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An on-campus delivery robot at Arizona State University ran into a university employee after “abruptly changing direction” and caused her to fall over and be injured, according to a police report obtained by 404 Media. After the Starship delivery robot began to drive away, it “abruptly goes into reverse again and heads toward [the victim] again, who is still on the ground,” the report states. In the aftermath of the incident, the company offered to give the victim its insurance information “and promo codes” for use on the service, which is used to deliver takeout food.
The incident, which happened last September, is an example of semi-autonomous delivery robots not just getting lost, causing traffic, or wandering off, but of a direct collision with a person. Another police report obtained by 404 Media involving the theft and safe return of a Starship robot shows that the company initially asked police not to charge the student, but later changed its mind and asked police to arrest him. The student was ultimately charged with a felony. These cases, obtained using public records requests, provide more insight into how incidents with delivery robots are handled by the police and by the company, and comes as Starship operates at 30 universities in the United States.
Are you planning to visit the city of Namur in Wallonia, Belgium, but not sure what to do? Try a scavenger hunt through the city center, trying to find all 40+ miniatures hidden in plain sight.
The miniatures of Spanish artist Isaac Cordal, representing anonymous civil servants, aim to let passersby contemplate consumerism, social inequality, the absurdity of our existence, and the place of the little man in our contemporary society.
Besides the locations marked on the city map, several unmarked miniatures are said to be hidden in various places. Ignore the frustration associated with looking for needles in a haystack the size of Namur’s city center, and let yourself be rewarded with finding one if you’re lucky!
Beto Sanchez, 27, started his lunch break, opened his phone and saw, to his shock, that he and his co-workers at Starbucks had lost a United States Supreme Court case.
As his phone vibrated with texts from lawyers and friends, the irony of the situation sank in.
“I’m generating revenue for this company with my labor while the court is deciding that I should have just been fired,” he said, laughing.
It’s been over two years since Sanchez and six colleagues — dubbed “the Memphis Seven” — were fired after they tried to unionize their Poplar-Highland store. At the request of the National Labor Relations Board, the District Court of the Western District District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction against their firing and they were reinstated.
Starbucks appealed that injunction all the way to the Supreme Court. On June 13, the court ruled that the District Court should have employed a different standard of evidence before issuing an injunction. The court’s decision means it is now easier to fire workers for organizing.
The company has spent, perhaps, millions of dollars in legal fees to prove they shouldn’t have been reinstated. But if Starbucks’s goal was to break the union members or force them out, their efforts have backfired. Sanchez, a shift supervisor, and three other members of the Memphis Seven still work at Starbucks. The workers who remain at Starbucks sense their employer wishes they would get another job — and that’s why they won’t.
“If Starbucks really thinks they’re going to get rid of us, they’re not,” said Florentino Escobar, 21, a barista, trainer and another member of the Seven.
Neither Sanchez nor Escobar were activists before they worked at Starbucks. By contrast, Sanchez said that their firing turned them into “martyrs of Starbucks’ union busting.”
Now, Sanchez and Escobar have become well-known figures in a resurgent American labor movement. Working for Starbucks is no longer just about paying their bills.
“I know that if management and the corporation are so hostile to us, it’s because they know that there’s something in us that can make a change,” said Escobar.
Escobar used to love going to Starbucks.
He grew up in Collierville, a suburb he described as “very conservative.” Escobar is Latino-American and queer, and in Collierville, “being different is seen as quite literally being an alien,” he said.
Still, he felt comfortable in Collierville’s Starbucks. “It was so diverse,” he said. “There were a lot of LGBT employees, a lot of people of color and even people with disabilities. It was nice to be able to go there and talk to some of them.” When he started looking for a first job in high school, Starbucks was a natural choice. He became a barista in early 2020.
His story almost sounds like it could have been written by Howard Schultz.
Schultz, Starbucks’s former CEO, made Starbucks a national brand by emphasizing the social function of its stores. In 2008, a Starbucks manager told Fast Company magazine, “We want to provide all the comforts of your home and office. You can sit in a nice chair, talk on your phone, look out the window, surf the web… oh, and drink coffee too.”
Famously, Schultz also treated partners well; he distinguished himself from other CEOs by offering workers health care, stock options and payment above minimum wage. To Schultz, these benefits make a Starbucks union unnecessary. In 2023, Schultz insisted, “Starbucks is probably one of the best, if not the best, first job in America.”
It didn’t feel that way to Escobar. Shortly after he started his job, the COVID-19 pandemic began. “At first, the company was really supportive,” said Escobar. “But then it started going downhill.”
Sanchez and Escobar, along with their coworkers and supporters, on the strike line in February 2022. Video by Andrea Morales for MLK50
In 2021, Escobar moved from Collierville to the Poplar-Highland store, where he met Sanchez. During that period, workers were under enormous pressure. Shifts had fewer workers, making it difficult for baristas to keep up with customer demand. Workers felt inadequately protected from the virus. The ice machine was moldy, but management refused to replace it. Their paychecks were often inexplicably short.
Even before the pandemic, some Starbucks employees had become disillusioned with the company. Workers get benefits if they work at least 20 hours a week. Some, however, were scheduled inconsistently and unpredictably, which meant, in practice, that some employees never received any benefits. Meanwhile, Starbucks’s ever-growing list of drinks and modifications — currently, there are at least 170,000 possible drink combinations at Starbucks — has made the job of a barista harder.
On Jan. 17, 2022, Poplar-Highland workers announced they’d seek a union vote. A few weeks later, on February 8, seven of the workers were fired. Their firing led to the NLRB’s intervention — and, eventually, to the Supreme Court.
On May Day of 2022, Sanchez and another organizer were invited to give a speech in New York City at an event hosted by several labor unions in New York City. That afternoon, they marched to Howard Schultz’s Manhattan home and protested outside.
The Memphis Seven also thinks Starbucks is weaker than it used to be, despite the company’s court victory.
On July 30, Starbucks reported that its sales had declined for the third quarter in a row. According to Sanchez, worker turnover has increased. Meanwhile, younger consumers are boycotting the company.
On Aug. 13, Starbucks swapped its CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, for Brian Niccol, a former Chipotle CEO with a fraught history with unions. Unlike Schultz, Narasimhan seemed open to working with unions, but he failed to increase revenues at the company.
To boost sales, Starbucks has started offering more promotions. These deals “reek of desperation,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez holds the microphone during a February 2022 strike line. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Starbucks Workers United is now in a stronger position than expected. Currently, the union is negotiating with Starbucks to create a “foundational framework,” a contract that functions as a set of guidelines. These guidelines will allow each unionized store to create its own collective bargaining agreement with Starbucks. The framework is expected to include health and safety protections, protected scheduling, standards for discipline and protections for workers who want to organize their stores.
Sanchez, the Poplar-Highland store’s delegate in negotiations, seems confident in their prospects.
“We’re hoping that what we build will make it easier for others to follow in our path,” he said. “Others will be able to see what they can win from organizing, to be able to see that it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Rebecca Cadenhead is the youth and juvenile justice reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. She is also a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Email her rebecca.cadenhead@mlk50.com.
This story is brought to you by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors.
Got a story idea, a tip or feedback? Send an email to info@mlk50.com.
In our continual efforts to provide you with the confusing level of treatment you’ve come to expect, we’d like to introduce you to HellthChase, our new cumbersome and contactless check-in solution.
HellthChase invites and obligates you to engage in the unpaid data entry of your health information. Once you’re set up, you can complete a variety of other activities online without having to interact with a human regarding important medical care.
What kinds of activities can I complete on HellthChase? You can attempt such tedious tasks as:
Ask questions or request prescription refills from doctors and staff who might read and respond within one day or never
Regularly scan and upload your insurance card and driver’s license because we’re not sure we believe you that you are who you say you are
Sign forms with a pre-selected online signature in the font of an eight-year-old child’s writing
Be gaslit into thinking you can schedule appointments online easily
Examine some HIPAA forms you signed but never read and don’t give a shit about
Opt in by default to receive texts about balances due, with no billing or insurance detail
Are my records secure? Yes. All personal data entered online is completely hacker-proof. Did you know that prior to web-based recordkeeping, paper records were constantly being snagged from doctors’ offices by cat burglars?
Is that true? No, but it’s a narrative that HellthChase says inspires instant cooperation from technophobic patients.
Given that I can complete forms at home before my appointment, will HellthChase save me time? Oh, god, no. HellthChase convinced us to purchase off-brand digital tablets that our receptionists will hand you at check-in. The tablets love to freeze and time out, which allows you to mindfully watch a digital hourglass (HellthChase likes to say they put the “patient” in “Patient Portal”). Once our Wi-Fi has caught up and the screen refreshes or starts over at the beginning, you will get a chance to confirm or re-enter any information you previously completed before your appointment.
Wait, if I have to hold a tablet… didn’t you say it was contactless? Well, you don’t have to touch the receptionist’s hand; you just have to take the tablet. Technically, you aren’t making contact with a human, which is our ultimate goal. However, holding a tablet that was held moments earlier by another ill person allows you exposure to healthy germs that will keep your immune system robust.
Will this system connect with patient portal systems my other doctors use so I can have one login? No. As an American with healthcare, you must have unique passwords for at least twenty bespoke portals, none of which connect with one another.
Did my previous online health records migrate over? Ha ha ha, what? No. Those were lost in a cloud fire. You can declare yourself at the beginning of a fresh start of your health, or if you were a really anxious nerd and you printed your previous records, you can try entering them on your own (but remember the character limit). Or you may give them to your provider, who will just throw them in the trash.
Two days ago, I requested a prescription refill, but I have not heard back. Should I request a refill via my pharmacy? No. This double-dipping will create confusion and delay. Just be patient. Doctors may take twenty-four to forty-eight hours to respond, but sometimes take 1,204 hours due to regular software updates to the portal.
I received a scary test result via the portal. Can I please speak with a doctor to confirm I’m not dying? What are you doing trying to interpret your own test results? Those are not meant for your eyes. Wait for your doctor to message you that everything is fine.
Isn’t the point of the portal to access my information? The point of the portal is that it’s cool and proves we aren’t afraid to stay on the cutting edge of technology, even when it’s not helpful yet. There are definitely notes our doctors make and see, and you will never know about anything you don’t have access to. You really shouldn’t be looking at anything. Except the HIPAA forms.
I’d prefer not to be texted balances due. Can you mail me a bill instead? No. One hundred percent of ill Americans, you included, are criminals who plan to never pay their medical balances, so for efficiency, we omit sending detailed paper bills. Instead, the portal bombards you with a series of texts with balance reminders, which is not unlike the harassment of debt collectors. Just trust that the amount we say you owe is correct. Pay immediately, or you will be texted repeated threats and insults, you lazy sack of disease-riddled bones.
Can I opt out of this bullshit? No, you are obligated to take charge of your well-being with HellthChase. Sign in today to take an active role in getting actively frustrated by your healthcare. Your username is your social security number, and your default password is SucKeR.
WASHINGTON, DC—After running a thousand errands, working hours of overtime, and being stuck in seemingly endless gridlock traffic commuting to and from their jobs, millions of Americans were disheartened to learn that it was, in fact, only Tuesday.
“Tuesday?” San Diego resident Doris Wagner said. “How in the hell is it still Tuesday?”
Tuesday’s arrival stunned a nation still recovering from the nightmarish slog that was Monday, leaving some to wonder if the week was ever going to end, and others to ask what was taking Saturday so goddamn long.
“Ugh,” said Wagner, echoing a national sense of frustration over it not even being Wednesday at the very least.
According to suddenly depressed sources, the feeling that this week may in fact last forever was further compounded by the thought of all the work left to be done tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and, if Americans make it that far, possibly even Friday, for Christ’s sake.
Fears that the week could actually be going backwards were also expressed.
“Not only do Americans have most of Tuesday morning to contend with, but all of Tuesday afternoon and then Tuesday night,” National Labor Relations Board spokesman David Prynn said. “If our calculations are correct, there is a chance we are in effect closer to last weekend than the one coming up.”
Added Prynn: “Fuck.”
Reports that this all has to be some kind of sick joke could not be confirmed as of press time.
Isolated attempts to make the day go faster, such as glancing at watches or clocks every other minute, compulsively checking e-mail, hiding in the office bathroom, fidgeting, or reading a boring magazine while sitting in the waiting room, have also proven unsuccessful, sources report.
The National Institutes of Standards and Technology, which oversees the official time of the United States, is flatly denying that it has slowed or otherwise tampered with Tuesday’s progression.
“The current Tuesday is keeping apace with past Tuesdays with no more than one ten-thousandth of a second’s variation at the most,” NIST spokeswoman Dr. Geraldine Schach said. “However, I sympathize with the common consensus that this week has already been a colossal pain in the neck.”
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao released a statement addressing widespread speculation that it might as well be Monday for all anyone cares.
“We understand this day has been tough on many of you, what with meetings mercilessly dragging on and an entire stack of files still left to organize,” Chao’s statement read in part. “Yet we urge Americans to show patience. The midweek hump is just around the corner, and we have strong reason to believe that Saturday will be here before you know it.”
“Go about your lives as best you can,” the statement continued. “Do not, we repeat, do not take a sick day, as it’ll make the rest of the week that much harder to endure.”
In the meantime, citizens are doing their best to cope with the interminable week, though Tuesday is still hours away from ending.
“The more I try to speed it along, the longer it almost seems to take,” said Dale Bouchard, a Chicago-based broker who has been waiting for today to be over since it first began earlier this morning. “Honestly, today could not have come at a worse time this week.”
In the meantime, the latest wristwatch consultations indicate that it is somehow still Tuesday, if that makes any sense at all.
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.
A reader writes:
This is a weird low-stakes thing. I work in a small government office and we have a guy working here who’s been here for over 40 years and is within a year or two of retiring.
I like him well enough, but I’ve noticed he almost never calls women by their names. Any woman he speaks to, he addresses as just “you,” and if he’s talking about a woman who’s not in the room, he just says “her.” There are more women working here than men, and he always uses the men’s names or at least their surnames.
It makes it very confusing when I have no idea which “her” he means. I’m “her,” my closest colleague is “her,” our big boss is “her.”
I have no idea if he’s doing it deliberately/maliciously or if he just genuinely can’t remember any of our names, and thus no idea if I should be outraged or trying to do anything about it. If I prompt him, he usually will clarify who he’s talking about, after a bit of hesitation, and he’s not particularly sexist or anything beyond this. Is this just a weird quirk I should continue to be mildly amused and perplexed by, or should I be taking a more active stance in getting him to use women’s names?
Why not just ask him about it? “I’ve noticed you never refer to women by their names although you use men’s names. How come?”
And then maybe: “It’s really hard to know who you’re talking about when you don’t use names. Can you please use our names just like you do with men?”
Who knows why he’s doing this. Maybe he’s uncomfortable with women, maybe he sees us all as a generic block with no individuality, maybe he’s taking a stand against women being at work. I don’t know, but it’s weird and troubling and it doesn’t belong at work. You should feel free to call him out on it every time, which will make him look even weirder if he insists on continuing.
You might also point it out to your boss. I’m guessing she’s noticed, but saying it out loud might nudge her to address it herself.
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