The Blacklash Against Food Apps

DoorDash and its global peers disrupted the restaurant business and squeezed workers. Now employees are turning the tables.

When DoorDash announced in mid-February that it had raised $400 million at a $7.1 billion valuation, it seemed to be the latest chapter in the rapid growth of America’s largest food delivery app. But a crisis was slowly simmering. Earlier that month, two DoorDash employees joined other food delivery workers in filing a class action suit, accusing the company of indirectly pocketing their tips under a complex compensation scheme.

The allegation exploded. In March, tech workers threatened to boycott the firm, much as Uber drivers have repeatedly gone on strike to protest what they allege are unfair practices by the ride-sharing giant. Under pressure, DoorDash acknowledged that in 85 percent of cases it was using tips customers had shelled out for drivers — called Dashers — to subsidize the basic pay it promised them. In effect, drivers were paying themselves.

Jen Wang made an enormous splash last year — but her next book could be even bigger.

If you make it to the end of The Prince and the Dressmaker without crying, you have malfunctioning tear ducts and should immediately make an appointment with an ophthalmologist. The fairy tale, published last year, has already picked up two of the most prestigious awards in comics: a Harvey and not one, but two Eisners.

The woman behind this cultural phenomenon, which has already had film rights optioned, is 35-year-old Los Angeles graphic novelist Jen Wang. And with her latest book, Stargazing, she steps out from behind the fairy tale to tell a story that, while not directly autobiographical, includes characters experiencing childhoods strikingly similar to her own.

With a drought that’s lasted close to three years, livestock Down Under are suffering.

Brett Williams has witnessed several droughts during a life spent crisscrossing Australia as a sheep shearer. But none has been as brutal as the current “big dry,” which threatens the viability of the $2 billion-per-year sheep industry.

“In some parts all you see are bare paddocks, dust storms and fewer sheep,” says Williams, whose knuckles are thick with calluses. “It’s the worst I have seen. Some farms have had to destock completely.”

Drought is a recurring feature in Australia — the driest continent on Earth — but the current dry period in the country’s eastern states is devastating for farmers, who are struggling to grow crops to feed their animals. In fact, the current Australian dry spell has shrunk the national sheep flock to 100-year lows.