The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
When you factor in home, school, work, and other public spaces, the average person spends 90% of their time indoors. Given this, its probably no surprise that the built environment is responsible for 42% of the worlds carbon (CO2) emissions. This number is too big and the likelihood of it increasing is high when you consider aging buildings, extreme weather, a rising number of powered devices, and the energy demands of AI and high-performance computers. One way for workplaces to lower it is to go back to school and take a page from todays campus IT leaders and administrators.
In addition to monitoring energy consumption, shifting high demand processing needs to off-peak times, and taking advantage of government incentives including energy tax credits and grants, campus leaders have uncovered a new way to get a better handle on energy consumption. One that can potentially lower their buildings carbon emissions and be replicated in the workplace.
The problem with estimating energy needs
Energy consumption and distribution are often based on assumptions. For example, an ad hoc observation could tell you that sections of the library have fewer people on Saturday night versus Monday night. And that student projects and hackathons bring together clusters of people hovering over a table or in a lab.
You can also assume energy consumption is higher in dorms on weekday mornings as students get ready for classes while administration buildings are still dark, therefore requiring less power in the administration buildings. Also, for university administrators, budgeting meetings require a larger conference room while one-on-one conversations are in private offices. For these different activities, energy needs vary.
These assumptions may be helpful but are not entirely accurate; otherwise CO2 emissions would be decreasing. The HVAC and IT teams have likely already factored the ebb and flow of foot traffic and occupancy into buildings for heating and cooling systems. However, they cant know the frequency and timing of ad hoc meetings. Meanwhile, the time and cost of powering up an area for a short meeting can be untenable, which explains why a space is often set to a consistent room temperature regardless of usage.
Our buildings today dont understand what users need or intend. Im sure you remember evenings when you were studying or working alone in a classroom or office, only to have the lights suddenly shut offforcing you to do a little dance to turn them back on. The situation is similar with HVAC systems. In many buildings, a single rooftop unit cools the entire space, so if one person feels hot in a room and sets the thermostat to “low,” the system might crank up the AC dramatically, wasting a lot of energy. These reactive responses are inefficient for building systems. The future lies in leveraging spatial intelligence to understand how users interact with space and to predict future needs and trends.
Use AI to replace assumptions with actual data
Little is known about understanding how humans use campus buildings and the office, yet that is changing. Instead of assumption-based decisions, campuses are tuning in to how students and staff use the buildings. For a while, the benefits of occupancy trackers, productivity tools, and cameras were touted, but those are incomplete at best and invasive at worst.
This is why higher education institutions are tapping into newer technologies that combine AI and body heat sensing technology with anonymity to better understand how humans use indoor space. In addition to providing insight into foot traffic and occupancy, human movements can tell you the frequency of ad hoc meetings and the need for collaborative versus individual space based on how humans interact on a regular basis.
The institutions and organizations using these newer technologies arent interested in who is in the space, nor are they capturing that data; they are focused on how the space is being used.
Campus insights are transferable to the workplace
Campus energy demands are not unlike workplace energy demands. In many instances, both have a mix of older and newer buildings, fluctuating needs for individual work and group collaboration, and fluid foot traffic and occupancy due to shifts in return to office policies. Additionally, each campus and company have distinct corporate cultures.
When we have a complete and accurate picture of how indoor space is used by humans, it leads to a better distribution of heating and cooling systems to meet the needs of the people in them. As a result, we see:
Fewer blackouts: Despite older infrastructures being retrofitted, the number of blackouts is steadily increasing. Data from Climate Central reports that the U.S. has experienced a 58% increase in weather-related power outages over the past decade compared to the 2000s. A better understanding of energy consumption and needs can help lower the likelihood of blackouts.
Higher value from investments in retrofits: According to Professor Kent Larson, director of the City Science research group at the MIT Media Lab, one can lower a buildings carbon footprint by using deep energy retrofit with newer technologies in HVAC/building materials and building sensory systems, including heat sensing technology to understand the effects of movements in a space.
More productive workspaces: Instead of expensive or one-size-fits-all campus and office designs, interiors can reflect the distinct culture of the institution or organization. Spaces that accommodate the people in them result in more productive, collaborative, and meaningful environments.
These types of insights flow into cost savings on energy and maintenance, lower carbon footprints, greater return on technology investments, and higher retention.
In the workplace, its clear that employees are now in the office more regularly. In a January 2025 report, JLL cites rental rates are trending upwards and leasing has cemented post-pandemic highs in the last three consecutive quarters. Whats more, Q4 volume was at least 92% of pre-pandemic averages.
As organizations try to make the office a place employees want to be, it is worth taking a closer look at innovations on campuses that can make a difference in the well-being of employees and the planet.
Honghao Deng is the CEO and cofounder of Butlr, an MIT Media Lab spinout.
Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the alleged murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is in prison awaiting trial. But he still managed to launch a new website, along with his first official statement since his arrest, via his legal team.The message stated that Mangione, who is being held at Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center, has been “overwhelmed by” and “grateful” for the support he’s received in the form of letters from those who have been moved by his story.
Although Mangione is charged with Thompson’s murder, some Americans who are frustrated with the state of the health insurance industry have celebrated Mangione as a folk hero. Not long manhunt for the shooter began, there were memes, donations, merchandise, and conversations over the potential of copycats.“Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe,” said Mangione in the statement. “While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to write. I look forward to hearing more in the future.”
Mangione’s legal team also shared a note on the site, explaining why they felt the need to create the outlet. “Due to the extraordinary volume of inquiries and outpouring of support, this site was created and is maintained by Luigi Mangiones New York legal defense team to provide answers to frequently asked questions, accurate information about his cases, and dispel misinformation,” the note read. “The intent is to share factual information regarding the unprecedented, multiple prosecutions against him.”Per the site’s FAQ page, Mangione’s team asked that supporters limit the number of certain items they are sending, such as photos. “Luigi is allowed to receive photos via Shutterfly and FreePrints in accordance with mail procedures while in custody,” the section explains, noting Mangione has received many photos.“Due to the volume of photos, they could take longer than usual to be screened and shared. Luigi appreciates the photos that are sent and kindly asks that people send no more than five photos at a time. Please note that every photo that is received is screened and reviewed by law enforcement.” It also asked that supporters temporarily refrain from sending books, given a large number have already been sent.
The site also includes a link to a Give Send Go crowdfunding website, which supporters have been donating to in order to help pay for the suspect’s legal fees. As of Monday afternoon, the donations topped $475,000.Last week, the accused’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo told ABC News, “Luigi is aware of the fund and very much appreciates the outpouring of support.” Agnifilo continued, My client plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him.Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include first-degree murder, an act of terrorism, criminal possession of a weapon and forgery by using a fake ID. His next court appearance is scheduled for February 21 in Manhattan.
Personnel from Elon Musk’s government-downsizing team DOGE were set to visit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Air Traffic Control command center in Warrenton, Virginia, on Monday, as the Trump administration says it wants to reform the system.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed the plan in a social media post on Sunday.
DOGE personnel will “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system,” he added.
The Trump administration this month reversed course and denied participation to air traffic controllers or security officers of the Transportation Security Administration in a government incentive program to quit.
On Saturday, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said several hundred FAA probationary employees were among thousands fired as part of a campaign by President Donald Trump and Musk to slash the U.S. bureaucracy.
The union said the “draconian action will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin.”
The FAA did not immediately comment on Sunday.
Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, said on X in response late on Sunday to the planned DOGE visit that the “safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer.”
Musk previously cited concerns about the recent temporary failure of the FAA’s NOTAM pilot alerting system, housed at the Virginia command center.
This month Senator Maria Cantwell called on Duffy to bar Musk from involvement in FAA air space reform, citing conflicts of interest and saying SpaceX was fined by the agency. SpaceX did not comment late on Sunday.
The FAA handles an average of 45,000 daily flights and says more than a quarter of the worlds scheduled flights arrive at or depart from U.S. airports.
Last week, two U.S. senators called for increased funding and staffing for FAA air traffic after a fatal midair collision highlighted the persistent lack of aviation safety personnel.
Senators Jeanne Shaheen and John Hoeven said the FAA is more than 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. FAA controller staffing has been flat in recent years and is down 10% from 2012.
A January 29 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people near Washington Reagan National Airport in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.
Duffy says the administration plans to “make sure that America has the most innovative, technologically advanced air traffic control system.”
He is reconsidering rules that let air traffic control supervisors cut staffing before the fatal collision.
Duffy plans to soon announce steps to surge more air traffic control training and applicants and will visit the FAA Academy in Oklahoma this week to meet air traffic controller instructors and students.
David Shepardson, Reuters
Signaling a major shift in civil rights enforcement, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss six of its own cases on behalf of workers alleging gender identity discrimination, arguing that the cases now conflict with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, court documents say.
The requests by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mark a major departure from its prior interpretation of civil rights law, and a stark contrast to a decade ago when the agency issued a landmark finding that a transgender civilian employee of the U.S. Army had been discriminated against because her employer refused to use her preferred pronouns or allow her to use bathrooms based on her gender identity.
Just last year, the EEOC updated its guidance to specify that deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, or refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, constituted a form of harassment. That followed a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination.
Nearly all workplace discrimination charges must pass through the EEOC at least initially and the agencys decision to drop at least six of the cases raises serious questions about whether its protections will continue to extend to transgender and gender nonconforming people going forward.
The EEOC is seeking to dismiss three cases in Illinois as well as one in Alabama, New York and California. In each instance, the original complaints allege discrimination against transgender or gender nonconforming workers. The agency cites Trumps Jan. 20 executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two immutable sexes male and female as the reason for why it no longer intends to pursue the cases.
The Alabama case charged that Harmony Hospitality LLC discriminated against an employee who identifies as a gay nonbinary male by firing him hours after co-owners learned of his gender identity. The New York lawsuit alleged that Boxwood Hotels LLC fired a transgender housekeeper who complained that a supervisor repeatedly misgendered them and made anti-transgender statements, referring to the housekeeper as a transformer and it.
Another suit alleged that Wendys franchisee Starboard Group, Inc. subjected three transgender employees to pervasive sexual harassment at a Wendys restaurant in Carbondale, Illinois, claiming a supervisor demanded to know if one employee had a penis. In another Illinois case, a transgender Reggios Pizza cashier at Chicago OHare International Airport was outed by her manager, called a racist, homophobic slur by coworkers, and fired when she complained. In southern Illinois, at a hog farm called Sis-Bro, Inc., a coworker allegedly exposed his genitals to a transgender employee and touched her breasts.
And in Santa Clara, California, the EEOC charged that a Lush Handmade Cosmetics store manager sexually harassed three gender nonconforming employees with offensive physical and verbal sexual conduct.”
Former EEOC General Counsel and Professor and Co-Dean Emeritus at Rutgers Law School David Lopez, who served in the agency for more than 20 years, on Friday said in his experience, the EEOC has never dismissed cases based on substance rather than merit until now.
For the country’s anti-discrimination agency to discriminate against a group, and say, Were not going to enforce the law on their behalf itself is discrimination, in my view,” Lopez said. “Its like a complete abdication of responsibility.
The EEOC’s requests to dismiss the cases come just weeks after Trump dismissed two Democratic commissioners of the five-member EEOC before their terms expired, an unprecedented decision that removed what would have been a major obstacle to his administration efforts to upend interpretation of the nation’s civil rights laws. Had the commissioners been allowed to carry out their terms, the EEOC would have had a Democratic majority well into Trump’s term. The administration also fired Karla Gilbride as the EEOC’s general counsel, replacing her with Andrew Rogers as acting counsel.
Shortly after their dismissals, acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, signaled her intent to put the agency’s resources behind enforcing Trump’s executive order on gender. She announced in a statement that one of her priorities would be defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights.” Later, she ordered that the EEOC would continue accepting any and all discrimination charges filed by workers, although complaints that implicate Trump’s order should be elevated to headquarters for review.
Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters, Lucas said in her statement. Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly. She removed the agencys pronoun app, which allowed employees to display their pronouns in their Microsoft 365 profiles, among other changes.
The EEOC in fiscal year 2023 received more than 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the most since the agency started tracking these charges in FY 2013, and up more than 36% from the previous year, according to the agencys website, which also provides a link for more information on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But the information appears to have been removed and the link now leads to a blank page with the message: The requested page could not be found.
Jocelyn Samuels, one of the Democratic EEOC commissioners who was fired last month, said via email that Trump’s executive order and the EEOC’s response to it is truly regrettable.
“The Administrations efforts to erase trans people are deeply harmful to a vulnerable community and inconsistent with governing law,” she said.
Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign, added in an emailed statement: This is the inevitable outcome when the EEOC is weaponized to greenlight discrimination against American workers.
Instead of standing up for the rights of everyone to a workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and bias, the Trump administration is making it abundantly clear they will not protect working people.”
By Claire Savage and Alexandra Olson, Associated Press
The Associated Presss women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Last week, the Trump administration continued its federal firing spree. After recommendations from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the administration reportedly fired more than 300 of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers, then quickly rehired most of them, according to the AP. The chain of events prompted immediate concerns over national security.Pantex Plant, the primary nuclear weapons facility in the United States, in Carson County, Texas, was the target of 30% of the cuts. However, by Friday evening, Teresa Robbins, the acting administrator of NNSA, reportedly issued a memo rescinding the firings. All but 28 of the employees who were dismissed were told they had their jobs back. This letter serves as formal notification that the termination decision issued to you on February 13, 2025, has been rescinded, effective immediately, said the memo, which was obtained by the Associated Press.Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the AP the firings are disruptive to the organization as a whole, as well as the security of the country. I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a monkey wrench in the whole national security apparatus and cause disarray, he said. That can only benefit the adversaries of this country.The NNSA firings were only a fraction of the federal cuts made last week. On Friday, 9,500 federal workers were let go, in addition to the 75,000 who have already taken Trump’s buyout deal. But some say, DOGE is only cutting organizations it isn’t politically aligned withtargeting public health and the environment.For example, the U.S. Forest Service fired around 3,400 recent hires, the National Park Service laid off about 1,000 employees, according to Reuters, as well as nearly half of the probationary workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They are not going to go into agencies that are doing things they like. They are going into agencies they disagree with,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Republican director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), told Reuters. There were also job cuts reported at the FDA and the FAA.There have been at least 73 lawsuits filed over Trump’s executive orders since he took office. And on Monday, a national holiday, Reuters reported that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has called an emergency hearing to address DOGE’s recent firings. Chutkan will hear arguments from 14 states in order to decide whether to issue a temporary restraining order against DOGE.Last week, the courts blocked a number of DOGE’s efforts, temporarily barring the organization from accessing sensitive Treasury Department information and payment systems and disallowing the government from blocking federal funding due to a health agency providing gender-affirming services to minors.Over the weekend, Trump pushed back on efforts to block the administration’s efforts to overhaul government spending in a post on social media. “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” the president wrote.The sentiment mimics a quote often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. In the 1970 film Waterloo, Napoleon states, he did not “usurp the crown” but found it in the gutter” and “picked it up with my sword.” The quote continues, “and it was the people . . . who put it on my head. He who saves a nation violates no law.
Reports that Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is seeking access to a guarded Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system has raised alarm bells in Washington and across the nation. Lawmakers and taxpayers say theyre worried about the potential privacy implications of a department run by the worlds richest man having access to extremely sensitive personal and financial information.
While no IRS access has yet been granted or even officially requested, DOGE is already looking into the recesses of several government divisions and expected to broadly widen its scope in the coming weeks. And now a DOGE team member is reportedly close to gaining access to taxpayer data. The Washington Post reports that the IRS is under pressure from the White House to give DOGE officials access to its systems and databases, including one that would allow them to access IRS accounts and bank information.
This comes in the midst of the 2025 tax season, when Americans are in the process of filing their taxes and awaiting refunds.
Why is DOGE looking at the IRS?
The official primary reason being given, per a memorandum obtained by the Post, is for modernization of IRS systems and engineering assistance. The DOGE software engineer who will be working there is reportedly set to spend 120 days at the tax service. One idea the department has floated in the past was launching a mobile app letting people file their taxes.
Few, if any, are disputing that the IRS systems are in need of an overhaul. Many were built in the 1960s. Its the access to Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) thats especially unusual. (Even security clearance does not give individuals access to it.)
Will Elon Musk and his team have access to my tax records?
Musk, personally, wont have access, assuming integration follows the outline in the memorandum. Instead, a single DOGE staffer, software engineer Gavin Kliger, will reportedly work at the IRS and have access to IDRS, which reports say could give him and the Musk-run department access to social security numbers, bank information, and more.
What safeguards are being put into place to protect my privacy?
Kliger would be required to maintain the confidentiality of the tax return information he sees and is required to destroy it when he has finished his work at the IRS. Hes also required to not share any of that information with people who do not have access to IDRS.
Not everyone follows that agreement, of course. An IRS contractor named Charles Littlejohn is currently serving a five-year felony sentence for leaking the tax information of Trump, Musk, and others in 2021.
Could DOGE seeking access to the IRS system affect how long it takes to get my refund?
Thats uncertain. While the IRS has not extended its estimated timeline for refunds (which stands at up to 21 days for e-filed returns and 4 weeks or more for returns sent by mail), any changes to the IRS in the middle of tax season could cause a disruption.
DOGEs plan to update systems isnt the only potentially disrupting action the Trump administration has taken with the IRS. Thousands of probationary workers (recent hires or someone who has moved or been promoted into a new position) are expected to be laid off, and it’s unclear if that will slow down the processing of returns. (IRS workers were not given the option to accept a recent buyout offer extended to federal workers.)
At least one Democratic Senator is warning refund delays could happen, though.
NEW: My office is hearing that DOGE is now at the IRS. That means Musk's henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason.— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) February 13, 2025
Does this impact my chances of getting audited?
This, too, is unclear. The Biden Administration invested heavily in the IRS, with plans to hire tens of thousands of IRS workers to help with both customer service and enforcement. That investment came with the caveat that the funding, from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, would not be used to increase audits of people making $400,000 or less per year. The IRS has made limited progress with complying with that, however.
Its unclear if a reduction at the IRS could squeeze resources at the tax agency and reduce its ability to audit corporations and individuals.
Is it legal for DOGE to look through IRS records?
The courts will have to ultimately decide that. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, says DOGEs actions are illegal and a blatant power grab. And Attorneys General from 14 states, on Thursday, filed a lawsuit in federal court to challenge DOGEs plans, saying Musk and the Departments actions can only be taken by someone who has been approved by the Senate.
The Trump administrations effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices, and other products were fired.
Probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated, according to three FDA staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The total number of positions eliminated was not clear Sunday, but the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agencys centers for food, medical devices, and tobacco productswhich includes oversight of electronic cigarettes. It was not clear whether FDA employees who review drugs were exempted.
On Friday, some officials expected the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fire 5,200 probationary employees across its agencies, according to an audio recording of a National Institutes of Health department meeting. HHS oversees NIH, FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other things.
People who spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity on Friday said the number of probationary employees to be laid off at the CDC would total nearly 1,300. But as of early Sunday afternoon, about 700 people had received notices, according to three people who spoke on condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said none of the CDC layoffs affected the young doctors and researchers who track diseases in whats known as the Epidemic Intelligence Service.
The FDA is headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington and employs nearly 20,000 people. It’s long been a target of newly sworn-in health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who last year accused the agency of waging a war on public health for not approving unproven treatments such as psychedelics, stem cells and chelation therapy.
Kennedy also has called for eliminating thousands of chemicals and colorings from U.S. foods. But the cuts at FDA include staffers responsible for reviewing the safety of new food additives and ingredients, according to an FDA staffer familiar with the firings.
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday afternoon.
Nearly half of the FDAs $6.9 billion budget comes from fees paid by companies the agency regulates, including drug and medical device makers, which allows the agency to hire extra scientists to swiftly review products. Eliminating those positions will not reduce government spending.
A former FDA official said cutting recent hires could backfire, eliminating staffers who tend to be younger and have more up-to-date technical skills. The FDAs workforce skews toward older workers who have spent one or two decades at the agency, and the Government Accountability Office noted in 2022 that the FDA has historically faced challenges in recruiting and retaining staff due to better money in the private sector.
You want to bring in new blood, said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner under President George W. Bush. You want people with new ideas, greater enthusiasm and the latest thinking in terms of technology.
Mitch Zeller, former FDA director for tobacco, said the firings are a way to demoralize and undermine the spirit of the federal workforce.
The combined effect of what they’re trying to do is going to destroy the ability to recruit and retain talent,” Zeller said.
The FDAs inspection force has been particularly strained in recent years after a wave of departures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of the agencys current inspectors are recent hires. It was not immediately clear whether those employees were exempted.
FDA inspectors are responsible for overseeing thousands of food, drug, tobacco and medical device facilities worldwide, though the AP reported last year that the agency faced a backlog of roughly 2,000 uninspected drug facilities that hadnt been visited since before the pandemic.
The agency’s inspection force have also been criticized for not moving faster to catch recent problems involving infant formula, baby food and eyedrops.
By Matthew Perrone, AP Health Writer. AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina rejected a proposal to unionize, becoming the latest group of the companys employees to side against union representation.
About three-quarters of employees at an Amazon fulfillment center in Garner, a town located near Raleigh, voted against joining a grassroots labor organization called Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, the National Labor Relations Board announced Saturday.
The federal labor agency said 2,447 workers cast ballots against union representation while 829 voted in favor of joining the independent union, which is made up of former and current Amazon workers. The NLRB had said 4,300 Amazon workers were eligible to cast ballots in the election, which took place Monday through Saturday.
Rev. Ryan Brown, a former Amazon worker who cofounded the group, said Saturday, We had already braced ourselves for a loss.
We knew that historically the tide was against us to have a win for several reasons, Brown said. One, were in the South. Two, the average worker thats in North Carolina knows nothing about a union and the benefits of a union and what a union could do for them.
The outcome came just weeks after workers at a Whole Foods Market store in Pennsylvania voted to unionize, leading to the first successful entry of organized labor into the grocery chain, which Amazon owns. Following the union win, Whole Foods asked the NLRB to toss out the election results, arguing the voting process was tainted.
In 2022, workers at an Amazon warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island unionized with Amazon Labor Union, which joined forces with the Teamsters last year. However, Amazon has objected to the election result and refused to negotiate over a contract.
At the same time, the company has also been able to successfully fend off union victories at a second warehouse on Staten Island, as well as at facilities near Albany, New York, and in Bessemer, Alabama.
In November, an NLRB administrative law judge ordered a third union election for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer after determining that the company committed six violations leading up to a rerun election in March 2022. That rerun was held after the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is seeking to represent Amazon workers in Bessemer, filed objections to the first election, which results in a union loss.
Workers affiliated with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, have been organizing at the North Carolina warehouse since January 2022. Cofounder Brown said in an interview last month he started organizing because he felt like Amazon was not providing workers adequate protections against COVID-19.
The company said Saturday that Amazon already offers what many unions are requesting, such as safe and inclusive workplaces and competitive pay.
Were glad that our team in Garner was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep a direct relationship with Amazon,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a written statement.By Haleluya Hadero and Matt O’Brien, AP Business Writers
On Friday, Trader Joe’s issued a recall on yet another product: its frozen Organic Acai Bowls. A recall notice was posted on the company’s website, explaining the recall was due to the risk of plastic inside the frozen meal.
“Out of an abundance of caution, please discard any Trader Joes Organic Acai Bowls, as the product may contain foreign material (plastic), or return them to your neighborhood Trader Joes store for a full refund,” the message reads.
Notices were also spotted in Trader Joe’s locations.
While Trader Joe’s has voluntarily removed the product from shelves, the recall hasn’t made it to the Food and Drug Administration yet. As of Monday morning, the FDA had not listed the item on its list of newly recalled items.
Last week, another recall hit Trader Joe’s, too. Several canned tuna products were recalled over a risk of botulism. “Tri-Union Seafoods has made the decision to voluntarily recall select lots of canned tuna products sold under the Genova, Van Camps, H-E-B and Trader Joes brand names,” the FDA’s notice reads.It continued, “This voluntary recall is out of an abundance of caution following the notification from our supplier that the ‘easy open’ pull tab can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.”
In 2024, Trader Joe’s was plagued by a record number of recalls. Multiple frozen items were deemed unsafe due to foreign plastics, or other materials, like metals, lurking in the meals. Some customers complained they found rocks in a rice pilaf meal. The company had recalls over listeria concerns, salmonella, and more.
The products were sold under Trader Joe’s private label, which has raised concern about the brand’s cost-cutting measures. The company previously declined to answer Fast Company’s questions about the high number of recalls.
If youre on the cusp of buying a new iPhone, you might want to hold off until this Wednesday, February 19. Thats the day Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will be launching the newest member of the family.
But what does that cryptic tease mean, exactly? Is Cook talking about a new iPhone, a new computer, or even just a new accessory? Heres what you need to know about Apples upcoming product launch.
Get ready to meet the newest member of the family.Wednesday, February 19. #AppleLaunch pic.twitter.com/0ML0NfMedu— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 13, 2025
Get ready for the first new iPhone of 2025?
Anyone who follows tech news knows that Apple always announces its new iPhone family every September. The fall event happens like clockwork in the weeks following the Labor Day holiday.
But theres one exception to this annual product launch: the iPhone SE, Apples entry-level smartphone. The iPhone SE, which is currently on its third generation, has historically always launched in the spring, with its most recent iteration debuting in March 2022.
The prevailing assumption is that the product launch Tim Cook is referring to is the launch of a new fourth-generation iPhone SE. And if thats the case, the new one that launches on Wednesday could sport the first radical redesign in the phones history.
Potential iPhone SE redesign
The current iPhone SE (third-generation) has one big thing going for it: At a starting price of just $429, its the cheapest phone Apple sells.
But that’s about the nicest thing you can say about it. The phone has plenty of drawbacks, the most significant being it still has the form factor of the iPhone 8 from back in 2017. It has a tiny 4.7-inch display, thick bezels, Touch ID, and an archaic Lightning port (modern iPhones have USB-C). It also features an older A15 chip and just 4GB of RAMneither powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence.
In other words, the phone is ripe for a redesign, which is just what we might get this Wednesday. Reports have been circulating for at least a year now what the fourth-generation iPhone SE may look like. Here are some of the features that have been rumored for the new iPhone SE:
A larger 6.1-inch display
An edge-to-edge screen with small bezels (it will essentially have the body of the iPhone 14, says Bloomberg)
A18 chipset
8GB of RAM
Face ID
USB-C
A single rear camera
While none of these features would be considered a radical redesign for the iPhone family at large (other iPhones possess all these features and more), they would amount to a radical redesign of the current iPhone SE. And if the new SE gains 8GB of RAM and the A18 chipset, it would be powerful enough to run Apple Intelligencea first for the device.
If this new model is introduced on Wednesday, it would also represent the end of an era for the iPhone. If the new iPhone SE adds support for Face ID (which is a near certainty), then it would mark the end of Touch ID on the iPhoneApples biometric sensor that revolutionized security for the device, which was first introduced on the iPhone 5s back in 2013.
Other possible Apple announcements
Of course, there is the outside possibility that Tim Cook isnt referring to the imminent launch of the new iPhone SE in his post. If thats the case, there are a few other products Apple might be launching instead.
These include an upgraded Apple Vision Pro with an M5 chipset, an upgraded MacBook Air with an M4 chipset, or even upgraded AirTags. Still, the new iPhone SE seems most likely.
As for when Apple will make the announcement on Wednesday, the company usually drops product release news around 10 a.m. PT/ 12 p.m. ET.
