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A recent ruling from the United States Department of Labor determined that millions of workers will now be able to qualify for overtime pay. The current maximum threshold for workers to qualify for overtime pay is a $35,568 salary per year, and under the ruling, workers who earn up to $43,888 per year will be able to earn overtime pay. The change will be implemented in July. Starting in 2025, the maximum threshold for workers will be $58,656 per year. The changes will allow more than four million workers to qualify for overtime pay, which means that there will be a significant increase in total wages paid in the United States. Companies will either have to pay a greater number of workers overtime, or they can raise employee wages above the maximum threshold so they will not be required to pay those employees overtime. These changes could lead to businesses cutting jobs or increasing prices for consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission ruled earlier this week that companies will no longer be able to have noncompete clauses. Noncompete clauses are agreements that employees sign stating that they cannot work for or begin a rival company. The FTC received thousands of comments from workers around the United States, stating how noncompete clauses have negatively impacted their careers. Noncompete clauses may cause workers to stay at a company even if it is not a right fit, because they are prohibited from joining other companies in the same industry. It is estimated that over thirty million workers are bound to noncompetes. The FTC states that banning noncompetes can lead to significant increases in wages, as it will provide workers with greater economic freedom. The one expectation of the ban on noncompetes is the noncompetes signed by senior executives in a company, a these agreements most likely were negotiated between the company and the senior executives.

Unionized workers at a hotel in Long Beach, California have had issues with hotel management since July. Workers have participated in various protests and strikes since the dispute began, and now the workers and management of Hotel Maya have reached a tentative agreement. Hotel staff is represented by the Unite Here union which represents thousands of workers in the hospitality sector in Southern California. The dispute began because the union claimed that the hotel was not bargaining in good faith, and the division between the two sides became worse when some striking workers were subject to violence, with one worker getting punched. Earlier this week, the union and hotel management announced jointly that a tentative settlement has been reached. The contract will increase hourly worker pay by five dollars and will set a minimum required staff level, among other terms.

True Anomaly, an aerospace startup that was founded in 2022, has announced layoffs that will reduce the company’s workforce by a quarter. The layoffs come as True Anomaly recently received $100 million in funding, and signed a new contract with the United States Space Force for the development of a spacecraft for the Victus Haze tactically responsive mission. The contract is worth $30 million, and the company stated that the layoffs will not impact its ability to complete its contracts. True Anomaly suffered a setback earlier this month after its Jackal spacecraft that was launched into the Earth’s lower orbit lost connection with the company. True Anomaly stated that it could not verify if the Jackal spacecraft was still functioning.

Southwest Airlines announced that it would be terminating services at four airports, largely due to increased losses during the first quarter of 2024, as well as issues with certain Boeing planes. The airline will no longer serve Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Bellingham International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Cozumel International Airport. Southwest Airlines stated that the changes to operations will allow it to be in a better financial position for the next quarters in 2024. Boeing also recently announced that there will be further delays to aircraft deliveries in the next several months, and the delays will negatively impact Southwest’s future revenue. Southwest stated that the Boeing issues resulted in major inefficiencies, and Southwest expected to receive twenty Boeing aircraft this year when it was originally set to be seventy-nine aircraft. Southwest also had to implement a hiring freeze for flight attendants and pilots due to the Boeing delays.

Last year, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did not bargain in good faith with its employees, and now the board has begun the process of filing a federal injunction against the newspaper. The National Labor Relations Board will petition for a temporary injunction after employers alleged that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette violated worker rights. Workers are represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, and the union claims that the newspaper recently changed worker policies, reduced workers’ vacation time, lessened worker protections, and increased healthcare costs. Various workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike for the past eighteen months, and are hoping that the situation will improve once the injunction request is filed. In response to the strike action, the newspaper hired new journalists to replace the journalists on strike, while striking journalists began a separate publication titled the “Pittsburgh Union Progress”.

Dom’s Kitchen & Market and Foxtrot, two grocery store chains, merged into one company, Outfox Hospitality, in recent months. All Dom’s and Foxtrot locations abruptly announced that the stores would permanently close. An announcement was made on the Dom’s website stating that every store would be shutting down operations. Stores were located in Chicago, Austin, Dallas, and Washington D.C. Various workers stated that they were not provided with any notice and the closure of stores. When employees arrived for work this week, they found out from posted signs that they were no longer employed. Other workers clocked in for their shifts and were abruptly told by management that the store would be shutting down and all employees needed to leave.

Teaching assistants and support staff at various schools in Birmingham, England, voted in favor of strike action after the Birmingham City Council allegedly failed to pay equal pay claims. Workers at thirty-five schools in the Birmingham area are set to take strike action, but a date has not been announced yet. Workers are represented by the GMB union, and the union stated that the city council was supposed to pay female employees wages to make up for the wage disparity between females and males. The union claims that not a single worker has been paid these wages, but the Birmingham City Council is asking the union to work with them to resolve this issue. The union countered that discussion about equal pay issues began in 2021, and workers were no longer going to wait to receive the wages they rightfully deserve.

Spotify, a major music streaming platform, made various changes and conducted layoffs in the past year to reduce the company’s operational costs. Spotify laid off around seventeen percent of its workforce in the past months. These adjustments have allowed Spotify to earn record-high profits in the first quarter of 2024, and the company significantly improved its profit margins. The first quarter earnings were higher than projected, and the company’s shares increased by over ten percent. However, Spotify did not add as many new users as projected, and the first quarter resulted in 3 million fewer new users than expected. Spotify states that this is likely due to slower market growth and moderate economic conditions, and the company is looking to add 16 million new users in the second quarter of 2024. Spotify is also seeking to further increase gross profit margins in the next quarter.

The European Union is beginning to impose various regulations on farmers to reduce farming actions that have negative environmental consequences. The EU’s fight against climate change has disrupted farmers in various countries, and many farmers are unhappy with the European Union’s decisions. Farmers have faced increased competition in recent years because of cheap imports from other countries, and the imports have also decreased the price levels that farmers can competitively sell their produce at. Farmers have formed various groups, such as the Farmers Defense Force, to strategize and plan how to deal with the regulations. Farmers who are a part of these groups will be voting in European Union parliamentary elections, and farmers seem to be favoring candidates on the far right. Many European farmers have more traditional values and tend to be more religious and conservative than urban populations. The far right has gained the support of farmers due to these values and their growing discontent with EU farming regulations.