Americans with criminal records
could be a solution to the labor shortage

Julie Hyman

·Anchor

Fri, October 8, 2021, 

Jeff Arview had been kicking around in different jobs. An Army veteran who served in Iraq, after he was discharged he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and fell into addiction, which led to fighting and theft — then arrests and jail time. Moving on and getting a job was a challenge.

“Even though I was a veteran, because of that criminal history, I was unable to gain employment, which made it really tough,” Arview said. At times, he fell into homelessness.

Arview, 39, is far from alone. The unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated people was 27%, according to a 2018 analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative. That compares with the current overall U.S. unemployment rate of 4.8% in September. A criminal background has carried a stigma for some employers, and in some states there are steep legal hurdles to clearing one's record.

When looking for jobs, Arview came across a recruitment video from staffing company Kelly Services targeting veterans. Enough time had passed since his last arrest that he wasn’t legally required to disclose it when applying — although he eventually did. He was hired as a contractor, then as a full-time talent adviser two and a half years ago.

Second-chance initiatives 'tap into talent' amid a labor crunch

Last month, Kelly Services introduced a recruiting program specifically designed for people with non-violent criminal records. It’s one of an increasing number of companies trying to de-stigmatize so-called “second chance” workers with dual-pronged philanthropic and self-interested goals — help people get back on their feet, and find workers in a tight job market.

Kelly Services CEO Peter Quigley said the latter is a challenge right now.

“The fact is that there are a lot of open jobs, but there are not a lot of jobs open that people want,” he told Yahoo Finance Live in an interview. He said employers have to address employees’ shifting priorities, including offering them paths to career advancement and an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Kelly Services’s program targeting criminal offenders, called Kelly 33, kicked off after an initial partnership with Toyota, where 645 workers accepted jobs at the automaker’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant.

Bobbi Brown (L), senior staffing supervisor for Kelly Services, takes a resume from job seeker Crystal Haigh (C) at the Employment Guide job fair in Westminster, Colorado February 18, 2009. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

“Toyota took a second-chance initiative and was able to increase its talent pool by 20%, increase its diversity by almost 10%, and improve its retention by 70%. These second-chance workers are thankful, they’re reliable and they’re loyal,” Quigley said.

Kelly Services and Toyota aren’t alone. A group of companies in April started the Second Chance Business Coalition, led by co-chairs Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and Craig Arnold, chairman and CEO of Eaton.

JPMorgan hired 2,100 people with criminal backgrounds in 2020, about 10% of new hires. That was thanks in part to partnerships with community groups in Chicago and Columbus, who trained potential employees and educated them on banking regulations.

“This is making sure we tap into talent that maybe wouldn’t come our way,” said Michelle Kuranty, executive director — global head of talent acquisition sourcing at JPMorgan. “Good talent is always a challenge.”

JPMorgan and the coalition are also pushing for policy changes, including “banning the box” — not including a box on job applications for candidates to check if they have a criminal record — and “clean slate” policies to clear or seal criminal records.

Employers are 'a little more open minded' about criminal records

Americans who have been incarcerated or have a conviction on their record are “ready to work and deserve a second chance — an opportunity to fill the millions of job openings across the country,” wrote Dimon in an August op-ed. “Yet our criminal justice system continues to block them from doing so.”

Economists estimate that U.S. employers hired 500,000 workers in September, up from 235,000 in August. That contrasts with the nearly 11 million jobs that were open in July. Recent jobs data has been lagging forecasts, for reasons ranging from difficult-to-secure child care to geography and skills mismatches.

“When you’re in the legal system, there’s a lot of pressure, it’s not just financial pressure. It’s hard to find somebody that offers you any kind of hope,” said David Shaffer, who was arrested for his third DWI in 2009, a felony in Texas. “Once you get in trouble, the world is full of people telling you what you can’t do.”

By the following year, he was searching for jobs, and got a call from Kelly Services, to whom he disclosed his criminal issues. Eleven years later, he’s still working there, as a senior operations manager.

His colleague, Jeff Arview, said work culture is continuing to change. “Employers are being a little more open minded to it, given the workforce that is needed right now, and I think that is awesome, because they’ll actually give people a chance.”

Correction: JPMorgan partnered with community groups in Columbus. The city was misstated in an earlier version of this article.

This post has been updated with the September jobs numbers.

Julie Hyman is the co-anchor of Yahoo Finance Live, weekdays 9am-11am ET. Follow her on Twitter @juleshyman, and read her other stories.

Leading Businesses Sign Fairtrade Pledge to Support 1.8 Million Farmers Calling for Climate Justice

Thu, October 7, 2021

The pledge is part of Fairtrade’s Be Fair With Your Climate Promise campaign encouraging world leaders and businesses alike to take urgent action in support of farmers

WASHINGTON --News Direct-- Fairtrade America

Rosa Maribel Cortes, Julibee Portillo, Alejandra Lemus, Julissa Medina and Sandra Buezo all work at the Xol chocolate factory in Honduras. Xol chocolate is a brand of the Fairtrade-certified COAGRICSAL coop, and the new factory in Honduras was built utilizing a Fairtrade Premium. The factory, the largest of its kind in the region, was built in response to the droughts and diseases caused by climate change.

WASHINGTON , October 8, 2021 /3BL Media/ - Ben & Jerry’s, Tony’s Chocolonely, and UK retailers Co-op, M&S and Waitrose, are among a group of Fairtrade business partners worldwide pledging to support Fairtrade farmers in their call for climate justice in the run-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, this November.

The companies have signed a business pledge urging world governments and leaders to listen to the voices of farmers – the people who grow the world’s food and other essential goods in low-income, climate-vulnerable nations – as the farmers call for urgent action at COP26.

In the pledge, developed by Fairtrade as part of its Be Fair With Your Climate Promise campaign, the companies commit to take accountability for their own climate impact. They also commit to work alongside Fairtrade to protect and invest in the resilience and green transition of global food supply chains in the face of the climate crisis.

As companies sourcing from Fairtrade producers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the signatories to the pledge see the climate crisis hitting the people in their supply chains disproportionately hard. Increasingly volatile weather is damaging crops, harming livelihoods for farming communities, and making crop production more unpredictable.

With approximately three weeks until COP26 takes place in Glasgow, UK, governments must “set ambitious, science-based rules and targets which do not allow unscrupulous businesses to ignore the damage they are causing to the planet, and which encourage responsible business to do more,” the pledge states.

Cheryl Pinto, Global Values Led Sourcing Manager, Ben & Jerry’s, says: “This is an issue of justice, so together with our fans and Fairtrade we call on world leaders to take urgent action. 1.5°C warming will disproportionately and negatively impact disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. This means that the people who grow our food in climate vulnerable nations, where they are already suffering the consequences of climate change yet did the least to cause it, face a bleak, daunting future as their livelihoods are increasingly threatened. The $100 billion climate finance promise must be met and delivered, so that it reaches farmers, strengthens their resilience, and supports a just, fair future for all.”

Other Fairtrade signatories to the pledge include Bewleys, Cafédirect, Clipper, Coliman, Cru Kafe, Equal Exchange, Greggs, Kaladi, Liberation Nuts, Matthew Algie, Navitas and People Tree. Together, all the signatories commit to four key areas of action as part of their ongoing work in their international supply chains, and they call on other businesses to do likewise:

To pay fair prices to producers – farmers and workers should not have to choose between tackling poverty and building resilience to the climate crisis. ‘Our Fairtrade commitments are critical to achieving this,’ say the companies.

To be long term partners with farming communities, listening to the experience of farmers, sharing their own expertise and investing in the urgent transitions farmers need. They will back a shift in food production and supply to one that is resilient to the changing climate, including backing nature-based solutions. They will support farmers as they work together to cut the emissions embedded throughout their supply chains.

To “know and show” their climate impact, by measuring carbon emissions embedded in their supply chains, assessing the climate risks faced at farm level, and publishing the results. The companies say they want to raise awareness about the challenges and the practical solutions, setting a high bar for other businesses.

To speak out, calling in public and private for Governments to set and deliver ambitious targets for emissions reduction and climate finance which puts farmers and agricultural workers first.

The business pledge follows the publication of an open letter from 1.8 million Fairtrade farmers and workers across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean earlier this week. The letter warns governments that their lack of action is threatening farmers’ livelihoods and global food supplies, and deepening poverty. Furthermore, the letter calls out the broken promises from world leaders. It demands that the promised $100 billion climate finance is not only paid, but that those funds reach farmers and workers directly to ensure they can withstand the growing challenges of climate change, including by planting more trees and investing in more resilient crops.

Frits Snel, Tony’s Chocolonely Country Manager, US, said: “We can’t achieve social justice on a broken planet. And climate injustice often means the ones actively contributing to climate change feel its repercussions least. This reinforces the structural inequality of global industry and economy. Practically speaking, this also means cocoa farmers are already feeling the consequences of climate change. We’re proud to be carbon neutral, to work with farmers in protecting the land and to produce plastic free packaging. But there’s certainly more to be done. We aim to keep raising the environmental bar together with farmers and our partners at Fairtrade.”

British convenience retailer Co-op recently announced a commitment in their recent Climate Justice for People and Planet report to continue to spend more than 0.7% of their pre-tax profit on international aid and has joined forces with Fairtrade Africa and Fairtrade Foundation to support producers combating the effects of climate change.

Jo Whitfield, Food CEO from the Co-op said: “We are reliant on the global food system for the food we enjoy. However, the reality is that for many of our suppliers the impact of the climate crisis is immediate and pressing. That’s why we’ve been calling on governments to ensure producers in low-income countries receive support to cover the cost of adapting to climate change and transitioning to low carbon production, and on businesses to play their part too.”

Speaking on behalf of the global Fairtrade campaign, Mary Linnell-Simmons, Director of Marketing and External Relations at Fairtrade America, says: “We welcome support for farmers from these forward-looking brands and retailers. It’s imperative that businesses take a lead by earnestly committing themselves to supporting the farmers in their international supply chains. We call on other businesses to do the same. It is more important than ever that we listen to our farmers, raise their voices and ensure governments and businesses alike act now!”

For more information about Fairtrade’s Be Fair With Your Climate Promise campaign is visit: www.fairtrade.org.uk/be-fair

-Ends-

For more information or interviews, contact Martine Parry, martine.parry@fairtrade.org.uk

Notes to Editors

About Fairtrade

Fairtrade changes the way trade works by putting farmers and workers first. That means better prices, decent working conditions and more trade power for small-scale producers. Leading by example, Fairtrade has producers represented in 50% of its governance. Fairtrade International is an independent non-profit organization representing 1.8 million farmers and workers worldwide. It owns the FAIRTRADE Mark, a registered trademark appearing on more than 30,000 products, which is the most recognised and trusted sustainability label in the world. Fairtrade International and its member organisations collaborate with businesses, engage shoppers, activate civil society, and enable producers to take control in order to bring about a fair, sustainable future — a future rooted in social justice. www.fairtrade.net

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Fairtrade America on 3blmedia.com

What Happens to Bitcoin After All 21 Million Are Mined?

ADAM HAYES
Updated October 07, 2021
Reviewed by
KHADIJA KHARTIT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Will Bitcoin Ever Reach the 21 Million Cap?
What Happens When All 21 Million Bitcoin Are Mined?
The Bottom Line
Frequently Asked Questions

One of the chief characteristics of Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is its limited supply. Other forms of money, including fiat currencies, can be printed at will by central banks—i.e., they have unlimited supply.

Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto capped the number of bitcoin at 21 million, meaning there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins in existence. On average, these bitcoins are introduced to the Bitcoin supply at a fixed rate of one block every 10 minutes. In addition, the number of bitcoins released in each of these aforementioned blocks is reduced by 50% every four years. By August 2021, 18.7 million bitcoins were available, leaving roughly 2.3 million to be mined.1 The supply limitation makes Bitcoin scarce and controls inflation that might arise from an unlimited supply of the cryptocurrency.

As Bitcoin reaches its capped supply, its economics will alter. The incentives for various members in its ecosystem, such as miners and traders, will change. For example, miners may rely less on block rewards and more on transaction fees to earn revenue and profits for their operations. The cryptocurrency's network will also transform, and its participants will be different from the retail traders that populate its current ecosystem.


However, given the cryptocurrency's relatively undeveloped ecosystem, it is difficult to predict with certainty the effect of Bitcoin reaching its capped supply.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined in total.

Bitcoin will never reach that cap due to the use of rounding operators in its codebase.
As of Aug, 2021, 18.77 million bitcoins have been mined, which leaves roughly 2.3 million yet to be introduced into circulation.

When Bitcoin reaches its supply cap, block rewards will vanish, and miners will depend on fees from transactions occurring on the cryptocurrency's network for revenue.
Bitcoin's network may evolve from its current unfinished state to becoming a bridge for monetary transactions and trading.

Bitcoin the cryptocurrency will have a defined identity in the financial ecosystem.
Will Bitcoin Ever Reach the 21 Million Cap?

Before delving into the implications of Bitcoin's 21 million cap, it might be interesting to consider the question of whether it will ever reach that figure. Based on the cryptocurrency's current codebase and mining process, some observers say that Bitcoin may fall just shy of the 21 million figure.

To recap, Bitcoin is "mined" by miners who solve cryptographic puzzles to verify and validate a block of transactions occurring in its network. Block rewards, consisting of a set number of bitcoins, are distributed to miners who successfully confirm a transaction block. The rewards are halved every four years.

The rate that bitcoin are produced cuts in half about every four years. Investopedia

When the cryptocurrency was launched, the reward for confirming a block of transactions was 50 bitcoins. In 2012, it was halved to 25 bitcoins, and it went down to 12.5 in 2016. In May 2020, miners stood to earn 6.25 bitcoin for every new block. Block rewards for Bitcoin miners will continue to be halved every four years until the final bitcoin is mined. Current estimates for mining of the final bitcoin put that date somewhere in February 2140.

The Bitcoin mining process provides bitcoin rewards to miners, but the reward size decreases periodically to control the circulation of new tokens.

According to Andreas M. Antonopoulos, author of a book about Bitcoin's workings, the 21 million figure is an "asymptotic cap" on the number of bitcoin in existence.2 In simple words, this means that, while it may reach very close to figure, the cryptocurrency will never reach that limit. This is because block rewards and Bitcoin supply are never expressed in exact terms. Bitcoin's code uses bit-shift operators—arithmetic operators used that round decimal points to the closest smallest integer in certain programming languages. Therefore, a total supply of 6.2589 bitcoins will be rounded out to the closest smallest integer, in this case 6.

While it makes calculations easier, the practice leads to losses in satoshis, Bitcoin's constituent units, during each block confirmation. One bitcoin is equal to 100 million satoshis. According to some, the final bitcoin block will be numbered 6,929,999, and the total supply at that time will be 20,999,999.9769 satoshis. Since bitcoin uses a bit-shift operator system,3 its algorithm will round off that figure to 20,999,999 and leave the cryptocurrency just shy of its 21 million targeted cap.

What Happens When All 21 Million Bitcoin Are Mined?

A consequence of Bitcoin not reaching its planned cap is that it leaves open the possibility that the cryptocurrency's network will remain functional for a long time after 2140. No bitcoins will be issued, but transaction blocks will be confirmed, and fees will become the primary source of revenue. Ultimately, Bitcoin's network may function as a closed economy, in which transaction fees are assessed much like taxes are.

Can the rewards be in satoshis instead of actual bitcoin? Such a practice is unlikely and would require a change in the cryptocurrency's protocol to take effect.

That said, it is difficult to predict the effects of Bitcoin almost reaching the overall supply promised by Satoshi Nakamoto. This is partly because Bitcoin's ecosystem is still undeveloped. The cryptocurrency was originally conceptualized as a medium of exchange but it has found more popularity as a store of value—an investing asset—instead. It is possible that Bitcoin's ecosystem and workings might undergo a transformation, similar to the one that has occured in its identity, between now and 2140.

Although there can only ever be a maximum of 21 million bitcoins, because people have lost their private keys or have died without leaving their private key instructions to anybody, the actual amount of available bitcoins in circulation could actually be millions less.

For example, there could be a protocol change in the cryptocurrency's blockchain to allow for more than 21 million bitcoin in existence. Remember, Bitcoin is an open source cryptocurrency and can be changed to create hard or soft forks that create new cryptocurrencies or alter its functioning. Some examples of the former are bitcoin cash (BCHUSD), litecoin (LTCUSD), and dogecoin (DOGEUSD), which have made minor modifications to Bitcoin's source code and created new coins that have racked up billions of dollars in market valuations.

Effect on Bitcoin Miners

Block rewards and transaction fees are the most important sources of revenue for miners—the former more so than the latter in the current setup. High prices for bitcoin enable miners to cover operational costs and sustain business profits because they can sell their rewards stash in cryptocurrency markets.

When Bitcoin is close to reaching its limit, the reward amounts may not be enough to cover operational costs at miners, let alone generate profits. If and when the supply limit is reached, Bitcoin rewards are supposed to vanish.

In both instances, transaction fees are expected to pick up the slack. The amount of and mechanism for these fees depends on the state of Bitcoin's network at that point in time—i.e., whether it is being used as a medium of exchange or as a store of value. The former may incur reasonable fees to enable Bitcoin's use in daily transactions, while the latter scenario will have miners conducting fewer and more expensive transactions.

Another possibility being put forward is that of miners forming cartels amongst themselves. They might control supply to set high transaction fees or a fee amount that guarantees them a minimum in profits. Selfish mining is another possibility. In this form of mining, miners collude amongst themselves to hide new blocks and release orphan blocks that are not confirmed by Bitcoin's network. This practice will delay production of the final block in Bitcoin's network and ensure high rewards for the new blocks when they are finally released into the network.

The formation of a Bitcoin miners' cartel is not a far-reaching conclusion. Such groupings already exist in other commodities whose supply is constrained or controlled. For example, oil prices are influenced to a large degree by OPEC's production output. Prices in the diamond industry are also reportedly set by a cartel led by mining giant DeBeers.4

Effect on Bitcoin's Network

The most valuable and useful aspect of Bitcoin is its network. Distributed ledger technology is a technological solution to the time-consuming bookkeeping and accounting that characterizes most financial transactions today.


If Bitcoin becomes popular as a medium of exchange in the future, its transaction numbers will surge. Past precedent has shown that there is a significant chance that the network will slow down. This is because Bitcoin's architecture, which relies on a distributed database to hold copies of massive ledgers, sacrifices speed for accuracy and integrity.


In such a scenario, it is likely that Layer 2 technologies, like the Lightning Network, will become responsible for confirming a majority of transactions on its network. Therefore, the cryptocurrency's actual network itself will be used only to settle large batches of transactions.


A second possibility is that the number of transactions on Bitcoin's network falls. Such a situation is possible when Bitcoin becomes a reserve asset. Trades involving the cryptocurrency will be few. Retail traders and small trading firms, who dominate its current trading ecosystem, will be eliminated and replaced by large institutional players and established trading firms. They will conduct fewer and more expensive trades that will incur high transaction fees from miners.

Effect on Bitcoin the Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin's inventor Satoshi Nakamoto designed the cryptocurrency to function as a medium of exchange for daily transactions. But its network has high transaction fees and slow processing times. Meanwhile, its scarcity and rising prices have become a magnet for speculative investors. Their bets on the cryptocurrency roulette have led to volatile price swings in the asset class deterring serious investors away from it. Regulators have criticized its ecosystem as a Wild West.

By the time that the last bitcoin is mined (or close to being mined), Bitcoin may have a more defined identity that it does currently. Side channels, like the Lightning Network, may have increased its network's transaction processing speed and enabled its use as a medium of exchange. Some countries like El Salvador are betting on such an eventuality and have made the cryptocurrency legal tender.

El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender on June 9, 2021.5 It is the first country to do so. The cryptocurrency can be used for any transaction where the business can accept it. The U.S. dollar continues to be El Salvador's primary currency.

In the United States, the latest significant events are the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) letter in January 2021 authorizing the use of crypto as a method of payment, PayPal Holdings, Inc.'s (PYPL) introduction of Bitcoin, and Tesla, Inc.'s (TSLA) acceptance of Bitcoin to purchase Tesla cars and solar roofs. Tesla reversed course on accepting Bitcoin in May 2021, citing environmental concerns around the resources required for Bitcoin mining.


The increasing scarcity in its numbers will also have driven up bitcoin's price and the corresponding valuation of cryptocurrency markets. Regulators tend to move quickly when increasing amounts of capital flows into an asset class, and it is likely that crypto markets and Bitcoin will also have come under the regulatory umbrella. That will be a sign for institutional investors to move into the cryptocurrency's ecosystem and stabilize its price swings with massive liquidity.

The Bottom Line

Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap is meant to control inflation that might, otherwise, result from an unlimited supply. But it has inflated the cryptocurrency's prices by making it a scarce commodity.

When Bitcoin reaches the supply cap, it is likely that miners will shift from block rewards to transaction fees as their main source of revenue. Development of side channels, like the Lightning Network, may result in Bitcoin's blockchain restricting itself to confirmation of large batches of transactions or ones that involve movement of significant numbers of bitcoins from one address on its blockchain to another. Bitcoin's identity—as a store of value and a medium of exchange—will also be more clearly defined than it is currently.

But none of these predictions are set in stone. The kinetic pace of developments in Bitcoin's ecosystem means that it is difficult to accurately predict its future. For example, the cryptocurrency's protocol may be changed to accommodate the production of more than 21 million bitcoins. Or, it may fall just shy of reaching 21 million.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Bitcoin's total supply?

The total supply of bitcoins is capped at 21 million.

What will happen to miner fees when Bitcoin's supply limit is reached?

When Bitcoin supply reaches 21 million, miners will rely on transaction fees rather than block rewards, which will have vanished by then, for revenue.

What will happen to Bitcoin's network when it reaches the supply limit?

When Bitcoin reaches the 21 million supply limit, it is likely that side channels, like the Lightning Network, will do most of the heavy lifting in confirming its transactions. The cryptocurrency's blockchain be responsible for confirming only very large batches of transactions or ones that involve movement of large sums of bitcoin from one address to another.

What happens if Bitcoin supply fails to reach the 21 million cap?

One consequence of Bitcoin not reaching its planned cap is that it leaves open the possibility that the cryptocurrency's network will remain functional for a long time after 2140. In keeping with Bitcoin's economics, rewards for confirming these blocks will be minimal.


ARTICLE SOURCES

Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.

Business Insider India. Nearly 90% of Bitcoin Have Been Mined. Accessed Oct. 7, 2021.


YouTube. Bitcoin Q&A: The 21 Million Supply Cap. Accessed October 7th, 2021.


Amber Data. Why Bitcoin Will Never Reach its 21 Million Supply Cap. Accessed October 7, 2021.


The Economist. The Cartel Isn't Forever. Accessed Oct. 7, 2021.


AP. "El Salvador Makes Bitcoin Legal Tender." Accessed June 11, 2021.

WAGE THEFT

Australia's Woolworths settles 2019 class action over underpaying staff

People walk past a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney

Thu, October 7, 2021

(Reuters) -Australia's biggest grocery chain Woolworths Group Ltd said on Friday it has provisionally settled a class action lawsuit filed against it by a Canberra law firm in 2019 for underpaying supermarket workers.

Adero Law filed the class action https://reut.rs/2YtOwN2 in November 2019 on behalf of Woolworths Supermarkets employees after the retailer disclosed it had underpaid https://reut.rs/3uROpab thousands of supermarket workers for years.

Woolworths is facing another civil proceeding by Australia's industrial relations watchdog, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).

The FWO sued the grocery chain earlier this year for underpaying workers and is seeking repayment of the outstanding amounts, as well as penalties.

The retailer said on Friday the class action settlement is subject to court approval and the outcome of the FWO proceedings.

Woolworths also said it would make an ex-gratia payment https://bit.ly/3AjZVfB of A$2,500 plus retirement benefits to its about 20,000 current and former salaried team store members, who worked with the retailer for at least six months between January 2010 and September 2013.

Adero Law did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the FWO declined to comment.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

'I am living in a nightmare everyday': What homeowners need to know as climate change threatens properties

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY
Sat, October 9, 2021, 

Jessica Rose at her Haverstraw house with her children Madilyn, 7, Meadow, 15, and Masin, 8, Oct. 7, 2021. They have been living in motels since the house was deemed unsafe after flooding damage from the remnants of hurricane Ida.More

More than a month after Hurricane Ida flooded her basement, Jessica Rose and her three children are still homeless.

The 35-year-old mom from Haverstraw, New York, has been moving from motel to motel, looking for cheaper and cheaper deals -- and in the process, moving farther and farther away from her children’s school.

The morning after the storm, when the local fire department arrived to see whether they could help pump some of the water out of her basement, they found that the water levels were dangerously close to the electrical panel and posed a fire hazard. The town, 42 miles north of New York City, immediately declared the dwelling unsafe and sealed off the property.

Rose, who doesn’t have any kind of insurance, says she’s at the end of her rope.

“I have to pay out of pocket for everything,” she says. “I’ve run out of money. It's horrible”

She hasn’t yet heard from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the assistance she might be eligible for.

Weather-related disasters, fueled by climate change, have increased fivefold in the past 50 years, according to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization.

Since 1980, the U.S. has experienced 298 weather and climate disasters in which overall costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. The total cost of these events exceeds $1.975 trillion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, and the frequency and cost of those disasters has accelerated.

While standard homeowners’ policies cover a range of disasters, from tornadoes to lightning strikes to winter storm damage, they do not cover floods, earthquakes, maintenance damage and sewer backup, experts say.

Jessica Rose of Haverstraw, New York, had to leave to house after it was deemed unsafe after Hurricane Ida.

“Earthquake and flood insurance are often overlooked types of policies that can leave families without any financial way to recover or rebuild,” says Leslie Chapman-Henderson, CEO of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, an advocacy group that works to strengthen homes from natural and human-made disasters. “In the worst cases, families lose their homes altogether, so buying an earthquake or flood policy is the most effective protection.”

When it comes to dealing with sudden, weather-related damage to their homes, even the most experienced professionals can find themselves out of their depth.

Tom Dolfay, CEO of Property Damage Appraisers, a company that assesses disaster-related damages for major insurance companies across the U.S., says he felt underprepared when the Texas winter storm this year caused massive damage to his home in Dallas.

Tom Dolfay, CEO of Property Damage Assessors

In February, Dolfay came home from work to find 2 inches of water in his driveway.

“We had had 20-degree weather for a while, so I thought my sprinkler system had burst,” Dolfay says.

As he walked into his house, he realized two tanks of water heaters had burst due to frozen pipes, a ceiling had collapsed – and he was standing in 6 inches of water.

“Even as a CEO of a company with all these resources, I was like, ‘Wow, what do I do?’'" he says. “I knew enough to stop the water. So I went outside and shut it off.”

His insurance agent asked him to contact the insurance hotline.

After going through a “litany of things” on the hotline, Dolfay felt he wasn’t getting anywhere. After “pushing” his insurance agent, Dolfay says he got the names of two restoration companies.

Restoration companies assess the extent of the damage and determine the best course of action following significant damage from floods, fires, and other catastrophic events. They work with insurance companies and can assist in protecting the home from further damage.

“Had I not been in the industry, I would not have even considered pushing that guy,” he says. “I would have been at the mercy of the insurance companies.”

Dolfay also got two of his colleagues to help him.

One read his policy and determined that Dolfay’s insurance allowed for “replacement cost” as opposed to “actual cash value.”

Replacement cost pays for the full amount needed to replace an item, whereas actual cash value insurance estimates depreciation, or the loss of value over time, and only pays the difference.

A homeowner with actual cash value insurance who needs to replace floors, walls, windows, appliances, roof, or lighting following a major event, could end up spending a substantial amount of money trying to rebuild their house. The actual cash value option could work better for items such as fine jewelry and art that can gain value over time.

Another of Dolfay’s colleagues was able to assess his damage and give him an estimate of what it would cost to repair his home.

“Most people aren’t going to have that luxury,” he says.

Trash bags piled up outside the house of Jessica Rose of Haverstraw, New York. She had lo eave her home after Hurricane Ida as it was deemed unsafe.

His advice? Build connections with local restoration companies as soon as you buy a home so that when disaster strikes, you know whom to call. You might also get a better idea of what the repairs could actually cost if the insurance company tries to lowball you.

“Have an inventory of what’s in your house," he says. "Know the make, model and brand of your major appliances and valuable items. Take pictures of everything (before disaster strikes) when you are calm, cool and collected, and email them to yourself so you can access them from anywhere."

Chapman-Henderson, of FLASH, suggests contacting more than one company for quotes and paying attention to coverage limitations and special riders a homeowner may need to cover high-value items like jewelry or heirlooms.

“Ask about the coverage limits, deductibles, and exclusions for each disaster risk common in your area,” she says.

Last month, FLASH launched the Buyer's Guide to Resilient Homes, a free tool that provides a framework for homebuyers, homeowners and even renters to see how they can protect their homes against these types of perils.

It includes disaster-preparedness checklists for people to include in their home search process, including questions people can ask their realtor and things homeowners can do to make their homes disaster-resilient.

One such tip includes investing $500 into a simple sealing agent that can protect up to 95% of water entry during a hurricane.

"Research from the insurance industry tells us that an unsealed roof deck can allow as much as 750 gallons of water, or nine bathtubs, per minute to enter through unprotected deck seams," Chapman-Henderson says.

To save money, she also suggests looking for opportunities for discounts and credits tied to modern building codes, flood vents, hurricane shutters, security systems, smoke alarms, water leak detection systems, a hail- or wind-resistant roof, or other protective devices.

Rose, whose three children, ages 15, 8 and 7, have been holed up in a tiny motel room for than a month, are growing more frustrated by the day, she says.

"All their toys and winter clothes are ruined. I can’t make them home-cooked meals,” she says. “I don't know how I'm going to afford the next $500 for weekly rent. I have been spending so much money on gas trying to get the kids to school.”

Although she has some family in the area, no one has been able to help financially. Her mother, who lives in a small apartment in New Jersey, has lent a hand, taking care of the children when she can. Her mother-in-law is sick with emphysema.

Jessica Rose at her Haverstraw house with her children Madilyn, 7, Masin, 8, and Meadow, 15, Oct. 7, 2021. They have been living in motels since the house was deemed unsafe after flooding damage from the remnants of hurricane Ida.More

Meanwhile, her husband has been behind bars for the past two months for a "minor offense," she says.

Out of desperation, her niece set up a GoFundMe page for the family with a goal of raising $50,000. So far, it has raised only $300.

If she could do everything all over again, the first thing she would do is get her home and flood insurance, she says.

“Everyday, I wake up wishing for some normalcy,” she says. “I’m regretting leaving everything to chance, and now I am living in a nightmare everyday.”

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is the housing and economy reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate change and insurance: What homeowners need to know

What CAPITALI$T Governments Got Wrong About The Global Energy Transition


Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, October 7, 2021

The energy crisis in Europe exposed the complexity of a transition to green energy: it is not happening overnight, and it cannot be done successfully with the old tricks.

Energy systems, markets, and grids globally need fundamental changes to legislation, regulation, and oversight in order to accommodate 100-percent zero-emission sources. And even in that case, power systems need flexibility and backups in order to avert similar crises down the road as many parts of the world commit to net-zero emissions by 2050 or 2060.

The current crisis in the UK is a cautionary tale about how not to rush to green energy, Rochelle Toplensky of The Wall Street Journal notes.

Net-zero electricity systems need an entirely new set of rules in all areas of the energy systems and power markets, as well as enough flexibility to offset environmental factors such as low wind speeds, which happened in the UK last month.

The UK has cut its reliance on coal dramatically over the past decade.

But its power systems are not yet as resilient to a major transition to low-carbon energy sources as to prevent concerns about its power supply, the Journal’s Toplensky argues.

The current energy crisis in the UK, the rest of Europe, and in major energy importers in Asia is a warning to policymakers that the transition cannot be rushed before new rules are set in place and backup battery storage is built en masse to support soaring new solar and wind capacity.

Boosting power grid resilience, building battery storage, and widespread use of the much-touted green hydrogen will require trillions of U.S. dollars of investment, government support, and much greater coordination and cooperation among industry and policymakers at the national and international level.

Everyone knew that the energy transition would not be cheap. The ongoing energy crisis shows that no one can put the cart before the horse in the transition - backups and flexibility are vital for any successful energy system.

UK Power Crisis Shows Challenges To Green Transition

Even the UK, which has pledged to phase out coal-fired power generation by October 2024, had to fire up an old coal plant last month in order to meet its electricity demand.

The country which kick-started the Industrial Revolution with coal saw the share of the fuel drop to a record-low in 2020 - coal generated just 1.8 percent of electricity, down from 28.2 percent in 2010, as per government data. Renewable generation, on the other hand, hit a record 43.1 percent in 2020, outpacing annual fossil fuel generation for the first time.

During many days in recent years, wind power generated the largest share of Britain’s electricity, surpassing natural gas. This is a commendable move toward clean energy but does not change the fact that wind power generation depends on…the speed of the wind. On those unfortunate days when the wind doesn’t blow, as it happened on most days in September, natural gas is used more in power generation, driving up gas and power prices and also increasing coal generation because of the sky-high prices of natural gas.

Although households face higher energy bills, they are protected to some extent because of the so-called Energy Price Cap in the UK. But it is this price cap - when power providers are unable to pass the full extent of surging costs onto consumers - that has already led to nine UK providers going out of business. Just last week, three suppliers said they were ceasing trade, and the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, Ofgem, had to choose new suppliers to take over the failed businesses.

The UK likely needs new regulations on how its domestic power market operates, which should take into account the net-zero commitment and increased green energy share in electricity generation, analysts say.

The European Union is also looking at potential changes to the way wholesale electricity markets operate, European Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson, said this week.
Demonization Of Fossil Fuels Cuts Backup Options

The two oil price crashes in the past five years, as well as the increasingly louder calls for shunning investment in fossil fuels, have led to chronic underinvestment in new supplies of oil, gas, and coal, especially in developed economies aspiring to reach net-zero by 2050.

These days, however, those developed economies are scrambling for fossil fuel supplies to ensure they will keep the lights on. The surging price of coal and natural gas is leaving many energy-intensive businesses in Europe vulnerable to the price shock because the energy transition hasn’t reached the point where anything other than gas can efficiently power fertilizer or steel production.

Related: The Electricity Crisis Was Not Caused By A ‘Perfect Storm’

However, investment from the fossil fuel industry has declined in recent years. Moreover, Wall Street investors have been shunning traditional energy because of poor returns, Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this week.

“The new economy is over-invested and the old economy is starved,” he said. “Gas, coal, oil, metals, mining – you pick – the old economy, it is severely underinvested,” Currie noted.

Major Challenges Ahead To Avoid “A Disorderly Mess”

Since the world continues to need a lot of fossil fuels despite the green push, supply shortages and price spikes are in the cards in the future, too.

“[I]t is important to recognise that the transition is, as its derivation suggests, a process of moving from one state to another, and if it is to be successful must involve the managed decline of the existing energy system as well as its transformation towards a future state,” James Henderson and Anupama Sen of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) wrote in a paper last month.

“Policymakers have set countries on this essential road, and technology is the key to accelerating the process, but many complex questions remain to be resolved if the world is to avoid the transition becoming a disorderly mess,” they say.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

California restricts gagging for employee complaints

Tech Giants like Google have been accused of too readily using non-disclosure agreements when staffers complain about troubling corporate behavior (AFP/Emmanuel DUNAND, Loic VENANCE)

Julie JAMMOT
Fri, October 8, 2021

A new law that will allow victims of workplace harassment or discrimination to speak freely, instead of being gagged by confidentiality clauses, has been signed into effect in California.

The "Silenced No More" act could have huge ramifications for global tech companies headquartered in the state -- which critics say too readily resort to Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) when faced with claims of troubling behavior from their staff.

Typically NDAs are imposed by companies as part of a financial settlement with an employee who has faced discrimination because of their race, gender or sexual orientation, for example.

Advocates say they allow the firm to address the complaint without airing their dirty laundry in public -- something no organization likes to do.

But commentators say it can allow bosses to cover things up, and to protect those responsible for the harassment.

"Too often, NDAs can be used to silence somebody," says Lauren Topelsohn, a lawyer who specializes in employment law.

"It buys silence ... and silence allows a perpetrator to commit the act again."

The law, signed on Thursday by Governor Gavin Newsom, bans any NDA that prevents employees from speaking out about illegal acts committed in the workplace.

Primarily this means those relating to complaints that involve discrimination or harassment because of skin color, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, age or sexual orientation, among other protected criteria.

"Workers in California deserve better than being forced into agreements that protect perpetrators and continue to harm survivors and others around them in the workplace," said Connie Leyva, who authored the bill.

- 'Shining a light' -

Those pushing the new law have the California-headquartered tech giants particularly in their sights.

Companies like Apple and Google, they say, too readily resort to NDAs to hide inconvenient truths and pay off complainants -- not least because they have the financial muscle do so.

"NDAs are a common weapon in the industry," one Google employee told AFP.

A member of the Alphabet Workers Union, the guild formed at the beginning of the year by employees of Google's parent company, he sees the legislation as a "big step forward."

"The things that need to change, only change when we shine a light on them."

This law would "remove the ability for companies to use NDAs to cover up their bad HR processes," said the worker, who requested anonymity for fear of the impact speaking out could have on his career.

He cited the case of Emi Nietfeld, an engineer who worked at Google from 2015 to 2019, and recounted in The New York Times how human resources did not support her after she reported a gender harassment issue.

- Business decision -

Sexual harassment or discrimination scandals have multiplied in recent years in Silicon Valley, in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

In November 2018, from Singapore to California, thousands of Google employees observed a work stoppage to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment.

In late July, about 200 people spoke out against a culture of sexist and toxic harassment at US video game publisher Activision Blizzard.

The California law comes on the heels of a similar law passed three years ago, also authored by Leyva, regarding sexual assault and harassment.

While greater transparency can be helpful, says Topelsohn, the lawyer, it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Sometimes, she says, an NDA is merited.

"The claim, or the lawsuit, might be frivolous. And rather than participate in a lengthy and expensive litigation, the employer might make a business decision to settle it," she said.

"The NDA would allow them to maintain the secrecy of that kind of settlement and discourage other frivolous claims."

They can sometimes be in the employee's interest as well, she says.

"If they sue their employer, it can be very difficult to get a job afterward," she said.

"Employers don't really want to hire people in that position. It's a strike against you, unfortunately. So this protects victims."

juj/hg/dw

'Potato Eaters' exhibit shows Vincent van Gogh planned to take another stab at masterpiece


Vincent van Gogh considered his 1885 painting "The Potato Eaters" to be one of his best works. Image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A new exhibition examining Vincent van Gogh's The Potato Eaters painting includes rarely seen studies indicating the artist later toyed with the idea of creating a new version of the then-maligned artwork.

The exhibition, "The Potato Eaters. Mistake or Masterpiece?" opens Friday at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It includes the 1885 painting in question -- one of only a few artworks the Post-Impressionist painter considered among his best -- as well as dozens of other paintings, sketches and letters to tell the story of the piece.

While van Gogh thought the painting was a "masterwork" and hoped to break into the Parisian art market with it, public reception was critical.

The painting features a family of five peasants eating a meal around a sparsely lit table. Van Gogh used a dark palette to depict the hunched, morose figures. Unlike other artists of the time, the museum said, van Gogh didn't wish to romanticize the life of peasants.

Among the letters displayed in the exhibit are letters from van Gogh's friend, fellow artist Anthon van Rappard, who offered a scathing opinion of The Potato Eaters:

"Why may that man on the right not have a knee or a belly or lungs? Or are they in his back? And why must his arm be a meter too short? And why must he lack half of his nose?" van Rappard wrote.

"Come on! Art is too important, it seems to me, to be treated so cavalierly."

Archives of van Gogh's work indicate, though, that he returned to the subject five years later, during his time in an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in France. He sketched another version of the family meal with an eye toward painting it again.

The artist sent a letter to his mother and brother, Theo van Gogh, asking them to send him drawings for inspiration to make another painting of The Potato Eaters.

"I'm thinking of redoing the painting of the peasants eating supper, lamplight effect," he wrote, according to The Guardian. "That canvas must be completely dark now, perhaps I could redo it entirely from memory.

He never got a chance to repaint the scene, having died by suicide in July 1890.

The museum is displaying the later sketches for what may be the first time.

"In 1890, he is in Saint-Rémy, he is longing for the north as he has not been home for five years. He comes back to The Potato Eaters figures and starts drawings of interiors and figures at the dinner table, and some of these are drawings that have not been on display for such a long time that our records even suggest they were never shown," curator Bregje Gerritse said.

The exhibit will be on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam through Jan. 16.

Vincent van Gogh completed another sketch of the dinner scene in 1890 with the hopes of creating a new painting. Image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum


Though van Gogh considered "The Potato Eaters" to be one of his masterpieces, critical reception was less enthusiastic. Image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum


Vincent van Gogh included a sketch of one of the women in "The Potato Eaters" in a letter to his brother, Theo van Gogh. Image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum

Haiti condemns Trump's 'racist' comments toward migrants

Issued on: 09/10/2021

Haitian migrants queue in Tijuana, Mexico on October 6, 2021 Guillermo Arias AFP/File

Port-au-Prince (AFP)

Haiti has denounced what it said were "racist" remarks from former US president Donald Trump that migrants from the island nation entering the United States would put Americans at risk of contracting AIDS.

"So we have hundreds of thousands of people flowing in from Haiti. Haiti has a tremendous AIDS problem," Trump said in a Thursday interview on Fox News.

"Many of those people will probably have AIDS, and they're coming into our country and we don't do anything about it, we let everybody come in," he said. "It's like a death wish for our country."

THIS IS A RIGHT WING TROPE FROM THE 80'S WHEN AIDS FIRST WAS REPORTED IN HAITIAN AND OTHER IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN NYC 

AS WELL AS THE GAY COMMUNITY 

According to World Bank data, HIV prevalence in Haiti has been steadily declining for the past 15 years, and is now estimated at a rate of 1.9 percent among Haitians aged 15 to 49.

The Haitian embassy in Washington condemned the "racist and baseless statement about Haitian migrants, in particular, and the Haitian population, in general, of Donald J Trump."

"These vile comments aim only to sow hatred and discord against immigrants," the embassy said in a statement Friday.

The mid-September arrival of more than 30,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, who camped out for days under a bridge on the border between Mexico and Texas, has brought US President Joe Biden's administration under fire from Republicans.

They accuse the president of having caused the surge by relaxing the hardline migration policies implemented by predecessor Trump.

Over the course of less than three weeks, more than 7,500 Haitian migrants -- 20 percent of them children -- have been deported by US migration services, which have chartered 70 planes to the capital Port-au-Prince and to Cap-Haitien, the island's second-largest city.

After Trump's comments, the Haitian embassy said that "civilized people... should not remain indifferent to this umpteenth denigration of the Haitian people by former President Trump."

During a private meeting in January 2018, Trump had referred to Haiti and several African nations as "shithole countries."

© 2021 AFP

Coup D'état
Senate report details Trump's efforts to use Justice Dept. to overturn 2020 election


President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on November 26, 2020. File Photo by Erin Schaff/UPI | License Photo


Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee released a report on Thursday that reveals more details about how former President Donald Trump tried to use the Justice Department and other government officials to invalidate the 2020 presidential election.

The panel's Democratic majority highlighted a number of Trump's actions in the report, including efforts to get Justice Department officials to declare the election "corrupt" in a fierce bid to stay in the White House.

Trump's efforts did not succeed, but Thursday's report notes that his attempts provoked a near revolt in the department among officials who pushed back against the former president's false claims of fraud.

"In attempting to enlist [the Justice Department] for personal, political purposes in an effort to maintain his hold on the White House, Trump grossly abused the power of the presidency," the near 400-page report states.

"He also arguably violated the criminal provisions of the Hatch Act, which prevents any person -- including the president -- from commanding federal government employees to engage in political activity."

The assessment notes that Trump sought to replace then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Clark, a loyalist to the president. Trump sought to have Clark push claims of widespread voter fraud.

The report says that on Jan. 3, Rosen, his deputy Richard Donoghue and others met with Trump in the Oval Office to dissuade him from the idea, threatening to resign if it moved forward. White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his deputy also threatened to resign if Trump insisted on the plot.

Clark told Rosen in an earlier meeting that Trump had already decided to make him the next U.S. attorney general, and he wanted Rosen to stay on as a deputy, which led to the confrontational meeting with Trump, the report says.

Donoghue told Trump that his actions would lead to a mass resignation that would include assistant attorneys general throughout the department along with other department officials.

One point of contention noted by the report was a letter that Clark and Trump wanted to send to Georgia elections officials that complained of voting "irregularities" and pushed for the state legislature get involved.

Clark wanted to send the same letter to all states where Trump-loyal Republicans were challenging the results.

Cipollone called the letter a "murder-suicide pact" and promised that he'd resign as well.

The report also details a plan by Trump to pressure the department into filing a complaint with the U.S. Supreme Court on the chance that it could overturn the election results.

Numerous legal challenges and recounts followed the election last fall and none of them produced any indication of widespread voter fraud. Some, in fact, only widened then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden's margin of victory.

The judiciary committee's Republican members issued a report of their own, which downplays Trump's actions to throw out Biden's electoral victory.

The Republicans' report said Trump never went through with his plans and showed in the end that he acted within the laws of the executive branch.

"The available facts and evidence show that President Trump listened to his senior DOJ and White House advisers at every step of the fact pattern presented by this investigation and that he did not weaponize DOJ for his personal or campaign purposes," they wrote.

"The president's concerns centered on what he perceived as an attack on the electoral system and his firm belief that the American people had been wronged by election fraud that undermined the sanctity of the 2020 election. With these concerns in hand, President Trump's approach to DOJ was to ensure that it was aware of election fraud allegations and that, with knowledge of those allegations, they were actually doing their job to investigate them."