March 2020

IF YOU HAVE EVER ENJOYED A MEAL AT MAGPIE IN GREENFIELD, please make a generous donation now to the Magpie employee fund, to ensure that

I don’t care what the offense was that led to incarceration—denying any inmate affordable access to their loved ones is a form of cruel &

RESTAURANTS & HOTELS WHICH EMPLOY 500 OR FEWER WORKERS PER SITE ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE NEW PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM. Plus Gig workers & indep. contractors—get

“WORKERS SHOULD NOT BE RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR POCKET CHANGE.” Instacart workers call company’s response to their strike “a sick joke.” Sick pay, hazard pay,

BEFORE CORONA, US RETAIL SALES WERE PROJECTED TO GROW BY 2.8% THIS YEAR, TO $5.62 T. Now brick & mortar retailers are “downsizing retail footprints

IN 2017, THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA ACCUSED AMZN, IKEA & OTHER CO.s OF BLOCKING OLDER WORKERS FROM SEEING JOB ADS ON FACEBOOK, in violation

INDIA’S COVID LOCKDOWN IDLES AMAZON WAREHOUSES. A 21 day Covid shutdown ends April 15th. (Not likely.) “Most of AMZN’s 60 plus fulfillment centers in India

KROGER OPENS 1st PICK-UP ONLY GROCERY, “ideal for all customers, especially for senior & higher-risk shoppers.” No in-store shopping, employees only fill orders. Kroger is

THE SBA’s ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM provides small businesses with loans of up to $2 M at 3.75%. Even better, the Stimulus bill has

SENs. HARRIS & GILLIBRAND SEND LETTER TO 36 COMPANIES—INCL. WMT, TGT, & DG—TO “PUT PUBLIC HEALTH AHEAD OF PROFITS…provide your employees with 2 weeks of

AMZN, FB, EBay & WMT HAVE BEEN ASKED BY A GROUP OF STATE AGs TO HELP PREVENT CORONA-RELATED PRICE GOUGING as an “ethical obligation and

INCREDIBLE 4 YEAR EFFORT BY U.S. AGs TO BRING CIVIL & CRIMINAL INDICTMENTS AGAINST WMT FOR ITS OPIOID DISPENSING ABUSES—& HOW TRUMP’S DOJ BLOCKED THEM

PETITION: AS COVID-19 SPREADS, AMZN SHOULD “PROVIDE 100% PAID LEAVE TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO WORKS FOR AMZN.” They closed offices & told employees to

CANADA’S FINANCE MINISTER ASKED THE COUNTRY’S BIG BANKS TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO DEFER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS FOR UP TO 6 MONTHS DUE TO COVID-19. But instead

IT IS REVEALING THAT THE RICHEST MAN ON THIS SICKLY PLANET IS ASKING HIS WORKERS TO DONATE TIME OFF DAYS TO FELLOW WORKERS WHO NEED

JUST AS INSTACART OFFERS 300,000 NEW PERSONAL SHOPPER JOBS, 15 part time “in-store” Instacart workers who pack food at a Kroger in Skokie, Il. voted

COVID 19 PUSHES CONSUMERS TO BUY HOME-DELIVERED GROCERIES. INSTACART EXPLODES WITH 300,000 NEW PERSONAL SHOPPER “HOUSEHOLD HERO”JOBS! Order volume has jumped more than 150% year

NO SECRET: L BRAND SUSPENDS SALES AT VICTORIA’S SECRET, $6.8 BILLION IN SALES LAST YEAR, TO FOCUS ON BATH & BODY WORKS SOAP & HAND-

AMAZON HAS “PLACED PURCHASE ORDERS FOR MILLIONS OF FACE MASKS” for its contract workers who can’t work from home—but “very few of those orders have

FOREVER 21 HAS CLOSED ITS 534 U.S. CLOTHING STORES—BUT NOT FOREVER. Only for 12 days until March 30th. Corona will not be over that soon—but

4 SENATORS, INCLUDING BERNIE SANDERS, TELL AMAZON ANY FAILURE TO KEEP WAREHOUSE WORKERS SAFE FROM CORONA “puts the entire country at risk.” Unfounded charges Amazon

TARGET IS EXPLOITING WORKERS who have no health insurance, no protective protocols, and no right to stay home if they are afraid to work. Target

SEN. WYDEN’S COVID PLAN TO RESCUE SMALL BUSINESSES: 1. Send emergency rebate checks to small businesses to address immediate cash flow needs. 2. Create a

AMERICA FIRST HAS TURNED INTO AMERICA LAST: last to understand the depth of the Covid pandemic. Read how South Korea got it right, and how

VIRUS PANIC: BRITTNEY LEGOWSKI works as a personal shopper at a Walmart store in WI. She says “she started feeling more overworked late last week

INSTEAD OF RAISING WAGES, WALMART IS GIVING HOURLY WORKERS A 1-TIME BONUS OF $300($150 PT. TIME). Will hire 150,000 temp. workers to meet corona demand.

BRITISH RETAILERS PUBLISH JOINT LETTER URGING SHOPPERS TO STOP HOARDING PRODUCTS: buy responsibly” instead of “stockpiling over fears about coronavirus…buying more than is needed can

CORONA CREATES “UNPRECEDENTED” DEMAND AT AMZN. “Outside the warehouse, the trucks are getting backed up…loading docks to bring shipments into its warehouses have turned into

ARE PRODUCT PRICES INFLATED DURING CORONA?WALMART SAYS IT IS TAKING A “FIRM STANCE RELATED TO THE POTENTIAL FOR PRICE GOUGING BY 3RD PARTY SELLERS” ON

WALMART CUTS 24 HOUR OPERATIONS. Since March 15, WMT stores open at 6 a.m. & close at 11 p.m. “This will help ensure associates are

CORONA LIGHT? Maybe in downtown Bennington, VT. Everywhere else it’s Corona Heavy. Read more on Facebook

WALMART STOCK RISES AS CONSUMERS STOCK UP ON ITEMS. Oppenheimer says investors who “seek safety in a more uncertain global economic backdrop” should also buy

LAID OFF RESTAURANT, TRAVEL WORKERS CAN WORK IN AN AMAZON WAREHOUSE FOR $17/HR. AMZN HIRING 100,000 workers. Warehouses observe “social distancing and…enhanced & frequent cleaning,”

‪AMAZON REFUSES TO GIVE ALL WORKERS PAID LEAVE. Amazon can and should put public health before their own profits Sign here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-amazon-close-exposed-facilities-and-give-all-workers-100-paid-leave-now?source=twitter&‬ Read more on

MODELL’S SPORTING GOODS, a 130 y.o. family-run company, has approval from a bankruptcy court to close its 141 stores on the East coast. Regional chain

JUST WHEN CONSUMER DEMAND SPIKES FOR GROCERY HOME DELIVERY & STORE PICK UP, STOP & SHOP SUSPENDS PICKUP OF ONLINE ORDERS AT THE STORE. “Due

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KEEP IT SMALL, KEEP IT LOCAL. Businesses in North Park, San Diego, CA (pop 33,000)asks local residents during corona: “Now more than ever…consider shopping locally

VA. TAXPAYERS GIVE AMAZON $750 K IN WELFARE TO BUILD 2 WAREHOUSES TOTAL 4.5 M SF 2 MILES APART. To keep protestors unaware, AMAZN’s project

BERNIE SANDERS HOLDS LIVE FIRESIDE CHAT ONLINE TAKING AUDIENCE QUESTIONS FROM OVER 100,000 VIEWERS—MANY OF THEM FOCUSED ON THE CORONA VIRUS. In response to a

AMAZON STILL KING OF E-COMMERCE: $261 M in US sales. Walmart has climbed past eBay to become #2, but Amazon’s market share at 38.7% of

RETAIL STOCKS HAVE BEEN SLAMMED BY THE CORONA VIRUS—but retailers who have an online channel, like AMZN, WMT and TGT may grab more market share

DUE TO ANOTHER EXHIBIT CANCELLATION, AL NORMAN’S PHOTO EXHIBIT IS STILL UP AND AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AT THE ARTSPACE GALLERY Call Artspace for gallery viewing

WALMART ISSUES “EMERGENCY LEAVE” POLICY FOR COVID-19: 1. employees can stay home if they feel “uncomfortable” at work. 2. If a worker, store or warehouse

JUST IN TIME FOR CORONA: STOP & SHOP SUPERMARKETS OFFER CUSTOMERS “UNATTENDED” GROCERY DELIVERY: “the driver will drop your order on your front step, ring

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CORONA VIRUS MAY STIMULATE ONLINE SHOPPING: 47.2% of US internet users currently avoid shopping centers & malls due to the virus. If corona worsens, 74.6%