Latest news with #DEE-ANNDURBIN
Japan Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas go on strike in U.S. to protest new dress code
By DEE-ANN DURBIN A strike by Starbucks baristas protesting the company's new dress code grew Thursday. More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas at 120 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest the new dress code, according to Starbucks Workers United, a union representing the coffee giant's U.S. workers. Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Under the previous dress code, baristas could wear a broader range of dark colors and patterned shirts. Starbucks said the new rules would make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers as it tries to establish a warmer, more welcoming feeling in its stores. But Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents workers at 570 of Starbucks' 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said the dress code should be subject to collective bargaining. 'Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code,' said Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor from Hanover, Maryland. 'Customers don't care what color our clothes are when they're waiting 30 minutes for a latte.' Summers and others also criticized the company for selling styles of Starbucks-branded clothing that employees no longer are allowed to wear to work on an internal website. Starbucks said it would give two free black T-shirts to each employee when it announced the new dress code. Starbucks said Wednesday that the strike was having a limited impact on its 10,000 company-operated U.S. stores. In some cases the strikes closed stores for less than an hour, the company said. 'It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table that they're putting into protesting wearing black shirts to work," Starbucks said in a statement. "More than 99% of our stores are open today serving customers — and have been all week.' Associated Press readers who shared their opinions had mixed views of the dress code. Some said they didn't think Starbucks' baristas had much to complain about, noting that many retailers require their workers to dress a certain way. Others said they thought Starbucks should focus on improving the quality and prices of its beverages, and keeping workers happy instead of worrying about what its employees wear. Starbucks Workers United has been unionizing U.S. stores since 2021. Starbucks and the union have yet to reach a contract agreement, despite agreeing to return to the bargaining table in February 2024. The union said this week that it filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Starbucks' failure to bargain over the new dress code. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
12-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
As Biden-era 'junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
FILE - An advertisement for Ticketmaster is viewed along an area reserved for special guests on the sideline of the field before an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file) By DEE-ANN DURBIN As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said it agreed with the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell customers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes would bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where full ticket prices typically are displayed as soon as customers start shopping. SeatGeek, a platform for buying and selling original and resale tickets, said it also updated its features Monday to make 'all-in pricing the default' setting. 'Fans deserve pricing that's clear from the start,' said SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger said. "We're proud to roll this out across our platform and encouraged to see the industry move in this direction.' It has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said would help curb ticket scalping and bring 'commonsense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
09-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Expedia cites lower demand for U.S. travel for weaker-than-expected revenue
By DEE-ANN DURBIN Expedia Group said Friday that reduced travel demand in the United States led to its weaker-than-expected revenue in the first quarter. Expedia, which owns the lodging reservation platforms and VRBO as well as an eponymous online travel agency, was the latest American company to report slowing business with both international visitors and domestic travelers. Airbnb and Hilton noted the same trends last week in their quarterly earnings reports. Most major U.S. airlines pulled their full-year financial guidance in April and said they planned to reduce scheduled flights, citing an ebb in economy passengers booking leisure trips. The U.S. Travel Association has said that economic uncertainty and anxiety over President Donald Trump's tariffs may explain the pullback. In April, Americans' confidence in the economy slumped for a fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Abroad, anger about the tariffs as well as concern about tourist detentions at the U.S. border have made citizens of some other countries less interested in traveling to the U.S., tourism industry experts say. The U.S. government said last month that 7.1 million visitors entered the U.S. from overseas this year as of the end of March, 3.3% fewer than during the first three months of 2024. The numbers did not include land crossings from Mexico or travel from Canada, where citizens have expressed indignation over Trump's remarks about making their country the 51st state. Both U.S. and Canadian government data have shown steep declines in border crossings from Canada. Expedia Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel said the net value of the travel technology company's bookings into the U.S. fell 7% in the January-March period, but bookings to the U.S. from Canada were down nearly 30%. In a conference call with investors Friday, Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin said U.S. demand was even softer in April than March. 'We're still continuing to see pressure on travel into the U.S., but we've also seen some rebalancing,' Gorin said. 'Europeans are traveling less to the U.S., but more to Latin America.' Seattle-based Expedia said its revenue rose 3% to $2.99 billion for the quarter. That was lower than the $3 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Expedia shares were down than 7% in mid-day trading Friday. Airbnb said last week that foreign travel to the U.S. makes up only 2% to 3% of its business. But within that category, it's seeing declining interest in the U.S. as a destination. 'I think Canada is the most obvious example, where we see Canadians are traveling at a much lower rate to the U.S. but they're traveling more domestically, they are traveling to Mexico, they are going to Brazil, they're going to France, they're going to Japan,' Airbnb Chief Financial Officer Ellie Mertz said in a conference call with investors. Meanwhile, Hilton lowered its full-year forecast for revenue per available room, a key industry metric. The company said in late April that it now expects growth of 0% to 2% for the year, down from 2% to 3%. Hilton President and CEO Christopher Nassetta told stock analysts the company saw international travel to its U.S. hotels fall throughout the first quarter, particularly from Canada and Mexico. But Nassetta said he remained optimistic for the second half of this year. 'My own belief is you will see some of — if not a lot of — that uncertainty wane over the next couple of quarters, and that will allow the underlying strength of the economy to shine through again,' he said. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
