Gas prices are back over $4 a gallon but a bigger inflation culprit is housing prices. Plus: Fair Workweek bill on pause, more chips for Colorado Springs.
workers
Posted inBusiness
Unpaid wages, injuries: The dark side of a celebrated Colorado mushroom farm known for helping migrants
Dozens of interviews show hidden perils for immigrants working at Colorado Mushroom Farm, which sold produce at Whole Foods and King Soopers before going bankrupt.
Posted inBusiness, Marijuana, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers reject bill seeking to prohibit employers from firing workers for cannabis use
A Colorado House committee voted down a bill that sought to stop employers from denying jobs to or firing workers for their off-the-clock cannabis use, either medical or recreational. House Bill 1152 also sought to require employers to let their employees consume medical marijuana while on the job. The legislation included exceptions for workers whose […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
Supply chain problems — from salsa to sheet metal — are hampering Colorado businesses’ coronavirus recovery
Salsa -maker Amy Lasley used to throw away the disposable gloves she wears during food preparation. But as the price of nitrile gloves skyrocketed in recent months, she’s started to disinfect them with bleach and reuse them for cleaning outside the kitchen. Other items are more expensive, too: The glass jars she packs her salsa […]
Posted inNews
Steel mill furnace explodes in Pueblo, injures 7
PUEBLO — A furnace explosion at a steel mill in Colorado injured seven workers, three critically. All seven were able to walk out and expected to survive after Saturday’s blast at the EVRAZ Pueblo steel mill, Vice President of Operations Dave Light said. Two of the more seriously injured workers were hospitalized with respiratory injuries. […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Amazon hiring for 3,000 jobs in Denver; offering $100 to vaccinated hires
NEW YORK — Amazon is seeking to hire 75,000 people across the nation — 3,000 specifically in the Denver metro — in a tight job market and is offering bonuses to attract workers, including $100 for new hires who are already vaccinated for COVID-19. The jobs are for delivery and warehouse workers, who pack and […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Health, News
The workers who wash Colorado’s hospital linens are scared of their jobs
Gregorio “Goyo” Rodriguez works on the dirty side of the laundry plant, where he unloads bags of used hospital linens and feeds them into a giant washing machine. For 31 years, Rodriguez has worked at Hospital Cooperative Laundry, which cleans the sheets, gowns, towels and surgical rags for 40 hospitals and about 400 medical clinics […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Health, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers focus on essential workers amid coronavirus, push to make paid sick leave a right for all
To lift public health restrictions and reopen Colorado, Democratic lawmakers say the first step is to protect essential workers like Mirja McDade in the retail and service industries. McDade’s past jobs in the restaurant industry didn’t include paid sick time, so she worked regardless of her health. “The food industry is probably the worst as […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Hundreds of international workers at Colorado ski resorts are in limbo as countries close borders, airlines cancel flights
When Gov. Jared Polis ordered the state’s ski areas to close on March 14, he also launched Ana Panessi into a frantic race to get home. It was a race she did not win. “So many people, they were able to run away very quickly. We did not have the same opportunity. So we are […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Colorado medical workers are getting free childcare. Should grocery store and food processing employees get the same benefit?
Advocates are calling for grocery store and food processing workers to be eligible for the same emergency child care available to front-line medical workers. As schools and child care centers closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, state officials and early childhood groups launched an emergency child care system for essential workers. They included medical workers, […]