Italy moving towards taking over troubled steel mill

By

 AFP

Following months of unsuccessful talks, the Italian government was set Monday to launch a temporary state takeover of a troubled steel mill that that is majority-owned by steel giant ArcelorMittal.

The former Ilva steel plant in the southern city of Taranto, in which the state has a minority stake, is on the edge of bankruptcy, with over three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in debt and unable to pay most of its suppliers, nor settle its gas and electricity bills.

The state investment agency Invitalia on Sunday called upon the government to begin takeover procedures after ArcelorMittal refused to inject fresh funds.

ArcelorMittal responded that it was “surprised and disappointed” to learn from Italian media that Invitalia had called for the state to put the Taranto mill into extraordinary administration, as it had not mentioned doing so during an emergency board meeting Sunday. 

“This is an egregious breach of the Investment Agreement” it said in a mail to Invitalia, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

ArcelorMittal said it had participated in good faith discussions to support the mill or to arrange for its orderly exit from ownership, and “we reject your attempt to blame us for their unsatisfactory outcome and to absolve yourselves and the Italian government for the failure of our public-private partnership.”

ArcelorMittal owns a 62 percent stake in the Taranto steel mill and the Italian state the remaining 38 percent.

The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and ArcelorMittal have been trading accusations for weeks over not honouring their obligations and being responsible for a breakdown in talks.

Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso apparently favours taking control of the Taranto mill.

From the moment that ArcelorMittal “doesn’t have the intention to invest in the company, I believe that the country is justified in reappropriating the fruit of its labour and the sacrifices of entire generations”, he said Sunday.

Industry trade unions have been invited to a Monday evening meeting during which the government was expected to announce its decision about the mill’s fate.

The government wants to ensure the mill, which it considers to be strategic for the country, continues to operate and safeguard the mill’s 10,700 employees.

Under the terms of “extraordinary administration”, the government can appoint administrators to operate and prepare restructuring plans while a new investor is sought.

Among the potential investors cited in Italian media is Ukraine’s Metinvest, which has been hunting for new production facilities since Russian forces seized the Azovstal mill in Mariupol in May 2022.

Also reportedly interested are Italian steel firm Arvedi and Vulcan Green Steel, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power, which bid unsuccessfully for the Taranto mill in 2017.

ArcelorMittal acquired the Taranto mill in 2018 after the Italian government put it under extraordinary administration in 2015 following financial and legal problems.

Creditors, also invited to Monday’s meeting, have bad memories of the mill’s previous spell in administration, with over 150 million euros in debts left unpaid according to their estimates.

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland vote for strike action over pay

A 24-hour walkout is planned at hospitals across Northern Ireland from March 6-7.

JUNIOR DOCTORS HAVE VOTED TO TAKE PART IN STRIKE ACTION (LIAM MCBURNEY/PA)
PA WIRE
REBECCA BLACK

Junior doctors have voted to take part in strike action over pay.

They will take part in a 24-hour walkout at hospitals across Northern Ireland from 8am on March 6 to 8am on March 7.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said 97.6% of those balloted voted yes.

Dr Fiona Griffin, chairwoman of BMA’s Northern Ireland junior doctors committee, said the result shows it is clear that junior doctors feel they have no other option but to strike.

“We have had 16 years of pay erosion which now amounts to over 30% loss of pay, yet in this time our workload and burnout levels have risen,” she said.



“Coupled with rising inflation this is a huge financial loss for anyone in any profession, but it is causing an acute workforce crisis among junior doctors, as many are thinking about leaving Northern Ireland to work elsewhere for better pay and working conditions, where the complex and skilled work we undertake is properly rewarded

“These are the consultants, GPs and specialty doctors of the future, medics that we are relying on to drive down our waiting lists.”

She said they had a recent pay meeting with the Department of Health, which she said left them feeling “extremely disappointed and disheartened”.

“We entered that meeting with the hope that good faith negotiations would commence on doctors’ pay asks.

“Instead we were presented with a fait accompli of a below-inflation 6% uplift, that will be awarded in the next financial year,” she said.

Junior doctors must be paid fairly for the work that we do and that means nothing less than an immediate, above-inflation pay award and a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels

DR FIONA GRIFFIN, BMA NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland junior doctors to strike over pay and conditions


Monday 19 February 2024

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland have voted in favour of taking strike action.

The doctors are to walk out of work for 24 hours from 8am on March 6.

They are calling for better pay inline with their counterparts in the rest of the UK.

Junior doctors working in Northern Ireland range from being newly qualified doctors earning less than £13 per-hour basic pay to experienced surgeons earning £30 per-hour basic pay.

The BMA said there was a 68.7% turnout for the ballot with 97.6% of those voting yes to a full 24-hour walkout.

It follows similar industrial action in other parts of the UK.

Dr Fiona Griffin, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland junior doctors committee, said the yes vote is “a clear indication of the strength of feeling among junior doctors about years of pay erosion”.

“It is clear from this result that junior doctors feel they have no other option but to strike. We owe it to ourselves, our patients and the future of the health service to act,” said Dr Griffin.

“We have had 16 years of pay erosion which now amounts to over 30% loss of pay, yet in this time our workload and burnout levels have risen. Coupled with rising inflation this is a huge financial loss for anyone in any profession, but it is causing an acute workforce crisis among junior doctors as many are thinking about leaving Northern Ireland to work elsewhere for better pay and working conditions, where the complex and skilled work we undertake is properly rewarded.

"These are the consultants, GPs and specialty doctors of the future, medics that we are relying on to drive down our waiting lists.”

Dr Griffin said a recent pay meeting between Department of Health officials left them feeling “extremely disappointed and disheartened”.

“We entered that meeting with the hope that good faith negotiations would commence on doctor’s pay asks. Instead we were presented with a fait accompli of a below inflation 6% uplift, that will be awarded in the next financial year. We were told any further discussions on pay had to be delayed until the ongoing Westminster pay negotiations with doctors in England had concluded, despite health and pay being devolved matters.

“All of this is simply unacceptable and is far from the spirit of meaningful engagement on pay. It further adds to the sense that the role doctors play in the health service is simply not valued.”

Dr Griffin called on the Health Minister and the Executive to fight for proper investment in the health service’s key asset – its staff.

“Junior doctors must be paid fairly for the work that we do and that means nothing less than an immediate, above inflation pay award and a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels,” she said.“The future of our profession and our health service depends on this issue being addressed urgently and we are willing to get around the negotiating table at any time to achieve this. I also call on all political representatives to show their support and join us on the picket lines on 6 March.”

UTV has asked the Health Department for a statement.

KNESSET

Vote to expel far-left Israeli lawmaker narrowly fails

BY ELIYAHU FREEDMAN FEBRUARY 19, 2024 

Ofer Cassif, pictured in 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — An effort to expel a far-left Israeli lawmaker from Israel’s Knesset narrowly failed, the first time the parliament voted on a measure to expel one of its own members.

The vote on Monday to expel Ofer Cassif, the only Jewish member of the majority Arab-Israeli Hadash-Taal party, fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary for expulsion, garnering 85 of the 90 votes needed in the 120-seat Knesset.

Cassif faced expulsion after he publicly supported South Africa’s charge in the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has roundly rejected the accusation.

“The voice against the war, the voice against the carnage of innocent civilians, the voice for the immediate release of the hostages, the voice for peace and justice will not be silenced – My voice will not be silenced!” Cassif wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the vote. “My colleagues and I, democratic Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, will keep our struggle alive and loud – for the end of the brutal occupation and war, and for the wellbeing and prosperity of both peoples in their independent sovereign states.

Moments after celebrating the result of the vote, Cassif remained in his seat for the next item on the Knesset’s agenda.

Cassif was previously suspended for 45 days beginning in mid-October for comparing Israel’s war effort to the Holocaust.

Eleven lawmakers voted against expulsion, and 24 absented themselves, including leading centrist politicians Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, as well as significant portions of their respective parties, Yesh Atid and National Unity.

Leading the charge against Cassif was Oded Forer, a lawmaker from the right-wing Israel Beiteinu party, who argued that supporting South Africa’s case against Israel meant that Cassif stood on the side of Hamas.

“Ofer Cassif owes a huge thank you to Yair Lapid and Yesh Atid for avoiding expulsion by the skin of his teeth, after supporting the screwed-up struggle against the state of Israel,” Forer posted online following the vote. “I feel dismay on behalf of the soldiers of the IDF, who according to Cassif are war criminals who need to stand trial in international court. I will continue working to take out of Knesset whoever acts against the existence of the state of Israel.”

The vote marked the first time the Knesset had employed a law passed in 2016 allowing it to expel one of its members. Before Monday’s vote, a Knesset committee had approved the expulsion, and a petition in support of expelling Cassif had garnered the signatures of 70 lawmakers.

Before the vote, the Knesset’s legal adviser had suggested that Cassif’s actions likely did not meet the technical qualifications for expulsion. Had the expulsion passed Knesset, it would have likely been appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court.

PARENTS FOR PALESTINE – READ-IN OUTSIDE THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

A read-in of poetry and stories organised by Parents For Palestine

February 19, 2024

More than 200 parents and children took part in a ‘read-in outside the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday as part of a protest against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The event, organised by Parents For Palestine, was inspired by an action which first took place simultaneously in Gaza and the West Bank in 2014. Youth groups there organised ‘reading chains’ to learn about the history of Palestine and unify the segregated communities living under apartheid

.

Palestine 2014 (Source: Parents For Palestine)

On the day of the 17th Feb national march for Palestine, attracting up to quarter of a million people, parents and carers gathered together with children and sat in the road outside the Royal Albert Hall, sharing poems and readings about Palestine.

As the march, which began at Marble Arch, approached, they stood to one side, and some joined in while others carried on talking, sharing food and creating art with community craft group Birds of Gaza.

Parents For Palestine have carried out several actions since the war on Gaza began, and their mission is to provide a safe environment for children to learn and understand the history of Palestine, aware that young people pick up on the grief and anger of their carers and offering a path for them to understand why.

The Royal Albert Hall was chosen because it was on the route of the march and near the end point at the Israeli embassy, but also because the building has a long association with British colonial history. The Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the Nakba of 1948 was signed there, and was even celebrated there again on the 100th anniversary in 2017.

Parents For Palestine chose the space to hold a peaceful assembly, but it does not mean they are not angry, and it does not mean that they don’t see the UK’s complicity in the current genocide.

Norway to Transfer Tax Funds to Palestinian Authority

February 19, 2024 
By Associated Press

This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's press office (PPO) shows President Mahmud Abbas, center, chairing a meeting for the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah city in the Israel-occupied West Bank, Feb. 18, 2024.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK —

Norway says it will transfer tax funds to the Palestinian Authority that have been frozen for months because of a dispute with Israel.

Under interim peace agreements dating back to the early 1990s, Israel collects taxes and customs on behalf of the PA, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and also helps pay for public services in Gaza.

After Hamas' October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza, Israel reduced the transfers by the amount that is spent on the territory. The PA refused to accept the partial transfers, even though it relies on the taxes to cover most of its budget.

Under the agreement announced Sunday, Israel will transfer all the funds to Norway. The Scandinavian country will in turn transfer funds for the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority while holding those destined for Gaza.

"The temporary scheme will play a crucial role in preventing the Palestinian Authority from collapsing financially," it said in a statement Sunday. The transfer will allow the PA to pay salaries to teachers, health workers and other public employees.

"Ensuring that the Palestinian Authority does not collapse and can provide essential services to the population is vital to safeguarding the very existence of the Authority, promoting a political process and realizing a future two-state solution," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or the Palestinian Authority.

Israel has reduced the tax transfers in the past to protest the PA's payments to families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and those slain in the conflict, including militants who killed Israeli civilians.

Israel says such payments reward and incentivize violence, while the Palestinians view them as a source of social welfare for people harmed by the conflict.

The United States, Israel's top ally, is pushing for a postwar settlement in which a revitalized Palestinian Authority would govern the West Bank and Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. Netanyahu has rejected that idea, saying Israel must maintain open-ended security control over both territories.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 after a prolonged political crisis, driving forces loyal to the PA out in a week of street battles and confining the PA's authority to parts of the occupied West Bank.

Norway played a key role in brokering the 1993 Oslo Accords that launched the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But no serious or substantive peace talks have been held since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009, and his government is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Opinion
Muslims calling for peace in Gaza have been answered with rampant Islamophobia
The repercussions go far beyond the current conflict overseas.
Protesters gather during a pro-Palestine demonstration demanding a cease-fire on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

February 19, 2024
Wa'el Alzayat

(RNS) — In early February, two of America’s most prominent newspapers published bigoted op-eds about the Muslim community — one called a Michigan city “America’s Jihad Capital,” and the other compared the Middle East to the animal kingdom. Days later, a Palestinian American was stabbed by a man who attempted to remove a scarf reading “Free Palestine” and screamed a racial slur. 

More recently, actress and disability rights activist Selma Blair apologized after her comment on an Islamophobic Instagram video created backlash. “Deport all these terrorist supporting goons,” Blair had said Feb. 10. “Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroy minds … May they meet their fate.” 

These are just the latest in a mountain of attacks against Muslim and Arab Americans since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel. As we have seen before, crises in the Middle East are almost always weaponized to target our communities. The Muslim civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations recently reported more than 3,500 complaints during the last three months of 2023, a surge of 178% over the same period in 2022.

Policymakers from both sides of the aisle have ignored the pleas of Muslim Americans to help end this hatred, rejecting the efforts of Muslim Americans to push for peace in the Middle East. Some legislators have outright fueled bigotry. Rather than calling for peace and uplifting both the Jewish and Muslim communities, they’ve opted to pit them against each other. 

The repercussions will go far beyond the current conflict overseas. Every moment Islamophobia is allowed to fester, more danger is unleashed for Muslims, for marginalized communities and for the nation. 

The Biden White House promised to produce a comprehensive strategy to combat Islamophobia back in November, but the administration and most members of Congress have signaled that they will simultaneously keep up their support for Israel, even as it forces the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. This stance ignores polling showing Americans’ overwhelming support for a mutual cease-fire.

Indeed, the Senate just approved $14.1 billion to shore up Israel’s war, signaling to xenophobes that Muslim and Arab lives do not matter abroad, and therefore do not matter at home. 

Far from acknowledging the suffering of Palestinians or pushing for a comprehensive ceasefire, some in Washington have taken to linking those calling for a cease-fire to one of the United States’ most dangerous adversaries. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently suggested that pro-Palestinian protesters could have ties to Russia and should be investigated by the FBI. 

The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would explicitly bar any person who facilitated the Oct. 7 attack on Israel from entering the United States, overlooking the fact that all terrorists are already banned from the country. As U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib noted, this is “just another GOP messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe.” 

Absent a major change in policies and messaging, Islamophobia will continue to spread. Muslim Americans will experience more discrimination in the workplace, at school and elsewhere. There will likely be more violence against Muslims. 

But the effects will go far beyond Muslims. We’ve seen it time and time again: When our country gives a green light to discrimination, bigots feel empowered to attack all marginalized communities.

The wave of Islamophobia could also impact the 2024 election. Rewind to nearly a decade ago, when Donald Trump led a presidential campaign rife with bigotry. His inflammatory rhetoric empowered droves of far-right conservatives to create echo chambers for hatred. Bias became a powerful turnout machine. While in office, President Trump was able to write discrimination into policy, beginning with the infamous ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. 

Today, a similar landscape is emerging. Far-right lawmakers and influencers are seizing the opportunity to marginalize and demonize Muslims. Trump has already promised to reinstate the Muslim ban if re-elected. 

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers may face their worst nightmare. Beholden to a diverse coalition of voters, they can’t afford internal divisions that will suppress turnout. Many Muslim Americans have already signaled that they will not support President Biden in November, a blow to hopes that Muslim voters will help deliver crucial swing states. 

Islamophobia, in other words, does not operate in a vacuum. It creates repercussions far beyond the Muslim community. It’s time our leaders took action. 

(Wa’el Alzayat, a former Middle East policy expert at the U.S. Department of State, is CEO of Emgage Action, a nonprofit that advocates for just policies that strengthen America’s pluralistic democracy and protect human rights. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Nobel Laureate Yunus Says Outsiders Have Taken Over Grameen-Linked Non-Profits

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus (front row, center) speaks to journalists during a news conference at the Grameen Telecom Bhaban in Dhaka, Feb. 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Jibon Ahmed/BenarNews

 February 20, 2024  

By BenarNews

By Ahammad Foyez

Unknown people have forcefully taken over eight non-profit organizations founded by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate said Thursday, in what appears to be the latest form of harassment against the Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer who is reviled by his home government.

Supporters of Yunus, 83, said the move reflected a “shocking breakdown of the rule of law” in the South Asian country.

At a news conference in Dhaka on Thursday, Yunus said people appointed by Grameen Bank had taken over eight of the other non-profits he had started and locked others out of these offices that are housed inside the Grameen Telecom Bhaban building in Dhaka.

“We go through many kinds of disasters. I have never seen such a disaster,” Yunus told reporters. The press conference started about 30 minutes late because of protesters outside the building where it was taking place.

“[T]hose who stand behind me and by my side have worked all their lives to make this a success and for the welfare of the people of the country,” he said.

Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in providing small loans to help poor people – especially women – lift themselves out of poverty through the Grameen Bank, which he had also founded. But Yunus, who is popular among Western leaders for his work in the field of poverty alleviation, was removed from the bank’s board of directors in 2011, amid a slew of legal battles with the government of Sheikh Hasina that are ongoing today.

“Suddenly … days ago [Feb. 12] we saw outsiders coming and taking it by force. We became outsiders to them,” he said, referring to the eight offices. “They are trying to run it on their terms. I didn’t understand how it happened.”

He said that the outsiders introduced themselves as the newly appointed chairmen and directors of the Yunus’ companies, adding they had allowed employees to enter the building to do their jobs.

Earlier this week, Protect Yunus, a group of supporters of the embattled Nobel laureate, described the scene when two of the eight nonprofits were taken over by unknown people, including one person who “identified himself as Colonel Rashid.”

“The invaders refused to show any proper identity cards and forcibly entered the offices without any proper order issued by any authority that allowed them to enter the building or those offices,” Protect Yunus said in a blog post on Monday. 

“Later, they started looking at the ID cards of the officers and employees of Grameen Telecom and Grameen Kalyan, and they prevented the employees from leaving the office, even after the scheduled office hours, in what amounted to illegal confinement and imprisonment. The employees were understandably terrified.”

The strangers eventually ordered everyone to leave the offices and “secured the offices with their own locks,” said the blog post, which alleged that the “illegal invasion” represented “a shocking breakdown of the rule of law in Bangladesh.

Challenging Yunus’ comments, the group that entered the building claimed it had appointed chairmen and a specific number of members as required by law.

A statement issued Thursday and signed by its media cell chief, Anju Ara Begum, said, “Dr. Muhammad Yunus at a press conference made several misleading, untrue, illegal and intentional statements.

“The Grameen Bank Board of Directors held a meeting on Feb. 12 and appointed representatives on behalf of the bank to implement the decisions of the 155th board meeting.”

On Thursday, Yunus said he had contacted police.

“The police initially did not accept [our complaint]. Then they came once, but they didn’t see any problem,” he said.

Shah Ali Police Inspector Masudur Rahman said his boss, Moudut Hawlader, was in charge of the investigation but was currently on leave.

“This is a very sensitive matter. I am not willing to make any further comment,” Masudur told BenarNews on Thursday.

Yunus said his eight companies, including Grameen Telecom, Grameen Communications and Grameen Fund, are all profitable on their own. Ten other companies were not targeted.

“These institutions were not built with money from Grameen Bank,” he said.

Prison sentence

In early January, the Third Labor Court of Dhaka sentenced Yunus to six months in prison for violating labor laws, the first conviction for the microcredit pioneer who faces criminal and civil cases that his supporters say are politically motivated.

On Jan. 28, the High Court granted permanent bail for Yunus and three of his Grameen Telecom colleagues. On Feb. 5, it told Yunus and his co-defendants to not leave the country without informing the Labor Appellate Tribunal.

Also on Jan. 28, global leaders including former U.S. President Barack Obama and 126 other Nobel laureates posted a third open letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina calling for her to end “this travesty of justice” against Yunus.

The letter noted that Hasina had responded to a previous letter in August 2023 that the group should “‘send experts and lawyers to see if there is any injustice.’”

In accepting that invitation, the signees wrote, “We would like to propose a senior international lawyer to lead a small team of independent legal experts to conduct this review. We would like to begin immediately and request that any jail sentences for Professor Yunus and his colleagues be suspended pending the review.”

Badiul Alam Majumdar, a leader of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik, a civil society group headquartered in Dhaka, questioned the action of taking over Yunus’ companies.

“Professor Yunus is being harassed continuously, this incident is the latest evidence of it. It creates a negative perception for the country in the world,’ he told BenarNews.

“The government needs to be careful about this,” he said while calling for all actions to be open and transparent.

BenarNews  mission is to provide readers with accurate news and information that reflects the complex and ever-changing world around them. With homepages in Bengali, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and English, BenarNews brings timely news to its diverse audience. Copyright BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews

CSU faculty union approves contract with university that would raise salaries

Caroline Petrow-Cohen - Los Angeles Times (TNS)

After months of negotiations and an unprecedented systemwide strike, the Cal State faculty union overwhelmingly approved a new contract with the university that could raise salaries by 10% within the next six months and provide other benefits, including increased parental leave, the union announced Monday.

California Faculty Assn. President Charles Toombs said in a statement that 76% of voting members approved the agreement and hailed the vote as a sign of the union’s “solidarity, debate and courage to press CSU management for better faculty working and student learning conditions.”

The new contract with California State University includes a 5% raise for all faculty retroactive to July 2023 and another 5% raise that would take effect this July as long as the state does not cut base funding for the 23-campus system. It also includes 10 weeks of paid parental leave, a salary floor increase for the lowest-paid faculty and improved access to gender-inclusive bathrooms.

A brief statement released by the CSU Office of the Chancellor said the university “is pleased with the results” of the union’s vote and said the trustees are expected to give final approval at their March meeting.

A vocal contingent of rank and file members had campaigned against the proposal, claiming it fell short in addressing social justice issues and facilitating systemic change. The agreement was reached after one day of a planned five-day strike in late January that all but shut down classes in the nation’s largest four-year university system.

Some union members believed the union leadership accepted a tentative agreement hastily, contending that staying on strike longer would have increased their bargaining power to attain a better deal. The executive boards of four CSU union chapters issued official statements against the tentative agreement: Long Beach, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

But union leadership maintained that they struck the best deal possible and expressed confidence last week that the agreement would be ratified.

The agreement was struck during a tense period of so-called reopener bargaining — when certain terms of an existing contract can be negotiated before the contract’s expiration. The new terms the union just approved extend their current contract to June 2025.

The California Faculty Assn., which represents 29,000 faculty members, professors, lecturers, counselors, librarians and coaches, had originally demanded a 12% raise and a full semester of parental leave, among other benefits. Union leadership acknowledged tensions within the union in its Monday announcement sharing the results of the vote.

“We know that some members had strong concerns about the process and questions about the result,” said Sharon Elise, CFA associate vice president of Racial & Social Justice, South, and Cal State San Marcos professor, in a statement. “We will only be successful if we’re working together to continue building a CSU that empowers students and provides work environments that support faculty and staff.”

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Copyright 2024 Tribune Content Agency.

Wildlife presenter Iolo Williams has urged the Welsh government to listen over farming concerns

Not as 'sustainable' as it thinks

 by The Canary
19 February 2024
in News

TV wildlife presenter Iolo Williams has got involved with a campaign about Welsh government plans for farming under the Sustainable Farming Scheme. People are saying it ignores the impact on National Parks, and doesn’t go far enough in supporting farmers to protect the environment or mitigate the climate crisis.
Sustainable Farming Scheme: a new plan from the Welsh government

Nature in Wales is in crisis. For example, one is six species is at risk of disappearing from the country. Meanwhile, the Welsh government is currently consulting on a new Sustainable Farming Scheme to take the place of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

As Nation Cymru reported:

The Sustainable Farming Scheme will aim to secure food production systems, keep farmers farming the land, safeguard the environment, and address the urgent call of the climate and nature emergency.

The Welsh Government says it will support farmers to become more efficient and resilient, enabling them to respond to changing consumer demands and compete in a decarbonising global economy.

The proposals have been shaped by feedback received from farmers and the wider industry over three consultations and two phases of co-design.

Currently, the Welsh government is running a consultation on the Sustainable Farming Scheme. However, this comes to an end in less than a month on 7 March – and many people and groups are concerned the scheme doesn’t go far enough, and isn’t being implemented quickly enough.
Multiple concerns

For example, the Welsh government already kicked the plan further down the line – delaying its launch until 2025. As Nation Cymru reported, this then led to a bridging scheme farmers could apply to for financial support – but they were actually getting less money.

Also, organisations like the RSPB in Wales have raised concerns the Sustainable Farming Scheme doesn’t go far enough.

Now, the Welsh ornithologist Iolo Williams is urging people to have their say by taking part in an e-action organised by the Campaign for National Parks and members of the Alliance for Welsh Designated Landscapes.

Williams said:
With 80% of the land area of Wales given over to farming it’s imperative that the SFS is fit for purpose – for farmers, for people and for nature.

I can tell you that there are some positive things in the scheme for the environment, but there’s a lot more that doesn’t go far enough, or could even have a negative effect on our wildlife. The Welsh government must revise this scheme to address these issues, and this is where we can all play our part.
More work is still needed

Among the key points being made in the e-action are that:Agricultural payments should support and encourage farmers to take positive actions which help tackle the climate and nature crisis.
Only 25% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) wildlife sites in Wales’ National Parks are in favourable condition.
The Welsh Government has a legal duty to have regard for National Park Purposes like supporting wildlife in National Parks.

Organisers of the e-action propose that the Welsh government should include a ‘Sustainable Farming in Designated Landscapes’, programme which includes funding for multi-year projects and the support of project coordinators and farming advisors within each landscape.

In addition there is a need for more clarity on, and an earlier introduction of, the optional and collaborative layers. Such additional support could really unlock significant improvements ahead of 2030 to help meet the 30 x 30 deadline in the COP15 Convention on Biological Diversity.

Williams said with regard to the Sustainable Farming Scheme:

Everyone can take part. You can do so either by making an individual response via the Welsh Government’s website, or by using the e-action that has been set up by Campaign for National Parks and the Alliance of Welsh Designated Landscapes. You can find it by typing ‘Write to the Welsh Government: Tackle the nature emergency’ into a search engine like Google.

Sustainable Farming Scheme: must properly support farmers

The campaign is also being supported by Mike Raine, an outdoor leader who produces the popular Outdoor Lives podcast, which is available on Spotify and other podcast apps. He said:

Outdoor leaders make a good living from our National Parks. But we do very much care about protecting the amazing wildlife and landscapes they support.


The Welsh Government is consulting on the future of farming and I feel strongly that they should be supporting farmers who are doing the right things to support and enhance wildlife and nature. That’s why I’ve taken part by using an e-action set up by Campaign for National Parks. Why not go online and take part yourself?

The e-action also stresses the value of traditional field boundaries, saying that dry stone walls and hedgerows are hugely valuable for wildlife and the landscape, that farmers should be rewarded for retaining and maintaining them, and that they should therefore both count towards the minimum 10% habitat threshold.

Eben Muse from the British Mountaineering Council commented regarding the Sustainable Farming Scheme:

This is simply an opportunity that we can’t afford to miss. The BMC is proud to support this e-action to provide the support needed for farmers to manage our landscapes in a nature friendly way as well as providing food for our tables.

It’s important that recreational, environmental, and farming organisations stand by this principle together, and we urge anybody who loves their national parks to do the same and take part in this e-action.

You can join in the e-action here.

Featured image via Iolo Williams

The SAS blocked Afghan special forces who fought alongside them from seeking refuge in the UK amid fears of an attempted war crimes cover up

Hundreds who were eligible under Afghan Relocation scheme were left behind

By INDERDEEP BAINS DEPUTY CHIEF REPORTER

PUBLISHED:  19 February 2024 

The SAS blocked Afghans who fought alongside them from seeking refuge in the UK amid fears of an attempted war crimes cover up.

Leaked documents reveal soldiers had their applications for relocation rejected by the Special Forces despite having compelling evidence of serving with the British military.

Members of the Afghan Special Forces units CF 333 and ATF 444 – dubbed the Triples – fought alongside the SAS in some of the most dangerous campaigns of the conflict.

Some had reportedly complained about witnessing alleged war crimes committed by the UK elite regiment.

Hundreds who were eligible under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme have been left behind, with many being beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban.

Members of the Afghan Special Forces units CF 333 and ATF 444 – dubbed the Triples – fought alongside the SAS in some of the most dangerous campaigns of the conflict

 (File image)

Armed Forces minister James Heappey has announced a review of 2,000 applications after admitting the process behind some rejections was 'not robust'.

A leaked Standard Operating Procedures document shows that since at least 2023 all Triples applications which met a basic threshold were sent to Special Forces for approval or denial.

The papers, obtained by investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and shared with the BBC's Panorama, reveal that if the SAS rejected sponsorship, the application was automatically blocked.

Panorama has also seen leaked internal Ministry of Defence emails describing civil servants being unable to challenge these rejections.

It gave the regiment power over applications at a time when a public inquiry was investigating claims of SAS war crimes.

A former SAS officer told the BBC: 'At best it's not appropriate, at worst it looks like they're trying to cover their tracks.'

Leaked documents reveal soldiers had their applications for relocation rejected by the Special Forces (stock image)

If the Triples were in the UK they could be asked by the inquiry to provide potentially damning evidence.

Lawyers for Triples members said there appeared to be a recent 'blanket policy' of blocking applications.

The MoD said all final decision are made by Arap caseworkers and require ministerial approval.

The Mail's Betrayal of the Brave campaign fights for Afghans who risked their lives beside UK forces to be granted sanctuary in Britain.