UAW members rally for future of Trenton Engine under shadow of talks with Stellantis

Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
Thu, September 7, 2023 

That’s the answer Mike Rouse gives when asked about the biggest issue for him during this contract fight between the UAW and the Detroit Three.

Perhaps it’s understandable.

New product to build at the Trenton Engine Complex might mean Rouse, 52, of Southgate, can stay put and eventually retire from the plant south of Detroit.

In his 24 years with Stellantis and its predecessor companies, Rouse, who works in the machine shop, has moved around, from Trenton Engine to Warren Truck to Belvidere Assembly, back to Trenton, out to Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and back again to Trenton, where he’s been since 2012.

Members from UAW Local 372 who work at the Stellantis Trenton Engine Plant in Trenton listen to speakers inside the union hall before they marched across the street to the plant to rally and protest on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

Moving so much is challenging in many ways, according to the U.S. Army veteran.

“It’s hectic. It’s stressful. It’s trying on everyone. You’re going into a new environment,” he said.

Rouse’s concerns about securing new product for the Trenton Engine Complex were shared by many of his union brothers and sisters in a crowded Local 372 hall on Van Horn Road on Thursday as they rallied, cheering and clapping thunderously at times, before marching to one of the plant gates. Union officials and politicians, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor and Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, both Democrats, added their voices in a rousing call to fight for the future of the plant complex they called the “heart of Downriver.”

Outside, cars, trucks and even a motorcycle honked in support as Dave Gerbi, the local president, led a familiar chant, “We are the union. Mighty, mighty union.”

Melissa Holman of Local 372 joins in with others chanting a rallying cry in front of the Stellantis Trenton Engine Plant in Trenton on Thursday, September 7, 2023. The workers want a fair contract and listen to speakers from politicians to UAW leaders.

The complex is made up of two plants, north and south, but only the south side is currently producing engines, on two shifts. The north side was decommissioned within the last year and now serves as a warehouse, with about 140 nonunion workers, Gerbi said.

Trenton South builds the 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar Classic used for the Dodge Charger, Challenger and Durango; the Chrysler 300; the older version of the Ram 1500 pickup, referred to as the Classic, and the Ram DX Chassis Cab for the Mexican market, according to a company website, which noted that a Pentastar Upgrade engine for the Chrysler Pacifica minivan built at the north plant was to be transitioned to the south plant when the north plant was decommissioned. About 760 workers — 630 hourly and 130 salaried — were employed there as of December.

More: UAW members practice picketing: As deadline nears, autoworkers are 'ready to strike'

The complex, which has been producing engines since 1952, has turned out about 45 million engines. But next year, the number that’s slated to be produced, about 137,000 engines, won’t be enough to warrant two shifts, Gerbi said, noting the frustration and potential loss for the workforce unless that changes.

“We are the best in the U.S. as far as quality. We build the best damn engines,” he said.

While much of the attention during these contentious contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis (owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat), has focused on issues such as wage tiers and cost-of-living adjustments, the plight of this engine plant highlights another key focus for the union. It’s the need to secure a new engine to keep the plant operating into the future and the workers employed, which echoes the need in Belvidere, Illinois, to secure a new vehicle for the idled assembly plant there.

The company has pointed to the ongoing negotiations in regard to questions about product assignments as well as the cost of the electric vehicle transition, which was the reason given when the announcement was made late last year that Belvidere would be idled.

More: Stellantis wants to move Ram truck production from Michigan to Mexico, UAW leader says

Rich Boyer, a UAW vice president and director of the UAW-Stellantis department talks with members inside UAW Local 372 across the street from the Stellantis Trenton Engine Plant in Trenton on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

Stellantis spokeswoman Ann Marie Fortunate provided a statement, when asked about the concerns raised at the rally, once again highlighting the role of negotiations in product allocation decisions:

“Our focus continues to be on bargaining in good faith to reach a new agreement that balances the concerns of our 43,000 employees with our vision for the future. Product allocation for our U.S. plants will depend on the outcome of these negotiations as well as a plant’s ability to meet specific performance metrics including improving quality, reducing absenteeism and addressing overall cost.”

Talks continued Thursday ahead of the expiration of contracts at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. Rouse, the Trenton worker, said he’s already gotten his strike assignment in the event workers are on the picket line next week.

Stellantis is expected to deliver its first counteroffer on Friday. On Thursday, GM made its first counter, which UAW President Shawn Fain panned, and Ford was set to deliver its second offer.

John Beattie of Local 212 listens with other members while holding up a sign during a rally and march at UAW Local 372 across the street from the Stellantis Trenton Engine Plant in Trenton on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

Timothy Lucas, 58, of Woodhaven, who has 27½ years in as a toolmaker at the plant, said he expects a strike, given that, as of Thursday, Stellantis hadn’t yet offered a counterproposal to the union's demands.

Nobody wants a strike, he said, but sometimes, “you’ve got to bite the bullet. We’re fighting for the future.” Ending tiers is Lucas’ top priority.

Leyah Jefferson, 56, of Romulus, who has more than three decades of seniority with the company and works in head sub assembly and is also a repair person, said that “preferably, we don’t have to strike.”

She sees a win for the workers in talks as a win for the company, too.

Jefferson said she’s “looking for a happy medium.”

Automaker Stellantis makes counteroffer to United Auto Workers

MICHELLE CHAPMAN
Updated Fri, September 8, 2023 

United Auto Workers members walk in the Labor Day parade in Detroit. Automaker Stellantis has made a counteroffer to the United Auto Workers that includes wage increases in each year of a new four-year contract totaling 14.5%. The raises, which would be for most workers, doesn’t include any lump sum payments. 

AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

Automaker Stellantis has made a counteroffer to the United Auto Workers that includes wage increases in each year of a new four-year contract totaling 14.5%.

The wage increases, which would be for most workers, don't include any lump sum payments, Mark Stewart, chief operating officer of Stellantis North America, said in a letter to employees.

The proposal by Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, also includes a $6,000 one-time inflation protection payment in the first year of the contract and $4,500 in inflation protection payments over the final three years of the contract.

In addition, the counteroffer includes boosting hourly wages from $15.78 to $20 for temporary workers and speeding up the progression timeline from eight years to six years for employees who are moving through the pay scale from starting wages.

The proposal from Stellantis, formed in a 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA Peugeot, is closer to the union's demands of 46% across-the-board increases over four years, but both sides still are far apart. About 146,000 UAW members at the three Detroit automakers could go on strike when their contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.

“We remain committed to bargaining in good faith and reaching a fair agreement by the deadline. With this equitable offer, we are seeking a timely resolution to our discussions,” Stewart said.

In a statement Friday, the union called counteroffers from Stellantis, General Motors and Ford “disappointing,” and said President Shawn Fain will discuss them with members in an online chat Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday Fain warned that the union plans to go on strike against any Detroit automaker that hasn’t reached a new agreement by the time contracts expire.

A strike against all three major automakers could cause damage not only to the industry as a whole but also to the Midwest and even national economy, depending on how long it lasts. The auto industry accounts for about 3% of the nation’s economic output. A prolonged strike could also lead eventually to higher vehicle prices.

Ford's counterproposal offered 9% raises and lump sum payments over four years, while GM's offered 10% plus lump sums.

Chrysler parent Stellantis offers 14.5%, 4-year wage hike to hourly workers

David Shepardson
Updated Fri, September 8, 2023


 A Stellantis sign is seen outside its headquarters in Auburn Hills,


By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -Chrysler parent Stellantis said Friday it offered U.S. hourly workers a 14.5% wage hike over four years in its offer to the United Auto Workers union ahead of a Sept. 14 contract expiration.

The offer is much less than the 46% wage hike being sought by the union. The UAW has said 97% of members voted in favor of authorizing a strike if an agreement is not reached.

General Motors said Thursday it had offered workers a 10% wage hike and two additional 3% annual lump-sum payments over four years. Stellantis is not offering additional lump-sum payments.

Last week, Ford said it had offered a 9% wage increase through 2027 and 6% lump sump payments. It was set to make a new offer on Thursday, a UAW official said.

The Stellantis offer - which did not specify how the 14.5% wage increase would be distributed over four years - is similar to GM and Ford's offers. It would hike minimum pay for temporary workers to $20 an hour - up $4.22 an hour - and reduce the time necessary to reach top wages for permanent autoworkers from eight years to six years.

"This is a responsible and strong offer that positions us to continue providing good jobs for our employees today and in the next generation here in the U.S.," Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said in a letter to employees. "It also protects the company’s future ability to continue to compete globally in an industry that is rapidly transitioning to electric vehicles."

The UAW said on Friday the Stellantis wage offer would not make up for inflation and "leaves workers even further behind" and that it did not include union job security and profit-sharing proposals.

The union's demands include a 20% immediate wage increase followed by four 5% annual wage hikes, defined-benefit pensions for all workers, 32-hour work weeks and additional cost-of-living hikes. GM is proposing to give employees an additional paid holiday.

UAW President Shawn Fain, who represents 146,000 workers at the Detroit Three automakers, said on Thursday GM's offer was "an insulting proposal."

Stellantis is offering $10,500 in inflation protection payments over the four years, while GM is offering $11,000 and Ford $12,000.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

GM’s Offer of 16% Pay Hike Ahead of Strike Deadline Is Quickly Rejected by UAW


David Welch
Thu, September 7, 2023



(Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. made a counteroffer to the United Auto Workers union, proposing a total 16% pay raise for the top wage earners in its plants and a 56% hike for newer employees who make less, the company said in a statement. UAW President Shawn Fain reacted quickly saying the proposal is “insulting.”

The pay raise is slightly higher than what rival Ford Motor Co. offered the union, but is still well short of the 46% raise that would result from the UAW’s opening bid. GM also included $11,000 in inflation protection payments, a shortened period to the top wage and better pay for temporary staff.

GM made the offer with a week to go before the union’s contract with the automaker and rivals Ford and Stellantis NV expires and all companies far apart from Fain’s opening proposal. In addition to a much bigger raise, Fain wants to reinstate guaranteed pensions, cost-of-living allowances and retiree healthcare.

“After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers,” Fain said in a statement. “GM either doesn’t care or isn’t listening when we say we need economic justice. The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock.”

The GM offer is slightly better than Ford’s proposal, which Fain rejected and said, “insults our very worth.”

The GM and Ford offers do not include retiree benefits, which went away in 2007 for new hires. Workers hired after 2006 get 401K plans.

Fain’s initial proposal brought back retiree benefits, which are a big piece of the added expense for labor that automakers believe would drive up costs by $80 billion over four years.

GM’s offered to give inflation protection with a $6,000 one-time payment and another $5,000 over the life of the agreement. That’s $1,000 less in total than Ford offered.


Both companies give entry-level workers the top wage of about $32 an hour after six years. GM’s offer would get them to a minimum of $28 after four years. GM also offered to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

GM shares were down 1% at 12:39 p.m. Thursday in New York

Potential UAW strike presents a near-term headwind for auto insurers - JPM

Reshma Rockie George
Thu, September 7, 2023

 JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York

By Reshma Rockie George

(Reuters) - J.P.Morgan on Thursday said supply chain disruptions from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike would cut new vehicle production, drive up used car prices and put pressure on margins in the personal auto insurance business.

UAW is currently in talks with the Detroit Three automakers - Ford Motor, Chrysler parent company Stellantis and General Motors - ahead of the expiration on Sept. 14 of the current four-year labor agreements covering 146,000 workers.

The automakers "represent about 40% of light vehicle auto sales (by units) in the U.S., and IHS Markit estimates that a strike would disrupt North American vehicle production by roughly 75%," J.P.Morgan said.


Higher used-car prices increase coverage limits on auto insurance, making claims more expensive, so insurers are obligated to pay the fair market value of a car if it is deemed destroyed, JPM lead analyst Jimmy Bhullar said.

The brokerage identifies Allstate Corp and Progressive Corp as the insurers with the most exposure to a potential UAW strike, with Allstate more susceptible due to its weaker capital position.

Used-car prices have had the most impact on auto margins in recent years compared to other factors such as higher spare part costs, labor costs, increased litigation, and severe accidents, the brokerage added.

A UAW strike that shuts down the Detroit Three automakers could cost the manufacturers, workers, suppliers and dealers more than $5 billion according to a study by Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group, a consulting firm.

(Reporting by Reshma Rockie George in Bengaluru, Editing by Tasim Zahid)
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GM and Ford are facing a 'nightmare situation' that could be great news for Tesla

Nora Naughton
Fri, September 8, 2023 


LM Otero/Associated Press

• A looming strike is a "nightmare situation" for Detroit automakers.

• Work stoppages and labor cost increases pose setbacks for their EV ambitions.

• Tesla is already having a banner year for both sales and production.

A looming strike by the United Auto Workers union, which represents hourly workers at the Detroit Three car companies, could be great news for Tesla, one analyst says.

The UAW has spent the summer negotiating new contracts with Ford, General Motors, and Jeep-owner Stellantis. The union is asking for historic wage increases, elimination of a tier system implemented during the depths of the recession, cost of living adjustments, and more. If an agreement isn't reached by September 14, some 150,000 UAW workers across the US will go on strike, a move that could cost the industry as much as $5 billion in 10 days.

This is all "a potential nightmare situation for GM and Ford," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to clients this month. Any threat to supply would also inevitably diminish year-end production and inventory, chipping away at holiday season deals.

Tesla, which does not use union labor, is situated to benefit from any work stoppage at competitors, especially at a time when the industry is pushing harder into electric vehicles, Ives said.

"Tesla does not face similar issues which speaks to the complexity both GM and Ford face going up against the EV leader Tesla, while trying to satisfy rising union demands," Ives said. "If a strike happens then ultimately production and the EV roadmap could be pushed out into 2024 and delays would be on the horizon at this crucial period for GM, Ford, and Stellantis."

Setbacks come just as Ford and GM are looking to unseat Tesla

Ford and GM have both set lofty goals for electric vehicle production over the next several years, with Farley putting Elon Musk and Tesla directly in his sights when Ford launched the F-150 Lightning last year.

But production slowdowns from a work stoppage combined with potentially large labor cost increases could put the brakes on Detroit's race to beat Tesla at the EV game, Ives said.

Raising the stakes for GM and Ford: Tesla is already having a banner year for both sales and production, on track to hit its nearly 2 million-unit production target by the end of the year. And the long-awaited Cybertruck is expected to add to that success when it hits customers' driveways later this year.

"Farley and Barra both face some tough decisions ahead," he said. "The options around facing a strike OR accepting a major cost intake for the next decade is a dynamic the Street will be closely watching over the next week."

Ford raised pay for thousands of workers just before union contract expires

Julia Shapero
Thu, September 7, 2023 

Ford said it fast-tracked pay raises for nearly 8,000 workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union over Labor Day, just days before its contract with the union is set to expire.

Under the pay increases, which were negotiated by Ford and UAW in 2019, thousands of workers reached top wage rates with as little as four years on the job, compared to the standard eight years, according to Ford.

The automaker said, on average, UAW-represented Ford employees received a bump of $4.33 per hour, or $9,000 per year.

“These pay raises are an example of Ford’s commitment to improving the lives of our hourly workforce,” said Bryce Currie, Ford’s vice president of manufacturing, in a press release.

“The negotiating teams nicknamed this deal ‘23 Jump Street’ because in 2023 a significant number of UAW-Ford team members would see a jump in pay,” he added. “And we are offering further improvements in the next contract.”

Ford highlighted the pay raises Thursday, just one week before its contract with the union is set to expire. UAW members voted late last month to strike against the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — if they fail to reach a “fair deal” before their contract expires Sept. 14.

Ford is the only member of the Big Three to put forward a proposal so far, suggesting a 9 percent general wage increase over the span of the contract. However, UAW President Shawn Fain slammed the offer last week, saying the “wage proposals not only fail to meet our needs, it insults our very worth.”

UAW is reportedly expecting to receive an offer from General Motors on Thursday, while Stellantis has said it plans to provide the union with an offer by the end of the week, according to Reuters.

Lebanon: What are the intentions of a bolder, stronger Hezbollah?

Scott Peterson

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Thu, September 7, 2023 



In the mind of Hassan, a veteran Hezbollah fighter and missile specialist, the question is not whether Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite militia will wage a final, decisive battle against Israel, but when.

“Things have changed; it’s not like before,” says the fighter, a Hezbollah member for 22 years who uses a pseudonym. “Historically, they [Israel] are the ones who have threatened. Now we threaten them – whenever we want, on our timeline.”

Even as Israel today is absorbed by unprecedented political turmoil at home, Hezbollah seems emboldened by its growing strength on the Jewish state’s northern border.

Both sides have built up assiduously for renewed war since their last major conflict in 2006, which lasted 33 days. But that fight was so destructive and costly that, ever since, each has sought to deter the other from dangerous escalation, while carefully calibrating its own moves.

Deterrence and restraint still hold for now, analysts say, and neither side wants all-out war, despite a string of actions in recent months that has raised tensions and the risk of miscalculation to their highest point since 2006.

Yet the deterrence arithmetic may now be changing, suggests the Hezbollah missile specialist.

Hassan scoffs at recent Israeli estimates that Hezbollah can fire 4,000 precision rockets and missiles daily into Israel during the early stages of a new conflict, compared with 100 per day in 2006.

“There is no number – it is unlimited, open,” he says of the capacity of Hezbollah’s current missile arsenal, which analysts note has advanced considerably – with Iran’s help – in scale, precision, range, and punch.

Hassan speaks calmly and confidently, but with tired eyes. Incongruously, for a militant whose life has been devoted to attacking the power of the United States and its Israeli ally, he wears a bright red U.S. Polo Association shirt with an American flag patch.

“Hezbollah is working around the clock when it comes to technology,” he says. “When one group goes to bed, another group goes to work.”

Words versus deeds

Amid months of tit-for-tat provocations – with Hezbollah poking its Israeli foe – it is an article of faith among the Lebanese Shiite fighters that war is coming.

Veteran fighters proudly tell the Monitor about their many expectations for any future conflict – including “surprises” such as the destruction of Israeli airports, the neutralizing of Israel’s air superiority, and even a ground advance to seize territory.

But Hezbollah’s moves to repeatedly prevent escalation, analysts say, indicate little appetite now for all-out war among the leadership – or in Iran.

“Your ardent Hezbollah guy would argue that fighting Israel is more important than worrying about your neighbor’s house being blown up in another war,” says Nicholas Blanford, a Lebanon-based senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank.

“But pragmatically, the Hezbollah leadership knows that if they are seen as responsible for starting a war that is going to turn Lebanon into a car park, there is going to be a huge backlash against them, not just from Christians and Sunnis and Druze, but from their own [Shiite] constituency,” says Mr. Blanford, author of the book “Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah’s Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel.”

“They are pushing the envelope more now, but they are very much keeping it within limits. At the end of the day, Hezbollah does not have leeway to go and start a war with Israel; that’s the choice of Iran,” says Mr. Blanford.

“The Iranians are not going to be happy if Hezbollah triggers a massive war with Israel” over a minor border dispute, “because the Iranians invested all this time, effort, weaponry, and money in Hezbollah to serve as a deterrent for its own interests,” including its nuclear program.

Indeed, Iran would appear to have little immediate interest in a Hezbollah-Israel battle: A U.S.-Iran deal is reportedly in the works to free five Iranian American dual nationals held in Iran, in exchange for unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds. Iran is also beginning to reconcile with U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia, after years of severed ties.

And Iran’s own domestic scene has been troubled in the past year by months of anti-regime protests, an economy damaged by U.S.-led sanctions and by mismanagement, and questions about the succession to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Renewed focus on Israel

Still, Hezbollah is battle-hardened and turning its attention again to Israel, after fighting successfully for nearly a decade in Syria – alongside Iran and Russia – to preserve the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Morale has notably improved since the hardest days of the Syrian entanglement, when the flow of Iranian money was tight and some fighters questioned a mission not targeted at Israel.

When Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah last month that Israel would return Lebanon to the “Stone Age” in any new conflict, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah replied within days, highlighting Israel’s internal turmoil and boasting that “all available evidence” indicated that Israel, too, would be “returned” to the Stone Age.

“We definitely have no problem with what is happening in Israel; we are watching very closely,” says a ranking Hezbollah officer reached in a tiny village in southern Lebanon, who gave the name Ahmad. Wearing a blue polo shirt and with the sunburned arms of a farmer, Ahmad laughs when asked to compare Hezbollah’s readiness now to 2006.

“Today the game has changed. The Israelis can’t come here to this village and not pay a price,” says Ahmad. “Don’t misunderstand me. The Israelis are a military superpower; they have air superiority. We understand that real well. We know that the Israelis have 2,000 targets already in their pocket, if things happen. But we have 2,500 targets in Israel.”

He says Hezbollah will certainly “fight these people [Israel] again, and fight to the end,” but only on the orders of Mr. Nasrallah, the leader to whom, Ahmad says, he and all his family give “blind loyalty ... to the last breath.”

“We are not trying to scare anybody; we’re just telling the facts of what will happen ... if this war is renewed,” says Ahmad. “In 2006, we used to launch missiles that put holes in walls. This time, if they hit one building in Dahiya [Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold], we will hit two buildings in Tel Aviv.”

Preventing escalation

Such tough talk belies moves by both sides to swiftly stop the kind of escalation that could lead to war.

“One reason we surmise that neither party actually wants a large-scale conflict is that both Hezbollah and Israel have made clear efforts, in response to previous provocations, to contain the spiral and try to avoid things getting out of control,” says David Wood, the Lebanon analyst in Beirut for the International Crisis Group.

Hezbollah’s moves “are all pretty meaningless stuff, but they are designed to anger the Israelis, which is working,” says Mr. Blanford of the Atlantic Council. He notes that a barrage of 34 rockets fired into Israel last April was “amateurish by design,” with little real impact that would “make a big noise, but ... limit the potential for damage in Israel that could result in an escalation.”

Hassan, the missile specialist, dismisses chances of the Shiite militia taking advantage of the political turmoil in Israel to attack now.

“Hezbollah is waiting for Israel to get weaker and weaker,” he says. “If we attack them now, it makes them strong, because it will unify them.”

A new museum’s message

Similar confidence is on display at a Hezbollah museum that opened last week in the hills above Baalbek, an ancient Phoenician and Roman city in the Bekaa Valley. The museum is built on a site where Israeli commandos landed by helicopter for a brief mission in 2006 and took selfies.

Outside is an array of captured Israeli equipment, including tanks, as well as Hezbollah’s own camouflaged fast-attack boats, drones, and three SA-6 surface-to-air missiles.

Hezbollah and Lebanese flags whip in the wind, and the hot summer air is rich with the scent of freshly laid and watered turf. Visiting families place small children on tanks for photos; one father shows his daughter how to operate a heavy machine gun.

“What you are looking at here is all hardware of Israelis that we captured, and made a playground for our children,” says a uniformed, bearded Hezbollah officer at the site, who gave the name Jibril. “What is here is a fraction of the capability we have now – that is the message.”

Related stories
Is an Israel in crisis weaker? Tensions rise on Lebanon border.

As Lebanese seek ‘accountability,’ Beirut battle serves as a warning

Why power-broker Hezbollah is still rocked by Beirut blast

Inside Hezbollah: How Lebanon protests are breaking ‘fear barrier’

DRUZE REVOLT
Syrians tear down poster of Assad in Sweida as protests swell
Reuters
Fri, September 8, 2023 

People take part in a protest in Sweida

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Demonstrators in the southern Syrian city of Sweida tore down a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday as anti-government protests that began three weeks ago swelled with crowds coming in from surrounding villages.

In footage posted on activist pages, a group of men could be seen ripping a banner portraying Assad's face that was hanging above the local branch of the Farmers' Union.

They then proceeded to weld shut the doors of the offices.

Criticism of Assad has been growing in Sweida since demonstrations began in mid-August over the removal of fuel subsidies, the latest in a string of measures that have put a strain on people suffering from an economic meltdown.

Sweida is capital of a province of the same name that is home to most of Syria's minority Druze sect. The city remained in government hands throughout the civil war and was largely spared the violence seen elsewhere.

Open criticism of the government has been rare in government-controlled areas of the country, but the economic situation has prompted public discontent that is increasingly directed at Assad.

In Sweida city, hundreds gathered in Karama Square on Friday as the protests, carrying the multi-coloured Druze flag.

"We raised our voices and Assad ran in fear!" the crowds chanted. "Hey Bashar, we don't want you!"

Earlier this week, demonstrators tore down a portrait of Bashar's father, former President Hafez al-Assad, that had been hanging on a government building and smashed a bust of his head, slapping it with their shoes.

Residents of other government-held parts of Syria - where restrictions are tighter - have made more discrete gestures of protest to avoid detection by government forces.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Exclusive-Kurdish-led Syria force vows to meet tribal demands after clash

Thu, September 7, 2023 

The head of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, speaks during an interview on Zoom with Reuters

By Maya Gebeily

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pledged to meet Arab tribal demands in eastern Syria and fix "mistakes" he said had been made in administering the region, seeking to defuse tensions that fuelled days of deadly fighting.

Scores of people have been killed since Arab tribal fighters revolted against the SDF in Deir al-Zor last week, the first such uprising since the Kurdish-led force drove Islamic State from the region more than four years ago with U.S. support.

Widely seen to reflect simmering Arab grievances, the revolt has prompted U.S. efforts to de-escalate, with the potential for Islamic State or President Bashar al-Assad to take advantage of any sustained conflict.

In an interview with Reuters, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said he had met tribal leaders and would honour their request to release dozens of local fighters who had revolted and been detained as the SDF quelled the unrest.

"We have a decision to issue a general amnesty for those involved," he said. "We already released half that were arrested, and we will release the rest," Abdi said in a video-call from northeast Syria.

Abdi promised to host a wide-ranging meeting with Arab tribal notables and other representatives from Deir al-Zor to address longstanding grievances, from education and the economy to security.

Arab residents have complained about the Kurdish-led administration, saying it discriminates against them and does not give them their share of the region's oil wealth.

Asked about how he was planning to address grievances, Abdi broadly acknowledged "flaws" in how inclusive local councils were of various tribes.

"There are gaps, and there were mistakes on the ground," he said.

'OPEN' TO CRITICISM

Spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG and including Arab fighters, the SDF has been a major partner for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. It holds a quarter of Syria including oil fields and areas where some 900 U.S. troops are deployed.

Abdi pledged to restructure both the civilian council governing the province and the Deir al-Zor Military Council, an Arab detachment of the SDF, to make them more "representative of all the tribes and components in Deir al-Zor".

The fighting erupted after the SDF arrested the council's head, known as Abu Khawla, on charges of corruption and other violations. His tribal allies rose up in response.

The coalition called for an end to the violence, saying distractions from the fight against Islamic State increased the risk of its resurgence, and senior U.S. officials visited the area on Sunday.

Abdi said the SDF would not withdraw from the area.

"We are open to all criticisms, we will study them all and we will overcome them... and the result will be the return of SDF with all its components in an even stronger way," he said.

He also accused the Syrian government of a role in fomenting the trouble, saying his forces had arrested fighters linked to Damascus who had joined up with the tribal rebels, and that they would not be released through the general amnesty.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Tom Perry and Nick Macfie)

Britain’s second-largest city effectively declares itself bankrupt amid $950 million equal pay claims

Rob Picheta and Catherine Nicholls, CNN
Wed, September 6, 2023

Darren Staples/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Britain’s second-biggest city effectively declared itself bankrupt on Tuesday, shutting down all nonessential spending after being issued with equal pay claims totaling up to £760 million ($954 million).

Birmingham City Council, which provides services for more than one million people, filed a Section 114 notice on Tuesday, halting all spending except on essential services.

The deficit arose due to difficulties paying between £650 million (around $816 million) and £760 million (around $954 million) in equal pay claims, the notice report says.

The city now expects to have a deficit of £87 million ($109 million) for the 2023-24 financial year.

Sharon Thompson, deputy leader of the council, told councillors on Tuesday it faces “longstanding issues, including the council’s historic equal pay liability concerns,” according to the United Kingdom’s PA Media news agency.

Thompson also blamed in part the UK’s ruling Conservative Party, saying Birmingham “had £1 billion of funding taken away by successive Conservative governments.”

“Local government is facing a perfect storm,” she said. “Like councils across the country, it is clear that this council faces unprecedented financial challenges, from huge increases in adult social care demand and dramatic reductions in business rates incomes, to the impact of rampant inflation.”

“Whilst the council is facing significant challenges, the city is very much still open for business and we’re welcoming people as they come along,” she added.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Tuesday: “Clearly it’s for locally elected councils to manage their own budgets.” The spokesperson added that the government has been “engaging regularly with them to that end and has expressed concern about their governance arrangements and has requested assurances from the leader of the council about the best use of taxpayers’ money.”

The council’s leader John Cotton elsewhere told the BBC that a new jobs model would be brought into the council to tackle the equal pay claims bill.

The multicultural city is the largest in central England. It hosted last year’s Commonwealth Games, a major sporting event for Commonwealth countries, and is scheduled to hold the 2026 European Athletics Championships.

Police beat, arrest opposition supporters in Ethiopia's Tigray

AFP
Thu, September 7, 2023 

Tigray is emerging from a two-year war that pitched Ethiopia's federal armed forces against the region's TPLF party (Aude GENET)

Police in Ethiopia's war-scarred region of Tigray arrested and baton-charged opposition leaders and supporters ahead of planned demonstrations on Thursday, a protest organiser and a local journalist said.

A coalition of three opposition parties had called for demonstrations against the region's interim administration led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades until 2018.

Hailu Kebede, a senior official in the Salsay Weyane Tigray (SaWeT) party, told AFP that security forces had "dispersed the demo with... beatings and arrests."

He said police had taken at least 26 people into custody since Wednesday, including Hayalu Godefay, the head of SaWeT, and Dejen Mezgebe, the president of the Tigray Independence Party (TIP).

The two men had been detained for a day on Tuesday as they urged people to come out in protest against "the incompetence" and "autocratic character" of the TPLF.

A local journalist told AFP on condition of anonymity that security forces had "totally cordoned off" Romanat Square, the location of Thursday's planned rally in Tigray's capital Mekele.

"I saw them beating demonstrators who were attempting to enter the square," he said, corroborating Hailu's account of the arrests.

"All roads leading to Mekele have been closed and people are unable to move. The businesses in central Mekele have also remained closed and the streets are empty," he added.

The political challenge to the TPLF comes as the region emerges from a bloody two-year war between the party and Ethiopia's federal government.

In November 2022, the TPLF and the federal government signed a peace deal that brought the curtain down on a conflict that inflicted a huge toll in lives and damage.

Authorities in Mekele had refused to authorise the demonstrations, citing the lack of available police officers in the run-up to the Ethiopian New Year on Tuesday.

But the opposition has insisted that it does not need authorisation to hold a peaceful demonstration.

Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray's interim government, told state media on Wednesday that opposition parties could not decide "the time...and place" of protests.

"We didn't say the rally shouldn't happen, we said the circumstances are not met (for) the rally to happen tomorrow," he said, citing security fears.

Tigray suffered from dire shortages of essential supplies during the conflict.

Since the peace deal, some basic services have resumed to the region, but media access remains restricted and it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground.

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Ethiopia’s Amhara people are being portrayed as the enemy: the dangerous history of ethnic politics

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Senior Lecturer, Curtin University
Thu, September 7, 2023

THE CONVERSATION 

The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency on 4 August 2023 and sent the military into the Amhara region to engage the Fano, a local armed militia. Some suggested that Ethiopia risked slipping into another civil war.

It is only 10 months since the end of a civil war in which around 600,000 Ethiopians were killed, making it the deadliest war of the 21st century.

The conflict was mainly between the federal government, led by the Oromo-dominated Prosperity Party, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party it succeeded in 2018. When the TPLF entered the Amhara region, committing atrocities against civilians and taking over towns, the Fano worked with government forces to maintain local stability. With their support, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was able to push the TPLF back to Tigray.

During and after the war, massacres and mass displacement of Amhara occurred in the Oromia region, the Benshangul Gumuz region and other regions of Ethiopia. There were numerous reports of rapes, arbitrary arrests, abductions, forced evictions and people being burned alive.

One independent account reported that Orthodox Christians, seen as synonymous with Amhara, were chopped with machetes, stabbed with spears, cut down with scythes, beaten with bats and stoned to death.

A peace agreement between the TPLF and the government in November 2022 brought relative calm to Tigray and other regions. But the Amhara were left out of the agreement and continue to be targeted even by government forces.

This is the context in which Amhara’s Fano militia rejected the federal government order to surrender their weapons and be integrated into the police and federal army.

The government response was to bombard Amhara towns with drones and heavy artillery. There have also been mass arrests and detentions of Amhara leaders.

I am a scholar of history, human rights and decolonisation in Africa with a keen interest in Ethiopia. The rhetoric that presents the Amhara people as a national enemy has gone on, unchallenged, for almost 50 years. What has changed now is that the rhetoric has shifted towards widespread, government-sanctioned violence.

Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Following widespread attacks on Amharas in 2021, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission warned of “the risk of atrocity crimes, including genocide”. In February 2023, a US-based charity focused on genocide prevention reported that “all Oromia armed forces are conducting what appears to be a systematic policy of erasing the Amhara presence” in two administrative zones.

It is important to shine a light on what is happening and unpack the decades-long project of ethnic politics that has allowed the Amhara to be targeted.
The history of ethnic politics in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a long history of ethnic harmony. Historically, Ethiopian rulers came from different regions and were often of mixed lineage. For instance, King Menelik II (1844-1913) came from Amhara and Oromo ancestry. King Yohannes IV (1837-1889) was from Tigray. The Oromo king Mikael (1850-1918) ruled over the Amhara region of Wollo. His son, King Eyasu, inherited Menelik’s throne.

The last monarch, Emperor Haile Selassie, had Amhara and Oromo parents, as does Abiy himself. Until recently, mixing among ethnic groups wasn’t considered controversial. Indeed, it was Ethiopia’s ability to unite across ethnic, linguistic and religious boundaries that defeated Italy’s attempt at colonisation at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.

When the fascist Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini invaded and occupied Ethiopia from 1935 to 1942 dividing the country along ethnic lines took centre stage. It was carried out along plans devised earlier by the Austrian Nazi Roman Prochazka to portray the Amhara as the enemy of all other ethnic groups.

After the expulsion of Italy, Haile Selassie sent Ethiopians from diverse ethnic groups overseas for higher education. During the 1960s decade of revolutions, students formed the Ethiopian Student Movement to remove the monarchy. Two ideological positions of nation building emerged:

The first viewed the monarchy as a class-based feudal system that should be destroyed. It saw ethnic politics as a hindrance to achieving a socialist republic.

The second adopted the Stalinist approach that defined cultural and linguistic groups within a country as nations. They saw the monarchy as an ethnic-based, colonial power.

Members from the first group created an alliance with the Derg, a committee of military officers, which overthrew Haile Selassie in 1974 but refused to create a civilian government. It ruled through dictatorship, destroying the monarchy and anyone who opposed its power.

The student groups who viewed the monarchy as an ethnic-based colonial power formed the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The two combined, organised other ethnic allies, and removed the Derg from power in 1991. The TPLF led a transitional government which approved the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia and the adoption of the current constitution.

This set the stage for 27 years of autocratic rule in which the Amhara were cast as the oppressor of all ethnic groups and the TPLF placed itself at the centre of the liberation of all Ethiopians.

The Amhara as national enemy

Ethiopia’s 80-plus ethnolinguistic communities were framed as sovereign “nations” under the 1995 constitution ostensibly to rectify “historically unjust relationships”.

Although the Ethiopian monarchy was established in Tigray and many Tigrayan (and, indeed, Oromo, Amhara and mixed) emperors ruled the country, the TPLF singled out the Amhara as the monarchical oppressor of all ethnic nations. This was partly convenient because Ethiopian emperors, regardless of ethnic origin, used Amharic as the language of their court.

Ethnic politics was enshrined in law. Once the TPLF came to power, all citizens were required to have ID cards stating their ethnicity. Individuals from mixed backgrounds must choose an ethnic identity. Regional states created their own constitutions, borders, flags and anthems. As Ethiopian historian Yohannes Gedamu notes, many constitutions state that “the ownership of the region” is based on ethnicity, resulting in cases where
the Amharas in various regional states are now considered settlers in their own country.

The Amharic speaking people of the Amhara region and beyond have lived in Ethiopia for thousands of years, as evidenced by the millions of manuscripts written in their ancient language of Ge’ez, which is the basis of Amharic and Tigrinya. Their almost millennium-old rock churches, imbued with Ethiopian Orthodox architecture and artwork, speak to the Amhara’s ongoing connection to the land.

Labelling an indigenous group of people as “settlers” allows those perpetrating violence to co-opt the language of decolonisation to justify murder. The Amhara are labelled as neftegna, which means a monarchical soldier, despite the monarchy being an institution led by kings from mixed ethnic groups.

Even if one believes that the Amhara were monarchical oppressors, the monarchy was destroyed almost 50 years ago and the Amhara have been excluded from power ever since. The thesis that they are oppressors does not correlate with reality.
Heading towards genocide

The federal government has strengthened its ties to its former enemy, the TPLF. The defence minister, Abraham Belay, announced that the Ethiopian army would dismantle the Amhara administration in Wolkaite, a contested region between Tigray and Amhara.

In August 2023, Oromia state government representatives travelled to Tigray to declare war:

The war we just started [on the Amhara] is a major war. Right now, this group we are fighting wants to impose one religion, one country, and one language by force on all of us. We have reached the moment that Tigrayans and Oromos must join forces, along other Ethiopians, to defeat this force so that Ethiopia can prosper.

In fact, Amhara has no power to do that.

Ethiopia can draw a lesson from Rwanda. Similar demonisation of the Tutsi by Hutu genocide agitators led to genocide 30 years ago in which 800,000 Tutsis and Tutsi sympathisers were killed. The Tutsi were described as foreigners who had links with long-dead Belgian colonialism. ID cards listing ethnicity were used to identify the victims.

Since the demonisation of the Amhara has been built into constitutions, government policy and dehumanising nation-building rhetoric, it has filtered down to people who previously lived together in harmony.

This is the consequence of ethnic politics in Ethiopia. Without more attention and action from the media and global actors, Ethiopia could be heading towards a Rwandan-style genocide.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts

It was written by: Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Curtin University.

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African leaders call for new global taxes to fund climate change action

Duncan Miriri
Updated Wed, September 6, 2023 

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) -African leaders on Wednesday proposed new global taxes and reforms to international financial institutions to help fund climate change action in a declaration that will form the basis of their negotiating position at November's COP28 summit.

The Nairobi Declaration capped the three-day Africa Climate Summit in Kenya, which was dominated by discussions of how to mobilise financing to adapt to increasingly extreme weather, conserve natural resources and develop renewable energy.

Despite suffering from some of the worst impacts of climate change, Africa only receives about 12% of the nearly $300 billion in annual financing it needs to cope, according to researchers.

While organisers emphasised market-based solutions such as carbon credits in the lead-up to the summit, the final declaration was heaviest on demands that major polluters and global financial institutions commit more resources to help poorer nations and make it easier for them to borrow at affordable rates.

It urged world leaders "to rally behind the proposal for a global carbon taxation regime including a carbon tax on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport and aviation, that may also be augmented by a global financial transaction tax".

It said implementing such measures at a global level would ensure large-scale financing for climate-related investments and insulate the issue of tax raises from geopolitical and domestic political pressures.

About two dozen countries impose taxes on carbon, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the idea of a global carbon tax regime has never gained much traction.

On Tuesday, Kenyan President William Ruto cited proposals in the European Union for a financial transaction tax (FTT) as a potential model.

After the European Commission proposed an FTT in 2011, some conservation groups said the money should finance environmental priorities.

The commission's proposal never won the unanimous approval required from the European Council to become law, although some member states have enacted their own FTTs.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM

African countries will take the proposals in the Nairobi Declaration to a U.N. climate conference later this month and the COP28 summit which begins in the United Arab Emirates in late November.

Joab Bwire Okanda, a senior advisor at the Christian Aid charity, said the call for a global carbon tax was welcome but that "to make polluters really pay, false solutions like carbon credits that allow polluters a free ride without taking meaningful action need to be consigned to the dustbin".

Some activists say the credits, which allow polluters to offset emissions by funding green activities, are a pretext for big polluters to keep emitting carbon dioxide.

Ruto said governments, development banks, private investors and philanthropists committed a combined $23 billion in all to green projects over the three days, including hundreds of millions to a major carbon markets initiative.

But African leaders acknowledged that those kinds of investments only scratch the surface of the continent's financial needs and said more systemic changes were needed.

For example, African countries say they are forced to pay borrowing costs that are five to eight times higher than wealthy countries, leading to recurrent debt crises and preventing them from spending more to respond to climate change.

The declaration called on multilateral development banks to increase concessional lending to poorer countries and for the "better deployment" of the IMF's special drawing rights mechanism.

Other proposals included measures to help indebted countries avoid default such as instruments that can grant 10-year grace periods and extend sovereign debt tenor.

Some analysts said the summit had not focused enough on how to help Africans adapt to extreme weather.

"Many communities bearing the brunt of increasing floods and droughts, while also at risk of conflict, are disappointed that there wasn’t more emphasis on ensuring that green investments trickle down to them," said Nazanine Moshiri, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank.

(Additional reporting by Susanna Twidale in London; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Alison Williams and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

World losing race to meet climate goals, COP28 president says

Duncan Miriri
Updated Tue, September 5, 2023 

Kenya  hosts first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi


By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) -The world is losing the race to meet its climate change goals, the president of the upcoming COP28 summit said on Tuesday, as African leaders called for changes to what they say is an unfair international climate finance system.

The grim assessment by Sultan Al Jaber, who will preside over the summit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in late November, came three days before the United Nations publishes its first "global stocktake", an assessment of how nations are doing in their efforts to tackle climate change.

"We are not delivering the results that we need in the time that we need them," Jaber, who also heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, told delegates at the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

The summit, which opened on Monday, is focused on mobilising financing for Africa's response to climate change.

While Africa is suffering from some of the most severe impacts of climate change, the continent only receives about 12% of the financing it needs to cope, according to researchers

Hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in sustainable development projects were announced on Monday, and on Tuesday Jaber announced the UAE was pledging $4.5 billion dollars to develop 15 GW of clean power in Africa by 2030.

Africa currently has about 60 GW of installed renewables capacity.

Germany also announced 450 million euros ($482.31 million) in financing, including 60 million for a green hydrogen project in Kenya, and the United States committed $30 million to supporting climate resilience and food security efforts.

African officials say the investments are welcome but that meeting the continent's financing needs will require a transformation of the global climate financing architecture, particularly given governments' high debt loads.

Specifically, African states plan to push at the COP28 for the expansion of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $500 billion worth of climate finance, which could be leveraged up to five times.

Kenyan President William Ruto said that special drawing rights should be made available to the countries that need them most, which he said has not previously been the case.

CARBON TAX

Complaining that African countries pay five times as much in interest as other borrowers, he called on multilateral finance institutions to increase concessional lending and for a "conversation" about a carbon tax to finance development.

"Those who produce the garbage refuse to pay their bills," Ruto said, striking a different tone from Monday when he said the summit was not to "catalogue grievances and list problems".

Joseph Ng'ang'a, who was appointed by Ruto to lead the summit's secretariat, said the proposal was a carbon tax that could be collected from fuel suppliers, relieving governments of the domestic political pressure against taxing fossil fuel consumption.

"If the carbon tax is at source... every barrel that comes out of the ground has a tax on it," he said. "And because fossil fuels are sold on a global market, you can track it, then it is an even cost globally."

The president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, called for the continent's natural wealth, notably its forests which sequester carbon, to be accounted for when calculating its economic output. He said this would make it easier for African countries to access debt financing.

A loss and damage fund was agreed at last year's COP27 to help poor countries battered by climate disasters, but Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28's director general, said negotiations over how to implement it were not going fast enough.

"We have been calling on countries to make early commitments because it is not enough to operationalise the fund, it needs to be capitalised," he told Reuters.

($1 = 0.9330 euros)

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Christina Fincher and Hereward Holland)