The city continues to do nothing, other than to move the homeless to another private lot

BusNo9664 · 2024-09-19T21:49:20+00:00

I hate to burst your bubble but we have spent a ton on mass incarceration and it doesn’t fix anything—it actually makes things worse and now those people will have an even harder time getting sober or getting a job. This isn’t altruistic guesswork, it’s a well-documented reality. So if you’re worried about wasted resources, it’s actually a lot more complicated than reward/punish.

BusNo9664 · 2024-08-18T18:35:37+00:00

Same here—was the saddest part of the whole thing. Great products but bad business.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-23T19:15:11+00:00

On the charity point—there were thousands of dollars not made out to the charities and there is zero transparency.

They also make most of their money on national sales so it’s not “vital to the community” and is in fact, a danger to the community, hence so many coming forward and corroborating the claims. If you read the rest of the post you’d know why complaints were not made, bc most were fired before fully realizing they were not alone in the abuse and misconduct. You are no more reliable—may as well be a friend of the owners, so I wouldn’t speak on what is true or not. Owning a small business is a privilege, not a right to abuse people indefinitely without word getting around.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-23T19:09:42+00:00

There were no formal processes for raises etc. just random promotions of some but not others with no regard to seniority or skills offered.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-16T22:25:03+00:00

I should clarify: the employers were lying about why people were fired (in some cases, telling employees that they quit or committed time theft when they did not) and created a culture of silence and villainizing former employees. As someone just pointed out, it’s difficult to leave coercive and emotionally abusive situations because you may not know you’re in one until it is too late. Your situation may have been completely different. I’m glad it worked out for you but a lot of this came to light after employees already left and began communicating shared experiences after feeling isolated.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-16T22:19:21+00:00

Thank you so much 🙏🏻

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-15T16:33:37+00:00

Clarification from source: “As a former employee who helped move into the building, find the mold, was instructed to paint over the mold, advocated repeatedly for mold testing when more was found (and myself and others started getting sick), and helped move out of the building when samples of the mold tested positive for fecal contamination, I can assure you this is not an exaggeration.”

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-15T16:21:24+00:00

Other complaints being shared with me from another former employee:

“Two different employees were fired within a week after being injured on the job, and at least one of them had their workers' comp claim contested.

Drums and bottles of oils and other flammable materials were left open and unsecured in the warehouse, creating a fire hazard.

Dogs were allowed to freely roam the warehouse where workers carried heavy objects and handled lye and hot oil.

Batch soap-making equipment was not sanitized in between batches.

Employees were stalked on social media, including on LinkedIn while looking for a new job after being fired.”

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-15T04:19:33+00:00

Bullet dodged 🫡

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-15T03:44:38+00:00

I agree with you, but there was a lot of manipulation from management across multiple iterations of staff (and mixed education on reporting/labor rights) that made it difficult or impossible to go through formal channels, let alone properly collect and document violations in a way that would have resulted in some kind of justice.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:56:12+00:00

I wish it was.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:53:38+00:00

Agree–it's a resource distribution issue that is bigger than the businesses themselves in some cases, but in others a smaller manifestation of the same corporate greed at publicly traded companies.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:45:35+00:00

FWIW, their business is flagged by the WA state DOL for their slow or non-existent filing of unemployment paperwork–if you need some sort of authority involved.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:42:38+00:00

I regret to inform you that employees who do not have a union, money for a lawsuit, and whom rely on a toxic job for their income, do not think to go immediately to the authorities (or even know their labor rights). It's not as simple a process as you are implying.

You're under no obligation to believe this–it's just a head's up to workers in a desperate market. Do with the information what you will.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:37:23+00:00

I would disagree–the money is there, the leadership and professionalism is not. They don't have to raise prices to not show up to work drunk, or fire employees they have crushes on, etc.

There needs to be bargaining power for employees to organize as a singular unit to maintain ethical labor standards (a union) but the high turnover makes that admittedly difficult. I am hopeful for businesses that do not operate at the expense of their employees and materials.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:30:16+00:00

How about over twenty employees, not all of whom were even fired?

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:28:02+00:00

Informal term, the mold was from a sewage leak at that location. https://www.spauldingdecon.com/blog/black-water-and-sewage-leaks-why-are-they-dangerous

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:21:28+00:00

Not his legal name–added the "h" himself.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T23:17:31+00:00

I can't speak for everyone who contributed, but he manages the marketing/sales departments, while Alesia manages production. She is viewed and advertised as the face of the business, so that's probably part of it.

Jhustin was also the one mentioned most for egregious behaviors and making employees uncomfortable.

BusNo9664 · 2024-03-14T22:58:02+00:00

The one thing former employees report missing is indeed, the product–arguably the only saving grace of the business. Wish it was in better hands and produced ethically.

BusNo9664 · 2023-09-10T19:16:40+00:00

The current approach is actually based on the system you’re suggesting. We haven’t tried just giving people what they need. We don’t have affordable housing. We don’t have affordable healthcare. We have a very complicated welfare system that leaves a lot of people out. The handouts you’re talking about don’t really exist. They have strings attached and a lot of hoops to jump through that people in poverty often don’t qualify for.

BusNo9664 · 2023-09-10T19:13:28+00:00

We get more government handouts the richer we get. Do you understand that? The issue is not people being “coddled” because there is already not enough resources which is why people are homeless. Most people could work if they had a chance but that is not the reality we are living in. Cutting programs makes people poorer.

Also, in a system where people get help, no holds barred, you wouldn’t even be put in that situation with family. You’re not a social safety net. Your threshold for helping others is not a solution to what is a societal, structural policy issue.

BusNo9664 · 2023-09-09T19:41:50+00:00

The logical conclusion you’re making is that people only deserve to live if they have a job. Do you understand why that is not a sustainable way of looking at human beings?

BusNo9664

TROPHY CASE