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The ubiquitous food delivery app DoorDash will pay almost $17 million to settle claims that it unfairly used customer tips to subsidize the wages of its delivery workers in New York City, rather than letting drivers keep the tips on top of their guaranteed pay, Attorney General Letitia James said Monday. James said DoorDash used the wage model between May 2017 and September 2019. The company would guarantee workers a base payment for each delivery but was factoring tips into that equation, only paying workers for whatever the tips didn’t cover, according to the attorney general. DoorDash also did not make it clear to customers that their tips were being used to offset worker wages, said James, a Democrat. This is just fundamentally unfair, she said at a news conference in Manhattan. Customers had no reason to believe that these tips were being used by DoorDash to reduce its costs.” The company will pay $16.75 million in restitution that will be distributed to DoorDash workers who made deliveries between May 2017 and September 2019 in New York. Eligible workers will be contacted by a settlement administrator. In a statement, DoorDash said, “While we believe that our practices properly represented how Dashers were paid during this period, we are pleased to have resolved this years-old matter and look forward to continuing to offer a flexible way for millions of people to reach their financial goals. The company said the old pay model is no longer in use.
Category:
E-Commerce
Donald Trump could be about to escalate the trade war with China. A proposal, unveiled Friday, would slap fees on any Chinese-built vessels, as well as Chinese shipping companies, that enter U.S. ports. That could bring in millions of dollars to the government, but just like the 10% tariffs on Chinese goods Trump has imposed, that move would likely result in even higher prices for consumers (as well as possible retribution from China on U.S. imports). The fees are unprecedented and are meant to chip away at Chinas dominance in the shipping space. In 2023, more than half the worlds commercial ships were built in China and many large U.S. retailers depend on the country for goods. Nothing has been finalized yet, but with consumers still trying to figure out how much tariffs will increase their day-to-day expenses, this adds another layer of financial concern. Heres where things stand now. What is the Trump administration proposing? The Office of the United States Trade Representative is proposing fees of up to $1.5 million per port call for Chinese-made vessels. The fleets of most shipping companies typically contain Chinese-made ships, given that countrys widespread reach in the industry. Shipping companies with fleets that have 50% or more Chinese-built vessels would face fees of up to $1 million per U.S. port call. Operators with fleets comprised of 25% to 50% Chinese-built vessels would pay up to $750,000 per call. For operators with a fleet that has 25% or fewer Chinese-made ships, the fee would be $500,000 per call. Making stops at multiple ports, which many ships do, could result in multiple port fees.Virtually all international shipping companies would be somewhat affected. The largest would likely be Cosco, a Chinese company that’s the worlds biggest shipping company in terms of capacity. When would these fees go into effect? The proposal is currently in a public comment period through March 24. Once that has closed, the administration will decide whether to implement the new fees. Why is the Trump administration considering imposing port fees? The potential fees come following an investigation that began during the Biden administration, looking into whether China was involved in unfair practices in the logistics and shipbuilding industries. On January 17, the U.S. Trade Representative issued a finding that called Chinas targeting of the sector unreasonable, adding Beijings targeted dominance of these sectors undermines fair, market-oriented competition, increases economic security risks, and is the greatest barrier to revitalization of U.S. industries, as well as the communities that rely on them. How much would this impact shipping costs? The increased cost for maritime shipping companies could be substantial. Lars Jensen, CEO of Demark-based Vespucci Maritime, which advises shipping companies, tells the Wall Street Journal that container ship costs will increase tenfold. That comes on top of the cost surges of the past several months. Last July, the cost to ship a 40-foot container of products from Shanghai to New York jumped as high as $10,000. Those have since eased back, with the Drewry World Container Index now putting the price at $5,126 for the week ending February 20 (which is still considerably higher than pre-pandemic rates). Why dont companies use U.S.-built commercial ships? There really arent many commercial shipbuilders in the U.S. China is, by far, the market leader for that category (an area once dominated by Western nations). Ships that arent built in China, which accounts for 51% of the shipbuilding industry, generally come from South Korea (26%) or Japan (14%). Europe accounts for 5% of the total. The U.S. shipbuilders that are still around largely focus on making ships for the U.S. Navy and have struggled to find workers. How much will the port fees impact retail prices? The ultimate impact port fees will have on retail prices will depend on how this proposal unfolds. Port fees, however, are generally passed down from carriers to shippers (generally retail businesses), which ultimately pass along the cost to consumers. As far as which industries and products would be affected, its likely to be a wide swath. This would be essentially a tax on many imported goods, regardless of their point of origin. Manufacturing is likely to be heavily impacted, as are automakers and consumer electronic companies and, basically, any business that relies heavily on global supply chains. Retailers that sell items including apparel, shoes, toys, furniture, electronics, and household appliances are also likely to feel the impact of port fees. Grocery stores may, as well, since so many food products come from other countries.
Category:
E-Commerce
On Saturday evening, a group of Yosemite National Park employees hung an upside-down American flag 3,000 feet in the air, at the top of El Capitan summit. The display was absolutely not missed. It happened in the midst of this year’s Firefall at Horsetail Fall, a popular event at the Mariposa County, California, national park, when between mid- to late February, the waterfall begins to light up 5 to 15 minutes before sunset, looking almost like molten lava. Hundreds of photographers and observers were in the park when the upside-down flag, known as a “distress flag,” according to American flag codea sign that something is desperately wronghung from the mountain top. The act came shortly after Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired more than 1,000 National Park Service rangers amid drastic cuts to the federal budget. The message was clear: America’s parks are in trouble. Were bringing attention to whats happening to the parks, which are every Americans properties,” Gavin Carpenter, a maintenance mechanic at the park, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Carpenter was central to the employees pulling off the feat, supplying the flag and helping to get it to the top of El Capitan. “Its super important we take care of [the parks] and were losing people here, and its not sustainable if we want to keep the parks open,” Carpenter told the paper. National Park Service rangers are massively important to the preservation of our national parks. Their duties range from running programs and camps for children to maintaining the cleanliness and upkeep of trails, as well as staffing visitor centers and helping to keep visitors safe from wild animals and other dangerous natural elements. But as DOGE’s federal firings continue, many are expressing huge concerns over how parks will be maintained if there are not enough employees to manage them. Some parks have already begun trimming their hours, cancelling tours and other events, and closing visitor centers. In a post on Facebook, which has garnered more than 20,600 comments, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Florissant, Colorado, announced it would be forced to cut hours. “Due to a lack of staffing, effective Monday, February 24, 2025, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There will be no access to the visitor center, trailhead parking, or public restrooms,” the post read. Social media posts from devastated park employees who have been let go in recent weeks have gone viral, too. I am absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated to have lost my dream job of an education park ranger with the National Park Service this Valentines Day, former ranger Brian Gibbs wrote in a February 14 post on Facebook. “My position was ripped out from under my feet after my shift was over at 3:45 p.m. on a cold snowy Friday. The post went on to detail the many irreplaceable roles of a national parks ranger: “I am my son’s ‘Junior Ranger’ idol . . . I am a college kids dream job . . . I am the smiling face that greets you at the front door . . . I am your family vacation planner . . . I am a voice for 19 American Indian cultures.” DOGE’s alarming layoffs have not been limited to park workers. Last week, the administration also fired more than 300 National Nuclear Security Administration workers, then quickly rehired most of them over major national security concerns. And on Sunday, approximately 2,000 employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were informed they were being laid off. The majority of full-time staff were put on administrative leave.
Category:
E-Commerce
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