Wayfair Raises Pay For All Of Its Us Workers To At Least $15 An Hour
Wayfair, the furniture and home goods e-commerce business, said on Thursday that all of its U.S. employees would be paid at least $15 an hour. The increase, which went into effect on Jan. 3, applies to full-time, part-time and seasonal workers at the company.
More than 40 percent of Wayfairs hourly employees working across its U.S. supply chain and customer service operations received a pay bump.
Throughout the challenges of the past year, we rolled out numerous initiatives to support our team including pay premiums, bonuses and a family dinner program, Niraj Shah, the companys co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement. Now, as we enter 2021, we are continuing to build upon our steadfast commitment to our team and their families by increasing minimum pay for all hourly employees.
The retailer, which has 16,700 employees, said it had also provided enhanced benefits to workers during the pandemic, including premium pay to frontline workers, bonuses, child care support and emergency paid time off.
Popup Trump Shops Selling Unauthorized Merch Says Presidential Spokesman
PORTSMOUTH Squishy stress balls that look like President Donald Trumps head, with Trump-branded bottle openers, pocket knives and bobble heads, are among dozens of items with the presidential likeness being sold at Seacoast popup stores and roadside stands.
Much of it is labeled made in China, while Trump has advocated buy American since taking office. Thats because the Chinese-made Trump merchandise hitting the local market is not affiliated with Trumps campaign, said Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary.
All official Team Trump merchandise is made in America, he said. If the label says its made in a foreign country, its not campaign merchandise.
President Trump, as of Saturday afternoon, was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms.
The presidential campaign website has an online store where red caps with the slogan Make America Great Again are advertised as Proudly Made in USA. Yard signs, flags, T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers all make the same American-made claim.
In contrast, flip over a Trump ball cap or face mask at a roadside Trump stand and the label will likely say it was made in China. Trump stands have recently appeared under tents on the sides of roads in Rye, Hampton Falls, Seabrook and Portsmouth.
The Stratham the store is at 275 Portsmouth Ave.
Almost all of it is branded as made in China.
Job Postings And Hiring Reflect A Rocky Recovery
While the availability of vaccines will speed the economys return to normal, employers remain wary about hiring, job recruiters say.
Job postings and hiring typically fall off at the end of December, and the trend after the latest holiday season has been more pronounced than usual. Right now, employers are still cautious related to their work force strategy, said Amy Glaser, senior vice president at the staffing firm Adecco USA.
The rebound has been bumpy, and employers have responded in kind, retaining flexibility to increase or reduce their staffing through the use of temporary workers, Ms. Glaser said. That could mean more people are cycling through jobs.
Employers are being apprehensive, and job seekers are not yet flocking back to the market in droves, either, Ms. Pollak said. The virus is still spreading, hospitalizations have hit a new record, and there is a pullback in demand for certain services. A lot of stay-at-home orders and restrictions are causing a further decline.
Some industries have managed to thrive. A key measure of manufacturing, for instance, rose this week to its highest level since 2018. Construction spending and employment have grown along with a surge in home buying. Staffing agencies say they have seen hiring in the automotive business and financial services. The demand for warehouse and delivery workers also remains strong.
There is no tech person sitting down the hallway, she said.
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The Claim: ‘make America Great Again’ Hats Are Made In China
Throughout his presidency, Trump has maintained a tough public stance on China, including the institution of significant tariffs on imports from the country, and his criticism has intensified following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan.
Dependence on China has become a hot-button topic for both parties and on social . As the parties’ conventions began in August, claims that Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats are made in China started recirculating on Facebook.
One post, by the Facebook page “Trump Sucks,” has a montage of four photos: Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend and member of the Trump campaign, an text image that says, “Claims Democrats will send jobs back to China,” a photo of a MAGA hat is below Guilfoyle, and next to it is text that says, “Made in China.”
Fact or fiction:
Administrators for the page could not be reached for comment.
Claims that MAGA hats are made in China began circulating when Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear after the tire company announced its zero-tolerance policy for the apparel.
Have You Received Any Backlash
Both stores have received anonymous threats, some as serious as arson and bombing, and The Trump Shop has been vandalized.
I get nervous, especially when it gets dark, he said. They have already threatened, theyre already cussing, I dont know what they are going to do.
Caudill said people swear at him, both inside and outside the store. A truck and trailer associated with the store was covered in liquid DeVooght said it might have been juice or Gatorade and a number of signs were put up around the vehicle and store. Additionally, a pumpkin painted with a crude anti-Trump message was left in front of the store.
Its festive, he said with a small chuckle.
Whats more common at both stores is the number of times they hear that a customers products have been vandalized.
Both store owners said they have see a number of customers return with pictures of their products shredded or painted over. Other customers claim that their signs and flags have been outright stolen. Caudill said one customer came to The Trump Shop twice in one day because two signs had been stolen.
Caudill went on to explain that he has heard several of his customers complain that their friends and neighbors will no longer talk with them or are confrontational because they are displaying Trump merchandise.
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What Trump Merchandise Sales Say About The 2024 Election
This time last year, Donald J. Trump was still president, and entrepreneurs across the country were making money selling T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs and other merchandise associated with the Make America Great Again brand.
Trump is no longer president, but the Trump merch? Its still going strong.
From gun shows to state fairs, the traveling booths and retail shops that proliferated during the 2020 campaign are still cheerily promoting the 45th president, even in the face of vandalism, prank calls and protests. And their wares have expanded to include slogans once used by Democrats.
T-shirts that show the face of Trump with the words Miss me yet? replicate ones that featured the face of Barack Obama four years ago. Hoodies that say Biden is Not My President and signs that proclaim Dont Blame Me, I Voted for Trump are selling well, even in the blue states of New England.
Keith Lambert, owner of a Rhode Island-based novelty business, operated 22 retail stores that sold Trump merchandise in the months leading up to the election. Hes now scaled down to 3, in part because demand lessened after the election and hes struggled to find staff to keep the shops open. But hes found that the demand for MAGA-themed merchandise exists outside of an election cycle.
Similarly, retail Trump shops in other parts of the country, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are still operating and profitable.
Fact Check: Miscaptioned Image Of Vendors Selling Trump Gear Outside Us Capitol Intended As Satire
4 Min Read
In the days after supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington, D.C. to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results by Congress and ultimately storm the U.S. Capitol, an image of two vendors selling Trump gear near the scene began circulating on social media.
Text accompanying the image claims that the photos two subjects were not actually supporters of Trump, but instead were overcharging the presidents fans. The photo, however, has been miscaptioned.
Many posts included the following caption: Vendors who would identify themselves only as Nah and Stop asking me questions before you get your ass kicked sell merchandise near the Capitol. I aint into any of this shit, said Nah. But these stupid motherfuckers buying $100 sweatshirts are putting me through college.
The claim appears to have originated in a Jan. 8 satirical article published on the Medium page LEVEL . Labeled FAKE NEWS, the articles headline reads, We Added Some Details to Getty Photos of Those Terrorists Who Stormed the U.S. Capitol. The image of the vendors, along with the previously quoted caption, is the fifth one down the page.
The original photo, visible here: here , was taken by Jon Cherry, a stringer for Getty Images, on Jan. 6, 2021. Getty does not identify the vendors, nor does it suggest that they said anything negative about Trump or his supporters.
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Liberal Tears Mugs Peddled On Teechip By Dodgy
Theres an interesting story behind this one.
Until recently, whenever Donald Trump tweeted, some of the quickest responses would be by a bunch of dodgy-looking Twitter accounts talking about how they had just bought this Liberal Tears mug:
Theres an lengthy investigation about this thats quite fascinating. My guess is that those Macedonian teenagers might have something to do with it.
Inside The Business Of Trumps Trucker Hats And Clintons Pantsuit Tees
This election cycle, US presidential candidates have spent unprecedented amounts on campaign merchandise to raise funds and boost awareness.
WASHINGTON DC, United States This election, for democratic voters with a sense of humour, the Hillary Clinton campaigns e-commerce site is offering the everyday pantsuit tee, printed with the presidential candidates iconic wardrobe staple, for just $30. For the more fashion conscious supporter, theres a Clinton campaign chic scarf or t-shirts designed by Diane von Furstenburg and Tory Burch .
Catering to customers at the other end of the political spectrum, the Donald Trump campaigns online shop boasts a similar selection of slogan t-shirts, along with of course Trumps now infamous Make America Great Again baseball caps and trucker hats
Political merchandise isnt anything new. Hopeful candidates have long been producing branded gear to sell or give away to supporters, while campaign buttons pins, medallions or badges bearing political advertising date back to George Washington.
This election, by May 2016, unsuccessful Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders had spent $8.5 million on merchandise, according to federal disclosures, equivalent to around 5 percent of his campaigns total expenditures. By comparison, at the same point in the campaign, Donald Trump had spent $4.7 million and Hillary Clinton had spent $1.4 million.
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Heres The Trump Merch That Is Made In America
Those Make America Great Again Hats
The Hillary Clinton campaign took aim at Trumps trademark campaign slogan hats in August 2016, but it turns out the hats themselves were at least partially produced here in the states. The hats are hand-stitched in California, reports AP. But a fabric analysis and a conversation with two of the manufacturers employees and a top sales agent determined that the hats fabric, bills and stiffeners were imported.
According to Amazon purchasers, the blanket, which is listed as imported, is made in China.
And then theres this: A trademark application in India, reported by The Washington Post, which speaks volumes, is all-encompassing and daunting.
The trademark appears to show that the following Trump merch items were licensed to be manufactured in India in 2007:
So if youre in the market to buy some Trump products made in the good old U S of A, wed say your best bet is to visit one of his hotels or golf courses and only order bottled water.
Unemployment Claims Remained High In The Latest Weekly Report
New claims for unemployment benefits remained high last week, the government reported on Thursday, the latest evidence that the pandemic-racked economy still has a lot of lost ground to make up heading into a new year.
A total of 922,000 workers filed initial claims for state benefits during the final week of 2020, the Labor Department said, while another 161,000 new claims were filed under a federal pandemic jobless program. Neither figure is seasonally adjusted. On a seasonally adjusted basis, new state claims totaled 787,000.
The labor market has improved since the coronavirus pandemic broke out and closed down the economy. But of the more than 22 million jobs that disappeared in the spring, 10 million remain lost.
With a recently enacted $900 billion relief package that includes an extension of federal unemployment benefits, most of the unemployed can at least look forward to more financial help.
Still, this winter is going to be very difficult, said Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. financial economist at Oxford Economics. Were seeing overall economic momentum is slowing, and that feeds through to the labor market.
Employers are very cautious about rehiring at the same time they have had to increase layoffs, Ms. Bostjancic said, but the resurgence of the virus is really the main culprit here.
But longer-term trends, Mr. Tedeschi noted, are more meaningful than any week-to-week changes.
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‘i Took It To Another Level’: Entrepreneur Opens Pro
SOMERSET Recent polls show that President Donald Trumps approval rating has been slipping, if not plummeting.
USA Today this week cited a University of New Hampshire poll with 60 percent of respondents giving a thumbs down of Trumps overall performance in the Oval Office.
Another poll of three battleground states including Florida, where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 has him garnering less than favorable reviews.
But Keith Lambert doesnt give a whit about those polling numbers.
Since last October, when he opened his first New England for Trump retail store in Easton, Lambert has opened nine more.
The most recent of these had its soft opening a week ago on Route 6 in Somerset in a small, but highly visible commercial plaza building at 899 Grand Army Highway.
The drive-thru of the former Mega Donuts is still there, but to anyone driving by or pumping gas across the street at Cumberland Farms the place is completely unrecognizable from how it once looked.
Lambert, 48, views himself as the quintessential entrepreneur.
When I see something and like it, its boom I do it right away, he said.
His Somerset store sits on the southwest side of the corner of Brayton Point Road and Route 6, which is very likely the single most heavily traveled intersection in town.
Other nearby businesses, besides Cumbys, include Stop & Shop, Ocean State Job Lot, Somerset Liquors, Webster Bank and CVS.
Its a great site. Its got lots of transient and local traffic, he said.
