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World Food Programme’s Cindy McCain says they need “full, unfettered access” into Gaza
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New $20 minimum wage for fast food workers in California set to start Monday
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Most fast food workers in California will be paid at least $20 an hour beginning Monday when a new law is scheduled to kick in, giving more financial security to a historically low-paying profession while threatening to raise prices in a state already known for its high cost of living.
Democrats in the state Legislature passed the law last year in part as an acknowledgement that many of the more than 500,000 people who work in fast food restaurants are not teenagers earning some spending money, but adults working to support their families.
That includes immigrants like Ingrid Vilorio, who said she started working at a McDonald’s shortly after arriving in the United States in 2019. Fast food was her full-time job until last year. Now, she works about eight hours per week at a Jack in the Box while working other jobs.
“The $20 raise is great. I wish this would have come sooner,” Vilorio said through a translator. “Because I would not have been looking for so many other jobs in different places.”
The law was supported by the trade association representing fast food franchise owners. But since it passed, many franchise owners have bemoaned the impact the law is having on them, especially during California’s slowing economy.
Alex Johnson owns 10 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Cinnabon restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. He said sales have slowed in 2024, prompting him to lay off his office staff and rely on his parents to help with payroll and human resources.
Increasing his employees’ wages will cost Johnson about $470,000 each year. He will have to raise prices anywhere from 5% to 15% at his stores, and is no longer hiring or seeking to open new locations in California, he said.
“I try to do right by my employees. I pay them as much as I can. But this law is really hitting our operations hard,” Johnson said.
“I have to consider selling and even closing my business,” he said. “The profit margin has become too slim when you factor in all the other expenses that are also going up.”
Over the past decade, California has doubled its minimum wage for most workers to $16 per hour. A big concern over that time was whether the increase would cause some workers to lose their jobs as employers’ expenses increased.
Instead, data showed wages went up and employment did not fall, said Michael Reich, a labor economics professor at the University of California-Berkeley.
“I was surprised at how little, or how difficult it was to find disemployment effects. If anything, we find positive employment effects,” Reich said.
Plus, Reich said while the statewide minimum wage is $16 per hour, many of the state’s larger cities have their own minimum wage laws setting the rate higher than that. For many fast food restaurants, this means the jump to $20 per hour will be smaller.
The law reflected a carefully crafted compromise between the fast food industry and labor unions, which had been fighting over wages, benefits and legal liabilities for close to two years. The law originated during private negotiations between unions and the industry, including the unusual step of signing confidentiality agreements.
The law applies to restaurants offering limited or no table service and which are part of a national chain with at least 60 establishments nationwide. Restaurants operating inside a grocery establishment are exempt, as are restaurants producing and selling bread as a stand-alone menu item.
At first, it appeared the bread exemption applied to Panera Bread restaurants. Bloomberg News reported the change would benefit Greg Flynn, a wealthy campaign donor to Newsom. But the Newsom administration said the wage increase law does apply to Panera Bread because the restaurant does not make dough on-site. Also, Flynn has announced he would pay his workers at least $20 per hour.
Transcript: Cindy McCain, World Food Programme executive director, on “Face the Nation,” March 31, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Cindy McCain, World Food Programme executive director, that aired on March 31, 2024.
ED O’KEEFE: We’re joined by the Executive Director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain. Mrs. McCain, it’s great to see you. Thank you for joining us. Simply put–
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WORLD FOOD PROGRAM, CINDY MCCAIN: My pleasure.
ED O’KEEFE: Simply put, right now there are too many people in the world going hungry and you have some critical insights into that, which is why we’re so pleased that you’re with us this morning. I wanted to begin with the situation earning the most attention right now in Gaza and as the war continues, the International Court of Justice this week called for Israel to, quote “take all necessary and effective measures” to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza. What needs to change so that your teams can operate there?
CINDY MCCAIN: Well, first of all, thank you for covering this issue. We need access. We need full, unfettered access and right now we don’t have that. We can occasionally get a few trucks in. We can occasionally get up all the way to the north, but it’s not consistent and is- and is not to scale either. All of the other issues regarding maritime and airdrops and all those are all good. We need any- any way to be able to get food in- in any way we can, but they can’t take it to scale. We really need access to the road and we need to be able to get up to the north, all the way without being caught at checkpoints and turned around.
ED O’KEEFE: I read the World Food Program estimates simply addressing the basic food needs will require at least 300 trucks to enter Gaza every day and distribute food, especially in the north, as you mentioned, but you’ve only managed to get about nine convoys of trucks in since the start of the year. That’s nothing, right?
CINDY MCCAIN: It’s nothing. It really is. We were able to yesterday, or today I guess it was, get nine trucks in, period. We also were part of an airdrop today that was 6.1 metric tons. That’s nothing. We just cannot continue this way. As you know, famine is imminent in the north and so unless we can- can really convince our- our diplomatic groups and our political groups around the world to help convince the Israelis that we must get in and we must do it in a- in a sustained and unfettered- unfettered way. We can’t- people are going to die otherwise, and they already are dying.
ED O’KEEFE: When you or your colleagues speak with Israeli officials about getting that access, what is the reason they’re giving you why they’re not letting you in? Do they not understand the situation? Or is there some other reason?
CINDY MCCAIN: Well, I’m not really sure where the mistake has been made, but I do know that there’s been accusations that somehow the U.N. isn’t doing their job, which couldn’t be further from the truth. So I think again, it’s politics. I think it’s something that- that we’re, you know, various factions are involved in, all I want, all I need to know is when and where we can take the food in, make sure that we can distribute it. That’s what I want to know from the Israeli government.
ED O’KEEFE: You’re especially concerned as well about what’s happening in parts of Africa, specifically Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad, and you said, this could become the world’s largest hunger crisis. Why is that?
CINDY MCCAIN: Well, quite frankly, it’s the forgotten crisis now. Sudan no- is no longer paid attention to in the world media, and- and things haven’t stopped there. People are still fighting, there is no food. We have no access and we’re also fighting a climate change issue there as well. So it’s almost a combination of a perfect storm, with- with 2.2 million refugees across the borders, in various countries, especially Chad and the funding sources that we have right now and our ability to be able to fund, it just isn’t- isn’t meshing. We don’t have enough money and we need to be able to make sure that we can feed the refugees that are across the border, and also get access into Sudan from this- from- from the- the western side, the southern side, through South Sudan, and through the north, we’ve got to get food in there as well, because it can be and will be, I hope not, I pray not, the next- the next largest humanitarian crisis that will- that we will know.
ED O’KEEFE: And not only humanitarian crisis, you’ve suggested it could be a real national security risk for the United States, right?
CINDY MCCAIN: Very much so. People migrate, you know, the bad guys get mixed up in all of this. Food is the- is the major element here in being able to keep populations stable and keep- keep them healthy as well. With those two things not tended to, then people migrate, they run, they take their families, they do anything they can to feed their families.
ED O’KEEFE: You’ve made an interesting point that I think is a good reminder to all of us that these hunger crises around the world are not being caused by natural disasters, but by man-made events and conflict. And nowhere right now, perhaps, at least in this hemisphere, where we sit, is that most apparent than in Haiti, what is the situation there, as you understand it?
CINDY MCCAIN: It’s catastrophic. We- we WFP are still in there and we still are working in the north somewhat and somewhat down towards the center, but it is a very dicey situation. We are continuing our school feeding programs, but once again, as you’ve seen, there have been evacuations of U.N. personnel out of there. It’s just, again, this is a diplomatic solution. This is a man-made crisis, and we need a diplomatic solution to it and we need it now. We need it right now.
ED O’KEEFE: You know, we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask you while we have you about the death of the late Senator Joe Lieberman, who of course, was such a good friend to you and to your late husband, what did he mean to the McCain family?
CINDY MCCAIN: Oh, he was Uncle Joe to my children, he was a friend to my family and- and I had the extreme opportunity of watching two men together, not only navigate the difficulties that the world offered up to them as- as in what they did, but also watch them solve problems together in a way that was gracious and kind and loving towards humanity. And I had the good fortune of being able to call him my friend too.
ED O’KEEFE: Executive Director, Cindy McCain of the World Food Program, thank you for joining us.
CINDY MCCAIN: Thank you for having me.
ED O’KEEFE: And we’ll be right back.
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Top UN court orders Israel to allow food and medical aid into Gaza
The UN’s top court has unanimously ordered Israel to enable the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza in order to avert a famine.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel must act “without delay” to allow the “provision… of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance”.
This follows warnings that famine could hit Gaza within weeks.
Israel has called allegations it is blocking aid “wholly unfounded”.
It has also denied allegations of genocide lodged at the ICJ by South Africa and has blamed the UN for problems with the distribution of aid.
The latest ruling by the court in The Hague comes after South Africa asked it to bolster an order issued to Israel in January to take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.
Although orders issued by the ICJ are legally binding, the court lacks the power to enforce them.
Last week, a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Global Initiative, which is run by the World Food Programme and others, warned that a “catastrophic” situation was developing.
It said that all of the 2.2 million people in Gaza were “facing high levels of acute food insecurity” and that famine was projected to hit the north of the territory before the end of May.
In its ruling, the ICJ said Gaza was “no longer facing only a risk of famine” but “famine is setting in” and that, according to UN observers, 31 people, including 27 children, had already died of malnutrition and dehydration.
It also noted comments by Volker Türk, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, who said last week that the “situation of hunger, starvation and famine” was “a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure”.
The court said Israel must “take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale… of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance”.
The aid most needed included food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, and clothing as well as hygiene products and medical supplies, it said.
The ruling also said Israel must ensure “its military does not commit acts which constitute a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza” under the Genocide Convention.
Recent months have seen long queues of aid trucks repeatedly forming as they wait to enter Gaza from Egypt, and accusations levelled at Israel that it is subjecting the deliveries to complex and arbitrary checks.
In a filing last week, Israel asked the ICJ not to issue the latest order, saying South Africa’s allegations were “wholly unfounded in fact and law” and “morally repugnant”.
It has also dismissed the broader case being brought against it under the Genocide Convention as “baseless”.
Israel has further said that Hamas takes much of the aid that enters Gaza and accused the UN of failing to distribute what is left to the civilian population.
The current conflict began after the 7 October attack, which saw Hamas-led gunmen storm across the border into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 others hostage.
Of those taken, about 130 remain unaccounted for, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,552 people. Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that, of those killed, more than 25,000 were women and children.
Social Security Administration to remove food assistance as barrier to accessing certain benefits
The Social Security Administration has issued a final rule that will prevent food assistance from reducing payments to certain beneficiaries.
The change applies to Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, which provides monthly checks to adults and children who are disabled, blind or age 65 and older, and have little or no income or resources.
Approximately 7.4 million Americans receive support either exclusively from SSI or in combination with Social Security.
Under the new rule, which goes into effect Sept. 30, food will no longer count toward calculations for eligibility for benefits, known as In-Kind Support and Maintenance, or ISM.
Currently, support in the form of food, shelter or both may count as unearned income for SSI beneficiaries, and therefore reduce their payments or affect their eligibility for benefits.
The monthly maximum federal SSI amounts in 2024 are $943 for individuals, $1,415 for couples and $472 for essential persons, or those who live with an SSI beneficiary and provide care.
To qualify for SSI, beneficiaries must generally earn less than $1,971 per month from work. They must also have less than $2,000 in resources per individual, or $3,000 per couple.
That generally includes either money or other assets that can be turned into cash, such as bank accounts, bonds, property and stocks.
The new rule means SSI beneficiaries will no longer have to worry that the groceries or meals they receive from family or friends may reduce their monthly benefits, said Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and health care policy at The Arc, a nonprofit organization serving people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
The Social Security Administration, in turn, will no longer have to use its limited resources to document every time a beneficiary received free food and then cut their monthly benefit by as much as a third, she said.
“It represents a really meaningful step to address one of the most complex, burdensome and inhumane policies impacting people with disabilities that receive SSI,” Milburn said.
The change is the first of several updates the Social Security Administration said it plans to put in place for SSI beneficiaries and applicants.
“Simplifying our policies is a common-sense solution that reduces the burden on the public and agency staff and helps promote equity by removing barriers to accessing payments,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a statement.
The new rule may help provide some relief to SSI beneficiaries as high inflation continues to prompt higher food and grocery bills for all Americans.
“People on SSI are one of the most food insecure groups in the United States,” said Thomas Foley, executive director at the National Disability Institute.
The new rule may also result in fewer overpayments or underpayments of benefits, and therefore increase financial security for beneficiaries, he said.
Congress may have the opportunity to enact bigger changes to SSI through a bipartisan bill that would raise the asset limits for beneficiaries to $10,000 for individuals, up from $2,000, and to $20,000 for married couples, up from $3,000.
“Disability affects everybody, so it’s a bipartisan issue,” Foley said.
“Restricting asset limits to the $2,000 level really impacts people’s ability to save and build a better financial future,” he said.
In December, bank CEOs including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified before the Senate that they are in favor of updating SSI’s rules.
“We have employees who don’t want us to increase their salary because if it goes over a certain amount, they can’t get that benefit which they’re entitled to,” Dimon said in December.
“This definitely should be fixed,” he said.
Poland and Ukraine leaders discuss regulating Ukrainian food imports to ease farmer discontent
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was in Poland on Thursday for talks with his counterpart Donald Tusk to address Polish and western European farmers’ demands that regulations be applied to the cheap Ukrainian food imports that they say are undercutting their livelihoods.
Farmers in many countries have been staging vehement protests against the imports and tensions have grown between Kyiv and its staunch ally Warsaw over the tax-free inflow of Ukraine’s farm produce.
Tusk has suggested that Poland, a NATO member and European Union country bordering Ukraine, will seek quotas on the imports during the talks. He has also suggested boosting imports to needy countries.
The EU has opened its doors wide to Ukrainian farm produce to help the country’s exports after Russia’s 2022 invasion cut many traditional routes.
However, EU lawmakers recently agreed that quotas could be reintroduced on some Ukrainian foods to address the European farmers’ complaints.
S.Korea consumer sentiment drops as food inflation emerges as top election issue
By Jihoon Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s consumer sentiment dropped sharply in March on growing worries about higher produce prices, a central bank survey showed on Tuesday, as inflation hitting the dinner table emerges as a major policy issue at next month’s elections.
The consumer sentiment index fell to 100.7 in March from 101.9 in February, posting the biggest monthly drop since October, in the Bank of Korea’s monthly survey of consumers.
Inflation expectations among consumers for the next 12 months rose for the first time in five months, to 3.2% from 3.0%, according to the survey, with two-thirds of the respondents saying produce prices would drive inflation.
That was up from 51.5% in the previous month responding to the same question.
South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated in February, after three months of easing, due to supply-side pressures, mostly from higher agricultural prices.
Experts have attributed higher prices of agricultural products in part to poor weather but the opposition Democratic Party (DP) has targeted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government for mismanaging the economy.
“The economy is collapsing and prices are going through the roof,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said at a campaign rally in a major produce market on Sunday.
South Koreans go to the polls to elect the 300-member parliament and Yoon’s conservative People Power Party is in an uphill battle to win back a majority now held by the opposition.
Consumer inflation shot to the headlines after Yoon visited a supermarket last week and picked up a bundle of green onions saying “I’d say 875 won ($0.65) is a reasonable price”, seemingly unaware the item was on sale and subject to heavy government subsidy.
Opposition party members and consumer groups criticised Yoon for being out of touch, when the same product is normally sold at more than 4,000 won.
Last week, after Yoon ordered “extraordinary measures” to bring “shopping basket inflation” under control, the government appropriated 150 billion won to inject subsidies and increase supply through direct imports.
It has also announced it would temporarily lower tariffs on imported farm goods.
In recent days, South Koreans were seen rushing to major grocery stores and lining up to buy apples and green onions supplied at cheaper prices on government subsidies, local media reported.
($1 = 1,337.3800 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee, Editing Michael Perry and Jack Kim)
Costco is cracking down on its food court. You now need to show your membership card to eat there.
Wholesale store Costco is taking action to ensure that only paying members get to enjoy its popular $1.50 hot dog and soda combo deal, available at its food courts.
Images of signs posted on Reddit, the social media platform that recently went public, suggest the discount shopping club is cracking down on interlopers. While Costco officially restricted food court access to members in 2020, the newly posted signs detailing store policy suggest tougher enforcement is needed.
“Effective April 8, 2024, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from our food court. You can join today. Please see our membership counter for details,” reads one sign, seen at a Costco store in Orlando, Florida.
The move is the latest effort made by the wholesaler to enforce its membership requirements, so that people who wish to shop at the store actually pay up for the privilege. In January, Costco started rolling out new technology, requiring members to scan their cards at some store entrances, in an effort to crack down on membership sharing and nonmember walk-ins.
Presumably, the more restrictive stance is designed to entice more people to purchase memberships and in turn boost Costco’s bottom line. Membership fees accounted for $4.6 billion, or 73% of Costco’s total profit in 2023.
Screenshot/Reddit
Costco did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment on its existing policies and whether or not those rules are formally changing.
A basic membership costs $60 annually, while the executive membership, which has perks like a 2% cash-back reward, is $120 per year.
Costco explained how it feels about non-members getting access to perks reserved for members.
“We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco said over the summer, when it started asking for members’ photo IDs along with their membership cards at self-checkout registers.
Megan Cerullo
