#aramark

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Union pensions are funding private equity attacks on workers

On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

If end-stage capitalism has a motto, it's this: "Stop hitting yourself." The great failure of "voting with your wallet" is that you're casting ballots in a one party system (The Capitalism Party), and the people with the thickest wallets get the most votes.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese state would bill the families of executed dissidents for the ammunition used to execute their loved ones:

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-the-Chinese-government-makes-the-families-of-executed-people-pay-for-the-cost-of-bullets

In end-stage capitalism, the dollars we spend to feed ourselves are used to capture the food supply and corrupt our political process:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

And the dollars we save for retirement are flushed into the stock market casino, a game that is rigged against us, where we are always the suckers at the table:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/25/derechos-humanos/#are-there-no-poorhouses

Everywhere and always, we are financing our own destruction. It's quite a Mr Gotcha moment:

https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/

Now, anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. We are living through a broad, multi-front counter-revolution to Reaganomics and neoliberal Democratic Party sellouts. The FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division are dragging Big Tech and Big Meat and Big Publishing into court. We're seeing bans on noncompete clauses, and high-profile government enforcers are publicly pledging never to work for corporate law-firms when they quit public service:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/09/nein-nein/#everything-is-miscellaneous

And of course, there's the reinvigoration of the labor movement! Hot Labor Summer is now Perpetual Labor September, with 75,000 Kaiser workers walking out alongside the UAW, SAG-AFTRA and 2,350 other groups of workers picketing, striking or protesting:

https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/

But capitalism still gets a lick in. Union pension plans are some of the most important investors in private equity funds. Your union pension dollars are probably funding the union-busting, child-labor-employing, civilization-destroying Gordon Gecko LARPers who are also evicting you from the rental they bought and turned into a slum, and will then murder you in a hospice that they bought and turned into a slaughterhouse:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS

Writing for The American Prospect, Rachel Phua rounds up the past, present and future of union pension funds backing private equity monsters:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-10-04-workers-funding-misery-private-equity-pension-funds/

Private equity and hedge funds have destroyed 1.3 million US jobs:

https://united4respect.org/press-release/people-who-work-at-walmart-sears-amazon-formerly-toys-r-us-more-join-forces-together-as-united-for-respect-2-2-2-2-5-3/

They buy companies and then illegally staff them with children:

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230217-1

They lobby against the minimum wage:

https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Insire-Brands-memo-on-15-wage.pdf

They illegally retaliate against workers seeking to unionize their jobsite:

https://www.hoteldive.com/news/dc-hotel-workers-enlist-us-representatives-to-fight-sofitel-union-busting/650396/

And they couldn't do it without union pension funds. Public service union pensions have invested $650 million with PE funds. In 2001, the share of public union pensions invested in PE was 3.5%; today, it's 13%:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B0vv26VEFmwtfw5ur6dSDMY8NftvZKij/

Giant public union funds like CalPERS are planning massive increases in their contributions to PE:

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/newsroom/calpers-news/2023/calpers-preliminary-investment-return-fiscal-year-2022-23

This results in some ghastly and ironic situations. Aramark used funds from a custodian's union to bid against that union's members for contracts, in an attempt to break the union and force the workers to take a paycut to $11/hour:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-11-20/pension-fund-gains-mean-worker-pain-as-aramark-cuts-pay

Blackstone's investors include the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS). The PE ghouls who sucked Toys R Us dry were funded by Texas teachers.

Then there's KKR, one of the most rapacious predators of the PE world. Half of the investors in KKR's Global Infrastructure Investors IV fund are public sector pension funds. Those workers' money were spent to buy up Refresco (Arizona Iced Tea, Tropicana juices, etc), a transaction that immediately precipitated a huge spike in on-the-job accidents as KKR cut safety and increased tempo:

https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1675674.015

Petsmart is the poster-child for PE predation. The company uses TRAPs ("TrainingRepaymentAgreementProvision") clauses to recreate indentured servitude, forcing workers to pay thousands of dollars to quit their jobs:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Why would a Petsmart employee want to quit? Petsmart's PE owner is BC Partners, and under BC's management, workers have been forced to work impossible hours while overseeing cruel animal abuse, including starving sick animals to death rather than euthanizing them, and then being made to sneak them into dumpsters on the way home from work so Petsmart doesn't have to pay for cremation. 24 of BC Partners' backers are public pension funds, including CalSTRS and the NYC Employees' Retirement System:

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2023-06-02-days-of-plunder-morgenson-rosner-ballou-review/

PE buyouts are immediately followed by layoffs. One in five PE acquisitions goes bankrupt. Unions should not be investing in PE. But the managers of these funds defend the practice, saying they "facilitate dialog" with the PE bosses on workers' behalf.

This isn't total nonsense. Once upon a time, public pension fund managers put pressure on investees to force them to divest from Apartheid South Africa and tobacco companies. Even today, public pensions have successfully applied leverage to get fund managers to drop Russian investments after the invasion of Ukraine. And public pensions pulled out of the private prison sector, tanking the valuation of some of the largest players.

But there's no evidence that this leverage is being applied to pensions' PE billions. It's not like PE is a great deal for these pensions. PE funds don't reliably outperform the market, especially after PE bosses' sky-high fees are clawed back:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3623820

Pension funds could match or beat their PE returns by sticking the money in a low-load Vanguard index tracker. What's more, PE is getting worse, pioneering new scams like inflating the value of companies after they buy and strip-mine them, even though there's no reason to think anyone would buy these hollow companies at the price that the PE companies assign to them for bookkeeping purposes:

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bstqfcskz9o72ospzlds/opinion/why-does-private-equity-get-to-play-make-believe-with-prices

To inject a little verisimilitude into this obvious fantasy, PE companies sell their portfolio companies to themselves at inflated prices, in a patently fraudulent shell-game:

https://www.ft.com/content/646d00f4-af5d-4267-a436-54fb3bc1697b

What's more, PE funds aren't just bad bosses, they're also bad landlords. PE-backed funds have scooped up an appreciable fraction of America's housing stock, transforming good rentals into slums:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/27/extraordinary-popular-delusions/#wall-street-slumlords

PE is really pioneering a literal cradle-to-grave immiseration strategy. First, they gouge you on your kids' birth:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/27/crossing-a-line/#zero-fucks-given

Then, they slash your wages and steal from your paycheck:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3465723

Then, they evict you from your home:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/05/vulture-capitalism/#distressed-assets

And then they murder you as part of a scam they're running on Medicare:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/05/any-metric-becomes-a-target/#hca

As the labor movement flexes its muscle, it needs to break this connection. Workers should not be paying for the bullet that their bosses put through their skulls.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/05/mr-gotcha/#no-ethical-consumption-under-capitalism

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

[paulpingminho]

[retrocateringpods]

Armoured Truck or Food Truck?

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Showroom Location: BN9 0BY

[zoomtecnologico]

Aramark abrió primera tienda inteligente de Chile

Aramark abrió primera tienda inteligente de Chile

Aramark lanzó en Chile la primera tienda inteligente de venta de alimentos y bebidas 100% autónoma bajo su marca QUICK EATS. Esta tienda inteligente permite un proceso de ventas más fluido, es decir, con un sistema basado en inteligencia artificial que posibilita un mínimo de intervenciones durante la compra ya que, cuenta con cámaras inteligentes y sensores que captan lo que la persona lleva sin…

[reportwire]

Stock market rally will be put to test in week ahead, after yields fall and tech surges

Stock market rally will be put to test in week ahead, after yields fall and tech surges

The stock market’s rally after October’s inflation report will be tested in the week ahead, as investors watch some major retailers’ earnings and a flurry of Federal Reserve speakers. But the main event is the market itself and whether it can turn a supercharged move higher into a more lasting rally that lifts stocks into the end of the year. The major averages were higher again Friday after a…

[bcautoglass-blog]

Isuzu npr Windshield replacement #Aramark #fleetservice #fleetvehicles #mobileautoglass #bcautoglass#bcautoglassnc #charlottesmallbusiness #autoglassreplacement (at Charlotte, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CenpmOROV5N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[honeysucklepink]

RE: earlier ethics question: What are the ethics of actively boycotting Chick-fil-A, but stealing their honey packets from the condiment counter at the student union location for your office tea?

Your answers:

@coffeegleek I think that is perfectly acceptable. They shit on your rights and millions of others so you deserve some compensation for that.

@the-cimmerians steal the fuck out of that honey

@beautifulhigh @coffeegleek This comment >>>>> anything I could come up with

@coffeegleek Thank you @beautifulhigh :)

@ckerouac Steal, baby, steal

@lucy8675309 I support you 100%

@jenndesq i say take all the honey

@whatstheproblembaby Be gay do crimes

It’s settled. I’m gonna go to the student union Chick-fil-A and take all their honey (and the hot sauce for good measure).

[rollingwiththedead]

in all ways except physical, I am the embodiment of the gif of the bearded dragon going hehehehe

[tealfruit]

I dare my boss to say shit to me about working so much overtime. bitch hire and schedule more people then stupid ass.

[phillygrub]

World Series Food at Citizens Bank Park

World Series Food at @PhilliesCBP by @AramarkSports - GO @Phillies! @MLB #GoPhils #WorldSeries #baseball #MLB

As the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series presented by Capital One comes to Citizens Bank Park, lucky attendees of the games can expect some delicious food options at Aramark Sports + Entertainment vendors. Citizens Bank Park will introduce special-edition items – ranging from food and cocktails to exclusive merchandise. New at Citizens Bank Park: Menu Creations: Hot & Honey Chicken…

[beardedmrbean]

Okay this type menu shit is getting on my nerves with these companies https://x.com/WAPLIQUOR/status/1743686394742997340?s=20

Like I heard in the Disney parks they did chicken and grape juice at avengers campus during Wakanda forever release…rather make the food from the cultures that inspired Wakanda. They decided to use greasy ass urban food?

Why black food always the poor food black Americans only ate because that what we only had to survive?

Like, are there only hood rats at these companies?

I don't think Disney would be that foolish, they may have been items for sale in that area but they're a lot smarter than that in my experience.

I worked Animal Kingdom the first year they did this

Harambe Village is just a generic Sub Saharan Africa coastal village (nothing to do with the gorilla), there's different "ambassadors" in each of the different themed parts of the park like for Asia and Africa and their job was to just wander around and answer questions, main job requirements were speak English and be African born and raised, Boers caught me off guard at first, food for the event was as authentic as you could hope to get, and good stuff too.

Here's some pics from day 1 of the first one 14 years ago, I might actually be in one or two of these, I 100% was either at Tamu Tamu or the popcorn/beer stand across from it that sold some kind of dumpling for the event iirc that day. Might be me hiding in the back behind the young lady.

This is the menu at the avengers campus, LINK, it's from 2021 but they don't really shift menus much at Disney, not without a retheming of the area.

Lord this was fun. Used to chat with a guy name Mor Thiam entertainer there, Sengalese percussionist does consulting for all kinds of stuff did Disney for a while ass a contracted entertainer. Nice guy.

You may be familiar with his son

generally known as Akon, blew me away when I found out.

This was a fun time

sorry nostalgia trip in the wrong direction, I get weird about Disney having actually worked for them and contributed to the mission there it changes the way you view the theme parks at least, provided you're "one of those" as one of my fellow cast mates dubbed me.

Not gonna delete it either, it's good stuff and Disney deserves credit for getting it right when they do, can't just constantly shit on them.

But back on track, you know who did screw the whole thing up, Aramark, and it was like the 8th time they'd done this in New York alone.

There's honestly a lot of these several of those are the same, I also don't see it as inherently racist, could be coming from a good place and just ignorant instead of racist.

Aramark doing it several times doesn't fall in the "ignorant" category tho.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Weren't these the same assholes who were gonna change the names of the hotels and lodges in Yosemite?

[socialjusticeinamerica]

🤦🏾🤦🏿🤦🏽‍♀️

[mitigatedchaos]

[anon]

a campaign setting where humans are the ancient, mythical race and elves are the young upstarts with loads of potential

[probablybadrpgideas]

Ah yes, Modern Day Earth.

ELF, or Extended Life Function, refers to an individual who was subject to the Karson Stage IV Protocol. [1] As the Protocol involves self-replicating biomachinery keyed to an individual's genetic code, a full application requires starting from a single cell. [2] (This was originally called the "perfect cell" in documentation, but is now referred to as the "originator cell".) [3] Elements of the Protocol can be applied to adult humans, but mutations since conception, cellular damage, and incomplete infiltration of kaitosomes, limit the effectiveness of the treatment. [2][4]

Biological Characteristics of ELF Treatment

The first full ELF human was decanted in the year 9 AW at the University of Greater Ontario, most likely on January 8th, following years of experiments with the Karson Stage III Protocol. The initial generation of 5,000 full ELF humans underwent mostly natural births and gestations over the following 3 years. [5] A follow-up study on the initial cohort in 50 AW estimated a natural lifespan of between 250 and 500 years, analogous to the Greenland shark, but this estimate is contentious, with some estimates as low as 160 years, and others as high as 1,000 years. [5][6][7] There is also dispute in the literature over what should count as "natural lifespan." [7][8] Researchers caution that although full ELF humans are resistant to biological aging, they are still vulnerable to accident, injury, and intentional death, which are likely to take up a much greater share of ELF mortality than in historical human cohorts. [1][9]

Growth in ELF humans is significantly slower than in natural humans, with some ELF humans taking over 42 years to reach physical maturity, with a mean age of maturity at 36 years. [5] Initial models projected the effects of ELF treatment to be heritable, [11] however practical confirmation could not occur until after the birth of the initial second-generation ELF cohort, with the first birth occurring in 41 AW. [5][12] Studies of the long-term effects of ELF inheritance are currently in-progress as of 63 AW, but initial results "seem positive." [13]

Economics of ELF Treatment

ELF treatment remains expensive compared to alternative life extension treatment options, due to the extensive use of computer gene forecasting and molecular engineering. [14] A 64 AW study of procedures conducted between 53 AW and 63 AW found an average cost of $1,284,000 for ELF procedures, with a low cost of $808,304 and a high of $2,806,000. This compared disfavorably with full biomechanoidization ($128,003), class IV rejuvenation ($64,234), and Centenarian Gene Therapy + class I rejuvenation ($15,464). [15]

Despite this, ELF treatment has grown substantially in popularity since its creation, with ELF financing as an emerging industry in the banking sector. [16]

Legal and Political Response to ELF Treatment

ELF treatment was banned in all territories controlled by the World Union by the passage of Resolution 206, based on Feng & Aramark's 18 AW paper on the theoretical energy limits of computer genome forecasting and implications for ELF treatment. [17][18] As the results are heritable, unlike rejuvenation therapy, integrative support, or biomechanoidization, and the procedure is expensive, with only small gains from biointelligence systems, ELF treatment was found to create (rather than ameliorate) biological inequities, and thus conflict with the establishment of a classless society. [17] Since the passage of Resolution 206, those traveling outside of the World Union to pursue the procedure for their children have been deemed "traitors to biosocialism," and in most World Union jurisdictions, forced ear modification is used to mark these individuals for social punishment - similar restrictions also apply to the ELF community in the former Argentina following the annexation and division of the territory. [19] ELF individuals are referred to as "elves" within the World Union and treated as "distinct from humans." [19]

Aside from cost, experts outside of the World Union have criticized the potential impact of ELF treatment on human evolution, as ELF treatment considerably increases the difficulty of gene therapy. [21][22]

Despite this, the procedure is legal in 94% of member polities of the League of States, where the procedure was described by League President Osmond Oruma as part of a broader, biologically diverse portfolio which would contribute to the League's dynamism and enable the League to meet the challenges of the new century. "Freedom," Oruma said, "is about taking risks." [23][24]

Though in League of States member polities, ELF individuals are classified as "human with ELF treatment," like biomechanoidization, ELF status was classified as acceptable under the 15 points of basis for the formation of an ethnopolity by court ruling in 13 AW, [25] supposing the typical rules for ethnopolity formation and polity division within the League are followed, including the requirement for contiguous cosmopolities adjacent to all ethnopolities for transport and access, the proportional ratio of cosmopolities to ethnopolities within the League, League troop force commitment requirements, and the equilibrium tithe. [26]

League polities invested ELF technology typically include citizenship for immediate family in the cost of the procedure, but 3 of the 5 largest ELF polities include additional cultural limitations, often including either integrative support + doll operation or biomechanoidization on their non-ELF minority. [27] Many require the so-called 'pointed ears' in solidarity with ELF humans in the World Union and other territories, [28] though in accordance with League policy, maximum cultural imposition is inversely proportional to polity size, and so the most extreme policies are only imposed by minipolities.

Non-Human Usage

In 53 AW, Cyberstar Interactive proposed the development of ELF-treated neurons for use in ultra-long duration biochips. In 56 AW, the announced development was rolled back from Class W, F, and C biochips to only Class M biochips. In 59 AW the program was cancelled, as the basic technology of biochips was expected to change during the next 100 years, and most ultra-long uses would be in outer space, where biochips require heavy radiation shielding. [29]

Rumors of a 'rogue' ELF-treated biointelligence based on human-derived cells (sometimes referred to as a "Class H" biochip as slang, but legally refused classification as it is illegal in all jurisdictions) have circulated since before the final development of the Karson Protocol, but these have never been substantiated. [30]

[brewyork]

The 2023 Guide to Beer at Citi Field

While the Mets are in the midst of an utterly miserable early-season slide, the situation on the field leaves about as much to be desired as the beer situation at Citi Field. While for the past several years, there were dedicated kiosks to local craft beer at the stadium, the beer selection has devolved to be a mile wide and an inch deep — more availability across the stadium, but far fewer selections, and even fewer local ones.

Citi Field’s beer selection is largely dominated by Mets major sponsor MillerCoors, with the macro beers, Blue Moon original and Moon Haze, and the Vizzy and Topo Chico-branded seltzers all regularly available throughout the stadium. Boston Beer has a dominant presence this year, with both Dogfish Head (60 Minute IPA and SeaQuench) and Coney Island (Merman IPA, Mermaid Pilsner, and Beach Beer) widely available, but seemingly the only Sam Adams-branded product on offer is their N/A IPA, Just the Haze. Montauk Brewing, which got a big boost when they were acquired by cannabis company Tilray last year, is widely available, offering the Wave Chaser IPA and Summer Ale. Brooklyn Brewery, which has been available in fits and starts at Citi Field since its inception, has Lager, Summer Ale, Pulp Art IPA, and Pilsner this season — though the Pilsner was a hard find, spotted only on draft at Pig Beach behind section 135. Sloop Juice Bomb is one of the few returning craft beers this year, and there’s one new entrant: Glen Cove-based Garvies Point Brewing, who’s got cans of their Crescent Kolsch.

The big reason for the dearth of indie craft options this year: 16-ounce cans are gone from the stadium. It appears that Aramark, Citi Field’s concessionaire, required that any local or craft beer be sold in a 19.2-ounce can. Putting aside that 19.2 ounces is more IPA than I really want to drink, it’s an unreasonable ask for small breweries that would not typically have both the supply of cans and capability to can in that format. In past years, the Empire State Craft stands would exclusively offer 16-ounce cans at a fixed price point. And despite the average length of games being notably shorter this year, the beers are now sold to last longer (and, on hot days, probably get warm before you can finish them).

As far as pricing goes, not too much has changed. While the $14.25 16-ounce craft cans are gone, the handful of 19.2-ounce cans last season from Dogfish Head and Brooklyn were priced at $15.25 — the same price as this year. 24-ounce macro beers are still $15.50, and 24-ounce cans of Blue Moon and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy will continue to set you back $16.50.

Anyway, if you’re looking for the best beer selection on each level, here’s a quick and easy guide:

Field Level: Montauk Brewing stand behind section 128

Excelsior Level: the beer stand behind sections 301/302 on the Coca-Cola Porch

Promenade Level: the beer stand behind section 418 (where the Empire State Craft stand was in past seasons)

One notable omission from the beer list this year: EBBS Brewing Co., beer that’s quite literally brewed under Citi Field’s right field stands. Of course, you can still have their more reasonably-priced beers before and after the game at their taproom.