editor of your local paper?

Most DC reps are owned by corporate donors, but maybe locally doing what is right stands a chance.

[cstanleytech]

5. I personally would love if they had included automatic cost of living raises

to the local minimum wage.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. It's already slated to go up to $15.00/hr by 2018 (and will rise from $10.74 to $11.05 on 1/1/15)

and that includes waitstaff.

Maybe by 2018 they'll pass a COLA provision going forward.

eta: SF Bay area congressman George Miller co-sponsored a bill with similar schedule stipulations:
http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/bill/schedules-work-act

[deurbano]

15. I think there is a COLA provision after 2018...

to adjust for inflation.

[Starry Messenger]

9. K&R

[turbinetree]

11. Thank you

After 45 years of failed Reagan trickle down economics it is nice to read a city saying to employers making millions it now time to treat workers with respect and dignity

[woo me with science]

12. K&R Agree with global1 upthread.

This must be just a start.

[Basic LA]

13. A great bill (& post)

This could be the beginning of a whole new rally point for this country of employees. We are an Employee Nation.

[RiverLover]

14. I like that!! ~nt

[JDPriestly]

17. Every industry has a union -- an association that represents it to the public generally and

then fights for its interests in politics.

Employees don't have that. The AFL-CIO tries. But employees need something really broad that represents the interests of employees who don't qualify for or can't join a union because they live in a right-to-work state.

There are many interests that employees share just because they are employees. Better, safer working conditions are among them. More predictable schedules.

We read a lot about how Republicans don't like the EPA. Let me tell you something else that Republicans probably don't like: OSHA. The federal agency that requires companies to provide safe workplaces for their employees.

Watch out for changes to OSHA. Working people need to organize to protect their right to a safe workplace. This is a matter of life or death.

Working people need to have an organization that fights for their interests and not just in their specific workplace. We need more than individual unions that negotiate contracts and watch out for people in a specific workplace.

[JDPriestly]

16. One step at a time. This is just a wonderful development.

Working people need the security and stability to be able to plan their lives.