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UPS Training Nonunion Workers to Hedge Against Possible Strike

| Mike O'Brien

UPS has begun training nonunion workers among the manager ranks to step in as drivers and package handlers, should a contract settlement with the Teamsters fail to materialize before the July 31 deadline, a move that has angered the union as talks remain stalled with about two weeks remaining. The union president also said they don’t want or need the White House to mediate in the talks.

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Instacart, San Diego Reach Worker Settlement

| Mike O'Brien

Instacart and the attorney’s office for the city of San Diego have reached a settlement over charges it misclassified its delivery drivers as contractors, a heated and ongoing issue in California and elsewhere that challenges the economics of last-mile delivery companies using the pervasive gig model.

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FedEx Ground Group: Contractors Could Flip to Franchisees

| Mike O'Brien

The head of a renegade association of FedEx Ground contractors said those businesses have a strong case to be reclassified as franchisees, which would challenge the very contractor model the unit is built upon. Spencer Patton said many contractors could meet the reclassification test, giving them more legal rights and benefits.

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Ecommerce Fulfillment: More Efficiency, Less Costs

| Brian Barry

Absolute productivity has declined in many ecommerce fulfillment centers because productivity has not kept up with the rate of increased costs. Some larger companies are paying $18 to $20 per hour in some markets. With this in mind, here are 6 ways to become more efficient and reduce costs in your ecommerce fulfillment operations.

Retail Survey Finds Optimism, Increased Responsibilities

| Mike O'Brien

It seems nearly all workers in retail had their job roles expanded in 2020 as the pandemic forced thousands of stores to close even more rapidly as ecommerce exploded, creating demand in new areas as the industry drastically reset, a new survey found. Despite a difficult year, there was a good deal of optimism about 2021.

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Improving Your Ecommerce Fulfillment Center Operations

| Brian Barry

To determine if your ecommerce fulfillment center is running as efficiently as possible, start with an operations audit or assessment, taking into account quantitative and qualitative aspects of all processes and systems. Here are 11 ways to reduce costs, make your operations run smoother and improve the customer experience.

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Labor Shortfall for Warehouse Workers Growing Acute

| Mike O'Brien

Warehouses, distribution centers and fulfillment centers need to hire an additional 226,000 workers each in 2018 and 2019 just to keep pace with demand, driven largely by perpetually booming ecommerce, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE.