It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, December 01, 2020
ONE MASS MURDERER LEAVES WHITE HOUSE
Dr. Scott Atlas resigns as Trump’s coronavirus adviser
Physician has been sharply criticized by health officials for spreading misinformation
Dr. Scott Atlas, the most controversial White House coronavirus adviser, resigned from his post late Monday.
Fox News first reported his departure. Atlas confirmed it later with a tweet that included his resignation letter, dated Dec. 1. “Honored to have served @realDonaldTrump and the American people during these difficult times,” he said.
Atlas was serving as a coronavirus adviser to President Donald Trump on a 130-day Special Government Employee detail, which was due to expire at the end of this week, Fox News reported. Trump appointed him in August.
Atlas, a radiologist with no previous experience in infectious diseases, has had Trump’s ear in recent months. He has been an outspoken critic of lockdowns and a supporter of a “herd immunity” strategy, and earlier this month was sharply criticized after tweeting that Michigan should “rise up” against coronavirus restrictions.
He was also assailed by many health experts for spreading misinformation. In October, Twitter Inc. TWTR, -0.17%blocked one of his tweets that falsely claimed face masks were ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Numerous studies have debunked that, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stressed the importance of wearing masks.
“I have real problems with that guy,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Washington Post earlier this month. “He’s a smart guy who’s talking about things that I believe he doesn’t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in. He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Atlas, a Hoover Institution fellow, was also condemned by Stanford University colleagues, with one faculty member calling him “an embarrassment to the university” in a November resolution.
“Dr. Scott Atlas’ resignation today is long overdue and underscores the triumph of science and truth over falsehoods and misinformation,” the same Stanford faculty said Monday in a joint statement.
POLITCAL ECONOMY THE GAY SCIENCE
LGBT-friendly companies outperform in the stock market, Credit Suisse says
A couple takes a picture in front of a giant rainbow flag, as LGBT activists gather to celebrate 'Coming Out Day' in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 11, 2020.
SERGEI SUPINSKY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Companies more tolerant of differences in sexuality and gender identity have seen a stock-price boost as well, according to an analysis from Credit Suisse.
The investment bank put together a list of what it calls the LGBT-350. There are companies either with openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender senior managers and/or are voted LGBT+ inclusive employers in leading surveys.
The top five companies are the same as in the S&P 500 — tech giants Apple AAPL, +2.11%, Microsoft MSFT, -0.53% and Alphabet GOOGL, -1.82%, online retailer Amazon.com AMZN, -0.85%, and social media company Facebook FB, -0.30%. The list is overwhelmingly U.S.-based, with Asian companies representing just 2% of its index.
The Credit Suisse team put its list of top LGBT+ friendly companies against the MSCI All Country world index without those components. Credit Suisse also adjusted by sector. What it found was a return, since the start of 2010, of 9.1% a year, an outperformance of 378 basis points a year.
Credit Suisse stressed it hasn’t found that LGBT friendliness is the cause of these gains. But the analysts — Eugene Klerk, Bahar Sezer Longworth and Richard Kersley — point out the benefits include the ability to attract and retain talent as well as draw in LGBT customers.
Citing data from Gallup, about 8% of U.S. millennials self-identify as LGBT+. If 5% to 10% of the population is LGBT+, that would make the group the world’s number three or four economy.
Canadian indigenous deal with KXL oil pipeline took years, aims to unlock long-term wealth Rod Nickel Mon, November 30, 2020 Canadian First Nations leaders speak to the news media at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa
By Rod Nickel
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - TC Energy Corp's sale of a C$1 billion ($769 million) stake in Keystone XL (KXL) to a Canadian indigenous group is the result of over three years of pressure from a tiny Saskatchewan First Nation that demanded part ownership of the long-delayed oil pipeline, rather than short-term payments for allowing it to be built through its lands.
Natural Law Energy's (NLE) planned investment was billed by TC as the biggest-ever indigenous investment in an oil project, highlighting how some communities are seeking to share in the industry's profits while others oppose it. Adding indigenous support may help efforts by Canada and TC to convince U.S. President-elect Joe Biden not to revoke the permit of the $8-billion Keystone XL when he takes office as he has promised.
If they are successful, millions of dollars will flow over a generation into indigenous communities to help youth afford university or pay for business investments, said Chief Alvin Francis of Nekaneet First Nation in Saskatchewan, one of five involved in NLE.
"It's about making life better for all of our youth," Francis said.
"If I could meet Joe Biden I’d say, 'This a chance for you to change my First Nation's view of the world.'" TC proposed KXL 12 years ago and the project has since run into a steady series of legal and political obstacles, opposed by some U.S. tribes, landowners and environmental activists.
Nekaneet, a community of about 540 people, has never been involved in a deal of this scale, having previously developed a strip mall.
It joined four First Nations - Ermineskin, Akamihk, Louis Bull Tribe and Little Pine - to form NLE. The coalition has attracted interest from banks in financing TC's project, given that much of its shipping capacity is already under contract, said NLE director Brian Mountain. He declined to identify the banks.
"What we're doing is creating intergenerational wealth," Mountain said.
NLE is talking with Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp, a provincial corporation, about guaranteeing some of the loans, he said.
Spokespeople for Canada's six big banks declined to comment or did not respond. There is precedent for banks supporting indigenous investments in energy, such as a C$545 million bond issue for two bands in 2017 to invest in a Suncor Energy Inc storage facility. Financing is set to close in the third quarter next year, likely well after Biden clarifies his position on KXL, easing risk for the First Nations, said Ken Coates, a professor of public policy at University of Saskatchewan.
Francis said while there is risk Biden will quash KXL, he is optimistic his position will soften. LONG-TERM DEAL
He said he asked TC in 2017 for a benefits-sharing agreement that would last KXL's lifetime. TC balked, but in late 2019 it contacted Francis and asked if Nekaneet would buy a stake.
That began a year of negotiations and development of the coalition.
Under the deal, TC would give NLE a stake and pay it a prescribed annual return in exchange for NLE raising funds and investing them in KXL, Mountain said.
NLE would use the proceeds to repay loans for its investment and provide cash to its First Nations for 30 years.
The payments will be based on KXL's revenues. Mountain and TC declined to estimate the payments' value and TC did not confirm NLE's account of the deal's structure, saying it was confidential.
For TC, the investment allows the company to tie up less of its own capital, after recently selling a stake in its Coastal GasLink pipeline to private equity.
The partnership reflects TC's commitment to sharing KXL's benefits with indigenous communities in both Canada and the United States, company spokesman Terry Cunha said.
Some oppose new pipelines for the toll fossil fuels have on the environment.
"Destroying the planet to make money is unconscionable, no matter who is making the money," said Steve Volker, lawyer for U.S.-based Indigenous Environmental Network.
($1 = 1.3000 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Additional reporting by Nichola Saminather and Maiya Keidan in Toronto; Editing by Denny Thomas and Marguerita Choy)
THE OTHER GREEN CAPITALI$M
Cannabis Watch Pot stocks pop ahead of U.S., UN votes on cannabis legalization
Published: Nov. 30, 2020 By Jeremy C. Owens Post-election run for beleaguered Canadian cannabis stocks like Aurora and Sundial continues ahead of decisions about removing bans on the drug
Activists advocated for marijuana reform last year in Washington, D.C., where the House is expected to vote this week on federal decriminalization of the drug.
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Cannabis stocks continued their post-election rise from the ashes Monday, ahead of votes this week regarding decriminalization in the U.S. House of Representatives and at the United Nations.
The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs will begin meeting on Wednesday as well, and is expected to vote on World Health Organization recommendations related to cannabis. The most prominent suggestion is to remove cannabis from a list of illegal narcotics, which — while largely symbolic — could help with legalization efforts in several countries, especially regarding medicinal marijuana.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB, +11.55%ACB, +10.99% jumped as much as 19% in Monday trading, despite a report that it plans to close its Aurora Sun facility in Alberta, a major growing operation that had been hailed repeatedly by former executives. “Aurora had indicated … that the headcount and production right-sizing was behind them, but these additional layoffs at Aurora Sun imply further unfavorable/unanticipated shifting in supply/demand equilibrium,” MKM Partners analyst Bill Kirk warned in a note passing along the news Monday morning.
Other large Canadian cannabis companies — which, unlike U.S. pot companies, are allowed to trade on major U.S. exchanges because the drug is legal nationwide in Canada — also enjoyed strong trading sessions Monday.
Tilray Inc. TLRY, +6.35% gained as much as 12.8%, Aphria Inc. APHA, +8.40%APHA, +7.59% gained more than 12% at its peak, and cannabis-pharmaceuticals company GW Pharmaceutical PLC GWPH, +7.99% increased in value by more than 7%. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ, +4.07% and Horizon Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF HMMJ, +3.21% both were more than 3% higher at times in Monday trading.
On Black Friday,one ofAmazon’s busiest periods,Amnesty International releaseda newbriefing,Amazon,Let Workers Unionize,
documentingthecompany’s treatment of workers inFrance, Poland,the UKand USA.
It is alarming that Amazon has treated attempts to unionize with such hostility – as one of the most powerful companies in the world, it should know better
ResearchersfoundthatAmazonhas underminedattemptsby workersto unionizeand collectively negotiate, including throughsurveillancein the USandthreats of legal actionin the UK,andthat it has failed toengage on key health and safety issuesin Poland and France.
“All through the pandemic,Amazonworkers have been risking theirhealth andlives toensureessential goodsare deliveredto our doorsteps,helpingAmazonachieve record profits.In this context it is alarming thatAmazonhas treated attempts to unionize with such hostility – as one of the most powerful companies in the world, it should know better,” saidBarbora Černušáková,Amnesty International’s Researcher and Advisor on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
“AsAmazonapproaches its busiest time of year with Black Friday and Christmas,we are urging the company to respect the human rights of its workers andcomply withinternationallabourstandards, which state clearly that workers have a right to unionize.Amazonmust refrain frombreaching its workers’rightstoprivacy, andstoptreatingunionactivity as a threat.”
Productivity targets resumed
Amazonsuspended its stringent productivity targets for workers inMarch 2020,in the face of concerns that they were incompatible with health and safety measures required to prevent COVID-19 infections.However, ahead of the end of year holiday season, in October,Amazontold workers in the US, UK and elsewhere that it was reintroducing them.
Workers in the UK reported receiving a text message stating that, “starting 21 October we will resume measuring and delivering productivity performance feedback to ensure we are ready to deliver for customers in the coming weeks.”
Unions threatened and disciplined
International human rights law and standards are clear that workers have rights to join and form trade unions, enjoy safe working conditions andhave their right to privacy respected.
Although Amazonsaysitrespects employees’ rights to join or form a labour union, it has consistently undermined the ability of trade unions to operate. Notonlydiditidentifytheexistence of unions as a “risk” factor in its2018 and 2019annual reports,Amazonalsoadvised managers in a2018training video to look for “warning signs” of union activity.
InMarch and April,there was uproarin the USwhenAmazonfired workers who spoke out about health and safety conditions during the pandemic.
In the UK, GMBUnionstaff have beenrepeatedlythreatened with injunctions for“trespassing”when trying to accessAmazonfacilitiesto recruit new members. Legal notices sent to union staff in 2018 and 2019 also illustrate thatAmazonmonitors the social media profiles of the union members, as their screenshots are attached as evidence of “planned” demonstrations.
In Poland, the Workers’Initiative reported disciplinary action against its members, including a woman who was reprimanded for recruiting union workers during working hours.
Surveillance
Another source of concern is thesurveillance ofAmazon’sworkforce.In September,Vice News reportedthatAmazonhadput out job advertisements for intelligence analyststo trackrisks including “labororganizing threats against the company”.Amazonhas since removed the job adverts and stated that their posting was an error.
In the same month, Vice News published details of internalAmazondocuments showing that the company had been secretly monitoring andanalyzingAmazonFlex drivers’ private Facebook groups, including for the purpose of tracking plans for strike actions or protests.
This kind of sinister “Big Brother” behaviour is totally unacceptable, and interferes with workers' freedom of expression and right to organize
On 21 September 2020, Amnesty International wrote toAmazonasking it to clarify its position on allegations of inappropriate surveillance and data collection from its workforce. In its response of 12 October 2020,Amazondid not answer specific questions about such practices. It didsay, however, thatAmazonplaces “enormous value on having daily conversations with eachassociate. Direct engagement with our employees is a strong part of our work culture.”
According to leaked internal documents, made public in October 2020,Amazonappears to beusingtechnology to monitor its workforcein the USA, including secretly tracking social media accounts for signs of plans to organize protests or strikes.
In October,Recodereported that a leaked internal memo included plans byAmazonto invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to monitor union “threats” through a new technology system called “geoSPatialOperating Console”.
“This kind ofsinister“Big Brother” behaviour is totally unacceptable, and interferes with workers' freedom of expression and right to organize," saidBarbora Černušáková.
Failureto engage with unions onhealth and safetyduring the pandemic
As COVID-19 continues to infect hundreds of thousands of peopleevery day, the health and safety ofAmazonworkers remains akeyconcern.
In Poland, the Workers’ Initiative told AmnestyInternationalthat in March 2020,Amazonrefused to discuss health and safety concerns with them. InFrance,the trade unionSolidairessuccessfully launched a legal challenge that forced a temporary halt in operations and the introduction of more stringent health and safety measures.
This festive period comes at the end of a long and difficult year for Amazon workers, who have had to fight for their rights at work in the midst of a pandemic
Unions have alsoraised concernsabouthazard pay. While some increased hazard pay forAmazonemployees was introduced in Europe and North America, it was withdrawn in most countries at the end of May 2020 despite the pandemiccontinuing.
“This festive period comes at the end of a long and difficult year forAmazonworkers, who have had to fight for their rights at workin the midst ofa pandemic," said Barbora Černušáková.
"Amazonis facing increasing scrutiny for its treatment of its workers, and we are urging the company to step up andfullycomply withits responsibilty to respect workers’ rights.”
Background
The briefing, Amazon, let them unionize! Respect for workers’ rights is not a choice, is available here.
AMAZON, LET WORKERS UNIONIZE! RESPECT FOR WORKERS’ RIGHTS IS NOT A CHOICE
, Index number: POL 40/3275/2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on societies and economies around the world. But Amazon has boomed, cementing its position as the most used consumer-facing platform in the world. This rapid expansion, occurring during an unprecedented global health crisis, has exacerbated longstanding concerns about the US-based corporation’s approach to health and safety and its adversarial relationship with trade unions. As Amazon approaches its busiest time of the year between Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Christmas, Amnesty International has gathered information relating to these concerns from four countries where the company has major operations: France, Poland, the UK and USA.
Amazon is targeting and intimidating workers who are asking for better, safer working conditions. Email Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, and tell him to respect workers’ rights.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon’s profits have soared, with CEO, Jeff Bezos, becoming the world’s richest person. At the same time,COVID-19 brings new risk to those working in enclosed spaces and Amazon workers have struggled to get safe working conditions.
It’s your human right to join a union. Unions are vital - helping workers to negotiate with employers over wages, hours, and other working conditions. Unions have been critical in protecting the human rights of Amazon’s workforce, especially during this pandemic.
But allegations are mounting that Amazon has been squashing workers’ attempts to unionise in several countries. Allegations include the company monitoring and analysing workers’ private Facebook groups - a claim they haven’t denied. There is also evidence that Amazon spent thousands of dollars on an invasive new technology system to spy on workers. Some workers who have raised concerns about poor working conditions during COVID-19 have faced disciplinary action or have been fired.
International human rights law is clear. Everyone has the right to form and join a union.
Show your support for Amazon workers. Jeff Bezos says he personally reads the emails in this inbox – send him an email today telling him that workers’ rights are human rights! We’ll also send your email to Amazon’s board members.
Makiko Inoue and Ben Dooley Sun, November 29, 2020
When Japan's economy faced its worst months in late spring and early summer, companies cut loose tens of thousands of nonregular workers, with women bearing the brunt of the job losses. (Noriko Hayashi/The New York Times)
TOKYO — For more than a decade, Setsuko Hikita spent her working days selling snacks and newspapers in the bowels of Tokyo’s bustling metro system.
Amid the chaos of morning commutes and the scramble to catch the last train home, she kept her employers’ tiny kiosks a haven of well-ordered commerce. Her company once awarded her a citation for her dedication and hard work.
What it did not give her was equal pay.
Over a 10-year period, Hikita earned about $90,000 less than many of her co-workers, and she was denied benefits like a retirement allowance. It wasn’t because they had more experience or were more competent. It was just that they had lifetime employment status and she did not.
So Hikita sued. Last month, after more than six years, the country’s Supreme Court rendered a verdict: Her employer was under no obligation to provide her with the same retirement allowance — a lump-sum payment on leaving the company — it gave colleagues who did identical work.
The ruling is one of two recent court decisions that threaten to further entrench the long-standing divide in Japan between so-called regular workers, who have lifetime employment and attendant benefits, and the growing ranks of nonregular workers, many of whom are women.
The effects of these divisions have been especially pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic. When Japan’s economy faced its worst months in late spring and early summer, companies cut loose tens of thousands of nonregular workers, with women bearing the brunt of the job losses. Many regular employees were put on furlough, retaining their positions.
Concerns about the precarious state of nonregular workers long predate the pandemic.
Employers have for years chipped away at the system of lifetime employment that evolved in Japan after World War II, arguing that increased flexibility to hire and fire employees will increase economic efficiency. Now, nearly 37% of the country’s labor force, or more than 20.6 million workers, are nonregular employees, according to the latest government statistics, up from around 16% in the early 1980s.
Among Japanese women in the workforce, more than half are nonregular employees — an example of the limits of Japan’s push in recent years to elevate women in the workplace, a program known as womenomics.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, addressing parliament this month, emphasized the need to fight rising unemployment among nonregular workers, and women in particular, pledging to “firmly take necessary measures.”
Promises like these sound all too familiar to labor activists. They fear that the Supreme Court’s decisions have “thrown cold water” on such vows to reform the system, said Shigeru Wakita, professor emeritus of labor law at Ryukoku University.
Japanese law mandates that companies avoid “unreasonable” differences in how they treat employees, but the meaning of the term is ill-defined. In the case of Hikita’s lawsuit and a separate suit brought by a female employee at a medical school in Osaka, judges ruled that the organizations had not violated that standard despite vast gaps in compensation and other benefits.
“If the courts don’t recognize this case as unreasonable, then what on earth is unreasonable?” asked Mitsuteru Suda, chairman of a labor union in Tokyo.
A tentative answer to that question came when the court issued a third ruling last month on conditions for nonregular workers. The judges ruled in favor of plaintiffs who had sued their employer, Japan Post, after it refused to pay them overtime to help with the spike in deliveries around New Year’s, Japan’s most important holiday.
But even that ruling is likely to further legitimize the prevailing employment system, Suda said. While the ruling will force the company to reassess its employment practices, it found fault only with the degree of discrimination, not the practice itself.
“The ruling stands on the side of the employers, giving a stamp of approval of discrimination,” he said. “That is unacceptable.”
In the Japanese employment system, the line between regular and nonregular workers is drawn early, and the result is a sharp class divide.
Each fall, companies across the country hold recruitment drives for high school and college students who will graduate in the spring. For many, the monthslong process is the most important period of their lives.
Those who find jobs will win employment for life. Those who do not are cast into the wilderness of irregular employment.
Regular workers, known as seishain, receive two annual bonuses, each typically worth at least one month’s salary and sometimes much more. They have benefits, which can include housing. They are nearly impossible to fire. And they get a generous pension plan.
By contrast, nonregular workers can be fired much more easily. They are paid less, and employers are not required to provide them with the same level of benefits that their regularly employed colleagues receive.
Midcareer hiring that brings nonregular workers into the regular workforce has increased in recent years, said Andrew Gordon, a professor at Harvard who specializes in the history of labor in Japan. But it remains rare.
Businesses employing regular workers right out of school like to argue, he said, that “we’re not hiring people with specialized knowledge and experience, but we’re hiring human capital that can be formed.”
“They fear that somebody from the outside won’t be able to adjust to their particular company’s way of doing things even though, functionally speaking, it might not be that different,” he added.
Lifetime employment is an artifact of the postwar era. As Japan tried to rebuild its devastated economy and demand for labor skyrocketed, the country’s companies made a pact with its workers: They would guarantee that their material needs would be met until the day they died. In exchange, employees would stay with their company for life and devote themselves entirely to its success.
The jobs went mostly to men. Their wives were expected to stay home and support their husbands’ grueling schedules.
Through the 1980s, Japan’s humming economy meant that most employees landed in lifetime employment. But the system began to change in the 1990s, after the country’s economic bubble popped and companies demanded more freedom in labor decisions.
In the following years, laws began changing to favor employers. By the end of the 2008 financial crisis, the number of nonregular workers had risen drastically.
A 2013 law attempted to address this disparity, mandating that employers convert nonregular workers to seishain after five years and that differences in their employment conditions should not be “unreasonable.”
But the law has had little impact because of loopholes and its loose definition of what constitutes “unreasonable” differences.
Those weak points became the basis for the lawsuit filed by Hikita and three others against their employer, Metro Commerce.
Several decades ago, the company routinely hired 20 to 30 lifetime employees annually. Now, it adds only two or three each year.
For Hikita, her life as a nonregular employee began at the age of 54, when she moved back to Tokyo after a divorce. Her starting wage at Metro Commerce was 1,000 yen an hour, or less than $10 an hour at current exchange rates. Ten years later, she was making only 1,050.
“When I started at the company, I thought everyone was equal,” she said. But she quickly discovered that “there was a difference between contract employees and lifetime employees.”
She decided to sue in 2014 after learning that her co-workers were getting annual bonuses four to five times as large as hers.
After she left the company the next year, she was working three jobs to cover the payments on her home, she said. She worked every day that year.
Since filing her suit, Hikita said, she has learned that “there are an incredible number of us across the country” facing employment discrimination. The message from the Supreme Court, she added, is clear: “We’re all disposable.”
