The Working Lunch

Episode 275: What the New York Times missed in its story on ServSafe by Align Public Strategies

We examine the wins and losses of 2022 and the lessons learned as we head into the 2023 legislative sessions. We’ll discuss what issues the industry should be prepared to deal with this year and our strategies for managing them.

And Sean Kennedy, the Executive Vice-President of Public Policy for the National Restaurant Association stops by the pod to talk about the current legal situation in California regarding the FAST Act, what operators should be prepared for in the near term, and how the industry is managing similar threats in other parts of the country.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We do a deeper dive into some of the ballot initiatives this past election, especially the minimum wage measures across the country. We are joined by Mike Saltzman, Partner at Berman & Company, to discuss those outcomes and what they may tell us about industry engagement going forward.

Starbucks workers staged a unique but effective walkout before Thanksgiving co-opting the company’s Red Cup Day and turning it into the Red Cup rebellion. We’ll discuss the state of the organizing campaign at the company and look at the dynamics of national unionization efforts.

And the SEIU has given birth to a new organizing entity focused on service workers in the South. Dubbed the Union of Southern Service Workers, the group looks to be extra aggressive and will focus on leveraging the South’s difficult history of race relations.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We take a long look at the volatility of the economy and the impact that inflation is having - and will have - on the industry for the next few quarters. We are joined by Michael Halen, Senior Restaurant Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence who will help us understand what we are seeing financially and what is likely coming down the road for the industry.

And the midterm elections are here. We’ll discuss the battle for Congress, the key states, the key races, and the ballot initiatives to watch.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We’ll take a look at ranked-choice voting and the impact it's having in Alaska giving independent, centrist candidates a legitimate shot at winning elections. Many cities and states are experimenting with it now - could it be the wave of the future? We’ll discuss.

And the alcohol industry is coming at us in 2023, ready to pushback on Covid-era gains around cocktails-to-go and home delivery of alcohol. We’ll discuss how the industry needs to prepare for a fight around numbers and data.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The SEC’s new rule mandating publicly-traded companies provide detailed disclosure about the financial impact of climate change on their business is in the home stretch. To help us figure it out, Aaron Frazier, Vice President of Public Policy for the National Restaurant Association, stops by the pod and lets us know the latest and greatest and what brands need to prepare for.

And last week, the Schultz Family Foundation (founded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz) in partnership with Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute launched the American Opportunity Index, a scorecard that ranks large companies by how well they create economic mobility for their workers. We’ll discuss how the restaurant industry - “the industry of opportunity” - fared on the index.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

A new survey out this week by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) finds that the workplace is becoming more politically polarized leading to altercations and hostile work environments. We discuss what this means for employers as well as corporate decision making.

And the Supreme Court has convened its new term and the docket is full of cases with important implications for employers in general and the restaurant industry in particular. We’ll discuss the year ahead for the Court.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Last week was a big week for Starbucks as they announced they are willing to sit down and negotiate with the 250 or so stores that have voted to unionize - but they want to do it quickly - like in the next three weeks. We’ll discuss their strategy as well as what the union is looking for in negotiations.

And the election is less than six weeks away and will discuss the polls, the trends and the races to watch for restaurant operators.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The Political Right is getting fed up with “woke” companies and their investments in sustainable initiatives and industries and putting their money with their mouth is by pressuring companies they work with to resist. Now CEOs are faced with political litmus tests from all sides of the investment community. We’ll discuss the pressure on leaders in this difficult environment.

And the Home Depot has gotten pulled in the union thicket with a store in Philadelphia filing a petition for a union election. Could this be the opening the unions are looking for into the bog box segment? We’ll take a look.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We discuss the aftermath of California’s FAST Act and the environment for the labor community as they try to export similar legislation to other states. Can the industry stem the tide? We’ll discuss.

And proponents of the PROAct have taken their show on the road, hitting the campaign trail to keep Democratic Senate candidates’ feet to the fire. Could that strategy backfire? We’ll discuss.

And another industry CEO has weighed into the law and order public safety debate. But could they be accidentally weighing into a much broader political fight they never saw coming. We’ll take a look.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.