Peru protesters tear-gassed after president calls for truce


















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Anti-government protesters clash with police in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Protesters are seeking the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo, immediate elections and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police.

 (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

DANIEL POLITI
Tue, January 24, 2023 

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru's capital and were met with volleys of tear gas and pellets amid clashes with security forces just hours after President Dina Boluarte called for a “truce” in almost two months of protests.

The antigovernment protest Tuesday was the largest – and most violent — since last Thursday, when large groups of people, many from remote Andean regions, descended on the capital to demand Boluarte’s resignation, immediate elections and the dissolution of Congress.

“We can’t have a truce when she doesn’t’ tell the truth,” Blanca España Mesa, 48, said of Peru's president. Even though her eyes were watering from the tear gas, España Mesa said she was “happy because a lot of people came today. It’s as if people have woken up.”

Before last week, most of the large antigovernment protests that followed the ouster of President Pedro Castillo took place in remote regions of Peru, largely in the country’s south, exposing deep division between residents of the capital and the long-neglected countryside.

The crisis that has sparked Peru’s worst political violence in more than two decades began when Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background, tried to short-circuit the third impeachment proceeding of his young administration by ordering Congress dissolved on Dec. 7. Lawmakers impeached him instead, the national police arrested him before he could find sanctuary and Boluarte, who was his vice president, was sworn in.

Since then, 56 people have died amid the unrest involving Castillo's supporters, 45 of whom died in direct clashes with security forces, according to Peru’s ombudsman. None of the deaths have been in Lima.

On Tuesday, police fired round after round of tear gas as they blocked the passage of protesters, who seemed more organized than before. The smell of tear gas permeated the air and could be felt even a block away as people leaving work suddenly had to cover their faces to try to diminish the sting.

“Murderers,” yelled the protesters, some of whom threw rocks at the police.

Even after most of the protesters had left, police continued firing tear gas to disperse small groups of people in a plaza in front of the country’s Supreme Court.

“I have a right to protest in this country,” Emiliano Merino, 60, said as he was being treated by volunteer paramedics after pellets grazed each of his arms.

Boluarte had earlier called for a truce and blamed protesters for the political violence that has engulfed the country, claiming in a news conference that illegal miners, drug traffickers and smugglers formed a “paramilitary force” to seek chaos for political gain. She said numerous road blockades across the country and damage to infrastructure have cost the country more than $1 billion in lost production.

She suggested that the protesters who died with bullet wounds were shot by other demonstrators, claiming investigations will show their injuries are incompatible with the weapons officers carry. And meanwhile, some 90 police officers are hospitalized with bruises, she said: “What about their human rights?” the president asked.

The government has not presented evidence that any of the injured officers were struck by gunfire.

Human rights advocates say they are dismayed by the lack of international outcry from the regional and global community and are calling for condemnation of the state violence unleashed since Castillo’s impeachment.

Jennie Dador, executive secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator, said the lack of international response makes it feel like “we’re alone.”

“None of the states in the region have done anything concrete,” she said.

Boluarte was notably absent from a meeting of regional leaders Tuesday in Argentina’s capital, where most avoided mention of the civilian deaths in Peru.

Human rights activists have acknowledged acts of violence by some protesters — including efforts to take over airports and burn police stations — but say the demonstrations have largely been peaceful.

Some of the leaders at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States did blame Peru’s government for the violence.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said there’s “an urgent need for a change in Peru because the result of the path of violence and repression is unacceptable.” Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a staunch supporter of Castillo, demanded an “end to the repression.”

During the summit’s closing ceremony, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández called for an end to “street violence and institutional violence that has taken the lives of so many people” in Peru.

“The international community has expressed concern, but really I think it could be more forceful,” said César Muñoz, associate director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch.

After some feverish closed-door negotiations in Buenos Aires in the afternoon, the situation in Peru was left out of the summit’s closing documents. “Peru is a prickly issue,” but pressure from some leaders had led to last-minute negotiations, said an official in Argentina’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss policy.

“Peru has managed to fly under the radar,” said Marina Navarro, executive director of Amnesty International Peru. “Given the gravity of the situation, with this number of people who have died, we don’t see as much said about it as there could be.”

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Associated Press writers Franklin Briceño in Lima and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Rights groups dismayed at lack of criticism for Peru abuses



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APTOPIX Peru Unrest Police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Protesters are seeking the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo, immediate elections and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police. 

(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

DANIEL POLITI
Tue, January 24, 2023 at 9:30 AM MST


LIMA, Peru (AP) — More than 50 people have died in ongoing street protests in the weeks since Peru's elected leader was jailed, mostly demonstrators at the hands of police officers, but only a few international voices of concern have emerged.

The relative silence of much of the regional and global community has dismayed human rights advocates, who are calling for condemnation of the state violence unleashed since Pedro Castillo was impeached and imprisoned for trying to dissolve Congress.

Tuesday was another day of fury in Peru's capital as thousands of protesters took to downtown Lima and were almost immediately met with volleys of tears gas amid clashes with security forces that often blocked their passage. It was the largest antigovernment protest since Thursday, when large groups of people, many from remote Andean regions, descended on the capital to demand Boluarte’s resignation, immediate elections and the dissolution of Congress.

Previously, most of the large antigovernment protests were in remote regions of Peru, exposing deep divisions between residents of the capital and the long-neglected countryside.

On Tuesday, police often fired round after round of tear gas as the protesters seemed more organized than before and small groups of people tossed canisters back at police although that was not enough to stop their advance. The smell of tear gas permeated the air.

Jennie Dador, executive secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator, said the lack of international response makes it feel like “we're alone.”

“None of the states in the region have done anything concrete,” she said.

Peru's new President Dina Boluarte was notably absent from a meeting of regional leaders Tuesday in Argentina's capital, where most avoided mention of the civilian deaths in Peru.

In a defiant news conference on Tuesday, Boluarte called for a “national truce.” She blamed protesters for the political violence that has engulfed the country, claiming illegal miners, drug traffickers and smugglers formed a “paramilitary force” to seek chaos for political gain. She said numerous road blockades across the country and damage to infrastructure have cost the country more than $1 billion in lost production.

She suggested that the protesters who died with bullet wounds were shot by other demonstrators, claiming investigations will show their injuries are incompatible with the weapons officers carry. And meanwhile, some 90 police officers are hospitalized with bruises, she said: “What about their human rights?” the president asked.

The government has not presented evidence that any of the injured officers were struck by gunfire.

Human rights activists have acknowledged acts of violence by some protesters — including efforts to take over airports and burn police stations — but say the demonstrations have largely been peaceful.

Some of the leaders at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States did blame Peru's government for the violence.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said there's “an urgent need for a change in Peru because the result of the path of violence and repression is unacceptable.” Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a staunch supporter of Castillo, demanded an “end to the repression.”

During the summit's closing ceremony, Argentina's President Alberto Fernández said his country “is also worried about what is happening in Peru” and called for and end to “street violence and institutional violence that has taken the lives of so many people.”

Activists say this attention is far less than what they would expect considering 56 people have died since Castillo's vice-president was sworn in to replace him on Dec. 7. Forty-five died in direct clashes with security forces, according to Peru’s ombudsman.

“The international community has expressed concern, but really I think it could be more forceful,” said César Muñoz, associate director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch. Regional leaders could emphasize “that the rule of law means there must be independent investigations of all the deaths.”

The crisis that has sparked Peru's worst political violence in more than two decades began when Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background, tried to short-circuit the third impeachment proceeding of his young administration by ordering Congress dissolved. Lawmakers impeached him instead, and the national police arrested him before he could find sanctuary.

After some feverish closed-door negotiations in Buenos Aires in the afternoon, the current situation in Peru was left out of the summit’s closing documents. “Peru is a prickly issue,” but pressure from some leaders has led to last-minute negotiations, said an official in Argentina’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss policy.

“Peru has managed to fly under the radar,” said Marina Navarro, executive director of Amnesty International Peru. “Given the gravity of the situation, with this number of people who have died, we don’t see as much said about it as there could be.”

Boluarte said Tuesday that Castillo had only himself to blame for trying to avoid the numerous corruption investigations he was facing, and suggested that he was trying "to make himself into a victim of a coup when he was the perpetrator of his own coup.”

Questions about Boluarte's sudden rise to power should not impede criticism over police abuses, human rights organizations say.

“There must be international pressure for this government to cease all types of repressive attitudes and that has nothing to do with emitting an opinion about the government’s legitimacy,” said Manuel Tufró, who leads the justice and security division at the Center for Legal and Social Studies, an Argentine human rights organization.

Boluarte’s government has made clear it won’t take any criticism lightly. After law enforcement raided a university in Lima where some of the protesters were taking shelter on Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro tweeted that the Organization of American States must “examine Peru’s case.”

Prime Minister Alberto Otarola fired back, telling Petro to “worry about your own affairs.” Peru’s Foreign Ministry issued formal notes of protest against Petro and Bolivian President Luis Arce, who expressed support for the protests.

The European Union made one of the strongest statements, saying Monday that it “deplores the very large number of casualties since the start of the protests” and reiterates “its condemnation of the widespread acts of violence as well as the disproportionate use of force by security forces.”

The U.S. ambassador in Lima, Lisa Kenna, also surprised many observers earlier this month when she said it is “fundamental for law enforcement to respect human rights, the right to protest and protect the citizenry.”

Some analysts said the tepid regional response points to how Peru has lost prominence due to its political crises, with six presidents over the past six years.

“Peru as a country has lost presence,” said Oscar Vidarte, an international relations professor at the Catholic University of Peru. “It’s a chaotic country, a country that has become ungovernable, questioned in terms of democracy and respect for human life."

"Countries in the region have clearly turned their backs,” Vidarte said.

___

Associated Press writer Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Scottish teachers at halfway point in rolling programme of strikes


Katrine Bussey, PA Scotland Political Editor
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Striking teachers will gather outside the cottage where Robert Burns was born as a rolling programme of regional action reaches its halfway point.

As Scots mark the anniversary of Burns’ birth, members of the EIS will be gathering outside Burns Cottage in Alloway in Ayrshire.

Teachers in both South Ayrshire and Edinburgh are taking strike action on Wednesday – as the 16-day programme of strike action being staged by the union reaches its halfway point.

As well as gathering at the famous cottage, educators will take part in a rally in the Scottish capital, to be addressed by EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley.

It comes amid an increasingly entrenched dispute over pay, with unions claiming that the Scottish Government and councils “have little or no interest” in finding the funding required to resolve the matter.

The current offer on the table would see most teachers receive a 5% pay increase, though some lower paid members of staff would get a 6.85% rise.

Teachers have rejected this, with the EIS demanding a 10% rise. However, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted there is a “gap” between what teachers are demanding and “what is affordable”.

Ms Bradley, however, said that there “continues to be miscalculation in Scotland of the strength of our members’ resolve” as well as a “misjudgement about the moral and financial unacceptability of another real-terms pay cut for education staff”.

With the EIS having written to the National Education Union to express solidarity with teachers in England and Wales who have voted to take strike action, Ms Bradley said: “It is testament to the strength of feeling of teachers about what is increasingly perceived as Governments’ real contempt for them, dressed up in warm words and sophistry, that in spite of the deliberately restrictive anti-trade union legislation that remains in force, that our respective unions were able to beat the ballot thresholds and achieve industrial action mandates.”

She advised politicians south of the border against “seeking to divide teachers and support staff” in schools on the issue of pay, as she said that “the Scottish Government, for all its claims about its trade union-friendly credentials, is shamefully seeking to do this”.

Scottish Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Strikes in our schools are in no one’s interest – including for pupils, parents and carers who have already had to deal with significant disruption over the past three years.

“I continue to urge teaching unions to reconsider current industrial action while talks are ongoing.”

She said that four offers had been made to teachers via the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) – which brings together the Scottish Government, local authority leaders in Cosla and trades unions – but these had been rejected.

However Ms Somerville said that the latest offer, if accepted, “would have meant a 21.8% cumulative increase in teacher pay since 2018”.

She insisted: “The union demands for a 10% increase for all teachers – even the highest paid – is not affordable within the Scottish Government’s fixed budget and a more pragmatic approach is needed before we can reach a compromise.

“The Scottish Government values the hard work that our teaching workforce put in for our learners and we remain absolutely committed to ensuring they receive a fair pay deal.

“We remain in talks with unions and hope that these will continue to progress towards a compromise to ensure a sustainable deal for all involved.”

Telefonica raises Spanish workers' wages by 7.8% in 2023


The logo of Spanish Telecom company Telefonica is seen in Madrid

Wed, 25 January 2023 


MADRID (Reuters) - Telefonica has agreed with its main unions to raise 2023 wages for almost 13,000 workers in Spain by 7.8% amid high inflation, the telecoms operator said on Wednesday.

The pay rise includes 6.3% to offset the impact of inflation between 2019 and 2022 and 1.5% in anticipation of consumer price increases in 2023, Telefonica said in a document sent to employees. The pay increase is effective from Jan. 1.

Additionally, workers will get a 300-euro one-off payment in October.

The UGT union confirmed the agreement in a statement.

Telefonica's Spanish unit employs about 16,000 workers. Further negotiations will take place later this year for workers whose contracts are not covered by the agreement, a spokesperson said.

An additional 5,000 employees who work at the company's headquarters in Spain are not part of the pay increase agreement, the spokesperson added.

Spain's inflation rate in 2021 and 2022 hit 6.5% and 5.7% respectively, the highest levels since the early 1990s. That prompted unions to press sometimes reluctant employers for pay raises, resulting in strikes and protests.

In many industries, such as banking and retail, companies have granted significant pay raises.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely)

Bank of England swerves strike as staff accept below inflation pay rise

Telegraph reporters
Wed, 25 January 2023 

general view of the front of the bank of england

The Bank of England has avoided the prospect of a strike by agreeing a below inflation pay rise for staff with union leaders.

Workers will receive a 3.5pc pay rise and a one-off 1pc salary boost this year in a deal agreed by the Unite union.

The lowest paid staff will receive the largest increases, in order to shield them better against the cost of living crisis, while senior staff will only see their pay packets increase by 1pc.


Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank, declined a pay rise, keeping his compensation at around £598,000.

The deal comes after Mr Bailey warned of the risk of a wage-price spiral which would fuel further inflation as companies are forced to raise prices further.

Last year, the governor called on workers to agree to "moderation" in their pay packages, although he admitted such moves would be "painful" for many.

The Unite union, which has 600 members at the Bank, has accepted the pay deal. It means Threadneedle Street will avoid risking a walkout by staff at a time when workers across the public and private sector have downed tools in protest against pay deals.

The pay offer, which will be worth 4.5pc to some of the bank's lowest paid staff, is still less than half the current rate of inflation. The consumer price index was around 10.5pc in December, well above the bank's 2pc target.

The deal with unions for a sub-inflation pay rise comes amid wider discontent among civil servants.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents 100,000 workers including Department of Work and Pensions staff, have called for strikes on February 1 unless ministers agree to a 10pc pay increase. Staff at HMRC are being balloted over possible strike action.

A Bank spokesman said: “We need to strike a balance between maintaining budgetary discipline with public funds, retaining critical skills, and addressing the cost of living pressures facing our staff. For next year, we have agreed a 3.5pc pay award budget targeted towards staff lower in their pay scales, and a one-year only non-pensionable benefits uplift worth 1pc.”

UK
The women whose childcare costs are so high there's no point working


Alexa Phillips
Wed, 25 January 2023 a

Becky Lane, 36, Surrey - Heathcliff O'Malley

Becky Lane has always been passionate about her career. She set up her own events management company after her first child was born six years ago. When she had a second child, she found it too demanding to keep running her business and decided to look for a full-time job instead.

But Lane, 36, from Surrey, was shocked to find that her childcare costs would make it impossible for her to work without losing money.

She has been forced to turn down jobs because she would need at least £50,000 to cover her childcare and commuting expenses. After months of searching she has given up. “I want to work,” she says. “I feel so deflated. I have so much experience.”

Lane is among growing numbers of women who cannot afford to work because of soaring childcare costs.

Around 1.5 million women are not in work because they are looking after their family or home, compared with 240,000 men, according to the Office for National Statistics.

For many women, this was not by choice: 44pc of mothers who are not in work said they would rather be employed but are unable to find affordable, convenient and reliable childcare, according to an ONS survey published last year. A quarter (23pc) of mothers who work part-time said they would increase their hours if they could get childcare.

More than two-thirds (68pc) of parents have decided not to apply for a job or have had to turn down extra work because they cannot find affordable or flexible childcare, according to a survey by childcare app Bubble.

The cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two has risen from an average of £236 a week in 2018 to £274 in 2022 – a jump of 16pc. Over the course of a year, this amounts to an average of £14,248. In some areas, this can be even more expensive. For mothers with two children, the costs of childcare can easily outpace their earnings.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, describes the childcare system as “broken”. “The lack of available and affordable childcare, compounded by the growing number of provider closures, is pushing too many women out of the workplace,” she says.

Childcare could become a key battleground during the next election as Labour pledges to increase the number of state-run nurseries and provide more support for families. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, recently scrapped reforms tabled by his predecessor Liz Truss, which aimed to give families an extra 20 hours a week of free childcare.

Lauren Fabianski, of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, says a lack of affordable childcare is “failing mothers” and “pushing more and more families needlessly into poverty”.

Lane says nursery costs for her two-year-old son would have been £85 a day if she had taken a full-time job. Cheaper nurseries said they had no places and she could spend years on their waiting lists.

For her six-year-old daughter, she would have been paying £20 for an after-school club, £10 for care before school, and around £40 a day to cover school holidays. Commuting would have cost thousands more.

‘I never planned on being a stay-at-home mum’

Esmee Buckle and her daughter - Daniel Jones

For Esmee Buckle, the search for work after becoming a mother has been equally dispiriting.

She was made redundant during her maternity leave five years ago and stayed out of the workforce to have a second child.

Buckle, 28, wants to get back into work but cannot find a job that pays enough to cover the childcare costs for her four-year-old son, and daughter, one. “I never ever planned to be a stay-at-home mum,” she says.

Her previous role as an art consultant paid £1,375 a month, but she was told the nursery costs for her daughter would be £1,035 a month. On top of this, she would face extra costs for her son to receive full-time care.

Because he is four years old, he would receive 30 hours of free childcare, but this would not be enough to cover her full-time working hours.

Buckle, from Saffron Walden in Essex, says she has to send her son to nursery outside her local area because it’s cheaper, but this means that if she takes a job she has to factor in the extra expenses of travelling. She would also lose £350 in Universal Credit that she and her partner now receive.

Buckle says she now questions the value of her first-class degree in illustration, which cost her £42,000 in student loans but has not helped her get a job that pays enough to cover her childcare fees. “It’s really disheartening,” she says. “I worked really hard for my degree.”

She fears that having a huge gap on her CV will make it even harder for her to get a job once both her children are in school.

‘I’m financially stuck’

Kara Kendall and her son - Paul Grover

For women that do go back to work after maternity leave, the plunging take-home pay after paying for childcare is challenging.

Kara Kendall, 34, a private school teacher from Lingfield in Surrey, has two children aged one and four. She is left with £250 a month – but during some months this drops to zero. She earns £1,600 a month working four days a week and pays around £1,000 a month for childcare. The added costs of her car and petrol eat up another £350.

“If there is a five-week month or our holidays don’t align, I don’t make money,” she says. “If I am asked to do a parents’ meeting and have to get childcare, I don’t make money. I’m sick of being financially stuck.”

She loves her job, but seeing her take-home pay drop has made her question whether it is worth it. On the other hand, she wants her children to see her as a professional role model, and keeping her foot in the door is fundamental to maintaining her career as a teacher in the long run. “It’s an unspoken dilemma of motherhood,” she says.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We are currently looking into options to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare – ensuring that any plans we bring forward focus on improving outcomes for children.

“To date, this government has doubled the offer for 3 and 4 year olds; introduced 15 hours free childcare a week for disadvantaged two year olds; and people on universal credit can claim back up to 85pc of their childcare costs.”

FIRST AMAZON STRIKE IN UK
Wed, 25 January 2023

Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry were striking over pay on Wednesday, the first time the e-commerce giant has faced industrial action in the UK.

The GMB union is calling on Amazon to pay its UK workers £15 an hour to bring their wages in line with their American counterparts, who earn $18 an hour.

Staff are unhappy with a pay increase of 50p pence per hour to £10.50, equivalent to a 5% rise and well below inflation. Amazon introduced the pay hike last summer. But warehouse workers say it fails to match the rising cost of living.

Stuart Richards, GMB senior organiser, said: “Today, Amazon workers in Coventry will make history.

Read more: Amazon to shut three UK warehouses putting 1,200 jobs at risk

“They’ve defied the odds to become the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.

“They’re taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living.

“They should be rightly proud of themselves.

“After six months of ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise.”

An Amazon spokesperson said: “A tiny proportion of our workforce are involved."
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Amazon employees are adding to the slew of worker walkouts across the UK in many industries as inflation eats away at take-home pay.

"In August, Amazon offered workers a measly 50p per hour pay increase. The two sides are in a stalemate with workers struggling with the cost of living crisis which is reaching boiling point, while Amazon has been trying to slim down its costs with little desire to increase them.

"While Amazon fared extremely well during the pandemic thanks to the e-commerce boom and surge in parcel deliveries, the return to physical stores post-COVID along with soaring inflation meant 2022 was a tough year for tech all round.

"Earlier this month CEO Andy Jassy said he was planning to axe around 18,000 jobs to weather the tough economic times, a move that has helped to instil confidence among investors, reflected by its shares which are up by more than 12% year-to-date in stark contrast to last year’s slide."

Amazon workers walk out in UK first for company’s staff in pay dispute

Alan Jones and Richard Vernalls, PA

Wed, 25 January 2023 

Amazon workers staging their first ever strike in the UK in a dispute over pay want a “decent standard of living”, a union has said.

Members of the GMB at the company’s fulfilment centre in Coventry voted to walk out on Wednesday in protest at a pay rise the union said is worth 50p an hour.

Amazon has said it already offers “competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe and modern environment”.

GMB senior organiser Stuart Richards said: “Today, Amazon workers in Coventry will make history.

“They’ve defied the odds to become the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.

“They’re taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living.

“They should be rightly proud of themselves.

“After six months of ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise.”

Members of the GMB union on the picket line outside the Amazon fulfilment centre in Coventry (Jacob King/PA)

Amanda Gearing, also a GMB senior organiser, speaking from the picket line, said: “We’re here today because Amazon workers have said they’ve had enough.”

She said staff who worked through tough conditions during the pandemic are just “trying to get decent pay”.

“They (the centres) are pressure-cooker environments they work in, with the targets they’re expected to reach,” she added.

“They (Amazon) just wear them out, get rid of them, replace them.”

Ms Gearing added: “After all that, they have just offered a 50p pay increase in the biggest cost-of-living crisis that we’ve had in decades.

“I think, when the workers have got nothing to lose, you see them coming out fighting.”

Members of the GMB are striking in protest at a pay rise the union said is worth 50p an hour (Jacob King/PA)

She said the striking workers are “not militant” and “need a job”, adding: “Like I say, they’ve put up with the conditions in those centres for a long time.”

“Coventry has been open four years, we’ve had issues since it was open. Rugeley (Staffordshire) before that – they’re just horrendous places to work,” she claimed.

She said the main issue for workers is what she said are target-led performance measures, set by an “algorithm”.

“So, imagine turning up to work not knowing if you’re going to make the grade.

“If you don’t (hit targets) you end up in a disciplinary, so they’re just having to work, work, work, they’re not allowed to talk to people, it’s difficult to take a toilet break,” she claimed.

“In one of the other fulfilment centres, we were having people urinating in a bottle because they didn’t want to take the time out and go to the toilet because it becomes idle time.

“We’ve got injuries, we’ve got more ambulances coming to (this) site, than any other warehouses across the country, they’ve just got an appalling record when it comes to health and safety.

“I think we’ve been lucky there’s been no fatalities within those centres, up to now.”

Members of the GMB union approach cars to dissuade colleagues from entering the Amazon fulfilment centre (Jacob King/PA)

An Amazon spokesman said: “Amazon is a safe place to work.

“The vast majority of ambulance call-outs to our buildings are related to pre-existing conditions, not work-related incidents, and as a responsible employer we will always call an ambulance if someone requires medical attention.

“That’s just sensible.”

Regarding toilet breaks, the company said: “You can use the toilet whenever you like.

“You can always go to the toilet when you like, log off, have a drink, speak to your manager etc – that’s not an issue.”

Ms Gearing said she is “hoping Amazon will get round the table”, while adding: “I don’t anticipate they’ll be giving me a call anytime soon.”

The dispute centres on pay and conditions (Jacob King/PA)

The company spokesman said: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have.

“We’ve made great progress in recent years and months in important areas like pay and safety.

“The fact is, we already offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe and modern environment.

“The unions know this.

It is understood that of about 2,000 staff at the Coventry site, 178 voted in favour of strike action.

The Amazon spokesman added: “A tiny proportion of our workforce are involved.

“In fact, according to the verified figures, only a fraction of 1% of our UK employees voted in the ballot – and that includes those who voted against industrial action.

“We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we’re proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location.

“This represents a 29% increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018.

“Employees are also offered comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more – including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, to name a few.”

UK Amazon workers strike in protest at 50p pay rise

Matthew Field
Wed, 25 January 2023 

An epic day and a half of deals, Amazon Prime Day kicks off at midday on Monday 16th July and runs until midnight on Tuesday 17th July. Pictured at the Hemel Hempstead fulfilment centre, Amazon

Amazon workers on Wednesday started their first official UK strike action, walking out of the online retail giant's Coventry warehouse in protest against a 50p pay rise amid claims staff are "treated like robots".

Around 300 Amazon workers were expected to down tools and join picket lines. The strike action began at Amazon's Coventry centre at midnight on Tuesday

The 24-hour picket line was expected to take place outside Amazon's warehouse in Coventry.

The GMB union called for a walk-out after balloting members in December. The union is demanding an increase in pay from £10 to £15 per hour. Amazon has offered 50p per hour.

Union members told the BBC robots in the warehouses were "treated better than us".

Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton said their work around the warehouse was tracked and monitored, adding that "idle time" of a few minutes would be admonished. Amazon said its system was designed to "recognise great performance".

Stuart Richards, a GMB union official for the Midlands, said: "This is a huge step forward for workers who've been ignored and treated like robots."

Taiwo Owatemi, MP for Coventry North West, said: "Coventry Amazon workers are taking on one of the world's most powerful employers, but by standing together alongside residents and supporters around the world, they can make a real difference and win a fair pay rise during the cost of living crisis."

The dispute is not expected to affect deliveries, as the Coventry hub provides stock to other Amazon fulfilment centres, rather than directly to customers.

Amazon said its pay offer represented a pay increase to between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location. An Amazon spokesman said: “A tiny proportion of our workforce is involved. In fact, according to the verified figures, only a fraction of 1pc of our UK employees voted in the ballot - and that includes those who voted against industrial action.

“We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we’re proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location.

"This represents a 29pc increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. Employees are also offered comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more - including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, to name a few.”

In 2021, Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, who replaced founder Jeff Bezos, received a pay deal worth more than $200m (£160m), largely made up of company stock.

The industrial action is expected to be the first in a series of walk-outs in Coventry and other Amazon facilities in the UK.

The dispute is one of many raging across the public and private sector as workers demand pay increases that make up for surging inflation. Royal Mail, rail companies, bus operators, nurses and ambulance workers have all staged walkouts during months of discontent.

Last summer, Amazon's UK workers engaged in a series of unofficial "wildcat" strikes, including a "go slow" protest and a sit-in.

It comes after Amazon announced that hundreds of UK fulfilment centre roles would go as part of a reorganisation of its warehouse space.

Earlier this month, Amazon confirmed it would shut UK warehouses, putting 1,200 jobs at risk. The retail giant said it planned to close its fulfilment centres in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock in Scotland.

It also announced it would open two new fulfilment centres and offer jobs to everyone who was losing a role in the warehouse closures. It said, overall, it would be creating 2,500 UK jobs.

The tech giant has also been cutting back on its corporate headcount. Mr Jassy confirmed the tech giant would make 18,000 redundancies as it aims to cut costs amid the economic slowdown.

‘The job is not human’: UK retail warehouse staff describe gruelling work

Heather Stewart
Wed, 25 January 2023

Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Rex/Shutterstock

This week’s strike at an Amazon depot in Coventry is throwing the spotlight on to a hidden army of workers in the UK’s retail sector, many of whom face “particularly gruelling” conditions, according to recent research commissioned by the TUC.

Five academics at the Centre for Research on Employment and Work (Crew) at the University of Greenwich analysed data about the retail workforce during and after the Covid pandemic, and carried out in-depth interviews with 30 workers.

They found that the pandemic “intensified existing trends” in online shopping, which meant a renewed shift from traditional shop-floor jobs towards work in warehouses, away from direct contact with customers.

The analysis suggests these warehouse roles often provide more regular hours, and that competition for staff has pushed up wage rates – but some interviewees said they found the jobs extremely demanding.

“Warehouse work was considered by research participants as particularly gruelling (‘the job is not human’),” the authors say in a summary of their findings, adding that there was “a suggestion that automation and robotisation might be necessary to save the cost to human physical and mental health”.

The TUC’s deputy general secretary, Kate Bell, said it was easy for consumers to forget that what feels like the “miracle” of rapid home delivery relies on “real human labour, and real human labour which is increasingly tough – monitored, repetitive, gruelling”.

A member of staff at a distribution centre said: “It’s a very physical, demanding job and if you’ve never been in that situation before, it either makes you or breaks you to be honest.” He said staff needed to be “fit enough to get through the pain barriers”.

High-profile companies including Sports Direct have come under fire over the conditions faced by workers in their warehouses. The fashion retailer Boohoo recently rejected claims made in the Times that staff could walk 13 miles in a single shift, in sweltering temperatures.

The TUC-commissioned report provides fresh first-hand testimony from retail staff. One Amazon worker who worked night shifts told the researchers: “It’s just mentally stressful because you just are working, working, working constantly. Literally, you have no social life.” A warehouse operative described the rapid turnover of staff at their workplace as a “leaky bucket”.

One operations manager who had worked at three different firms over a number of years said the growing automation of warehouses had increased the pressures on workers.

“I wouldn’t advise a friend of mine to be a … warehouse operative for a long period of time. Healthwise it’s not advisable, psychologically wise it’s not advisable, because at some point warehouses will be expecting [the] efficiency of robots from humans, so to speak,” she told the researchers.

Warehouse staff across different companies described having their performance closely tracked, including the routes they take around the distribution centre. “They’ve already timed how long it will take you. And if it takes you five or 10 minutes longer, you may get questioned, ‘why has it taken so long?’,” said one worker.

Adrian Jones, the national organiser at Unite, said: “Employers seem to be relying more and more on automated performance management tools in warehouses to set standards – and it doesn’t take into consideration the massive issues that workers face on a day in, day out basis”. A recent TUC guide on these issues for union reps was called “When AI is the boss”.

The researchers suggest surveillance of staff is used differently in workplaces where unions have a seat around the table. “Where trade unions are recognised, workplace representatives play a key role in mediating technology and constraining its use in disciplinary measures against workers,” the report says.

Some interviewees said they did not mind being intensively monitored – by CCTV or smartwatch, for example – seeing it as about safety as well as performance.

Jones said: “Where we see employers who recognise that fact that this is human beings not robots who are doing it, the performance is better, the commitment is better from the workers and ultimately the company’s more profitable.”

But he pointed to the difficulties of warehouse work, including the sheer weight of goods that must be moved, and the prevalence of night shifts.

The TUC is calling for collective bargaining across the retail sector, including in distribution, to strike standard-setting “fair pay agreements”, and a right for employees to be consulted before new technologies are introduced.

When challenged about staff discontent, Amazon, which refuses to recognise unions, pointed to a recent increase in starting pay, to “a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour”, and what it called “a comprehensive benefits package” worth thousands of pounds. But the TUC’s Bell, welcoming this week’s strike action, said: “What these people need first is a voice in their own workplace.”

Retailers say they have to offer staff the right incentives to work in these jobs. Tom Ironside, the director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said: “The need for warehouse staff has been rising in recent years, so retailers have worked hard to provide the necessary financial and non-financial total reward to attract the necessary talent. As with all parts of retail, good working conditions are a key way of attracting and retaining staff, and warehouses are no exception.”

UK

Hanky waving, bell jangling - women Morris dancers keep the tradition alive

Miranda Norris
Mon, 23 January 2023 

Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix

Hanky waving, bell-jangling Morris men - and women - brought dancing to Witney at the weekend.

The only mixed Cotswold Morris 'side' west of Oxford are searching for recruits to keep their distinctive tradition thriving.

Chairman of Ducklington Morris side and ‘squire’ Chris Howe said: “Morris dancing is fun and great exercise.

“We’re a friendly bunch and most people pick up the basic steps and moves fairly quickly.

“Come and give it a try.”

Oxford Mail: Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix

Ducklington Morris side was started four decades ago by the village folk club.

In its heyday it included almost 20 dancers and musicians but as members have retired or moved away, numbers have dwindled.

Mr Howe explained: “Most traditional Ducklington Morris dances are meant for six, but we’ve had to adapt them to work for four.

“We’d love to get back to sets of six plus a musician and have a few extra members spare, so we can take a well-earned breather now and then.”

If you are interested go to www.ducklingtonmorris.org.uk, or contact Chris Howe on 01993 775634.

Oxford Mail: Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix

This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris

Profile: Miranda Norris Journalists news from the Oxford Mail

Australian councils told to cut emissions rather than spend millions on overseas carbon offsets


Joe Hinchliffe
Mon, 23 January 2023

Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Renewed questions are being asked about Australian councils’ use of international projects to offset local carbon emissions, off the back of a Guardian investigation that found 90% of rainforest credits issued by one leading company were likely worthless.

The research into Verra, a world leader in the rapidly growing voluntary offsets market, found that the majority of rainforest offset credits were likely “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions.

The company strongly disputes the studies’ conclusions, has strenuously defended its projects and challenged the methods used to undermine their credibility, saying they cannot capture the true impact of projects on the ground. They say this explains the difference between the credits it approves and the emission reductions estimated by scientists.


But the revelations have energised critics of public entities for using offsets rather than concentrating on reducing their own emissions.

Fifteen local governments in Australia, including those in central Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, trade offsets through Verra’s registry platform, spending millions of dollars to claim carbon-neutral status.

While the vast majority are not the rainforest credits that were the subject of the Guardian investigation, and its findings are not applicable to them, they are mainly for overseas-based projects, prompting questions about why local governments aren’t spending that money trying to reduce their own emissions.

Brisbane city council, Australia’s largest local government, spent $6 million last year offsetting its emissions, including banking 130,000 tonnes of carbon emissions on a landfill gas recovery and power generation project in China.

University of Melbourne climate futures senior research fellow Lily O’Neill described it as “a joke” that an organisation whose core function is to dispose of waste would spend money reducing emissions on that same activity offshore.

O’Neill said that offsetting was only valid as a last resort for emissions that could not be avoided.

“Does anybody [at council] go out and check that these carbon credits are being generated in the way that they say they will be?” she said.

Brisbane city council did not respond to Guardian Australia questions about what due diligence it does on overseas offsets projects.

The Labor opposition in Brisbane, led by Jared Cassidy, has long been critical of council’s offset spending and described the Guardian investigation as a “wake-up call”.

Related:Qantas, Origin and other Australian companies urged to check effectiveness of overseas rainforest carbon credits

“The only large-scale action a council can take to reduce emissions on a citywide scale is remove organic material from landfill,” he said. “You can’t simply buy your way out of it.

“If you want to make real change you start in your own back yard.”

O’Neill said there were high-value offset projects that were working, including First Nations-led emissions reductions projects.

Brisbane was among the councils that did fund some Australian-based initiatives, including Indigenous-led savannah fire management in Arnhem Land. But more than 90% of Brisbane city council’s offset funding was spent on projects abroad.

Many other councils – including Woollahra in Sydney, Subiaco in Perth and Moreland, Moonee Valley, Maroondah and Yarra in Melbourne – obtained 100% of their credits from overseas-based renewable energy projects.

Queensland University of Technology’s pro vice-chancellor of sustainability and research integrity, Kerrie Wilson, also advised that local governments should be “looking at things in their own back yard” as they strive to achieve carbon neutrality.

“That’s challenging, because it requires a focus on our internal policies and our own practices and our own behaviours rather than relying on offsetting,” she said.

Wilson said QUT had invested in a solar farm in western Queensland in an effort to achieve carbon neutrality.

“You have more oversight, transparency and assurance around the integrity if they are projects that you can touch and feel and identify,” she said.

Brisbane city council did not respond to questions about whether it was reviewing its offset program but did say it was currently undertaking “a major food waste recycling pilot involving 6,000 households across 30 suburbs”.

A City of Sydney spokesperson said that over the past few years it had been “buying an increasing share of high-quality local carbon offsets” and aimed to have 100% high-quality Australian regenerative offsets by 2025.

The City of Melbourne is understood to be reviewing its past and future offsets following the Chubb review, which this month recommended a new integrity body be set up for Australia’s carbon credits scheme.

AUSTRALIA
Federal government to intervene in transport union’s high court fight against Qantas


Paul Karp
Tue, 24 January 2023

Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

The federal government will join the Transport Workers’ Union’s (TWU) high court fight with Qantas as the airline bids to overturn a ruling that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handlers’ jobs.

The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, filed a notice of appearance on 16 January to intervene in the case, in which Qantas hopes to overturn a full federal court decision exposing it to a mammoth compensation bill for laying off staff at 10 airports in November 2020.

In July 2021 the federal court ruled Qantas’s outsourcing of the workers was in part driven by a desire to avoid industrial action, which is a breach of the Fair Work Act.

Qantas had claimed the outsourcing was a necessary financial measure that could save it $100m annually and reduce future spending on ground handling equipment such as tugs and baggage loaders.

Related: Fixation on Qantas won’t end, even if string of incidents were unconnected

The high court granted Qantas leave to appeal in December, on the grounds that at the time the jobs were outsourced, the workers had no right to take industrial action.

The national secretary of the TWU, Michael Kaine, said the case had wide ramifications.

“Of course this is now all in the hands of the high court to determine, but we are hopeful the [government’s] intervention is to highlight that the Qantas position, if upheld, would seriously undermine the protective intention of the laws.”

The chair of the Senate’s employment legislation committee and a former TWU national secretary, Labor senator Tony Sheldon, said the government had an obligation to stand by its interpretation of the act.

“This is a matter that will affect many Australians into the future,” he said.

“The act has, in my view, the intent that workers’ interests will be protected, and that in circumstances such as this, after two court findings in their favour, they can get their jobs back … that there is a remedy.”

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Sheldon blamed the previous Coalition government for providing $2bn of subsidies to Qantas during the pandemic “without any obligations” on the airline, allowing it to outsource jobs.

“We’ve seen the consequences for Qantas’s performance,” he said.

In its submissions filed on Friday, Qantas argued that its ground staff were prohibited from taking protected industrial action until their existing pay deal expired on 31 December 2020, a month after the decision to outsource their jobs.

Related: Qantas flight from Sydney to Fiji forced to turn back after ‘potential mechanical issue’

Qantas said it should not be penalised “for taking adverse action to prevent an employee acquiring future rights, the exercise of which at the time of the adverse action would have been unlawful”.

The law “simply does not extend so far as to protect a person from adverse action in respect of rights that they do not presently have”, it said.

Qantas said it had done no more than exercise an employer’s right to “bring the employment relationship to an end” rather than allow it to continue until the law “might confer on the employee greater rights”.

In December, Kaine accused Qantas of “dragging out a costly legal battle rather than reinstate or compensate the experienced workers”.

“Illegally sacking 1,700 workers in one fell swoop to avoid enterprise bargaining rights is unprecedented in Australia,” he said.

Kaine said that “standards in aviation will continue to fall off a cliff if we allow excessive bonuses to be tied to the degradation of secure jobs and decent wages and conditions.”

In a statement in December, Qantas said it had always maintained “the decision to outsource our ground handling function was based on lawful commercial reasons in response to the unprecedented impact of the Covid crisis”.

Since the easing of Covid travel restrictions, airlines have struggled with high demand for flights, and workforce shortages.

Related: Size does matter when it comes to successfully complaining about airlines on social media

Qantas has been hit by consumer complaints about cancelled flights and delays of up to three months returning lost luggage.

Unions have stepped up their rhetoric against the airline after a string of incidents including an emergency landing in Azerbaijan in December and a mayday call from an Auckland to Sydney flight in January.

In December, the government passed its first major industrial relations bill, despite warnings from Qantas that multi-employer bargaining and other changes could force it to cut marginal routes.

In November, Burke told the National Press Club that Labor had engaged in “direct negotiation” with Qantas over the bill.

“I have to say the Qantas position was don’t change a single law, and that was never an option for the government,” he said.

“I don’t accept the argument that if you do anything to get wages moving for a company like Qantas, that somehow everything is in jeopardy.

“If you look at the current laws, it’s hard to find many companies that have had more different ways of working around the current laws than Qantas has.”