Los Angeles could become the biggest U.S. city to start a guaranteed income program. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti will be asking the city council to set aside $24 million for a program that would pay out $1000 in monthly payments to 2,000 low-income families. There is some data from similar programs that show it does help beneficiaries, but it doesn’t fare well in overall in public polling. Chris Palmeri, LA Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News, joins us to discuss the new plan.
Next, vaccinations rates are going up and people are ready to get out there and start shopping again, but how will consumer spending change? With the increased use of delivery apps and curbside pickup, grocery shopping might see the most sustained changes. Younger shoppers will also be a big force in apparel spending and more eager to interact with people outside of their households. Melissa Repko, retail reporter at CNBC, joins us for more.
Finally, it seems that the fight to unionize at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama may not be over yet. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union filed objections alleging that Amazon illegally interfered with the votes. This comes after the employees there overwhelmingly voted against forming a union. Annie Palmer, technology reporter at CNBC, joins us for what’s next in what could be a lengthy legal challenge.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Tuesday, a i'm oscar Ramires in Los Angeles and
this is the daily dive. Los Angeles could become the
biggest US city to start a guaranteed income program. L
A Mayor Eric Garcetti will be asking the city council
to set aside twenty four million dollars for a program
(00:21):
that would pay out one thousand dollars in monthly payments
to two thousand low income families. There is some data
from similar programs that show it does help beneficiaries, but
it doesn't farewell in overall public polling. Chris Paul Mary
l A, bureau chief at Bloomberg News, joins us to
discuss the new plan next. Vaccination rates are going up
(00:41):
and people are ready to get out there and start
shopping again, But how will consumer spending change? With the
increased use of delivery apps and curbside pickup grocery shopping
might see the most sustained changes. Younger shoppers will also
be a big force and apparel spending. Melissa Repco, retail
reporter at CNBC, joins us for more. Finally, it seems
(01:02):
that the fights A unionize at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama,
may not be over yet. The retail, wholesale and department
store union filed objections alleging that Amazon illegally interfered with
the votes. This comes after employees they're overwhelmingly voted against
forming a union. Antie Palmer, technology reporter at the NBC
joins us for what's next and what could be a
(01:23):
lengthy legal challenge as soon as without the noise, let's
dive in. He said, the data that stocked and showed
otherwise people were able to say, get you a babysitter
or daycare for a kid so that they go go
out and do job interviews, or go to school and
in some fashion, you know, lift themselves up income live.
(01:44):
Joinning us now is Chris Paul Mary, Los Angeles bureau
chief at Bloomberg News. Thanks for joining us, Chris, Thank
you for having me. There's been a lot of conversation
about universal basic income. There's already been a handful of
cities across the country that have tried their hand at this,
but in California, most notably of Stockton, California, tried this out.
We have some data on how that worked out. But
(02:07):
now we're hearing some news out of Los Angeles, l A.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is proposing a guaranteed income program for
poor residents. This would make them the largest US city
to test this type of policy. So he's gonna be
asking the city council to set aside twenty four million
dollars to send out one thousand monthly payments to about
two thousand low income families. So Chris, tell us a
(02:28):
little bit more about this plan and what we're hearing. Yeah,
so he's proposed paying people a thousand dollars a month.
It's specifically people living in poverty, and they have to
have at least one kid in the household. And because
it's two thousand people, it's now the largest of these
trials in the country. It's only a one year program.
California particular really seems to be taking a lead, as
(02:49):
you mentioned Stockton, which is two years into a program
a much smaller group of people. But we're now seeing
proposals coming out of San Francisco and Oakland and Compton
just officially has started a program last week, but also
about six hundred folks receiving money. So it's a national phenomenon.
Though it's St. Paul, Minnesota's doing it Telsea, Massachusetts. It's
(03:10):
still all very much in the pilot phase, though I
do want to get into some details of those other plans.
But first, you know, one of the big questions costs,
how do we pay for all of this stuff? I
saw some of the article. Maybe they might use some
stimulus funds, this coronavirus stimulus funds to pay for some
of this. How's that going to work? Still sort of theory,
and these are mostly trials. Much of the money is
(03:33):
coming in these various cities from philanthropic organizations. There's a
group Coiled Mayors for Guaranteed Income, which former Stockton mayor
Minchael Tubbs founded last here. Eric car City here in
l A is the co chair of that, and they've
got money, for example, eighteen million dollars from Jack Parss,
founded of Twitter, and that's about to advocate for this
policy and also to see some of these programs. Los
(03:54):
Angeles is taking a little bit of a different take.
It's going to be the mayor's asking for general fund money,
although the city's receiving about one point three billion from
the last big stimulus bill, and so some of those
funds could indeed be used to pay for this. Some
of those other programs that you mentioned In California, Compton
(04:15):
and Oakland, obviously they have their setups going, But in
San Francisco there was a weird one about making one
thousand dollar payments to artists, a hundred and thirty artists.
This would be a six month period that they would
begin next month, So that was kind of a weird
twist to this. I understand the whole thing about helping
people under the poverty line families, but artists was a
weird one to pop up. They noted it was really
(04:37):
the first one of its contents specifically target artists, you know,
and presumably you know, they won't be getting it to uh,
you know, very successful artists. These are all trial loons.
It away. There's some data coming out of the Stockton test,
but there's nothing really definitive. It's still a tough sell nationally.
Mayor Garceti told me that, you know, he didn't see
(04:59):
this all and the league being funded by cities alone.
He thought there would have to be a state and
national component to it if it takes off to any
great degree. And polling to research to study last year,
the majority of Americans are not interested in this at
least from the federal funding concept. And uh, you know,
excuse along party lines, Republicans very opposed on eight percent
(05:21):
almost and Democrats are not as stridently punished. But um no,
you're right. I mean it's a tough sell on a
lot of things. I think when uh, you know, families
that merited and needed, I guess people might be more willing.
But artists in San Francisco, I mean, you know, where
is the severe need. There's you know, would be a
question I would have there. So let's talk about Stockton.
(05:42):
We do have some details from their trial program. They
did say that they were getting five hundred dollars a
month for two years these families in that program. So
they did say that people were less anxious and depressed,
not having such a financial concern, I guess. And the
people that were recipients so this also obtained full time
employment at better rates than people were not that were
(06:03):
not in this program. We still haven't seen all of
the data coming out of that. I did ask mere
Garctia about it, you know, he said, you know, one
of the common complaints about this is that people will
just buy bigger TV sets and they're not important spending.
He said, the data that stocked and showed otherwise people
were able to say, get you a babysitter or daycare
(06:26):
for kids, so that they could go out and do
job interviews or go to school and in some fashion,
you know, list themselves up income wise. That indeed, even
though news hosts for poor that they were good stewards
of their money, but they are just caught in this
trap of poverty. Chris Paul Mary, Los Angeles, bureau chief
at Bloomberg News, thank you very much for joining us.
(06:48):
Thank you. More of us are also trusting other softwares
to pick out our produced and our meat, and that
convenience factor may really have a huge impact long term
on grocers who traditionally didn't have a lot of online shoppers.
(07:09):
Joining us now is Melissa Repco, retail reporter at CNBC.
Thanks for joining us, Melissa. Thanks for having me. As
more people get vaccinated, a lot of companies and businesses
are looking forward to how consumers spending will look like next.
There's been a lot of changes that happened throughout the pandemic.
Some of those things will stick, you know. The rise
(07:32):
of online shopping has really made a difference for a
lot of companies, so grocers, you know, might see a big,
dramatic and long lasting shift in that sense, you know,
this curbside pick up all that stuff. And then young consumers,
you know, they're gonna be driving a lot of this
post pandemic purchases as they're the most willing to get
out there start buying and interacting with more people. So
Melissa tell us a little bit about how consumer spending
(07:54):
is going to change once everybody starts getting back out
there again. To be fair, the juries allowed, it's still
early days and we're just starting to see kind of
the indicators of what people's mindset is. But I have
looked a lot at different reports and surveys by consultants
which pretty much every company is passing through to try
to get a better sense of what to anticipate in
(08:16):
the months ahead. And one of the big themes that
jumped out at me is that grocery behavior and has
really shifted. You mentioned online shopping has gotten bigger during
this time, but more of us are also trusting other
shoppers to pick out our produced and our meat, and
that convenience factor may really have a huge impact long
term on grocers who traditionally didn't have a lot of
(08:36):
online shoppers relying on them. The other thing that's really
changed is that people are living differently, So more people
are working remotely and planned to continue to do that
at least on some level going forward. So that may
mean they're eating more breakfasts and lunches at their homes
in their kitchens versus having them the casteria with coworkers
we also talked about. I mentioned a little bit about
(08:57):
young shoppers, you know, Generation Z. They're really ready to
get out there and they're going to be big drivers
of purchases. Teams and twenty some things are really the
ones that are starting to buy kind of post pandemic purchases.
Think things like clothes and I'm talking about non workout
clothes for once, new shoes, and and also buying handbags,
(09:18):
which is something that traditionally people haven't needed as much.
Those younger consumers also seem to be more likely to
have the mindset of getting back out to the movies,
out to malls, and so they may really be the
first wave of consumers that companies see return and may
also be more willing to spend money out at the restaurants,
not just outdoor restaurants, but also indoor restaurants, so they're
(09:40):
kind of leading away with some of that spending. Contactless
modes of shopping and dining are still going to remain popular.
Also after the virus fades. Cleanliness, all of these things
that companies have really tried hard to work on. Those
things are going to stick around for some time, and
some companies have already spoken about how it's influencing how
they think of their stores. So Target, for example, which
(10:01):
continues to open more stores every year, they said they're
going to factor spaciousness into their future design, so having
more room for people to spread out because we've all
become works to social distancing and may not want to
go back to being crammed into aligned close together. That's
an example of how it may even shape things like
architecture and kind of in that vein, you know, a
(10:23):
lot of retailers that are getting ready to come back
have to start you know, it's kind of this balance
they need to achieve. They've been trending towards a lot
of online shopping, having employees pick out those items, getting
those readies for curbside pick up all that stuff, and
on the other side of things. Some of the appearance
of these stores have not been kept up so much
(10:43):
because of kind of how hectic things have been. You
mentioned in another article of yours how Walmart and Macy's
have been accused of having unkempt stores because of all
the ruckists that's going around, and they really need to
step that part of it up, the appearance, or they
risk losing some more customers. Yes, I think there's a
misconception that people are either online shoppers or in person shoppers,
(11:05):
and the reality is much more complicated, and that's why
retailers need to think through how they present themselves, not
just on their website, but also in their stores. So
often people's relationships with those brands are actually deeper, both
online and in stores, and they do a variety of things.
They maybe use curbs I pick up some of the times,
they shop in person some of the time, and it's
more of a blend. So a lot of the time
(11:27):
when people shop for groceries, they're actually going into the
store sometimes and they're relying on those online shopping services
other times. It's not an either or, and that's why
this relationship between their store and its appearance matters so much.
But stores are juggling more balls in the air than
they ever have, so that's why their stores are taking
(11:47):
on all these new roles. They're storing a lot of
those online purchases in the front of their store, near
the door, so that you can run in as a
customer and grab it and not spend a lot of
time in the mall. So that's what's really challenging. That
is how much of their time should they be spending
holding clothes and making the display looks beautiful, and how
much other time should they be spending making the online
(12:09):
orders ready to go for consumers who do try these
new online focused approaches. Some of the experts you spoke to,
you know, a good storefront is one of your best salesman.
It's it's so true, but it impacts business. You know.
One of the other people that goes around and kind
of does analysis of all this stuff, they downgraded Walmart
stock because of these unkempt stores and how sloppy they
(12:31):
looked in some cases. And and it's just not it's
not just Walmart, it's other stores. To Macy's was part
of this, but it can impact their business and they're
kind of credibility and here's the other dilemma with that.
So yes, R five Capital, which is one of the
analysts firms that covers Walmart, downgrade at their stock because
they were saying, hey, look, you're offering a better experience
for online shoppers than you are for in store shoppers
(12:53):
based on what we've seen in stores. And the problem
for that for businesses is it's more expensive to fulfill
online order a lot of the time because you're having
an employee pick and pack that order. Traditionally, something that
shoppers have done for them spelves when they come to
the store and grant it and even carry it home.
So all of these additional costs come with an online order.
And if you keep pushing people to you online because
(13:17):
the store experience feels inferior, but it actually hurts your business.
Melissa Repco, retail reporter at CNBC, thank you very much
for joining us. Thank you. I think that what we
have seen is that Amazon left no stone unturned um
(13:42):
and trying to make people afraid to vote for the union.
They told people that if the union came in, they
might have to shut down for facility and everybody would
lose their jobs. Joining us now is Annie Palmer, technology
reporter at CNBC. Thanks for us any, Thank you so
much for having me. We've been following this effort to
(14:05):
unionize at this Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. The vote
there ended up failing overwhelmingly really so they will not
be unionizing there. But the story continues. Now the retail
wholesale and department store union filed objections with the federal
labor officials saying that Amazon illegally interfered with his union drive.
(14:26):
And now this is going to really extend the story.
There's going to be a hearing all this stuff. So
the fight there to unionize not necessarily over despite the
votes not being there. So and he tell us a
little bit more about what we're seeing here, these objections
that the union seeking to represent Amazon workers in Bessemer.
The objections, they are almost two dozen different examples of
(14:47):
Amazon's alleged legal conduct throughout the election that we're listed
in these filings permitted over the weekend, and essentially, you know,
what they touched on is a whole range of activities,
including complaints that Amazon legally threatened and monitored employees that
were in support of the union, including claims that they
(15:09):
fired a outspoken employee who supported the union and disciplined another.
The names of the employees weren't mentioned in the actual complaints,
but I'm sure that we will learn more details as
the hearing their scheduled and that sort of thing. But
beyond complaints of intimidation of employees, the union also lays
out some complaints related to a mailbox that was installed
(15:32):
on site at the facility, claiming that for employees that
this may have asserted, the Amazon played a role in
collecting and counting the ballots, you know, down to even
more striking complaints that Amazon allegedly said that workers could
lose access to key benefits and even their pay rates
if the union was voted in, and that if the
(15:52):
union is voted in that they might force workers to
go on strike. So cover a lot of grounds throughout
these three objections, but we'll be waiting to see more
details about what occurred specifically. It was a pretty lopsided defeat.
I think they had one thousand seven workers opposed the
unionization effort, only seven supported it. But there was a
(16:14):
little bit over five ballots that were uncounted because it
wouldn't have changed the outcome. So I mean it really
seemed like the workers there didn't want to vote for it. Obviously,
there's allegations that Amazon kind of overstep their bounds and
trying to intimidate workers. But maybe if the vote was
a little closer, it give a little more credence to
these complaints. I mean, the outcome, you know, it was
(16:36):
pretty stark in terms of the like you mentioned, the
overwhelming votes rejecting the union. This election was also pretty
unique in that it took place via mail in ballot
because of the pandemic. The n l r B is
not pulling union elections in an in person basis because
of the obvious coronavirus risks and things like that. So
(16:56):
that meant that the union had to really kind of
take a different strategy in terms of how they were
interacting with workers at the facility, which meant that they
couldn't do things like house calls, which are you know,
a critical component of generating support and speaking with workers
and things of that nature. So it did have some
(17:16):
you know, disadvantages in that respect from the beginning. But
because the union had less face time with workers, it
meant that employees at this facility when they were in
these so called captive audience meetings on a weekly basis
leading up to when ballots were mailed out. You know,
it meant that they had a lot of time to
interface with Amazon managers and things of that nature in
(17:38):
these meetings. And you know, of course Amazon had pretty
uh pretty much had the floor to make the case
for why voting in a union wasn't the right move,
and you know, it made lots of different arguments to
that effect and allowed workers to ask questions and things
of that nature. So the mail in format it did
kind of, I guess, complicate the process in a certain way.
(17:59):
Leading up to the whole outcome of this, you know,
there was a lot being made about how all eyes
are in Bessemer, Alabama, and what's going to happen there,
because let's say the workers did want to unionize there,
that this is gonna start leading other drives in other
warehouses across the country. My question is, what has this
loss now done to some of that buzz? Has it
(18:21):
died out? Have you heard anything about that? I don't
think that this really has, I guess put a damper
on the overall labor movement. That's really kind of um
the pace of interest around I guess, workers rights and
workplace safety and all these different topics. You know, the
interest in these things has really accelerated as a result
(18:42):
of the coronavirus pandemic, and so I don't believe that
the outcome in Alabama will necessarily squelch efforts that are
going on elsewhere. And in fact, you know, Amazon employees
even have told me that they are looking into potentially
organizing their own facilities. So I don't think that the
I mean, I think the outcome, you know, you can't
(19:03):
can't deny that it represents a setback for the labor
organizers that had hoped to secure a foothold at Amazon.
But I don't think that they're looking at this loss
as the end of organizing attempts at Amazon. Annie Palmer,
technology reporter at CNBC, thank you very much for joining us,
Thanks for having me. That's it for today. Join us
(19:31):
on social media at Daily Dive Pod on both Twitter
and Instagram. Leave us a comment, give us a rating,
and tell us the stories that you're interested in. Follow
us on I Heard Radio, or subscribe wherever you get
your podcast. This episode of The Daily Divers produced by
Victor Wright and engineered by Tony Sarrantino. I'm Oscar Ramirez
and this was your daily dive.
It's Tuesday, a i'm oscar Ramires in Los Angeles and
this is the daily dive. Los Angeles could become the
biggest US city to start a guaranteed income program. L
A Mayor Eric Garcetti will be asking the city council
to set aside twenty four million dollars for a program
(00:21):
that would pay out one thousand dollars in monthly payments
to two thousand low income families. There is some data
from similar programs that show it does help beneficiaries, but
it doesn't farewell in overall public polling. Chris Paul Mary
l A, bureau chief at Bloomberg News, joins us to
discuss the new plan next. Vaccination rates are going up
(00:41):
and people are ready to get out there and start
shopping again, But how will consumer spending change? With the
increased use of delivery apps and curbside pickup grocery shopping
might see the most sustained changes. Younger shoppers will also
be a big force and apparel spending. Melissa Repco, retail
reporter at CNBC, joins us for more. Finally, it seems
(01:02):
that the fights A unionize at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama,
may not be over yet. The retail, wholesale and department
store union filed objections alleging that Amazon illegally interfered with
the votes. This comes after employees they're overwhelmingly voted against
forming a union. Antie Palmer, technology reporter at the NBC
joins us for what's next and what could be a
(01:23):
lengthy legal challenge as soon as without the noise, let's
dive in. He said, the data that stocked and showed
otherwise people were able to say, get you a babysitter
or daycare for a kid so that they go go
out and do job interviews, or go to school and
in some fashion, you know, lift themselves up income live.
(01:44):
Joinning us now is Chris Paul Mary, Los Angeles bureau
chief at Bloomberg News. Thanks for joining us, Chris, Thank
you for having me. There's been a lot of conversation
about universal basic income. There's already been a handful of
cities across the country that have tried their hand at this,
but in California, most notably of Stockton, California, tried this out.
We have some data on how that worked out. But
(02:07):
now we're hearing some news out of Los Angeles, l A.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is proposing a guaranteed income program for
poor residents. This would make them the largest US city
to test this type of policy. So he's gonna be
asking the city council to set aside twenty four million
dollars to send out one thousand monthly payments to about
two thousand low income families. So Chris, tell us a
(02:28):
little bit more about this plan and what we're hearing. Yeah,
so he's proposed paying people a thousand dollars a month.
It's specifically people living in poverty, and they have to
have at least one kid in the household. And because
it's two thousand people, it's now the largest of these
trials in the country. It's only a one year program.
California particular really seems to be taking a lead, as
(02:49):
you mentioned Stockton, which is two years into a program
a much smaller group of people. But we're now seeing
proposals coming out of San Francisco and Oakland and Compton
just officially has started a program last week, but also
about six hundred folks receiving money. So it's a national phenomenon.
Though it's St. Paul, Minnesota's doing it Telsea, Massachusetts. It's
(03:10):
still all very much in the pilot phase, though I
do want to get into some details of those other plans.
But first, you know, one of the big questions costs,
how do we pay for all of this stuff? I
saw some of the article. Maybe they might use some
stimulus funds, this coronavirus stimulus funds to pay for some
of this. How's that going to work? Still sort of theory,
and these are mostly trials. Much of the money is
(03:33):
coming in these various cities from philanthropic organizations. There's a
group Coiled Mayors for Guaranteed Income, which former Stockton mayor
Minchael Tubbs founded last here. Eric car City here in
l A is the co chair of that, and they've
got money, for example, eighteen million dollars from Jack Parss,
founded of Twitter, and that's about to advocate for this
policy and also to see some of these programs. Los
(03:54):
Angeles is taking a little bit of a different take.
It's going to be the mayor's asking for general fund money,
although the city's receiving about one point three billion from
the last big stimulus bill, and so some of those
funds could indeed be used to pay for this. Some
of those other programs that you mentioned In California, Compton
(04:15):
and Oakland, obviously they have their setups going, But in
San Francisco there was a weird one about making one
thousand dollar payments to artists, a hundred and thirty artists.
This would be a six month period that they would
begin next month, So that was kind of a weird
twist to this. I understand the whole thing about helping
people under the poverty line families, but artists was a
weird one to pop up. They noted it was really
(04:37):
the first one of its contents specifically target artists, you know,
and presumably you know, they won't be getting it to uh,
you know, very successful artists. These are all trial loons.
It away. There's some data coming out of the Stockton test,
but there's nothing really definitive. It's still a tough sell nationally.
Mayor Garceti told me that, you know, he didn't see
(04:59):
this all and the league being funded by cities alone.
He thought there would have to be a state and
national component to it if it takes off to any
great degree. And polling to research to study last year,
the majority of Americans are not interested in this at
least from the federal funding concept. And uh, you know,
excuse along party lines, Republicans very opposed on eight percent
(05:21):
almost and Democrats are not as stridently punished. But um no,
you're right. I mean it's a tough sell on a
lot of things. I think when uh, you know, families
that merited and needed, I guess people might be more willing.
But artists in San Francisco, I mean, you know, where
is the severe need. There's you know, would be a
question I would have there. So let's talk about Stockton.
(05:42):
We do have some details from their trial program. They
did say that they were getting five hundred dollars a
month for two years these families in that program. So
they did say that people were less anxious and depressed,
not having such a financial concern, I guess. And the
people that were recipients so this also obtained full time
employment at better rates than people were not that were
(06:03):
not in this program. We still haven't seen all of
the data coming out of that. I did ask mere
Garctia about it, you know, he said, you know, one
of the common complaints about this is that people will
just buy bigger TV sets and they're not important spending.
He said, the data that stocked and showed otherwise people
were able to say, get you a babysitter or daycare
(06:26):
for kids, so that they could go out and do
job interviews or go to school and in some fashion,
you know, list themselves up income wise. That indeed, even
though news hosts for poor that they were good stewards
of their money, but they are just caught in this
trap of poverty. Chris Paul Mary, Los Angeles, bureau chief
at Bloomberg News, thank you very much for joining us.
(06:48):
Thank you. More of us are also trusting other softwares
to pick out our produced and our meat, and that
convenience factor may really have a huge impact long term
on grocers who traditionally didn't have a lot of online shoppers.
(07:09):
Joining us now is Melissa Repco, retail reporter at CNBC.
Thanks for joining us, Melissa. Thanks for having me. As
more people get vaccinated, a lot of companies and businesses
are looking forward to how consumers spending will look like next.
There's been a lot of changes that happened throughout the pandemic.
Some of those things will stick, you know. The rise
(07:32):
of online shopping has really made a difference for a
lot of companies, so grocers, you know, might see a big,
dramatic and long lasting shift in that sense, you know,
this curbside pick up all that stuff. And then young consumers,
you know, they're gonna be driving a lot of this
post pandemic purchases as they're the most willing to get
out there start buying and interacting with more people. So
Melissa tell us a little bit about how consumer spending
(07:54):
is going to change once everybody starts getting back out
there again. To be fair, the juries allowed, it's still
early days and we're just starting to see kind of
the indicators of what people's mindset is. But I have
looked a lot at different reports and surveys by consultants
which pretty much every company is passing through to try
to get a better sense of what to anticipate in
(08:16):
the months ahead. And one of the big themes that
jumped out at me is that grocery behavior and has
really shifted. You mentioned online shopping has gotten bigger during
this time, but more of us are also trusting other
shoppers to pick out our produced and our meat, and
that convenience factor may really have a huge impact long
term on grocers who traditionally didn't have a lot of
(08:36):
online shoppers relying on them. The other thing that's really
changed is that people are living differently, So more people
are working remotely and planned to continue to do that
at least on some level going forward. So that may
mean they're eating more breakfasts and lunches at their homes
in their kitchens versus having them the casteria with coworkers
we also talked about. I mentioned a little bit about
(08:57):
young shoppers, you know, Generation Z. They're really ready to
get out there and they're going to be big drivers
of purchases. Teams and twenty some things are really the
ones that are starting to buy kind of post pandemic purchases.
Think things like clothes and I'm talking about non workout
clothes for once, new shoes, and and also buying handbags,
(09:18):
which is something that traditionally people haven't needed as much.
Those younger consumers also seem to be more likely to
have the mindset of getting back out to the movies,
out to malls, and so they may really be the
first wave of consumers that companies see return and may
also be more willing to spend money out at the restaurants,
not just outdoor restaurants, but also indoor restaurants, so they're
(09:40):
kind of leading away with some of that spending. Contactless
modes of shopping and dining are still going to remain popular.
Also after the virus fades. Cleanliness, all of these things
that companies have really tried hard to work on. Those
things are going to stick around for some time, and
some companies have already spoken about how it's influencing how
they think of their stores. So Target, for example, which
(10:01):
continues to open more stores every year, they said they're
going to factor spaciousness into their future design, so having
more room for people to spread out because we've all
become works to social distancing and may not want to
go back to being crammed into aligned close together. That's
an example of how it may even shape things like
architecture and kind of in that vein, you know, a
(10:23):
lot of retailers that are getting ready to come back
have to start you know, it's kind of this balance
they need to achieve. They've been trending towards a lot
of online shopping, having employees pick out those items, getting
those readies for curbside pick up all that stuff, and
on the other side of things. Some of the appearance
of these stores have not been kept up so much
(10:43):
because of kind of how hectic things have been. You
mentioned in another article of yours how Walmart and Macy's
have been accused of having unkempt stores because of all
the ruckists that's going around, and they really need to
step that part of it up, the appearance, or they
risk losing some more customers. Yes, I think there's a
misconception that people are either online shoppers or in person shoppers,
(11:05):
and the reality is much more complicated, and that's why
retailers need to think through how they present themselves, not
just on their website, but also in their stores. So
often people's relationships with those brands are actually deeper, both
online and in stores, and they do a variety of things.
They maybe use curbs I pick up some of the times,
they shop in person some of the time, and it's
more of a blend. So a lot of the time
(11:27):
when people shop for groceries, they're actually going into the
store sometimes and they're relying on those online shopping services
other times. It's not an either or, and that's why
this relationship between their store and its appearance matters so much.
But stores are juggling more balls in the air than
they ever have, so that's why their stores are taking
(11:47):
on all these new roles. They're storing a lot of
those online purchases in the front of their store, near
the door, so that you can run in as a
customer and grab it and not spend a lot of
time in the mall. So that's what's really challenging. That
is how much of their time should they be spending
holding clothes and making the display looks beautiful, and how
much other time should they be spending making the online
(12:09):
orders ready to go for consumers who do try these
new online focused approaches. Some of the experts you spoke to,
you know, a good storefront is one of your best salesman.
It's it's so true, but it impacts business. You know.
One of the other people that goes around and kind
of does analysis of all this stuff, they downgraded Walmart
stock because of these unkempt stores and how sloppy they
(12:31):
looked in some cases. And and it's just not it's
not just Walmart, it's other stores. To Macy's was part
of this, but it can impact their business and they're
kind of credibility and here's the other dilemma with that.
So yes, R five Capital, which is one of the
analysts firms that covers Walmart, downgrade at their stock because
they were saying, hey, look, you're offering a better experience
for online shoppers than you are for in store shoppers
(12:53):
based on what we've seen in stores. And the problem
for that for businesses is it's more expensive to fulfill
online order a lot of the time because you're having
an employee pick and pack that order. Traditionally, something that
shoppers have done for them spelves when they come to
the store and grant it and even carry it home.
So all of these additional costs come with an online order.
And if you keep pushing people to you online because
(13:17):
the store experience feels inferior, but it actually hurts your business.
Melissa Repco, retail reporter at CNBC, thank you very much
for joining us. Thank you. I think that what we
have seen is that Amazon left no stone unturned um
(13:42):
and trying to make people afraid to vote for the union.
They told people that if the union came in, they
might have to shut down for facility and everybody would
lose their jobs. Joining us now is Annie Palmer, technology
reporter at CNBC. Thanks for us any, Thank you so
much for having me. We've been following this effort to
(14:05):
unionize at this Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. The vote
there ended up failing overwhelmingly really so they will not
be unionizing there. But the story continues. Now the retail
wholesale and department store union filed objections with the federal
labor officials saying that Amazon illegally interfered with his union drive.
(14:26):
And now this is going to really extend the story.
There's going to be a hearing all this stuff. So
the fight there to unionize not necessarily over despite the
votes not being there. So and he tell us a
little bit more about what we're seeing here, these objections
that the union seeking to represent Amazon workers in Bessemer.
The objections, they are almost two dozen different examples of
(14:47):
Amazon's alleged legal conduct throughout the election that we're listed
in these filings permitted over the weekend, and essentially, you know,
what they touched on is a whole range of activities,
including complaints that Amazon legally threatened and monitored employees that
were in support of the union, including claims that they
(15:09):
fired a outspoken employee who supported the union and disciplined another.
The names of the employees weren't mentioned in the actual complaints,
but I'm sure that we will learn more details as
the hearing their scheduled and that sort of thing. But
beyond complaints of intimidation of employees, the union also lays
out some complaints related to a mailbox that was installed
(15:32):
on site at the facility, claiming that for employees that
this may have asserted, the Amazon played a role in
collecting and counting the ballots, you know, down to even
more striking complaints that Amazon allegedly said that workers could
lose access to key benefits and even their pay rates
if the union was voted in, and that if the
(15:52):
union is voted in that they might force workers to
go on strike. So cover a lot of grounds throughout
these three objections, but we'll be waiting to see more
details about what occurred specifically. It was a pretty lopsided defeat.
I think they had one thousand seven workers opposed the
unionization effort, only seven supported it. But there was a
(16:14):
little bit over five ballots that were uncounted because it
wouldn't have changed the outcome. So I mean it really
seemed like the workers there didn't want to vote for it. Obviously,
there's allegations that Amazon kind of overstep their bounds and
trying to intimidate workers. But maybe if the vote was
a little closer, it give a little more credence to
these complaints. I mean, the outcome, you know, it was
(16:36):
pretty stark in terms of the like you mentioned, the
overwhelming votes rejecting the union. This election was also pretty
unique in that it took place via mail in ballot
because of the pandemic. The n l r B is
not pulling union elections in an in person basis because
of the obvious coronavirus risks and things like that. So
(16:56):
that meant that the union had to really kind of
take a different strategy in terms of how they were
interacting with workers at the facility, which meant that they
couldn't do things like house calls, which are you know,
a critical component of generating support and speaking with workers
and things of that nature. So it did have some
(17:16):
you know, disadvantages in that respect from the beginning. But
because the union had less face time with workers, it
meant that employees at this facility when they were in
these so called captive audience meetings on a weekly basis
leading up to when ballots were mailed out. You know,
it meant that they had a lot of time to
interface with Amazon managers and things of that nature in
(17:38):
these meetings. And you know, of course Amazon had pretty
uh pretty much had the floor to make the case
for why voting in a union wasn't the right move,
and you know, it made lots of different arguments to
that effect and allowed workers to ask questions and things
of that nature. So the mail in format it did
kind of, I guess, complicate the process in a certain way.
(17:59):
Leading up to the whole outcome of this, you know,
there was a lot being made about how all eyes
are in Bessemer, Alabama, and what's going to happen there,
because let's say the workers did want to unionize there,
that this is gonna start leading other drives in other
warehouses across the country. My question is, what has this
loss now done to some of that buzz? Has it
(18:21):
died out? Have you heard anything about that? I don't
think that this really has, I guess put a damper
on the overall labor movement. That's really kind of um
the pace of interest around I guess, workers rights and
workplace safety and all these different topics. You know, the
interest in these things has really accelerated as a result
(18:42):
of the coronavirus pandemic, and so I don't believe that
the outcome in Alabama will necessarily squelch efforts that are
going on elsewhere. And in fact, you know, Amazon employees
even have told me that they are looking into potentially
organizing their own facilities. So I don't think that the
I mean, I think the outcome, you know, you can't
(19:03):
can't deny that it represents a setback for the labor
organizers that had hoped to secure a foothold at Amazon.
But I don't think that they're looking at this loss
as the end of organizing attempts at Amazon. Annie Palmer,
technology reporter at CNBC, thank you very much for joining us,
Thanks for having me. That's it for today. Join us
(19:31):
on social media at Daily Dive Pod on both Twitter
and Instagram. Leave us a comment, give us a rating,
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us on I Heard Radio, or subscribe wherever you get
your podcast. This episode of The Daily Divers produced by
Victor Wright and engineered by Tony Sarrantino. I'm Oscar Ramirez
and this was your daily dive.
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