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Hawaiian Airlines employee dismissed for traditional Samoan tattoo
ABC reports on how Tracy Sialega-Fili, a Samoan-American, was dismissed from Hawaiian Airlines after receiving a tualima, a traditional hand tattoo, to honour her ailing father. The tualima signifies lineage and cultural identity, particularly for the Samoan diaspora. Sialega-Fili said: “I do feel like I was wrongfully terminated . . . there should be some…
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Newport Beach’s HR director sues the city
Barbara Salvini, the Human Resources Director of Newport Beach, has filed a lawsuit against City Manager Grace Leung and City Attorney Aaron Harp, alleging retaliation and attempts to conceal an audit that suggested policy violations by Leung and Fire Chief Jeff Boyles. The audit, stemming from a 2023 investigation, indicated possible manipulation of employee leave…
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Volkswagen scraps plans to close German factories
Volkswagen has reversed its plans to close German factories, responding to union pressure and reaching a wage agreement that prevents redundancies until 2030. The deal allows for the socially responsible shedding of over 35,000 jobs, and aims for wage savings exceeding €15bn. Thorsten Groeger, negotiator for the IG Metall union, said that employees made “painful…
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China’s food delivery platforms begin to enforce rider breaks
Meituan and Ele.me, China’s two major on-demand delivery service providers, have introduced new features that alert or forcibly log out couriers who work excessively long hours, in a bid to prevent rider fatigue. Meituan’s system detects prolonged working hours through the courier app, prompting riders to take a break after a certain amount of time,…
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Amazon workers go on strike in U.S.
The Teamsters union has announced that around 10,000 Amazon workers in New York City, Atlanta, California and Illinois have authorized a strike to begin this morning, as they seek better pay, safer conditions and longer breaks. The union had given Amazon a deadline of Sunday to begin negotiations, and workers at facilities voted recently to…
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‘Love Is Blind’ cast are employees, labor board says
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that the producers of the Netflix reality series Love Is Blind – which sees singles match up after days of dating while separated by a wall – had misclassified the contestants as “participants,” and calls for them to be reclassified as employees and receive back pay for…
