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Working Lunch

Working Lunch is a podcast from Align Public Strategies devoted to explaining the so what and now what about key issues impacting the restaurant and retail industries.

Food

New pork rules could affect more than the cost of chops and ribs

 By Peter Romeo on Aug. 21, 2023

Working Lunch: The strategy that changed what items can be sold in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey could be refocused on other protein sources, driving up the cost of beef and poultry.

Workforce

How Ohio's controversial abortion vote could be a blow for restaurants

 By Peter Romeo on Aug. 14, 2023

Working Lunch: Proponents of killing the tip credit through referendum were spared a tougher fight.

Workforce

Artificial intelligence could mean more litigation for restaurant employers

By Peter Romeo on Jul. 31, 2023

Working Lunch: Relying on a computer brain to sift through resumes for the ideal candidate could raise challenges about the criteria that are set by the employer.

Workforce

What restaurants can expect under California's resurrected plan for setting restaurant wages

By Peter Romeo on Jul. 21, 2023

Working Lunch: The Industrial Welfare Commission has until October 2024 to issue its recommendations for changing pay within specific trades. Here's how that process will work.

Workforce

Fast Act's on hold, but Calif. has pushed through another way to raise fast-food wages

By Peter Romeo on Jul. 14, 2023

Working Lunch: The SEIU was successful in recreating the 1920s-era Industrial Welfare Commission, with the power to set pay within industries with a large portion of low-wage earners.

Operations

Are restaurant surcharges about to be added to Biden's 'junk fees' list?

By Peter Romeo on Jun. 26, 2023

Working Lunch: The industry is tacking on service fees cavalierly. Is that attitude about to backfire in the form of regulation?

Operations

Politicians are quietly creating a new route for restaurants to sell wine

By Peter Romeo on Jun. 16, 2023

Working Lunch: It's an often-overlooked channel with plenty of room for growth, according to a lobbyist in the trenches.

Workforce

Minn. is set to give restaurants a preview of the Fast Act's impact

By Peter Romeo on Jun. 12, 2023

Working Lunch: Nursing-home workers will now get a say in what they should be paid, a setup organized labor views as an alternate way of delivering the benefits of collective bargaining. Restaurants need to push back on what's now a trend.

Consumer Trends

Now Chick-fil-A is being blasted by the right

By Peter Romeo on Jun. 05, 2023

Working Lunch: The high-flying chain is drawing fire for hiring a head of diversity, equity and inclusion. Is any brand safe from the nation's political polarization?

Workforce

Restaurants are about to draw more fire as employers

By Peter Romeo on May 30, 2023

Working Lunch: The violation of child-labor laws by a few bad actors are tarnishing the whole business' image as a place to work. And the volume is about to go way up.

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