LABOR
Coffee shop workers vote to unionize
Workers at 1369 Coffeehouse voted to unionize Wednesday, nearly two months after organizers announced their intent to do so in a letter to the local coffee chain’s owner, Josh Gerber. The 9-1 vote comes amid a wave of union activity at other independent coffee shops in the Boston area like Pavement Coffeehouse, Darwin’s Ltd., Diesel Café, Bloc Café, and Forge Baking Company. Like these shops, employees at 1369 Coffee House will be represented by the New England Joint Board UNITE HERE. 1369 Coffee House, which has two locations in Central and Inman squares in Cambridge, had told workers in May that it would not voluntarily recognize the union, sending employees to a vote in a National Labor Relations Board election. — ANNIE PROBERT
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DEVELOPMENT
Mass. DOT puts piece of Greenway on the market
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has put up for development another one of its surplus properties along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, after an abutting developer expressed an interest in it. The parcel up for bid consists of 3,800 square feet of land and 4,300 square feet of air rights over an Interstate 93 highway ramp in Boston’s Leather District. The thin parcel abuts 125 Lincoln St., where Oxford Properties is seeking city approval to tear down a 5-story parking garage and replace it with a 13-story building, to include labs and ground-floor retail space. Oxford has previously said it is interested in the MassDOT parcel to augment its project. MassDOT has set a minimum price of $9.5 million for the property, and bids are due on Aug. 3. — JON CHESTO
ATHLETIC SHOES
Nike leaving Russia for good
Nike is leaving the Russian market entirely after suspending operations in March. The world’s largest athletic-wear maker halted sales in Russia earlier this year following that nation’s invasion of Ukraine, telling customers that it couldn’t guarantee product shipments. It had more than 100 stores in Russia. Nike doesn’t break out sales for Russia. Revenue from its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region accounted for $11.5 billion, or about 26 percent of total sales, in 2021. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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WORKPLACE
Yelp closing offices in major cities as remote work takes hold
Yelp, an app that recommends local restaurants and services to users using location-based services, is closing its offices in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as part of a move to double down on remote work. In an interview with The Washington Post, Yelp cofounder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman called hybrid offices “the worst of both worlds” and noted that two things have become increasingly clear following the pandemic: Workers want to do their jobs remotely and the company benefits from meeting the demand. Stoppelman acknowledged the growing popularity of hybrid policies — in which employees work from the office part time — but called them ‘’the hell of half measures.” — WASHINGTON POST
INITIATIVE
Amazon to spend $23 million on affordable housing
Amazon said Thursday it is providing $23 million to help minority-led organizations build or preserve more than 500 new affordable housing units in Seattle — the latest spending by a tech company to ease a severe housing crunch the industry has helped create. The commitment comes from Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, a $2 billion initiative launched in January 2021. The fund has so far invested more than $1.2 billion to create or preserve over 8,000 affordable homes across three regions where the company has offices: the Puget Sound in Washington state; Arlington, Va.; and Nashville. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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MUSIC
Pink Floyd puts its music catalog up for sale
Members of the rock band Pink Floyd are seeking at least $500 million in a deal for their music catalog, according to people familiar with the talks, which would be one of the largest sales in music history. The group known for hits such as “Money” and “Comfortably Numb” is selling its recording and songwriting catalog, as well as the power to create merchandise based on the band, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The British rock band released some of the most popular records ever, including “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall,” two albums that defined music in the 1970s. The group has sold 75 million records in the United States, the 10th most of any artist, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Many famous musicians have cashed in on a frothy market for song catalogs in recent years, capitalizing on interest from both music companies and financial firms. Bob Dylan sold his recordings to Sony Music in a deal estimated to be worth more than$150 million, and his song catalog to Universal Music in a deal for between $200 million and $300 million. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
STREAMING
Netflix lays off 300 more people
Netflix laid off another 300 employees as the streaming giant seeks to bring costs under control amid uneven subscriber growth. The job losses are across the company, with most affected workers based in the United States. The cut is twice as large as the one the streaming giant made last month. The news was first reported in Variety. Netflix is retooling its operations after the departure of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2022 upended the company’s subscription-based revenue model. The difficulties have bludgeoned the company’s stock price and hurt worker morale. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Safeguarding elections no longer a priority for Zuckerberg, Meta employees say
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, made securing the 2020 US election a top priority. He met regularly with an election team, which included more than 300 people from across his company, to prevent misinformation from spreading on the social network. He asked civil rights leaders for advice on upholding voter rights. The core election team at Facebook, which was renamed Meta last year, has since been dispersed. Roughly 60 people are now focused primarily on elections, while others split their time on other projects. They meet with another executive, not Zuckerberg. And the CEO has not talked recently with civil rights groups, even as some have asked him to pay more attention to the midterm elections in November. Safeguarding elections is no longer Zuckerberg’s top concern, said four Meta employees with knowledge of the situation. Instead, he is focused on transforming his company into a provider of the immersive world of the metaverse, which he sees as the next frontier of growth, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. — NEW YORK TIMES
LEGAL
Musk’s daughter changes her last name and gender
A California judge has approved a request by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s adult daughter to change her name and gender on her birth certificate. Vivian Jenna Wilson filed the petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court the day after turning 18 in April. She listed gender identity and an apparent dislike of her father, as the reason for the change. “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” she wrote on the petition. Vivian will now legally use the last name of her mother, Canadian author Justine Wilson, who was married to Musk from 2000 to 2008. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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