I’ve been reading NJ.com since the early 2000’s. I’m from NJ a long time ago, they usually have lots of interesting reporting, they cover the Giants and Devils, and I used to love the forums, sports and politics. They’re very much a left wing paper. Overall, probably slightly less left than Pelosi and Schumer. But, hey, just like so many other Democrat companies, when Government starts raising their costs, they suddenly squeal and abandon those leftist principles
This fresh blow to newspapers — and our democracy — must be stopped | Editorial
This editorial is that rare piece that presents an unavoidable conflict of interest for us, since we in the dwindling press corps are not the observers this time; we are one of the players. But please, hear us out.
Because for local newspapers, this could be a matter of life and death. And for larger papers, like the Star-Ledger, the risk is further reductions in the already depleted coverage of local towns and school districts. Does any sane person believe that calling off the watchdogs would be good for New Jersey?
Wait, wait, Government instituting policies and requirements can have an adverse effect on companies? Huh
The solution wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. It would only require that the state allow the status quo to continue, as a bill pending in the Assembly would do. New York and California have already passed laws to protect newspapers in their states. New Jersey needs to follow that lead, as a pending bill would do, and it’s urgent.
The issue is the treatment of the men and women who deliver newspapers, usually for a few hours a day, early in the morning, typically earning about $300 a week. For nearly two centuries, and across the country, the job has been done by contractors who are not classified as employees of the newspapers.
But now the state Department of Labor is strictly enforcing a law that’s been on the books since the FDR era, upending tradition by ordering these workers to be treated as employees. That means newspapers, or the firms they hire to handle delivery, would have to pay taxes to cover benefits like unemployment and disability, just as they do for full-time employees. It would cost the Star-Ledger, already diminished by layoffs and buyouts, about $3 million a year.
You can easily dig through the archives, including the writings of the editorial board, to find that NJ.com has taken the side of the Democrats in all sorts of issues, such as Obamacare, raising taxes on businesses, and raising the minimum wage, not too mention all the COVID shutdowns and such. But, when it hits NJ.com in the wallet? No siree Bob!. We keep seeing this, like Starbucks being again unionizing stores. The NY Times and Amazon were against unions in their own workplaces. Plenty of examples of that.
Understand, this is not a simple story about heroes and villains. Many contract workers are happy to be independent players. And it’s impossible to draw a bright line between contractors and employees that fits every circumstance. Gray areas abound.
Interesting
N.J. legislators should do what Washington state just did for rideshare drivers | Opinion
The past month has been incredible for working people. Just this week, Starbucks workers in Boston voted to unionize two stores. This follows another victory just across the Hudson, where Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island recently unionized after years of intense confrontation with the company.
As a driver with Lyft, one win that happened on the other side of the country still hits close to home. There in Washington state, rideshare drivers worked with Uber and Lyft, the local Teamsters union and democratically elected officials to pass a first-of-its-kind law providing them greater benefits and protections without jeopardizing their independence.
Granted, that’s not the editorial board, but, the paper was good with government forcing other companies to unionize, to treat contract labor as employees. Just, not their own company.
Time after time we see big businesses like Starbucks or Amazon reporting record profits. Workers have RIGHTS in this country one of which is to form unions. The parent company of NJ.com has revenues of 6000 million. 3 million extra costs will not break them.
The right-wing has always sided with the owners and the elites against the workers. In this case the editorial staff is siding with their rich owners. Thanks Teach for pointing this out and being pro Union !!
I find this hugely amusing: the Star Ledger wants an exemption from laws they support for other people!
Because I’m mostly deaf, television and radio news are practically useless to me; while I use closed captioning on my television, CC on live broadcasts is usually an unreadable mish-mash. I need to read the news, not listen to it.
And so, since I have a mostly unappreciated blog, I subscribe to five newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post — I have a friend at the Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Lexington Herald-Leader. That’s kind of expensive when you consider all of them, but it’s what I do.
But, in the end, print newspapers are 18th century technology, and if newspapers cannot figure out how to transition to a 21st century market, that’s on them. The Star Ledger is deathly afraid that they won’t be able to afford their paperboys? Too bad, so sad, but they need to figure out how to survive without the dead-trees print editions to which fewer and fewer people subscribe.
Corporations have obligations to their shareholders to maximize profits, not to be socially conscious (unless it helps profits)!
They have found that contractors cut their labor costs by off-loading the costs of benefits. The world’s largest drug company ran afoul of the law by using ‘contractors’ that violated each of legal considerations below.
Employer control. If a worker must follow an employer’s instructions regarding when, where, and how to perform the work, this suggests an employer-employee relationship. This is the biggest single factor in the determination.
Hours of work. Set hours of work suggests the individual is an employee.
Full-time. Working full-time or substantially full-time for one employer suggests an employer-employee relationship.
Employer’s premises. Work performed substantially or exclusively on company premises suggests the individual is an employee.
Payment by the hour, week, or month. Payment on a regular schedule suggests the worker is an employee. Independent contractors are usually (but not always) paid by the job.
Training. Any direct training provided by the employer suggests the individual is an employee.
That looks like a list of bullshit designed to eliminate independent jobs made up by bureaucrats and politicians devoid of any actual business experience. If you were an actual businessman you would know that. Not one of those “legal considerations” has anything to do with the nature of contracting which is itself a business. All of your political gyrations like these are just cover for your Marxist desire to eliminate nonunion-government approved jobs. The idea that people think independently revolts you. We understand that weakness in the communist mind. As far as you and your commie ilk are concerned independent contractors are just another set of bourgeoise to be exterminated.
Why not? You’ve systematically destroyed almost all of what made America great so next on your hit list are contractors. Have at’em. There’s not much left to save of America now.
In a world full of lies the truth is a conspiracy.
I only have one request. When I die. Don’t let me vote Democrat!
My child wants to be a liberal for Halloween but I told her that’s not possible. Her head won’t fit up her ass.
Whoever voted for Biden owes me gas money.
Biden invented 2 more three-letter agencies. LGB and FJB.
Joe Biden will never get my guns. I have them Upstairs.
The greatest bit of wisdom ever coming from Biden and the democrats and I quote:
“Buy a man eat fish, the day, teach man to lifetime.” I’m Joe Biden and I forgot this message.
College courses have been established to decipher the wisdom of these words. The common and prevailing theory is Joe thinks we still own slaves and should feed them fish their whole live so that we dont have cows farting co2. Just a guess though.
Why should workers have rights? Or businesses?
See Hairy and Dowd are just here to argue and inflame anger by throwing shit against the wall.
First it is AGW were all going to die. Then its, well workers should have rights and earn lots of money so they can buy stuff that COSTS CO2 to make.
They are just bullshit artists.
“Anyone who says that we will tell people to stop eating meat, or stop wanting to have a nice house, and we’ll just basically change human desires, I think that that’s too difficult,” Gates admitted.
He then argued that these things don’t necessarily have to play a central role in fighting climate change, noting that rich countries only account for less than a third of all emissions.”
“Those [remaining] two-thirds of emissions are pretty basic in terms of the calories and shelter and transport and goods being used. So, the excesses of the rich countries … even curbing those completely out of existence is not a solution to this problem,” he said adding: “I’m looking at what the world has to do to get to zero, not using climate as a moral crusade.”
So you two should make up your mind. I would think you would want the people to be poor so that they cant buy anything forcing corporations into bankruptcy. Oh wait thats what your doing right now.
Damn and I thought I was on to guys.
Doom and Gloom may be ‘on to guys’ but that’s his personal choice, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We prefer that no one be poor.
Anyway, Gates is pointing out the reality of the situation.
But it’s good you switched topics.
Our madcap Missourian wrote:
Yet you guys promote policies which insure that many, many people will be poor!
By supporting welfare, you are concomitantly supporting keeping people on the dole, rather than working for a living and developing the skills and experience to work themselves out of poverty. Welfare is the Faustian bargain that we will pay people not to work if they will agree to live in poverty.
By supporting the sexual license, you are concomitantly supporting policies which have led to 70% of black children in this country to be born as bastards; by supporting welfare, you are concomitantly supporting policies which help keep ‘baby daddies’ from meeting their responsibilities to support their children.
By supporting Affirmative Action, you are concomitantly telling blacks that they just aren’t as good or as smart as whites, which lowers black school graduation rates, which robs the dropouts of millions in potential future earnings.
By opposing American culture as “white supremacy,” you are concomitantly encouraging racial and ethnic minorities to behave in economically self-destructive ways.
It’s really amazing how completely wrong you guys are. Just random chance ought to lead liberals to be right on something, but no, you guys are literally wrong on every single policy you propose.
Our resident Klown from Kentucky is wrong on almost everything!!
Just random chance ought to lead connies to be right on something, but no, you guys are literally wrong on every single policy you propose.
Klown: Can’t afford health care? Tough. Die!
Klown: White supremacy is a myth!
Klown: Black Americans are not disadvantaged! Any disadvantages are caused by Democratic policies!
Klown: Democratic ideas have caused the high illegitimacy in whites and blacks.
Nope, Dana is clearly correct. Jeff is dreaming up crap. One example, lack of medical care. The only folks not getting adequate care are those that don’t desire it.
Obsession!, a new stench by Fish-belly
I think Gates is saying pretty much what the rest of the anti-AGW crowd thinks. Do not destroy the economy of the West for the sake of a few molecules of co2 when it really won’t make any difference. The left and AGW have the policy of tossing the baby with the bathwater, which I think goes to show that AGW is being funded by China and has been proven many times over only to be buried by the MSM.
Imagine what a difference it could make if we could get China and India to get on board. As it is, any Carbon saving the USA gains are overwhelmed by Chinese pollution. AGW is a white people’s problem. The rest of the world doesn’t care. Just like pollution controls, thwarting human trafficking and preserving wildlife. Left up to the Chinese, they would kill off every endangered species for a “traditional medicine” approach to Viagra. There are no birds in China and Chinese fishing fleets are strip mining the oceans.