International Women's Day 2021: when is it, what is the theme, inspirational quotes - and why is it celebrated?

International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world, including in the UK

By Jenna Macfarlane
Friday, 5th March 2021

International Women's Day has been observed since the early 1900s through protests and strikes (Getty Images)

Countries all over the world band together on International Women’s Day to celebrate the achievements of women and campaign for gender equality

The international awareness day has been observed since the early 1900s - yet this year the celebrations will be like no other.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, many events all over the globe will be taking place virtually.

So, what is International Women’s Day, when is it in 2021 - and what is this year’s theme?


Here is everything you need to know.


What is International Women’s Day?

First celebrated in 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the achievements of women - whether that be social, economic, cultural or political.

It’s also a time for commemorating women who have made history and nodding to those who continue to champion gender equality for future generations.


But perhaps most significantly, the political roots of the day mean strikes and protests are organised to highlight continued inequality across the world.


Despite there being more gender equality than ever before in 2021, the IWD website concludes that there is still “urgent work to do”.


And data from UN Women has revealed that the coronavirus pandemic could wipe out 25 years of increasing gender equality.

Women are doing more domestic chores and family care due to lockdown restrictions, which in turn can impact upon career and education opportunities.


According to the World Economic Forum, “gender parity will not be attained for almost a century”.


It says: “None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children".


How did the day begin?


The day started with a march that took place in New York City in 1908.


Over 15,000 women took to the streets to campaign for shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.


The first National Women’s Day was then celebrated across the US on 28 February 1909.


But the idea to make it an international celebration came from Clara Zetkin, who floated the idea at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen in 1910.


There were 100 women in attendance, from 17 countries, who unanimously agreed on her suggestion.


The United Nations started celebrating the day in 1975, and its first ever theme was "Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future" in 1996.


What are the colours of International Women’s Day?


The official colours of International Women’s Day are purple, green and white.

These originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK back in 1908, according to the International Women's Day website.


"Purple signifies justice and dignity. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity, albeit a controversial concept,” it states.


When is International Women’s Day 2021?


International Women’s Day always falls on 8 March, which this year is a Monday.


Zetkin’s idea for an international awareness day had no fixed date, and there was no formal one until a war-time strike in Russia in 1917.


During the strike, women demanded “bread and peace”, until four days into the protest the Tsar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote.


The date when the strike began was 23 February on the Julian calendar which was used in Russia at the time.


In the Gregorian calendar, that was 8 March, which is the date International Women’s Day is celebrated today.


How is it celebrated?


The awareness day is a national holiday in many countries, including in Russia where flower sales double during the days around 8 March.


And in China, many women are given a half day off work as advised by the State Council - although some employers don’t always pass the half day on to female employees.


Meanwhile, in Italy, the day is celebrated by the giving of mimosa blossom. The tradition is thought to have started in Rome following the second world war.

In the US, the entire month of March is Women’s History Month and a presidential proclamation issued each year honours the achievements of American women.


However, this year will look different across the globe due to the pandemic.


More events are expected to take place virtually, including in the UK.


There will also be a virtual event on 8 March run by UN Women, with the theme: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”.


“The pandemic won’t dampen our spirits in the pursuit to connect communities around the world to collaboratively forge positive change for women,” the IWD website reads.


What is the International Women’s Day 2021 theme?


There’s a different theme for International Women’s Day each year to help to raise awareness.


In 2021, that is #ChooseToChallenge, according to the International Women’s Day website.


“We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world,” organisers said.


To show their support for the theme, people can post an image of themselves on social media with their hand raised high to show they choose to challenge and call out inequality.


The images will be shared around the world in the lead up to the day, using the hashtags #ChooseToChallenge and #IWD2021.


What are International Women’s Day quotes?

Here are some inspirational quotes from famous women:

“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai


“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.” – Serena Williams


“I think every woman in our culture is a feminist. They may refuse to articulate it, but if you were to take any woman back 40 years and say, ‘Is this a world you want to live in?’, they would say ‘No.’” – Dame Helen Mirren


“The best way for us to cultivate fearlessness in our daughters and other young women is by example. If they see their mothers and other women in their lives going forward despite fear, they’ll know it’s possible.” – Gloria Steinem


“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg


“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” – Maya Angelou


“There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.” – Michelle Obama


“Women feel like we need permission … We need to lead and change that.” – Emma Watson

March 5th 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg's birth. A Polish-born Jewish revolutionary, she was one of the greatest theoretical minds of the European socialist movement.  Rosa Luxemburg Library - Marxists Internet Archive Aug. 19, 2020 — Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive. “Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of one party –  THAT REVOLUTIONARY FEMINIST JOURNAL; TEEN VOGUE Rosa Luxemburg: Who Was the Revolutionary Socialist and ... www.teenvogue.com › story › who-is-rosa-luxemburg Mar. 5, 2020 — During her 47 years, Luxemburg was indefatigable in her commitment to building an international proletarian movement and encouraging ... Rosa Luxemburg | Jewish Women's Archive jwa.org › encyclopedia › article › luxemburg-rosa Rosa Luxemburg was a socialist revolutionary known for her critical perspective. Born in Poland, Luxemburg had become an important figure in the world ... 150 years since the birth of Rosa Luxemburg - World Socialist ... www.wsws.org › articles › 2021/03/05 › pers-m05 18 hours ago — Rosa Luxemburg, who was born on 5 March, 1871, was among the most important revolutionary Marxists of the 20th century, and her work ... Happy 150th Birthday, Rosa Luxemburg - Jacobin jacobinmag.com › 2021/03 › happy-150th-birthday-ro... 14 hours ago — One hundred and fifty years ago today, the Polish Marxist thinker and organizer Rosa Luxemburg was born. She is, without question, one of the ... Rosa Luxemburg and the German Revolution - Rosa ... www.rosalux.de › dossiers › rosa-luxemburg-and-the-g... In marking the 100th anniversary of both the Revolution and Luxemburg's murder, the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung seeks to commemorate her legacy, the legacy of ... Rosa Luxemburg at 150: a revolutionary legacy by James Plested RED FLAG SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE AU 05 March 2021 Rosa Luxemburg, one of the great leaders in the history of the socialist movement, was born in Poland (then a province of the Russian empire) 150 years ago this month, on 5 March 1871. Luxemburg cut her teeth in the Polish revolutionary underground, but as an immensely talented political leader, she was drawn to the centre of the European workers’ movement in Germany, where, from the late 1890s, she became the driving force of the revolutionary wing of German socialism. In the pamphlet Social Reform or Revolution?, the first part of which was published in 1899, she took up the fight against those in the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) who rejected revolution and argued instead for a focus on the gradual reform of capitalism through parliamentary and trade union work. The leading figure within this “revisionist” current, as it came to be known, was Eduard Bernstein. In The Preconditions of Socialism and the Task of Social Democracy, he argued that, as capitalism developed, the tendency to economic crisis identified by Karl Marx was being overcome, raising the prospect of a permanent and peaceful advance towards universal prosperity. Read more  What's the way to get to socialism? In response to Bernstein, Luxemburg argued that, far from the contradictions in capitalism and its tendency to crisis being overcome, as the system developed, these contradictions would intensify. The period of growth and prosperity experienced in Germany in the last decades of the nineteenth century was only the calm before the storm. It wouldn’t be long, Luxemburg argued, before the contradictions inherent in the system broke out in the open again. Only this time, with the greater concentration of industry and the heightened competition between states for markets and resources, the crisis would be deeper and broader than ever before. A little over a decade later, with the outbreak of World War One in 1914, the correctness of Luxemburg’s account was clearly demonstrated. The dream of universal capitalist prosperity was replaced overnight with the nightmare of industrial-scale slaughter in the trenches. Further, the behaviour of the SPD’s parliamentary leaders, who junked all their long-established anti-militarist principles to vote in favour of funding the war effort, showed the truth of her insight that, rather than changing the system, the reformists would end up being changed by it. “People who pronounce themselves in favour of the method of legislative reform in place of and in contradistinction to the conquest of political power and social revolution”, Luxemburg wrote, “do not really choose a more tranquil, calmer and slower road to the same goal, but a different goal”. In the face of a renewed crisis of capitalism, of war and brutality on an unprecedented scale, the reformists’ professions of faith in the long-term achievement of a socialist society gave way to a more or less straightforward defence of the existing order. In her 1906 pamphlet, The Mass Strike, Luxemburg once again assailed the reformist currents of the SPD, this time contrasting their top-down, bureaucratic conception of the socialist movement with Marx’s idea of revolution as “the self-emancipation of the working class”. The pamphlet was written in the aftermath of the first Russian Revolution of 1905. Events in Russia were greeted with a wave of enthusiasm in the Western European socialist movement. In particular, the central role played by mass strikes of workers in the revolution gave confidence to the radicals within the SPD and the trade unions. For the reformist SPD and trade union leaders, though, the new enthusiasm among workers for the mass strike was a cause for deep concern. It went against all the rules of the game—blurring the boundary between political demands, which they believed were the exclusive domain of the party, and economic demands, which were the responsibility of the unions, and risking the struggle moving beyond the carefully mapped paths of reform. For many trade union leaders, parliamentarians and party officials, the development of union organisation and the advance of the SPD’s parliamentary activities had become ends in themselves. The attitude of many trade union leaders is summed up nicely in the words of Theodor Bömelburg, a building union leader, who said, “To develop our organisations further, we need peace in the labour movement”. Read more What coronavirus taught us about the ruling class Strikes were a drain on union funds, and risked provoking the wrath of the capitalist state, which could impose punitive measures that would disrupt the unions’ operations. To the extent that a mass strike might be useful or necessary, it was a tactic to be employed carefully and precisely by the leaders, at the appropriate time and in the right conditions. We can see many of these same attitudes, and worse, in union leaders today. In contrast to this, Luxemburg considered that the mass, unruly, revolutionary strikes that occurred in Russia in 1905 provided a reminder of where the true wellspring of the socialist movement was to be found. To her mind, the strength of the movement lay, not in the increasingly gigantic bureaucratic machinery of the unions or in the carefully thought-out manoeuvrings of the SPD’s parliamentary wing, but in the self-activity of workers in struggle. For Luxemburg, the direct involvement of workers in struggle was the key to the advance of the workers’ movement, in both its economic and political dimensions. The relationship between the economic struggles of workers for better wages and conditions, and the struggle to advance the political goals of the workers’ movement, was highly reciprocal: “After every soaring wave of political action, there remains a fertile sediment from which sprout a thousand economic struggles. And the reverse also applies. The workers’ constant economic struggle against capital sustains them at every pause in the political battle”. To maintain a hard and fast divide between the economic and political spheres, as was the case with the reformists, is to shut off the mutually reinforcing dynamic that gives the movement as a whole its strength. Further, in line with Marx’s insistence that the overthrow of capitalism and the construction of a socialist society can succeed only on the basis of the self-activity of workers, Luxemburg drew out the way in which mass strikes support the political and organisational advance of the working class. The spontaneous emergence of the Russian soviets (workers’ councils) during the events of 1905 provides the clearest illustration of this, showing that even the most astute and engaged party or trade union committee could be no substitute for the experience of the mass of workers in struggle. The task of a revolutionary party is not, therefore, to set out an ordained path or schema that workers obediently follow toward the achievement of socialism. It is, rather, to be immersed in the everyday struggles of workers, and to develop the political experience, with and alongside workers, that alone provides the foundation for leadership in a period of revolution. Luxemburg spent the majority of the years from the outbreak of World War One in 1914 to the revolution of November 1918 behind bars, imprisoned for being one of the very few people in Germany with the courage to speak out against the slaughter unfolding in the trenches. In the Junius Pamphlet, written from her cell in early 1915, she painted a vivid picture of the choice she believed humanity faced in those years: “Either the triumph of imperialism and the collapse of all civilization as in ancient Rome, depopulation, desolation, degeneration—a great cemetery. Or the victory of socialism, that means the conscious active struggle of the international proletariat against imperialism and its method of war”. Luxemburg saw clearly that imperialism was part of the core logic of capitalism and that its inevitable consequence was war. Her words, written amid the carnage of World War One, provide a reminder of the consequences for humanity if the imperialist rivalries of today, such as that between China and the US, break out into open war. The tragedy of Luxemburg’s life is that, by the time she realised the necessity of breaking with the SPD and of building a clearly revolutionary organisation, it was too late. The weakness of the revolutionary left during the war meant that, in the decisive battles of the postwar years from 1918 to 1923, revolutionaries were always running to catch up, giving the SPD leaders and other reactionary forces in Germany the time they needed to regroup. The true cost of these defeats is shown in subsequent German history, as it rushed headlong toward the catastrophes of the 1930s and 1940s. Luxemburg herself was murdered, along with her comrade Karl Liebknecht, on the night of 15 January 1919. They were among the main leaders of the insurgent movement of workers, sailors and soldiers that had brought World War One to an end and which was threatening to topple the entire capitalist order of Germany. Captured by a division of the reactionary Freikorps on orders from SPD leader (and professed “socialist”) Friedrich Ebert, Luxemburg’s skull was smashed by a rifle butt and her body dumped into Berlin’s Landwehr canal. Read more Human nature is no barrier to socialism The murders of Luxemburg and Liebknecht were a major blow to the immediate hopes of the German (and by extension, the world’s) working class. But Luxemburg’s legacy as a revolutionary activist and theorist couldn’t be extinguished so easily. Her ideas, whether on the question of reform versus revolution, the significance of the mass strike or the civilisation-threatening barbarism of imperialist war, are as relevant today as ever. Increasing numbers of young people are being drawn to anti-capitalist politics. But just as in Luxemburg’s time, there are competing understandings of the word “socialism” and suggested strategies for winning a better world. There are many today who argue along similar lines to the right wing of the German SPD in the years leading up to World War One—that we should give up on the idea of revolution and be content simply to fight for a better deal for workers and the poor within the framework of capitalism. There’s no reason to think, however, that if we follow the advice of today’s reformist socialists, we’ll end up with anything much different to the kind of carnage that overtook Europe from 1914 on. Nothing fundamental has changed about capitalism in the intervening period. Capitalism’s tendency to fall into crisis remains. In fact, the crises are deepening and proliferating. If imperialist tensions between China and the US were, at some point in the coming decades, to break out into a direct military conflict, the consequences for humanity would be even more devastating than in the case of World War One. And today it’s not only the threats of economic devastation and war we need to worry about, but also the potentially existential threat posed by climate change. The choice we face today is no less stark than that which Luxemburg saw confronting humanity at the height of World War One. Will we allow the continuation of a system that’s propelling humanity into one catastrophe after another? Or will we range ourselves against this system and its defenders (even those supposedly “on our side”), and set a course for revolution? Do we want merely to win a somewhat friendlier version of capitalism, or will we fight for a society and economy democratically and collectively controlled by workers, in which the vast capacities and resources of humanity are no longer sacrificed on the altar of the market, but can be turned to restoring our damaged relationship with nature, and to providing the things we need to live a decent life? If we want to overcome the barbarism of capitalism, then the need for the kind of clear, intransigent revolutionary politics that Rosa Luxemburg’s life and thought exemplify is more urgent today than ever. James Plested is an editor of Red Flag.                                                                     ROSA'S HEIRS For a Humanist Alternative to Capitalism https://imhojournal.org/

Trump appointee busted for insurrection. He worked for a hate group before rioting for Trump.

The State Department aide has a long history of "researching" ways for the religious right to oppose LGBTQ rights.

By Alex Bollinger Friday, March 5, 2021


The Capitol was vandalized during the 1/6 riots.Photo: Shutterstock

A former anti-LGBTQ hate group employee who was appointed to a Trump administration position has been arrested in connection to the MAGA riot at the Capitol.

Federico Klein, 42, was a State Department aide appointed by Donald Trump and he’s now the first Trump appointee to be arrested in connection to the attempted insurrection.

A spokesperson for the FBI’s Washington Field Office told Politico yesterday that Klein was arrested but would not state what charges he is facing exactly.

Klein worked on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign as a “tech analyst” and then served as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department. He worked at the Office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs before working in an office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests.

At some point before his time in the Trump administration but after he graduated from college in 2002, he worked as a researcher for the Family Research Council (FRC), an SPLC designated hate group that focuses on anti-LGBTQ rights and anti-choice work, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The group has repeatedly associated homosexuality with pedophilia, called being transgender a mental disorder, and painted LGBTQ people as aggressive and harmful to children.

“For years, LGBT activists wanted to keep the goal of luring children into sexual confusion under wraps,” FRC President Tony Perkins said in 2019. “Now that they’ve hoodwinked a lot of the country on their agenda, these extremists no longer have to hide. In fact, they are increasingly bold–even boastful–about their real intentions of recruiting kids.”

The story provides yet another connection between Trump and the angry mob of his supporters who stormed the Capitol in January in an attempt to reverse the results of the 2020 elections, which President Joe Biden won. The protestors, carrying explosives and other weapons, illegally pushed past security to enter the building while lawmakers were evacuated.

They set up a noose outside the Capitol, looted the building, and chanted for the death of Mike Pence. 

Five people died.

His mother Cecilia Klein said that she knew her son was in D.C. in January but “as far as I know, he was on the Mall. That’s what he told me.”

“Fred’s politics burn a little hot,” she said, “but I’ve never known him to violate the law.”

“While I believe, as he said, he was on the Mall that day, I don’t have any evidence, nor will I ever ask him, unless he tells me, where he was after he was on the Mall.”

South Bay Rep. Zoe Lofgren quietly releases massive social media report on GOP colleagues who voted to overturn the election

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, (AP File Photo/Andrew Harnik)
By CNN.COM

PUBLISHED: March 5, 2021 
By Lauren Fox | CNN

Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren has quietly posted a nearly 2,000-page report documenting social media posts by her Republican colleagues who voted against certifying results of the presidential election on January 6. The information compiled isn’t secret, but the report is another sign of the deep distrust that has settled into the US Capitol in the weeks since the insurrection.

The report chronicles the social media activity of members on public forums immediately before the November election and right after the January 6 riot. The report has been online for a week.

CNN reported earlier Thursday that federal investigators are examining records of communications between members of Congress and the pro-Trump mob that attacked the Capitol, as the investigation moves closer to exploring whether lawmakers wittingly or unwittingly helped the insurrectionists.

In a preamble to the report, Lofgren — the chair of the House Administration Committee — wrote that she had asked her staff to pull the relevant social media posts and compile them in an effort to gather facts.

“Any appropriate disciplinary action is a matter not only of the Constitution and law, but also of fact,” the California Democrat wrote. “Many of former President Trump’s false statements were made in very public settings. Had Members made similar public statements in the weeks and months before the January 6th attack? Statements which are readily available in the public arena may be part of any consideration of Congress’ constitutional prerogatives and responsibilities.”

Lofgren continued, “Accordingly, I asked my staff to take a quick look at public social media posts of Members who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”

Tensions have risen within the Capitol since the January attack. A House floor that once was deemed impenetrable has been surrounded by metal detectors, while Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, has said that “the enemy is within” the House, referencing the rhetoric and behavior of some Republican members of Congress.

“Like former President Trump, any elected Member of Congress who aided and abetted the insurrection or incited the attack seriously threatened our democratic government. They would have betrayed their oath of office and would be implicated in the same constitutional provision cited in the Article of Impeachment,” Lofgren wrote in her foreword to the report. “That provision prohibits any person who has previously taken an oath as a member of Congress to support the Constitution but subsequently engaged in insurrection or rebellion from serving in Congress.”

The report features a collection of social media posts and tweets that span dozens of pages from Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar where he urges supporters to “hold the line,” days before what would become the Capitol insurrection. In another social media post included in the report, Gosar wrote that “sedition and treason for stealing votes is appropriate.”

The report also captures numerous tweets where Gosar invoked @ali on Twitter, which was formerly the account used by Ali Alexander, a leader of the “Stop the Steal” group, who said in several Periscope livestream videos that he planned the rally that preceded the riot in conjunction with Gosar and two other congressional Republicans, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Andy Biggs of Arizona.

CNN has reached out to Gosar’s office for comment.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Greenpeace paints Air France jet green in daring eco-stunt

Nine Greenpeace activists were arrested for vandalizing an Air France jet with green paint Friday as part of an eco-protest that raised  concerns about airport security

ByThe Associated Press

5 March 2021, 09:35

• 2 min read

The Associated Press

In this photo provided by Greenpeace, Greenpeace activists paint a side of an Air France Boeing 7...

PARIS -- Nine Greenpeace activists were arrested Friday for vandalizing an Air France jet with green paint in an airport eco-protest that raised concerns about security.

Aeroports de Paris (ADP), the body that runs Paris’ airports, said the activists got inside Charles de Gaulle airport by scaling a fence at the edge of the tarmac.

With an extendable paint roller, they painted on one side of an Air France Boeing 777, which was parked without passengers, before climbing on the jet. Several of the activists refused to climb down off the plane despite orders from security personnel.

ADP said the demonstrators "were immediately intercepted and contained by the police. They were therefore unable to access the runways. Aviation safety has not been compromised and air traffic continues normally.”

Greenpeace said that the stunt was carried out to raise awareness on “greenwashing” of climate change and environmental regulation. It also said it was organized ahead of a climate bill debate in the French Parliament.

“We would like to firmly remind you that the technological innovations so much praised by the Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, will not be enough to stem the climate crisis,” the group said in a tweet.

The National Airline Pilots Union (SNPL) was quick to denounce the stunt, saying that the “intrusion into the airport’s secure area” and “deliberate vandalizing” of an aircraft will result in heavy costs to get the plane cleaned.

The SNPL also defended the aviation industry again the activists' claims. It said: “Today, companies buy planes that consume between 2 and 3 liters per passenger per 100 km, which is the consumption of a hybrid car.”

UNION JOBS 

Mandatory COVID-19 testing in place as
thousands return to LNG work sites,
camps in northern B.C.

JUST ANOTHER DRUG TEST

© Betsy Trumpener/CBC Crews were on the job during the pandemic, building a Coastal GasLink work camp near Vanderhoof, B.C., in June 2020.

More than 3,000 industrial workers are set to arrive this month at work camps and construction sites at an energy mega project in northern B.C., with the majority coming from outside the region.

That's according to LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink, as work on their $46-billion natural gas pipeline and LNG export terminal ramps up after slowdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The influx of workers has raised concerns from health officials and residents in the area about the risk of coronavirus transmission in communities close to work sites and camps.

But LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink, who are partners in the project to move natural gas from northeast B.C. to the province's North Coast for export to Asia, say that's being mitigated by the rollout of mandatory COVID testing for all workers, whether they're symptomatic or not.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry permitted LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink to gradually increase the number of workers on site earlier this year, under stringent conditions. By the end of March, the number of people working on the pipeline and export terminal is scheduled to increase to almost 6,000 from fewer than 1,000 at the start of the year.

Even while operating with reduced staff, the mega project wasn't immune to the spread of COVID-19.

Northern Health declared four different COVID-19 outbreaks at Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada work sites or camps between November and January, with a total of 128 workers infected.
Airport testing

To allay fears of potential future outbreaks, company-funded rapid testing is ramping up for fly-in workers from outside the region, with testing in place at airports in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ontario.

An LNG Canada spokesperson says the company has already administered antigen tests to 1,700 workers before they boarded charter flights at the Edmonton and Calgary airports.

The company said out-of-town workers are prohibited from leaving the job site except to return home on their days off, and they will be re-tested each time they return to the region. They're also barred from visiting local businesses.

Local workers will be tested every three weeks, said LNG Canada, which is already operating three on-site private health clinics with COVID-19 isolation wings.

Coastal GasLink said it has started testing employees at two work camps using PCR testing, which can deliver results within 48 hours, and plans to expand that to workers along the pipeline's 670-kilometre construction route.

"This is another layer of protection, to keep our workforce and communities safe," said Michael Gibb, Coastal GasLink's director of health, safety and security.

Previously, the private sector wasn't able to requisition test kits and labs, Gibb said.

"In the early days of the pandemic, any available testing and supplies, the government immediately grabbed, as they should, for public health," he said.
'Cadillac private health system'

But Dr. David Bowering, a retired chief medical health officer with Northern Health who lives in the region, says the elevated risk of transmission remains.

He also said it's unfair that mega projects like these can afford to "import this deluxe, Cadillac private health system and level of testing," while the public health system is "rationing COVID testing for people just doing ordinary things like trying to run restaurants and stores."

"It doesn't feel right, the granting of essential service status to these huge projects ... while everything else stops and shuts down and changes so dramatically," Bowering said.

Coastal GasLink's Gibb said it's up to public health officials to determine if there's a need for expanded community testing.

Last year, LNG Canada donated $500,000 for COVID-19 response measures in Kitimat, Terrace, and local Indigenous communities.

District of Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth welcomes the return of workers to his community, where the LNG export terminal is under construction.

"It's good to see they're going to start ramping up again and get the project back on track," Germuth told CBC News. "Honestly, I haven't had a single person come to me with concerns."

Germuth said LNG Canada's new testing protocols make him "very confident that ... everything will go as smoothly as it can."

Three other large industrial projects in northern B.C. have also been granted permission by provincial health officials to increase their work force.

A spokesperson for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project said the company expects as many as 1,000 workers will be on the job in the Valemount area, between Jasper and Prince George, within the next three months, as work proceeds on twinning an oil pipeline between Alberta and Burnaby, B.C..

In the Kitimat area, Rio Tinto's B.C. Works project is planning for a "gradual ramp-up ... when it is safe to do so," a company spokesperson told CBC News.

A spokesperson for BC Hydro's Site C dam project near Fort St. John said the number of workers on site is expected to increase to more than 2,300 in the coming weeks, with additional workers expected in summer.

U.S. ITC criticizes Ford for pursuing SK Innovation battery deals

By David Shepardson and Heekyong Yang 

3/5/2021

© Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay FILE PHOTO: Ford Motor Co's logo pictured in 2019

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Thursday criticized Ford Motor Co for pursuing battery contracts with SK Innovation after evidence had emerged the South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery maker misappropriated trade secrets from cross-town rival LG Chem.

The ITC last month sided with LG Chem in its trade secrets claims, issuing a limited 10-year exclusion order prohibiting imports into the United States of lithium-ion batteries by SK Innovation (SK). It permitted SK to import components for domestic production of batteries for Ford's EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen of America’s MEB electric vehicle line for North America for two years.

In a redacted version of its full 96-page opinion Thursday, the ITC questioned why the second largest U.S. automaker had continued to pursue battery contracts with SK Innovation "after SK's misconduct in this investigation had come to light."

It said Ford had sought business with SK even after a company employee in November 2019 was deposed in the commission's investigation and at a time when it only had a contract with SK to supply batteries for the EV F-150.

"There is no explanation in the record why Ford would choose to ignore or excuse SK's egregious misconduct," the ITC added. "The fault here belongs with SK, as well as with those, like Ford, who deliberately chose to continue to cultivate prospective business relationships predicated on SK's trade secret misappropriation."

The ITC also rejected Ford's request to extend exemptions to Ford's unannounced new EVs.

"Ford's basis for extending the exemption is to take advantage of economies of scope by using similar SK batteries with misappropriated technologies across several unnamed vehicles," it said. "The commission finds the evidence concerning the public interest does not support Ford’s request."

Ford declined to comment on Thursday, referring to its previous statement that the ITC decision supported its efforts to bring its EV Ford F-150 to market in mid-2022.

SK Innovation has warned previously that the decision would force it to halt construction of a $2.6 billion battery plant in Georgia if not overturned by President Joe Biden.

It said on Friday the finding could destroy thousands of high-tech green energy jobs, frustrate plans to protect the environment and "endanger U.S. national security" by making it more dependent on Chinese companies for batteries.

"Thankfully, it is entirely within the discretion of the Biden administration to undo it," SK said.

LG Chem noted the ITC ruling found SK misappropriated LG trade secrets "worth billions of dollars spanning the entire electric vehicle battery business... The release of the ITC's decision puts to rest any questions of whether SK Innovation did anything wrong — they did, repeatedly, and now they must be held accountable."

The ITC said SK Innovation was at least a decade behind LG Chem citing "the very large volume of stolen trade secret documentation, and the expertise improperly acquired by (SK Innovation) from the former LG Chem employees it hired away."

The ITC also found the "investigation demonstrates not merely SK's eagerness to destroy documents, but also SK's callous disregard to ascertain the scope of the destruction after the commencement" of ITC proceedings.

SK Innovation shares fell as much as 6.3% in morning trade, hitting their lowest since mid-January, while LG Chem shares rose 3.7% against a 0.8% decline in the broader KOSPI.

VW has sought at least a four-year extension like Ford.

The ITC opinion said "VW's preference for less expensive batteries using misappropriated LG trade secrets — in perpetuity, no less — is not a compelling public interest."

VW said Thursday the "ruling will only limit competition, reduce U.S. battery capacity, hurt consumers and cost American jobs. Our team is working with the U.S. Trade Representative to avoid these consequences."

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; editing by Richard Pullin)