We Have No Bananas Today

[merh]

[merh]

[merh]

Although apparently Barry Allen is a hard right republican who often argues with Oliver Queen who is the liberal

[merh]

Giant Burger King Franchisee Agrees To Pay $250K To Settle Child Labor Violations In Massachusetts
Amy Feldman
Forbes Staff
Dec 20, 2017,07:21pm EST
This article is more than 4 years old.

Shoukat Dhanani, one of the nation’s largest restaurant franchisees, agreed to pay $250,000 to settle more than 800 child labor violations at Burger King restaurants in Massachusetts.

Attorney General Maura Healey cited Dhanani and his Northeast Foods for violating state child labor laws by employing minors who worked too long, too late and without proper work permits. All told, the citation noted 843 instances of violations at nearly 30 of its 43 locations in the state during the first five months of 2017. In 116 instances minors worked past 1 a.m. and in one instance a 16-year-old worker stayed on the job until nearly 5 a.m. on a school night, according to a spokeswoman for the Attorney General. “Many fast food employees are young, working their first jobs, and do not know their rights,” Healey said in a statement. “It’s important that this major national Burger King franchisee, which employs a number of young people, complies with child labor laws and ensures that minors are safe in its restaurants.”

Reached by phone, Dhanani was angry about the size of the fine, and vowed not to hire anyone under the age of 16 in the Northeast again. “Our intent is to follow the law,” he said. “I’m not saying we didn’t have any violations, we did. Things fell through the cracks, and we did have violations.”

Forbes profiled Dhanani, 61, and his Sugar Land, Texas-based Dhanani Group – which is 100% family owned and operated – last year. The group is one of the largest Burger King franchisees, with more than 500 locations nationwide. It is also a large franchisee of Popeyes, and it recently purchased 26 units of Le Madeleine French Bakery & Café as well as Cyclone Anaya’s, an iconic Houston Tex-Mex restaurant. Its restaurant revenues were $1.1 billion in 2016, one of only three franchisee groups to break the billion-dollar mark, according to trade publication Franchise Times. The group also runs close to 200 convenience stores, pushing its total revenues above $2 billion.

Massachusetts child labor laws require that workers under the age of 18 get work permits and regulate the hours that youths can work. Workers aged 16 and 17 may not work after 10 p.m. on school nights, while those who are 14 and 15 are generally prohibited from working after 7 p.m. The case is one of the biggest child labor cases to come out of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, dwarfing previous cases against a McDonald’s franchisee ($50,000) and a Five Guys franchisee ($25,000).

“Absolutely, it is huge,” Dhanani said. “I said, ‘We’ve got to pay what we’ve got to pay, but from here don’t hire somebody under 16’….So all these kids will be out of jobs.”

Dhanani, who first got into business with convenience stores, moved into restaurant franchising in 1994 with Burger King, as c-stores began co-branding with restaurants. He soon began growing with smart acquisitions, focusing on buying struggling restaurants and turning them around. He expanded outside Houston for the first time in 2012 with the acquisition of 100 Burger Kings in the New England area. Today, the only larger restaurant franchisee groups are Flynn Restaurant Group, run by Greg Flynn (who we profiled in Forbes magazine in August 2016) and NPC International, which has more than 1,200 Pizza Hut locations.

You think it isn't happening?
The Jack's I worked at trashed applications from underage workers because he didn't want to deal with the child labor laws.

[merh]

Now Joe is making South African rail workers strike?!
Damn!

[merh]

Common Dreams Logo
Railroad workers
Workers service the tracks at the Metra/BNSF railroad yard on September 13, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“
14
Despite Record Profits, Rail Companies Reject Union's Demand for Paid Sick Leave
Paid sick leave "has become a norm in this society," said one labor organizer—one that rail carriers "can very easily afford."

JULIA CONLEY

October 21, 2022
A statement from the United States' major freight rail companies left railroad workers feeling increasingly "disenfranchised and undervalued," according to one labor organizer, as the National Carriers' Conference Committee rejected a proposal from the third largest rail workers union which called for just seven days of paid sick leave per year.

While claiming "the health, safety, and wellbeing of rail employees is a top priority for all railroads," the NCCC said it would not accept the proposal from the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED), which was introduced last week.

"They'd still be making record profits if they agreed to provide railroad workers paid sick leave."

The BMWED had demanded the addition of paid sick days—modeled on a system used for federal workers in which employees accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked—last week as its members voted against a proposed contract that was developed with the help of White House officials. That contract included unpaid days off for medical care, but no paid sick days.

Clark Ballew, a spokesperson for the BMWED, noted that having reported more than $10 billion in stock buybacks and dividends in the first six months of 2022, rail companies "can very easily afford" to provide workers with paid leave when they are sick, as they did during the coronavirus pandemic hit before vaccines were available to employees.

"It is not unreasonable... and they'd still be making record profits if they agreed to provide railroad workers paid sick leave," Ballew told the Associated Press, adding that paid sick leave for employees "has become a norm in this society."

Ballew posited that if the two sides can't agree on a contract and Congress has to step in to avoid a strike, lawmakers may impose the proposed deal that excludes paid leave—a possibility that may be keeping the carriers from agreeing to BMWED's terms.

The rail carriers said Wednesday that while workers lack standard paid sick leave, "comprehensive paid sickness benefits" kick in for long-term illnesses after four days of absence, but unions have suggested the companies are capable of providing employees with both long-term disability benefits and comprehensive paid sick leave, as other workers throughout the economy have.

"It's totally asinine," Peter Kennedy, director of strategic coordination and research for BMWED, told CNN of the NCCC's rejection of the union's proposal. "Members are very upset."

Rail worker unions agreed not to call a strike until workers from across the industry, represented by 12 unions, have voted on the tentative deal reached last month.

A work stoppage could begin as early as November 19. The last nationwide railroad shutdown took place in 1992 after just one union rejected a contract and called a strike.

[merh]

[abbey1227]

Oct 22, 2022 21:42:17 GMT merh said:

it's just another lesson in physics.

No such thing as free energy on this planet.

They only way to get out more than you put in is to sign up for all the social programs/welfare they've created......... but THAT still ends up costing others, just not you. Aren't you proud?

[abbey1227]

Oct 22, 2022 22:24:32 GMT merh said:

Probably after the leftist belief in more and more Govt drove the prices of everything up   

[merh]

Oct 23, 2022 1:18:39 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 22, 2022 21:42:17 GMT merh said:

it's just another lesson in physics.

No such thing as free energy on this planet.

They only way to get out more than you put in is to sign up for all the social programs/welfare they've created......... but THAT still ends up costing others, just not you. Aren't you proud?

I worked over 8 hours per day, came home tired mist every night. I will never get those years back.

I am enjoying my retirement. 

I never got the people who said they couldn't retire.
?

There is so much to do.
I have 2 cats sleeping on my bed. 
I am loving life like I didn't have time to do.

So my 2 pensions & social security weren't earned by my & my husband's labor?

[merh]

Oct 23, 2022 1:19:51 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 22, 2022 22:24:32 GMT merh said:

Probably after the leftist belief in more and more Govt drove the prices of everything up   

Corporations aren't making record profits?

[abbey1227]

Oct 23, 2022 3:40:48 GMT merh said:

I worked over 8 hours per day, came home tired mist every night. I will never get those years back.

I am enjoying my retirement. 

I never got the people who said they couldn't retire.
?

There is so much to do.
I have 2 cats sleeping on my bed. 
I am loving life like I didn't have time to do.

So my 2 pensions & social security weren't earned by my & my husband's labor?

You earned your retirement. I don't get why you always miss the sheer amount of people who couldn't be bothered to show up for work consistently for decades, like you have.

If anything, it would have been nice if you'd found a way to make more in the market and been able to retire even earlier and younger, right? I think, judging by your many comments, your husband would have continued to try to evade responsible work as he aged despite your better example. So in a weird way, you ended up better off not having him behaving as a stumbling block for you in your long term goals.

Most Americans do not think long term. They're too busy with their everyday vices and foolishly relying on everyone else/the Govt to take care of them later. Both of my supposed parental units have ended up in exactly that situation.

[abbey1227]

Oct 23, 2022 3:42:49 GMT merh said:

Oct 23, 2022 1:19:51 GMT abbey1227 said:

Probably after the leftist belief in more and more Govt drove the prices of everything up   

Corporations aren't making record profits?

Couldn't that be a deceptive claim?

If the $Dollar is now worth 20-30% LESS than it used to be.........what good are 'record profits' that only went up 10%?

That's like we tried to tell you about $15/Hr minimum wage.......once all the other prices go up, you're further in the hole than before.

[merh]

Oct 23, 2022 13:33:20 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 23, 2022 3:42:49 GMT merh said:

Corporations aren't making record profits?

Couldn't that be a deceptive claim?

If the $Dollar is now worth 20-30% LESS than it used to be.........what good are 'record profits' that only went up 10%?

That's like we tried to tell you about $15/Hr minimum wage.......once all the other prices go up, you're further in the hole than before.

You blame minimum wage while people insist hardly anyone is making minimum wage. That they move on up from it so how is it affecting the price of your burger?

I say corporate greed.

So here we are.

[abbey1227]

Oct 23, 2022 22:05:11 GMT merh said:

Oct 23, 2022 13:33:20 GMT abbey1227 said:

Couldn't that be a deceptive claim?

If the $Dollar is now worth 20-30% LESS than it used to be.........what good are 'record profits' that only went up 10%?

That's like we tried to tell you about $15/Hr minimum wage.......once all the other prices go up, you're further in the hole than before.

You blame minimum wage while people insist hardly anyone is making minimum wage. That they move on up from it so how is it affecting the price of your burger?

I say corporate greed.

So here we are.

merh, plenty of people like yourself are reliable and dependable workers. They've earned wage increases over the years, so they make more than minimum wage. But then yet another Increase comes along, wipes out any bump they'd achieved......because now every bozo just walking in the door is making the new minimum which is likely the same or higher.

People like me are going to stop going out to restaurants..........how many lay-offs you think there'll be then? But I suppose that'll be corporate greed, as well?

[merh]

Oct 24, 2022 4:48:10 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 23, 2022 22:05:11 GMT merh said:

You blame minimum wage while people insist hardly anyone is making minimum wage. That they move on up from it so how is it affecting the price of your burger?

I say corporate greed.

So here we are.

merh, plenty of people like yourself are reliable and dependable workers. They've earned wage increases over the years, so they make more than minimum wage. But then yet another Increase comes along, wipes out any bump they'd achieved......because now every bozo just walking in the door is making the new minimum which is likely the same or higher.

People like me are going to stop going out to restaurants..........how many lay-offs you think there'll be then? But I suppose that'll be corporate greed, as well?

Has it happened?
When they were bumping up minimum wage, did people stop going out?

Yeah, it happened to me.
The laundry gave me a 10 cent raise, then minimum went up 
So what?

You are so possessive of stuff.

[abbey1227]

Oct 24, 2022 19:16:01 GMT merh said:

Has it happened?
When they were bumping up minimum wage, did people stop going out?

Yeah, it happened to me.
The laundry gave me a 10 cent raise, then minimum went up 
So what?

You are so possessive of stuff.

It's happened with me. I can't be alone in noticing the typical cost per person went up from about $8 to $12-15 or more now?

Possessive? More so than others? Don't you have a large collection of anime? You'd be OK with the theft of it all? How about catnappings?

[abbey1227]

Oct 22, 2022 21:45:51 GMT merh said:

Although apparently Barry Allen is a hard right republican who often argues with Oliver Queen who is the liberal

Labor creates all wealth? Kinda ignores the miracle of Compound Interest and the passage of time.

EVERY day is labor day? Cuz so many people work 7 days a week?   I've only put in 4 days a week for years

[merh]

Oct 24, 2022 19:23:34 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 24, 2022 19:16:01 GMT merh said:

Has it happened?
When they were bumping up minimum wage, did people stop going out?

Yeah, it happened to me.
The laundry gave me a 10 cent raise, then minimum went up 
So what?

You are so possessive of stuff.

It's happened with me. I can't be alone in noticing the typical cost per person went up from about $8 to $12-15 or more now?

Possessive? More so than others? Don't you have a large collection of anime? You'd be OK with the theft of it all? How about catnappings?

You gave up on movies.

I didn't.

I also still go out.

Have you given up fast food yet?

Possessive of the price you pay for stuff when it is only natural things go up in time.

Times change

[merh]

Oct 24, 2022 19:25:58 GMT abbey1227 said:

Oct 22, 2022 21:45:51 GMT merh said:

Although apparently Barry Allen is a hard right republican who often argues with Oliver Queen who is the liberal

Labor creates all wealth? Kinda ignores the miracle of Compound Interest and the passage of time.

EVERY day is labor day? Cuz so many people work 7 days a week?   I've only put in 4 days a week for years

Yet you bitch about other people not wanting to work