It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Bank of England swerves strike as staff accept below inflation pay rise
Telegraph reporters Wed, 25 January 2023 general view of the front of the bank of england
Workers will receive a 3.5pc pay rise and a one-off 1pc salary boost this year in a deal agreed by the Unite union.
The lowest paid staff will receive the largest increases, in order to shield them better against the cost of living crisis, while senior staff will only see their pay packets increase by 1pc.
Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank, declined a pay rise, keeping his compensation at around £598,000.
The deal comes after Mr Bailey warned of the risk of a wage-price spiral which would fuel further inflation as companies are forced to raise prices further.
Last year, the governor called on workers to agree to "moderation" in their pay packages, although he admitted such moves would be "painful" for many.
The Unite union, which has 600 members at the Bank, has accepted the pay deal. It means Threadneedle Street will avoid risking a walkout by staff at a time when workers across the public and private sector have downed tools in protest against pay deals.
The pay offer, which will be worth 4.5pc to some of the bank's lowest paid staff, is still less than half the current rate of inflation. The consumer price index was around 10.5pc in December, well above the bank's 2pc target.
The deal with unions for a sub-inflation pay rise comes amid wider discontent among civil servants.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents 100,000 workers including Department of Work and Pensions staff, have called for strikes on February 1 unless ministers agree to a 10pc pay increase. Staff at HMRC are being balloted over possible strike action.
A Bank spokesman said: “We need to strike a balance between maintaining budgetary discipline with public funds, retaining critical skills, and addressing the cost of living pressures facing our staff. For next year, we have agreed a 3.5pc pay award budget targeted towards staff lower in their pay scales, and a one-year only non-pensionable benefits uplift worth 1pc.”
UK The women whose childcare costs are so high there's no point working
Alexa Phillips Wed, 25 January 2023 a Becky Lane, 36, Surrey - Heathcliff O'Malley
Becky Lane has always been passionate about her career. She set up her own events management company after her first child was born six years ago. When she had a second child, she found it too demanding to keep running her business and decided to look for a full-time job instead.
But Lane, 36, from Surrey, was shocked to find that her childcare costs would make it impossible for her to work without losing money.
She has been forced to turn down jobs because she would need at least £50,000 to cover her childcare and commuting expenses. After months of searching she has given up. “I want to work,” she says. “I feel so deflated. I have so much experience.”
Lane is among growing numbers of women who cannot afford to work because of soaring childcare costs.
Around 1.5 million women are not in work because they are looking after their family or home, compared with 240,000 men, according to the Office for National Statistics.
For many women, this was not by choice: 44pc of mothers who are not in work said they would rather be employed but are unable to find affordable, convenient and reliable childcare, according to an ONS survey published last year. A quarter (23pc) of mothers who work part-time said they would increase their hours if they could get childcare.
More than two-thirds (68pc) of parents have decided not to apply for a job or have had to turn down extra work because they cannot find affordable or flexible childcare, according to a survey by childcare app Bubble.
The cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two has risen from an average of £236 a week in 2018 to £274 in 2022 – a jump of 16pc. Over the course of a year, this amounts to an average of £14,248. In some areas, this can be even more expensive. For mothers with two children, the costs of childcare can easily outpace their earnings.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, describes the childcare system as “broken”. “The lack of available and affordable childcare, compounded by the growing number of provider closures, is pushing too many women out of the workplace,” she says.
Childcare could become a key battleground during the next election as Labour pledges to increase the number of state-run nurseries and provide more support for families. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, recently scrapped reforms tabled by his predecessor Liz Truss, which aimed to give families an extra 20 hours a week of free childcare.
Lauren Fabianski, of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, says a lack of affordable childcare is “failing mothers” and “pushing more and more families needlessly into poverty”.
Lane says nursery costs for her two-year-old son would have been £85 a day if she had taken a full-time job. Cheaper nurseries said they had no places and she could spend years on their waiting lists.
For her six-year-old daughter, she would have been paying £20 for an after-school club, £10 for care before school, and around £40 a day to cover school holidays. Commuting would have cost thousands more.
‘I never planned on being a stay-at-home mum’
Esmee Buckle and her daughter - Daniel Jones
For Esmee Buckle, the search for work after becoming a mother has been equally dispiriting.
She was made redundant during her maternity leave five years ago and stayed out of the workforce to have a second child.
Buckle, 28, wants to get back into work but cannot find a job that pays enough to cover the childcare costs for her four-year-old son, and daughter, one. “I never ever planned to be a stay-at-home mum,” she says.
Her previous role as an art consultant paid £1,375 a month, but she was told the nursery costs for her daughter would be £1,035 a month. On top of this, she would face extra costs for her son to receive full-time care.
Because he is four years old, he would receive 30 hours of free childcare, but this would not be enough to cover her full-time working hours.
Buckle, from Saffron Walden in Essex, says she has to send her son to nursery outside her local area because it’s cheaper, but this means that if she takes a job she has to factor in the extra expenses of travelling. She would also lose £350 in Universal Credit that she and her partner now receive.
Buckle says she now questions the value of her first-class degree in illustration, which cost her £42,000 in student loans but has not helped her get a job that pays enough to cover her childcare fees. “It’s really disheartening,” she says. “I worked really hard for my degree.”
She fears that having a huge gap on her CV will make it even harder for her to get a job once both her children are in school.
‘I’m financially stuck’
Kara Kendall and her son - Paul Grover
For women that do go back to work after maternity leave, the plunging take-home pay after paying for childcare is challenging.
Kara Kendall, 34, a private school teacher from Lingfield in Surrey, has two children aged one and four. She is left with £250 a month – but during some months this drops to zero. She earns £1,600 a month working four days a week and pays around £1,000 a month for childcare. The added costs of her car and petrol eat up another £350.
“If there is a five-week month or our holidays don’t align, I don’t make money,” she says. “If I am asked to do a parents’ meeting and have to get childcare, I don’t make money. I’m sick of being financially stuck.”
She loves her job, but seeing her take-home pay drop has made her question whether it is worth it. On the other hand, she wants her children to see her as a professional role model, and keeping her foot in the door is fundamental to maintaining her career as a teacher in the long run. “It’s an unspoken dilemma of motherhood,” she says.
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We are currently looking into options to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare – ensuring that any plans we bring forward focus on improving outcomes for children.
“To date, this government has doubled the offer for 3 and 4 year olds; introduced 15 hours free childcare a week for disadvantaged two year olds; and people on universal credit can claim back up to 85pc of their childcare costs.”
FIRST AMAZON STRIKE IN UK Wed, 25 January 2023
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry were striking over pay on Wednesday, the first time the e-commerce giant has faced industrial action in the UK.
The GMB union is calling on Amazon to pay its UK workers £15 an hour to bring their wages in line with their American counterparts, who earn $18 an hour.
Staff are unhappy with a pay increase of 50p pence per hour to £10.50, equivalent to a 5% rise and well below inflation. Amazon introduced the pay hike last summer. But warehouse workers say it fails to match the rising cost of living.
Stuart Richards, GMB senior organiser, said: “Today, Amazon workers in Coventry will make history.
“They’ve defied the odds to become the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.
“They’re taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living.
“They should be rightly proud of themselves.
“After six months of ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise.”
An Amazon spokesperson said: “A tiny proportion of our workforce are involved." Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Amazon employees are adding to the slew of worker walkouts across the UK in many industries as inflation eats away at take-home pay.
"In August, Amazon offered workers a measly 50p per hour pay increase. The two sides are in a stalemate with workers struggling with the cost of living crisis which is reaching boiling point, while Amazon has been trying to slim down its costs with little desire to increase them.
"While Amazon fared extremely well during the pandemic thanks to the e-commerce boom and surge in parcel deliveries, the return to physical stores post-COVID along with soaring inflation meant 2022 was a tough year for tech all round.
"Earlier this month CEO Andy Jassy said he was planning to axe around 18,000 jobs to weather the tough economic times, a move that has helped to instil confidence among investors, reflected by its shares which are up by more than 12% year-to-date in stark contrast to last year’s slide."
Amazon workers walk out in UK first for company’s staff in pay dispute
Alan Jones and Richard Vernalls, PA
Amazon workers staging their first ever strike in the UK in a dispute over pay want a “decent standard of living”, a union has said.
Members of the GMB at the company’s fulfilment centre in Coventry voted to walk out on Wednesday in protest at a pay rise the union said is worth 50p an hour.
Amazon has said it already offers “competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe and modern environment”.
GMB senior organiser Stuart Richards said: “Today, Amazon workers in Coventry will make history.
“They’ve defied the odds to become the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.
“They’re taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living.
“They should be rightly proud of themselves.
“After six months of ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise.”
Members of the GMB union on the picket line outside the Amazon fulfilment centre in Coventry (Jacob King/PA)
Amanda Gearing, also a GMB senior organiser, speaking from the picket line, said: “We’re here today because Amazon workers have said they’ve had enough.”
She said staff who worked through tough conditions during the pandemic are just “trying to get decent pay”.
“They (the centres) are pressure-cooker environments they work in, with the targets they’re expected to reach,” she added.
“They (Amazon) just wear them out, get rid of them, replace them.”
Ms Gearing added: “After all that, they have just offered a 50p pay increase in the biggest cost-of-living crisis that we’ve had in decades.
“I think, when the workers have got nothing to lose, you see them coming out fighting.”
Members of the GMB are striking in protest at a pay rise the union said is worth 50p an hour (Jacob King/PA)
She said the striking workers are “not militant” and “need a job”, adding: “Like I say, they’ve put up with the conditions in those centres for a long time.”
“Coventry has been open four years, we’ve had issues since it was open. Rugeley (Staffordshire) before that – they’re just horrendous places to work,” she claimed.
She said the main issue for workers is what she said are target-led performance measures, set by an “algorithm”.
“So, imagine turning up to work not knowing if you’re going to make the grade.
“If you don’t (hit targets) you end up in a disciplinary, so they’re just having to work, work, work, they’re not allowed to talk to people, it’s difficult to take a toilet break,” she claimed.
“In one of the other fulfilment centres, we were having people urinating in a bottle because they didn’t want to take the time out and go to the toilet because it becomes idle time.
“We’ve got injuries, we’ve got more ambulances coming to (this) site, than any other warehouses across the country, they’ve just got an appalling record when it comes to health and safety.
“I think we’ve been lucky there’s been no fatalities within those centres, up to now.”
Members of the GMB union approach cars to dissuade colleagues from entering the Amazon fulfilment centre (Jacob King/PA)
An Amazon spokesman said: “Amazon is a safe place to work.
“The vast majority of ambulance call-outs to our buildings are related to pre-existing conditions, not work-related incidents, and as a responsible employer we will always call an ambulance if someone requires medical attention.
“That’s just sensible.”
Regarding toilet breaks, the company said: “You can use the toilet whenever you like.
“You can always go to the toilet when you like, log off, have a drink, speak to your manager etc – that’s not an issue.”
Ms Gearing said she is “hoping Amazon will get round the table”, while adding: “I don’t anticipate they’ll be giving me a call anytime soon.”
The dispute centres on pay and conditions (Jacob King/PA)
The company spokesman said: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have.
“We’ve made great progress in recent years and months in important areas like pay and safety.
“The fact is, we already offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe and modern environment.
“The unions know this.
It is understood that of about 2,000 staff at the Coventry site, 178 voted in favour of strike action.
The Amazon spokesman added: “A tiny proportion of our workforce are involved.
“In fact, according to the verified figures, only a fraction of 1% of our UK employees voted in the ballot – and that includes those who voted against industrial action.
“We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we’re proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location.
“This represents a 29% increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018.
“Employees are also offered comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more – including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, to name a few.”
UK Amazon workers strike in protest at 50p pay rise
Matthew Field Wed, 25 January 2023 An epic day and a half of deals, Amazon Prime Day kicks off at midday on Monday 16th July and runs until midnight on Tuesday 17th July. Pictured at the Hemel Hempstead fulfilment centre, Amazon
Amazon workers on Wednesday started their first official UK strike action, walking out of the online retail giant's Coventry warehouse in protest against a 50p pay rise amid claims staff are "treated like robots".
Around 300 Amazon workers were expected to down tools and join picket lines. The strike action began at Amazon's Coventry centre at midnight on Tuesday
The 24-hour picket line was expected to take place outside Amazon's warehouse in Coventry.
The GMB union called for a walk-out after balloting members in December. The union is demanding an increase in pay from £10 to £15 per hour. Amazon has offered 50p per hour.
Union members told the BBC robots in the warehouses were "treated better than us".
Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton said their work around the warehouse was tracked and monitored, adding that "idle time" of a few minutes would be admonished. Amazon said its system was designed to "recognise great performance".
Stuart Richards, a GMB union official for the Midlands, said: "This is a huge step forward for workers who've been ignored and treated like robots."
Taiwo Owatemi, MP for Coventry North West, said: "Coventry Amazon workers are taking on one of the world's most powerful employers, but by standing together alongside residents and supporters around the world, they can make a real difference and win a fair pay rise during the cost of living crisis."
The dispute is not expected to affect deliveries, as the Coventry hub provides stock to other Amazon fulfilment centres, rather than directly to customers.
Amazon said its pay offer represented a pay increase to between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location. An Amazon spokesman said: “A tiny proportion of our workforce is involved. In fact, according to the verified figures, only a fraction of 1pc of our UK employees voted in the ballot - and that includes those who voted against industrial action.
“We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we’re proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location.
"This represents a 29pc increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. Employees are also offered comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more - including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, to name a few.”
In 2021, Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, who replaced founder Jeff Bezos, received a pay deal worth more than $200m (£160m), largely made up of company stock.
The industrial action is expected to be the first in a series of walk-outs in Coventry and other Amazon facilities in the UK.
The dispute is one of many raging across the public and private sector as workers demand pay increases that make up for surging inflation. Royal Mail, rail companies, bus operators, nurses and ambulance workers have all staged walkouts during months of discontent.
Last summer, Amazon's UK workers engaged in a series of unofficial "wildcat" strikes, including a "go slow" protest and a sit-in.
Earlier this month, Amazon confirmed it would shut UK warehouses, putting 1,200 jobs at risk. The retail giant said it planned to close its fulfilment centres in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock in Scotland.
It also announced it would open two new fulfilment centres and offer jobs to everyone who was losing a role in the warehouse closures. It said, overall, it would be creating 2,500 UK jobs.
‘The job is not human’: UK retail warehouse staff describe gruelling work
Heather Stewart Wed, 25 January 2023 Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Rex/Shutterstock
This week’s strike at an Amazon depot in Coventry is throwing the spotlight on to a hidden army of workers in the UK’s retail sector, many of whom face “particularly gruelling” conditions, according to recent research commissioned by the TUC.
Five academics at the Centre for Research on Employment and Work (Crew) at the University of Greenwich analysed data about the retail workforce during and after the Covid pandemic, and carried out in-depth interviews with 30 workers.
They found that the pandemic “intensified existing trends” in online shopping, which meant a renewed shift from traditional shop-floor jobs towards work in warehouses, away from direct contact with customers.
The analysis suggests these warehouse roles often provide more regular hours, and that competition for staff has pushed up wage rates – but some interviewees said they found the jobs extremely demanding.
“Warehouse work was considered by research participants as particularly gruelling (‘the job is not human’),” the authors say in a summary of their findings, adding that there was “a suggestion that automation and robotisation might be necessary to save the cost to human physical and mental health”.
The TUC’s deputy general secretary, Kate Bell, said it was easy for consumers to forget that what feels like the “miracle” of rapid home delivery relies on “real human labour, and real human labour which is increasingly tough – monitored, repetitive, gruelling”.
A member of staff at a distribution centre said: “It’s a very physical, demanding job and if you’ve never been in that situation before, it either makes you or breaks you to be honest.” He said staff needed to be “fit enough to get through the pain barriers”.
High-profile companies including Sports Direct have come under fire over the conditions faced by workers in their warehouses. The fashion retailer Boohoo recently rejected claims made in the Times that staff could walk 13 miles in a single shift, in sweltering temperatures.
The TUC-commissioned report provides fresh first-hand testimony from retail staff. One Amazon worker who worked night shifts told the researchers: “It’s just mentally stressful because you just are working, working, working constantly. Literally, you have no social life.” A warehouse operative described the rapid turnover of staff at their workplace as a “leaky bucket”.
One operations manager who had worked at three different firms over a number of years said the growing automation of warehouses had increased the pressures on workers.
“I wouldn’t advise a friend of mine to be a … warehouse operative for a long period of time. Healthwise it’s not advisable, psychologically wise it’s not advisable, because at some point warehouses will be expecting [the] efficiency of robots from humans, so to speak,” she told the researchers.
Warehouse staff across different companies described having their performance closely tracked, including the routes they take around the distribution centre. “They’ve already timed how long it will take you. And if it takes you five or 10 minutes longer, you may get questioned, ‘why has it taken so long?’,” said one worker.
Adrian Jones, the national organiser at Unite, said: “Employers seem to be relying more and more on automated performance management tools in warehouses to set standards – and it doesn’t take into consideration the massive issues that workers face on a day in, day out basis”. A recent TUC guide on these issues for union reps was called “When AI is the boss”.
The researchers suggest surveillance of staff is used differently in workplaces where unions have a seat around the table. “Where trade unions are recognised, workplace representatives play a key role in mediating technology and constraining its use in disciplinary measures against workers,” the report says.
Some interviewees said they did not mind being intensively monitored – by CCTV or smartwatch, for example – seeing it as about safety as well as performance.
Jones said: “Where we see employers who recognise that fact that this is human beings not robots who are doing it, the performance is better, the commitment is better from the workers and ultimately the company’s more profitable.”
But he pointed to the difficulties of warehouse work, including the sheer weight of goods that must be moved, and the prevalence of night shifts.
The TUC is calling for collective bargaining across the retail sector, including in distribution, to strike standard-setting “fair pay agreements”, and a right for employees to be consulted before new technologies are introduced.
When challenged about staff discontent, Amazon, which refuses to recognise unions, pointed to a recent increase in starting pay, to “a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour”, and what it called “a comprehensive benefits package” worth thousands of pounds. But the TUC’s Bell, welcoming this week’s strike action, said: “What these people need first is a voice in their own workplace.”
Retailers say they have to offer staff the right incentives to work in these jobs. Tom Ironside, the director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said: “The need for warehouse staff has been rising in recent years, so retailers have worked hard to provide the necessary financial and non-financial total reward to attract the necessary talent. As with all parts of retail, good working conditions are a key way of attracting and retaining staff, and warehouses are no exception.”
UK
Hanky waving, bell jangling - women Morris dancers keep the tradition alive
Miranda Norris Mon, 23 January 2023 Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix
Hanky waving, bell-jangling Morris men - and women - brought dancing to Witney at the weekend.
The only mixed Cotswold Morris 'side' west of Oxford are searching for recruits to keep their distinctive tradition thriving.
Chairman of Ducklington Morris side and ‘squire’ Chris Howe said: “Morris dancing is fun and great exercise.
“We’re a friendly bunch and most people pick up the basic steps and moves fairly quickly.
“Come and give it a try.”
Oxford Mail: Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix
Ducklington Morris side was started four decades ago by the village folk club.
In its heyday it included almost 20 dancers and musicians but as members have retired or moved away, numbers have dwindled.
Mr Howe explained: “Most traditional Ducklington Morris dances are meant for six, but we’ve had to adapt them to work for four.
“We’d love to get back to sets of six plus a musician and have a few extra members spare, so we can take a well-earned breather now and then.”
If you are interested go to www.ducklingtonmorris.org.uk, or contact Chris Howe on 01993 775634. Oxford Mail: Ducklington Morris dancers in Witney. Picture by Ed Nix
This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.
Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris
Profile: Miranda Norris Journalists news from the Oxford Mail
Australian councils told to cut emissions rather than spend millions on overseas carbon offsets
Joe Hinchliffe Mon, 23 January 2023 Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP
Renewed questions are being asked about Australian councils’ use of international projects to offset local carbon emissions, off the back of a Guardian investigation that found 90% of rainforest credits issued by one leading company were likely worthless.
The research into Verra, a world leader in the rapidly growing voluntary offsets market, found that the majority of rainforest offset credits were likely “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
The company strongly disputes the studies’ conclusions, has strenuously defended its projects and challenged the methods used to undermine their credibility, saying they cannot capture the true impact of projects on the ground. They say this explains the difference between the credits it approves and the emission reductions estimated by scientists.
But the revelations have energised critics of public entities for using offsets rather than concentrating on reducing their own emissions.
Fifteen local governments in Australia, including those in central Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, trade offsets through Verra’s registry platform, spending millions of dollars to claim carbon-neutral status.
While the vast majority are not the rainforest credits that were the subject of the Guardian investigation, and its findings are not applicable to them, they are mainly for overseas-based projects, prompting questions about why local governments aren’t spending that money trying to reduce their own emissions.
Brisbane city council, Australia’s largest local government, spent $6 million last year offsetting its emissions, including banking 130,000 tonnes of carbon emissions on a landfill gas recovery and power generation project in China.
University of Melbourne climate futures senior research fellow Lily O’Neill described it as “a joke” that an organisation whose core function is to dispose of waste would spend money reducing emissions on that same activity offshore.
O’Neill said that offsetting was only valid as a last resort for emissions that could not be avoided.
“Does anybody [at council] go out and check that these carbon credits are being generated in the way that they say they will be?” she said.
Brisbane city council did not respond to Guardian Australia questions about what due diligence it does on overseas offsets projects.
The Labor opposition in Brisbane, led by Jared Cassidy, has long been critical of council’s offset spending and described the Guardian investigation as a “wake-up call”.
“The only large-scale action a council can take to reduce emissions on a citywide scale is remove organic material from landfill,” he said. “You can’t simply buy your way out of it.
“If you want to make real change you start in your own back yard.”
O’Neill said there were high-value offset projects that were working, including First Nations-led emissions reductions projects.
Brisbane was among the councils that did fund some Australian-based initiatives, including Indigenous-led savannah fire management in Arnhem Land. But more than 90% of Brisbane city council’s offset funding was spent on projects abroad.
Many other councils – including Woollahra in Sydney, Subiaco in Perth and Moreland, Moonee Valley, Maroondah and Yarra in Melbourne – obtained 100% of their credits from overseas-based renewable energy projects.
Queensland University of Technology’s pro vice-chancellor of sustainability and research integrity, Kerrie Wilson, also advised that local governments should be “looking at things in their own back yard” as they strive to achieve carbon neutrality.
“That’s challenging, because it requires a focus on our internal policies and our own practices and our own behaviours rather than relying on offsetting,” she said.
Wilson said QUT had invested in a solar farm in western Queensland in an effort to achieve carbon neutrality.
“You have more oversight, transparency and assurance around the integrity if they are projects that you can touch and feel and identify,” she said.
Brisbane city council did not respond to questions about whether it was reviewing its offset program but did say it was currently undertaking “a major food waste recycling pilot involving 6,000 households across 30 suburbs”.
A City of Sydney spokesperson said that over the past few years it had been “buying an increasing share of high-quality local carbon offsets” and aimed to have 100% high-quality Australian regenerative offsets by 2025.
The City of Melbourne is understood to be reviewing its past and future offsets following the Chubb review, which this month recommended a new integrity body be set up for Australia’s carbon credits scheme.
AUSTRALIA Federal government to intervene in transport union’s high court fight against Qantas
Paul Karp Tue, 24 January 2023 Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA
The federal government will join the Transport Workers’ Union’s (TWU) high court fight with Qantas as the airline bids to overturn a ruling that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handlers’ jobs.
In July 2021 the federal court ruled Qantas’s outsourcing of the workers was in part driven by a desire to avoid industrial action, which is a breach of the Fair Work Act.
Qantas had claimed the outsourcing was a necessary financial measure that could save it $100m annually and reduce future spending on ground handling equipment such as tugs and baggage loaders.
The high court granted Qantas leave to appeal in December, on the grounds that at the time the jobs were outsourced, the workers had no right to take industrial action.
The national secretary of the TWU, Michael Kaine, said the case had wide ramifications.
“Of course this is now all in the hands of the high court to determine, but we are hopeful the [government’s] intervention is to highlight that the Qantas position, if upheld, would seriously undermine the protective intention of the laws.”
The chair of the Senate’s employment legislation committee and a former TWU national secretary, Labor senator Tony Sheldon, said the government had an obligation to stand by its interpretation of the act.
“This is a matter that will affect many Australians into the future,” he said.
“The act has, in my view, the intent that workers’ interests will be protected, and that in circumstances such as this, after two court findings in their favour, they can get their jobs back … that there is a remedy.”
Sheldon blamed the previous Coalition government for providing $2bn of subsidies to Qantas during the pandemic “without any obligations” on the airline, allowing it to outsource jobs.
“We’ve seen the consequences for Qantas’s performance,” he said.
In its submissions filed on Friday, Qantas argued that its ground staff were prohibited from taking protected industrial action until their existing pay deal expired on 31 December 2020, a month after the decision to outsource their jobs.
Qantas said it should not be penalised “for taking adverse action to prevent an employee acquiring future rights, the exercise of which at the time of the adverse action would have been unlawful”.
The law “simply does not extend so far as to protect a person from adverse action in respect of rights that they do not presently have”, it said.
Qantas said it had done no more than exercise an employer’s right to “bring the employment relationship to an end” rather than allow it to continue until the law “might confer on the employee greater rights”.
In December, Kaine accused Qantas of “dragging out a costly legal battle rather than reinstate or compensate the experienced workers”.
“Illegally sacking 1,700 workers in one fell swoop to avoid enterprise bargaining rights is unprecedented in Australia,” he said.
Kaine said that “standards in aviation will continue to fall off a cliff if we allow excessive bonuses to be tied to the degradation of secure jobs and decent wages and conditions.”
In a statement in December, Qantas said it had always maintained “the decision to outsource our ground handling function was based on lawful commercial reasons in response to the unprecedented impact of the Covid crisis”.
Since the easing of Covid travel restrictions, airlines have struggled with high demand for flights, and workforce shortages.
In December, the government passed its first major industrial relations bill, despite warnings from Qantas that multi-employer bargaining and other changes could force it to cut marginal routes.
In November, Burke told the National Press Club that Labor had engaged in “direct negotiation” with Qantas over the bill.
“I have to say the Qantas position was don’t change a single law, and that was never an option for the government,” he said.
“I don’t accept the argument that if you do anything to get wages moving for a company like Qantas, that somehow everything is in jeopardy.
“If you look at the current laws, it’s hard to find many companies that have had more different ways of working around the current laws than Qantas has.”
GLOBALIZATION The Mumbai atelier that's the secret workshop of top French fashion
Glenda KWEK with Olga NEDBAEVA in Paris Mon, 23 January 2023
Sitting in a lotus position, four men weave glittering beads through gold thread on an organza sheet, carefully constructing a wedding dress that will soon wow crowds at Paris Fashion Week.
For once, the French couturier behind the design, Julien Fournie, is determined to put these craftsmen in the spotlight: his new collection, showing in Paris on Tuesday, is entirely made with fabrics from Mumbai.
He says a sort of "design imperialism" means that French fashion houses often play down the fact that their fabrics are made outside France.
"The houses which don't admit it are perhaps afraid of losing their clientele," Fournie told AFP.
But that is absurd, he continued.
"India is number one in the world in embroidery. It's ancestral. They've been dressing maharajas in gold-embroidered outfits since the 16th century."
Fournie works with a company called Creations By Shanagar (meaning "to adorn" in Sanskrit), housed in a non-descript beige building near Mumbai's international airport.
Dozens of men in grey polo shirts sit cross-legged on cushions, heads bent over large sheaths of fabric. There is silence but for the clicking of needles and beads, the whirl of ceiling fans, and the occasional plane overhead. - 'A lot of fantasy' -
For decades, they have played an essential but unsung role in the fashion industries of Europe, Japan and the United States.
"I like working with Julien because he is another master craftsperson who knows his subject very well," said director Chetan Desai, 55.
"He has a lot of fantasy. He comes up with his own concepts and I have to translate those ideas into embroidery.
"It has been a very challenging experience and at the same time, it has been very fruitful," he added.
Back in France, Fournie sends the compliments back.
"What they know how to do better than anyone is to embroider with degraded gold thread, passing it through transparent beads to create colour gradients. It's unprecedented," he said.
It gives silk an aged, elegant look for wedding dresses that "shine, but not too much".
"Haute couture customers don't want to look like a Christmas tree," he added.
"I've worked with great French embroiderers and each time it's complicated. Everyone wants to put in their own ideas and you never get exactly what you want." - Star clients -
Desai's father set up Creations By Shanagar in the 1960s as a workshop for handloomed and embroidered saris.
In the 1990s, Desai looked further afield to France, partnering with Franco-Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaia on dresses that ultimately graced the likes of Naomi Campbell.
He does not divulge the current clients on his books but his past roster gives a sense of the high demand. They include Jean Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto and Donna Karan.
Even Hollywood came knocking, with Shanagar helping design Nicole Kidman's costumes for the 2001 hit "Moulin Rouge!".
The atelier attracts workers from across India, such as Biswajit Patra, 31, who has been working here since he was 16.
"I learned the trade in my village near Kolkata because my father was doing the same job and my brother and sister are also doing this job," he said.
Among their unique ideas is a way of rolling up pieces of tulle to make embroidered flowers.
"They have a range of techniques that we don't have here," said Jean-Paul Cauvin, director of Fournie's house in France.
One of the most delicate jobs is preparing the fabric once it arrives from India and heads for the workshop where it will be assembled into the dresses.
It is Fournie himself who irons out the fabric.
"Sixty percent of haute couture is ironing," he said with a smile.
grk-neo/er/gil/dhc
UK
Hunting with dogs bill 'does not go far enough' and will 'open new loopholes'
Steph Brawn Mon, 23 January 2023 The bill will set a two-dog limit for all use of dogs in hunting (Image: PA)
A "WATERTIGHT" ban must be brought in on hunting with dogs as the Scottish Government’s bill “does not go far enough”, the Scottish Greens have said.
A final debate on the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill will take place on Tuesday before MSPs vote on whether to pass the legislation.
The legislation introduces restrictions that are intended to minimise the risk of wild animals being caught by dogs.
It will set a two-dog limit for all use of dogs in hunting, ban trail hunting and introduce a licensing scheme to allow the use of more than two dogs in limited circumstances.
Trail hunting was invented in 2004 in the wake of the fox hunting ban in England and Wales.
It simulates a traditional fox hunt with hounds “hunting” a scent laid ahead of time, usually made up of fox urine. Critics say it is a “smokescreen” and often results in the chasing and killing of foxes.
The Greens have said the bill - which will replace the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 - is a “step in the right direction” but they are planning to table a series of amendments. The National: Burgess said the current bill would not constitute a ban on fox hunting
Burgess said the current bill would not constitute a ban on fox hunting (Image: Ramblers Scotland)
These will aim to:
Strengthen the proposed licensing system to limit the number of dogs that can be used for hunting and ensure that licence holders adhere to best practices in ethical wildlife management.
Ensure that enforcement officers do not have to obtain additional permissions to enter Crown land compared to their powers of entry on other land.
Remove the loopholes that allow the use of dogs for sport and for terrier work. This is the cruel practice of sending dogs underground to flush out foxes and can lead to orphan cubs being killed by dogs underground.
Ariane Burgess, the party’s rural affairs spokesperson, said she is concerned the bill will open up new loopholes despite its good intentions.
She said: “Hunting with dogs is a cruel, outdated and totally unnecessary practice. It belongs in the past and should have ended years ago. There can be no justification for setting out with a pack of dogs to kill a defenceless animal.
“The bill is a big step in the right direction and has a lot to commend. But it does not go far enough. I am concerned that it will close some loopholes while opening new ones that will be exploited.
“I am particularly concerned about the proposed licensing system, which runs the risk of allowing the licensing and legitimisation of cruelty. That is why I will be moving amendments that would ensure a watertight ban."
Burgess said that while the 2022 Act was "important", it allow fox hunting to continue.
"We can’t have another missed opportunity," she added.
"We don’t want to be in the same position in another 20 years. It’s time to close the loopholes and end the cruelty for good."
The measures laid out by the Scottish Government are intended to provide further safeguards for wild mammals while allowing land managers access to legitimate and humane animal control measures.
Labour - who are also set to bring forward amendments - said the Scottish Government had failed to go far enough with the legislation, saying it “won’t deliver a real ban on fox hunting”.
Rohingya and Myanmar coup survivors launch legal complaint in Germany against junta
Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent Mon, 23 January 2023 Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A criminal complaint against individuals linked to Myanmar’s military has been filed in Germany by survivors from ethnic groups across Myanmar, in what activists say is a show of unity that once seemed unthinkable.
Sixteen survivors and witnesses of military abuses joined NGO Fortify Rights to file a criminal complaint with the federal public prosecutor general of Germany under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of mass atrocities in one country, even if they happened elsewhere.
“We deserve to have access to justice. We all know the impunity the military has been enjoying for so many years. This is the time to [end] the impunity,” said Nickey Diamond, a complainant in the case and a member of the board of directors at Fortify Rights.
The document is not publicly accessible, however senior Myanmar military figures are accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, according to Fortify Rights. The complaint also requests that the German authorities open a “structural investigation” into the situation in Myanmar, which could lead to the documentation of further allegations not covered by the complaint.
There are various legal cases against Myanmar’s military including one in the international court of justice case genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, an investigation by the international criminal court, and separate universal jurisdiction cases filed in Argentina and Turkey.
Activists say the complaint filed in Germany is unique because of the diverse range of ethnicities represented, and because it seeks accountability both for the military’s brutal crackdown against Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, and for alleged crimes perpetrated by the military in other regions across the country after it ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
“This will be the first universal jurisdiction complaint which will talk about crimes against many ethnic groups and that is what makes this a really unique effort towards justice and accountability,” said Pavani Nagaraja Bhat, a human rights associate with Fortify Rights.
“The Myanmar military has been violating rights across the country and the evidence that we have been able to collect shows that there is a pattern of abuse and violations that have been perpetrated by the junta systematically against civilians on a very large scale,” she said of allegations in the complaint.
The complaint also reflects shifted attitudes among different ethnic groups, said Diamond. In the past there was little sympathy towards the Rohingya people among the Bamar majority, with many believing the military’s claim that it was fighting terrorism, but now there is far greater unity against the junta. “The people have truly seen [the military’s] true colour and true face,” he said.
Over the past two years the military has unleashed a campaign of terror in an attempt to crush widespread opposition to the coup, launching airstrikes, torching villages and arresting more than 17,000 people.
The complainants, who filed their case on 20 January, want the German prosecutor to open an investigation, collect and preserve evidence, and issue arrest warrants.
The complainants range from students and scholars, to farmers, human rights defenders, business peoples, former village heads and homemakers. They represent several ethnicities including Arakanese (Rakhine), Bamar, Chin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, and Rohingya, according to Fortify Rights. “This type of ethnic unity would have been totally unthinkable before the coup,” said the group’s director, John Quinley III.
According to the group, the complaint alleges that some members of the Myanmar military systematically killed, raped, tortured, imprisoned, disappeared, persecuted, and committed other acts that amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It includes “substantial evidence” indicating that some military figures knew about their subordinates’ actions but did not attempt to stop them, or to punish perpetrators of such crimes.
The federal prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether to proceed with the complaint, did not respond to a request for comment by Associated Press. Any resulting court case could be a lengthy process.
ADHD more strongly linked to anxiety and depression compared to autism – new research
Punit Shah, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Bath,
Lucy Anne Livingston, Lecturer in Psychology, King's College London,
Luca Hargitai, PhD Candidate, Psychology, University of Bath
THE CONVERSATION Mon, 23 January 2023 People with neurodevelopmental conditions are more likely to suffer from mental health problems. Black Salmon/ Shutterstock
Autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience anxiety and depression. When these conditions occur together, though – as they often do – it can be hard to unpick which one is contributing the most to poor mental health. Our latest study aimed to find out.
We discovered that people with more ADHD personality traits were more likely to experience common mental health problems like depression and anxiety than people with more autistic traits. This is the first study, as far as we are aware, which shows that people with ADHD are more likely to have poor mental health than autistic people.
To conduct our study, we asked over 500 adults in the UK to complete questionnaires measuring autistic and ADHD traits. We also asked them to complete standard questionnaires for depression and anxiety.
This is known as a “trait approach” to autism and ADHD. It involves looking at people’s individual characteristics rather than their diagnoses. This allows us to indirectly understand how much different conditions overlap.
We then used statistical tests to measure the strength of the relationship between autistic traits and mental health problems and compared this to the link between ADHD traits and poor mental health.
Our results showed both ADHD and autistic personality traits could predict the severity of a person’s anxiety and symptoms of depression. But what was new was that people were more likely to experience these symptoms if they had many ADHD traits compared with those who had a lot of autistic traits. We found that the link between ADHD and poor mental health was around three times stronger than the link between poor mental health and autism.
We believe this is the first study to show ADHD is more predictive of poor mental health.
These results were replicated in computerised simulations with a 100% “reproducibility rate”. In other words, ADHD traits are almost certainly more linked to poor mental health than autistic traits in the UK population.
Next steps
Our study highlights a clear link between ADHD and common mental health problems in adults. The next step is to examine the factors that might be driving this relationship. Scientists know that the genes linked to ADHD are also linked with certain mental health conditions, such as depression. People with ADHD are also more likely to experience stressful life events, which can lead to mental health difficulties.
It will now be important to look at how environmental and social cognitive factors (such as how well people understand others) may influence mental health in this group. This research is crucial for identifying people who are most at risk of poor mental health. Knowing what signs to look out for could let doctors intervene early, before people become severely anxious or depressed.
But to better understand the links between ADHD and mental health, and which support approaches may be most effective for this group, more funding needs to be invested in research. Funding for ADHD research is lacking in comparison to other conditions, such as autism. Yet, considering that almost 30% of autistic people also have ADHD, it’s clear that greater funding into this research area could have far-reaching benefits for many people.
If you are autistic or have ADHD and are struggling with your mental health, there are many charities and non-profit organisations that may be able to help you.
