Junior doctors in England to strike for five days in July - union


Reuters
Fri, 23 June 2023 

Junior doctors strike, in London

LONDON (Reuters) -Junior doctors in England plan to strike for five days in July, a union representing them said on Friday, calling it the "longest single period of industrial action" in the history of the state-run NHS.

The walkouts will take place from July 13, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in a statement.

"Even now the Government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration," the BMA said.

Hundreds of thousands of appointments have been cancelled so far this year as junior doctors - qualified physicians who make up nearly half of the medical workforce - have been in dispute with the government in demand of better pay.

"These five days will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff, we remain ready to continue talking at any point if strikes are called off," the health ministry said in a statement.

Britain has been hit by strikes in many other sectors as well, from transport and education to emergency services, as record-breaking inflation levels have pushed workers to seek pay hikes to cope with a cost-of-living crisis.

Separately, the RCN union, which represents nurses, is balloting its members for further strike action after rejecting the government's 5% pay rise offer.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Muvija M; editing by Alistair Smout)

Junior doctors to go on longest single strike in NHS history

Blathnaid Corless
Fri, June 23, 2023 

Junior doctors will strike over pay again next month - Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Junior doctors have voted to stage the longest strike in NHS history next month.

A five-day walkout will take place between Thursday July 13 and Tuesday July 18 in what is believed to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service, according to the British Medical Association.

The walkout by junior doctors could come days before consultants strike on July 20 and 21 if their ballot, which closes at the end of this month, is successful and there is no “credible pay offer” from the Government.

During the proposed strikes for July, consultants will provide “Christmas Day cover”, meaning they will continue to provide all emergency services but many routine services will be stopped.

More than 645,000 appointments and operations in England have been affected by recent NHS strikes.

The BMA is asking for a 35 per cent pay rise for junior doctors to make up for what it says is 15 years of real-term salary cuts.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, the co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “The NHS is one of this country’s proudest achievements, and it is shameful that we have a Government seemingly content to let it decline to the point of collapse with decades of real-terms pay cuts to doctors driving them away.

“With the 75th birthday of the NHS just days away, neglect of its workforce has left us with 7.4 million people on waiting lists for surgery and procedures, 8,500 unfilled doctors’ posts in hospitals, and doctors who can barely walk down the road without a foreign government tempting them to leave an NHS where they are paid £14 per hour for a country which will pay them properly.

“It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes finished, but not once have we heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of reopening negotiations since their collapse of our talks and cancelling all scheduled meetings a month ago.

“What better indication of how committed they are to ending this dispute could we have? As their refusal to even discuss pay restoration leads to continued disruption to the health service, more than four-fifths of junior doctors report finding their patients supportive – they understand the value of a fully staffed and resourced NHS.

“We are announcing the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history – but this is not a record that needs to go into the history books. Even now the Government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration.

“Restoring pay can stem the flow of Australian job adverts in doctors’ social media feeds, and lead to a future 75 years of doctors being paid fairly, in a rebuilt workforce and NHS that this country can continue to be proud of.”

An advertisement trying to tempt junior doctors to live and work in Australia

Downing Street said the planned strike action was concerning.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It puts patient safety and our efforts to cut waiting lists at risk. It is obviously extremely disappointing.

“In the meeting the Government had with junior doctors, we made a fair and reasonable opening offer.

“We were discussing both pay and non-pay issues. But they chose to end the talks by announcing new strike dates.

“Obviously if they cancel the damaging and disruptive strikes and show willingness to move away from their starting positions and find a way forward, then we will be able to proceed with those discussions.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is hugely disappointing the BMA Junior Doctors Committee has declared further strike action in July. These five days will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff.

“The government presented an opening offer and there were active discussions ongoing about a range of pay and non-pay measures to improve the working lives of junior doctors. However, the Junior Doctors Committee turned their back on negotiations by announcing further strikes.

“The government has been clear that strikes must be paused while talks take place, and we remain ready to continue talking at any point if strikes are called off and the Junior Doctors Committee show willingness to move significantly from their unreasonable pay demands.”

‘Ensure patient safety is maintained’

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the announcement of the five-day strike was “hugely disappointing” and would have an impact on patient care.

“Leaders will be anxious about again having to find staff to cover another walkout, this time across five days, but will pull out all the stops to ensure patient safety is maintained,” he said.

“Leaders will be hopeful that the goodwill of consultants and other colleagues to provide cover has not dwindled, but will be increasingly concerned about the financial cost of these walkouts. One trust estimated the cost of April’s walkout to be around £500,000, so the cost of industrial action is stacking up.

“That’s to say nothing on how it affects patients, many of whom will face the prospect of having an operation of appointment cancelled or delayed.

“This is not only a worry to them but has potential health implications – a postponed operation can lead to complications further down the line, often resulting in patients seeking help from primary or acute care to help manage an issue that was wholly avoidable. Leaders will make every effort to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Mr Taylor said that “unfortunately, our previous warnings that repeated industrial action must not become business as usual is starting to be the harsh reality leaders and the NHS must face”, calling on the parties involved “to open a proper dialogue again and find solutions to this standoff as soon as possible”.

UK
Train strikes: RMT union announces three days of walkouts in July

Tom Espiner - Business reporter, BBC News
Fri, June 23, 2023 

RMT picket line

Thousands of rail workers will strike on three days in July as part of a long-running dispute about pay and conditions.

Strikes at 14 rail firms have been called on 20, 22 and 29 July, the RMT union said.

It said negotiations with rail firms and the government had stalled.

But train operators said the action was "totally unnecessary" and urged the union to put the latest pay offer to its members.

Previous strikes in the dispute have caused widespread disruption.

Unions are pushing for more pay as the cost of living rises rapidly, but rail firms have said they will not pay more without concessions on conditions.


The RMT said 20,000 of its members, including guards, train managers and station staff, would walk out after train operators did not make a new offer.

Do train strikes still have any impact?

Train strikes: When are they and why are they taking place?

Its general secretary, Mick Lynch, said that train operators and the government had not "made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution".

"The government continues to shackle the companies and will not allow them to put forward a package that can settle this dispute," he added.

The latest strike dates coincide with sporting events including the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests and the Open golf championship.
Pay push

Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living. Inflation - the pace of general price rises - is at 8.7%.

The latest pay offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) which represents train operators, was a backdated pay rise of 5% for 2022.

Unions would then have to agree to reforms before members could get a second year's pay rise of 4%, negotiated with individual operators.

The BBC understands that rail operators are willing to negotiate with the RMT, but want the union to put the latest pay offer to its members before taking further action.

The RDG said more strikes were "totally unnecessary", and that all the RMT had achieved was losing its members more money than they would have received from pay offers.

"We have now made three offers that the RMT executive have blocked without a convincing explanation," a spokesperson said.

A senior rail source said union members had lost £2,000 of pay through strike action so far.

"Negotiation has got us nothing. We have compromised on pay, job protections and issues like driver-only trains," the source said.

"Nothing is ever enough, Every one of our offers has been rejected - not even by our staff who have not cast a single vote. No more ransom demands, the industry must change to survive," the source added.

The Department for Transport said the strikes were "targeting two iconic international sporting events" and would disrupt families at the beginning of the school holidays in England and Wales.

"After a year of industrial action, passengers and rail workers alike are growing tired of union bosses playing politics with their lives," a spokesperson said.

The government has helped train operators put forward "fair and reasonable pay offers that would see generous increases for rail workers," the spokesperson said. "Union leaders should do the right thing and give their members a chance to vote on these pay offers."

The strikes announcement comes on the day that Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said wage rises "cannot continue" at the rate they have been if inflation is to come down, reiterating Bank calls for restraint from workers.

The union's industrial action began a year ago, and last month members voted for another six months of action.

Industry group UK Hospitality said the rail strikes were a "hammer blow" for firms including pubs, bars and restaurants.

"Strike disruption over the past year has already cost the hospitality sector £3.25bn in lost sales and there is no doubt that figure will increase as a result of these strike days," said the group's chief executive Kate Nicholls.

German rail union threatens open-ended strikes over pay dispute


 Numerous travelers wait for their train, in Hamburg, Germany, Central Station Friday, April 21, 2023. A German rail workers' union said Thursday, June 22, 2023 that it will hold a ballot of its members on all-out strike action after long-running pay talks with the main national railway operator broke down. 

(Bodo Marks/dpa via AP, File)

Associated Press
Thu, June 22, 2023 
BERLIN (AP) — A German rail workers' union said Thursday that it will ask its members to vote on all-out strike action after long-running salary talks with the main national railway operator broke down.

The EVG union has already staged hours-long or one-day “warning strikes,” a common tactic in German wage negotiations. But it's now threatening to move to longer walkouts as its negotiations with state-owned Deutsche Bahn have reached an impasse.

Union leader Martin Burkert said authorization for open-ended strikes will require three quarters of all votes cast in the ballot that will take four to five weeks to be completed. He said “warning strikes” would not be ruled out while voting is taking place. The announcement comes just as school summer vacations are starting in Germany.

Union leaders on Wednesday said the latest round of talks had failed. EVG has called for a pay increase of 12% and for the agreement to remain valid for 12 months rather than Deutsche Bahn’s proposed 27 months. It says that Deutsche Bahn is offering too little, too late.

The past few months have seen plenty of other tense salary negotiations in Europe’s biggest economy as inflation remains high. Germany’s annual inflation rate stood at 6.1% in May.

In April, German government officials and labor unions reached a pay deal for more than 2.5 million public-sector workers, ending a lengthy dispute after arbitrators were called in to propose a compromise.

During the rail pay dispute, Deutsche Bahn has accused EVG of trying to score points in a bitter long-held rivalry with the other main railway workers' union, the traditionally more aggressive GDL. The GDL is due to start negotiations for its members later this year.

Spirit Aero to continue contract talks with union as strike looms

Reuters
Fri, June 23, 2023 

Airplane fuselages bound for Boeing's 737 Max production facility sit in storage behind Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc headquarters, in Wichita

(Reuters) - Spirit AeroSystems Inc said it will meet with the U.S. machinists union on Saturday to continue negotiations for a new contract, after workers rejected a proposed four-year deal and announced a strike.

Shares of Spirit were up 4.8% in afternoon trade on Friday.

The company, a crucial supplier for aerospace heavyweights Boeing and Airbus, expects its Wichita production operations to remain suspended until an agreement is reached with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Wichita site makes the entire fuselage for Boeing's bestselling 737 MAX narrowbody jet and the forward sections for most of its other aircraft, as well as pylons for the Airbus A220.

A prolonged work stoppage at Spirit could impact the aircraft makers it supplies, eventually forcing them to slow or stop jetliner assembly at a time when both Airbus and Boeing are trying to ramp up production.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

Spirit Aerosystems, major airlines supplier, suspends plant operations after labor contract rejected


Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Ks. The major supplier to the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers is suspending operations at a critical plant in Kansas after union workers rejected a tentative contract, sending shares of Boeing and Airbus lower Thursday, June 22, 2023. 

(Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle via AP, File) 

MICHELLE CHAPMAN
Thu, June 22, 2023 

Spirit Aerosystems, a major supplier to the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, is suspending operations at a critical Kansas plant after union workers there rejected a proposed four-year contract and authorized a strike.

Approximately 6,000 members of the IAM District 70, Local 839 voted to reject Spirit Aerosystems' best and last offer after 13 years without a fully negotiated agreement, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a prepared statement.

Shares of Boeing Co. and Airbus slid about 2%, and shares of Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. tumbled 10% at the opening bell.

The tentative deal that was rejected had included up to a compounded 34% average pay bump through general wages increases, cost-of-living adjustments, and a guaranteed annual bonus; a 14.7% increase in retirement benefits; increased paid time off; job security enhancements and made Sunday overtime voluntary.

A strike is scheduled to start on Saturday.

“Most of our members have concluded that the company’s offer is unacceptable,” the union said in a prepared statement. "IAM District 70 and Local 839 will regroup and begin planning the following steps to bring the company back to the table.”

The IAM is an industrial trade union that representing about 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.

Operations at the factory will be suspended starting Thursday, Spirit said. The company said union employees should not show up for work, but would be paid for their regularly scheduled hours. All scheduled overtime was canceled. Employees not represented by the IAM were instructed to show up for work as normal.

“We are disappointed that our employees represented by the IAM rejected our four-year contract offer and voted to strike. We believe that our fair and competitive offer recognizes the contributions of our employees and ensures we can successfully meet increasing demand for aircraft from our customers,” the Wichita, Kansas, company said in a prepared statement.

Aircraft manufacturers have wrestled with supply issues in recent years and a strike at Spirit Aerosystems at the Wichita plant could add to those headaches.

Spirit builds the fuselage for Boeing's 737 MAX narrowbody jet and substantial sections of aircraft bodies in other of its models. It builds components for Airbus aircraft as well

Spirit AeroSystems to halt work at Wichita plant as union votes to strike

Valerie Insinna, Abinaya V and Shivansh Tiwary
Wed, June 21, 2023 

 The headquarters of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, is seen in Wichita

PARIS (Reuters) -Spirit AeroSystems will suspend factory production on Thursday at its plant in Wichita, Kansas, the company said, after workers rejected a proposed four-year deal and announced a strike to begin on June 24.

Spirit is one of the most consequential suppliers for aerospace heavyweights Boeing and Airbus. The Wichita site makes the entire fuselage for Boeing's bestselling 737 MAX narrowbody jet and the forward sections for most of its other aircraft, as well as pylons for the Airbus A220.

Shares of Spirit tumbled about 9% in afternoon trade, while those of Boeing fell 2.4%. Paris-listed shares of Airbus shed 1.7%.

A prolonged work stoppage at Spirit could have ripple effects for the aircraft makers it supplies, eventually forcing them to slow or stop jetliner assembly at a time when both Airbus and Boeing are ramping up production.

"It's not a welcome development," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with AeroDynamic Advisories.

"I think the general feeling is that (Spirit) had it under control with what appeared to be a reasonable agreement," he said. But after more than a decade of cost pressure on the aerospace industry, "labor feels like they have some power."

Spirit will suspend factory production prior to the expiration of its contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) on June 24, but will continue to pay employees, it said.

"Despite this setback, we are not distracted from the task at hand. We look forward to continued meetings with IAM leadership," Spirit said.

Although IAM and Spirit reached a tentative contract agreement last week, 79% of workers voted to reject the contract and 85% voted to strike, the union said on Thursday.

IAM added it would regroup and begin planning "the following steps to bring the company back to the table."

About 55% of Spirit's U.S. workers were covered by the agreement, which will expire this month. Spirit had 12,735 workers in its six U.S. facilities, of which 11,000 were located in Wichita.

Boeing said it continued to monitor the situation and support Spirit.

Stan Deal, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes business, encouraged employees to "stay focused on our task at hand, which is to continue to build and deliver the finest airplanes in the world," in an internal email seen by Reuters.


The planemaker has been working to boost output of its 737 MAX jets to 38 per month from the current level of 31, and 787 jets to five per month from the present level of four this year.

"(The upcoming strike) threatens Boeing’s pace of production on these programs," J.P.Morgan analyst Seth Seifman said in a note.

Boeing has more than 100 MAX planes in its inventory, so it could shift workers from production to modifying inventory jets to keep deliveries flowing in the event of a stop at its production facility in Renton, Washington.

Airbus, while not commenting on the work stoppage itself, said it conducted regular assessments with suppliers to mitigate potential risks to production.

The strike is yet another setback for Spirit, which has been grappling with a recent quality issue on 737 fuselages and is experiencing cash flow pressures.

In May, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said it would be difficult to make contingency plans for a strike at Spirit.

"Even if they tried to get ahead of it by virtue of their current production, that will be measured in weeks not in months, so we're supporting them in every way possible to get to a constructive answer," he said.

(Reporting by Valerie Insinna, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan, Shivansh Tiwary and Abhijith Ganapavaram; Editing by Jason Neely, Mark Potter and Pooja Desai)

UPS, Teamsters agree to 55 noneconomic contract issues

Mark Solomon
Fri, June 23, 2023

UPS, Teamsters agree on 55 noneconomic issues. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS Inc. and the Teamsters union have agreed to terms on 55 noneconomic issues in bargaining over a new master contract, but the hard work has just begun.

Among the changes are the installation of air conditioners in package cars and other vehicles purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. Another requires that drivers not be forced to work more than 60 hours over a 70-hour workweek, though they could volunteer to do so.

A third requires UPS (NYSE: UPS) to give the union 24 hours’ notice before a supervisor does a ride-along with a driver. A fourth designates areas for subcontractors to operate and requires them to leave the property after certain designated times.

In addition, UPS may not subcontract feeder work if an available worker is laid off or is working out of classification.

The next step is negotiation over wages, benefits and a controversial two-tier pay model, the most difficult part of the contract talks. The Teamsters submitted its economic proposal to UPS on Wednesday, and the union has made no secret it is seeking significant increases.

UPS must tread lightly if it thinks it can pass on added labor costs to the Teamsters in the form of what Dean Maciuba, head of U.S. operations for Crossroads Parcel Consulting, called “punishing rate increases” without thinking it could lose business. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), UPS’ chief rival, is transforming itself into a lower-cost service provider, which is a “serious threat to UPS on a 2nd front,” Maciuba said in a LinkedIn post.

However, FedEx executives said earlier this week that they have seen no material impact so far from concerns over a possible strike at UPS.

Speaking Wednesday night on a webinar, Teamster General-President Sean O’Brien painted a two-road scenario in which either UPS agrees to Teamster demands or the company doesn’t and the union goes on strike Aug. 1, one day after the current contract expires. “We will leave everything on the field,” O’Brien said, adding that “we have to be united. We are setting a tone for the entire labor movement in the country.”

The post UPS, Teamsters agree to 55 noneconomic contract issues appeared first on FreightWaves.

US LNG project approvals on track for record new volumes


Fri, June 23, 2023 
By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developers are on track to approve three export projects capable of processing 5.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas in the first half of the year, a record volume for new LNG projects in any year.

The U.S. became the world's largest LNG producer by installed capacity in 2022 driven by the boom in LNG plant construction and a decade of surging shale gas discoveries. U.S. LNG exports are poised to reach 12.1 bcfd this year and 12.7 bcfd next year.

The latest approvals are chipping away at a backlog of projects pursuing financial support and customers willing to sign long-term contracts. Analysts say demand for the fuel will keep the flow of approvals coming this year.

"We expect global LNG demand to grow from 399 million tonnes in 2022 to 627 million tonnes by 2035, more than a 50% increase," said Michael Stoppard, global gas strategy lead at data provider S&P Global Commodity Insights.

U.S. LNG developers this year have already approved the construction of two projects: the second 1.2-bcfd phase of Venture Global LNG's Plaquemines in Louisiana and Sempra Energy's 1.8-bcfd Port Arthur in Texas.

NextDecade Corp said it expects to greenlight the first 2.1-bcfd phase of its Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, Texas by month's end. First production could take place in 2027, it said.

MOST VOLUMES

The final investment decisions (FID) allow the companies to start major construction after signing construction and financing agreements. New plants generally take from three to five years to produce their first LNG.

The combined 5.1 bcfd of gas is the most U.S. approved volumes in one year since 2014, when three projects capable of processing 4.9 bcfd won financial go-aheads. The seven U.S. export plants now operating can turn about 13.8 bcfd of gas into LNG.

Several other LNG export projects hope to land enough customers to secure go-aheads this year - some have been in development for years.

Analysts have said two of the front-runners are the first 0.4-bcfd phase of Delfin Midstream's offshore Louisiana project and the first 1.3-bcfd phase of Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) project in Louisiana.

There are four U.S. LNG plants under construction: the QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil Corp 2.4-bcfd Golden Pass joint venture in Texas, Venture Global's 2.9-bcfd Plaquemines, Cheniere Energy Inc's 1.5-bcfd Corpus Christi LNG expansion and Sempra's Port Arthur.

As those four enter service from 2024-2028, U.S. LNG export capacity will rise to 15.3 bcfd next year to 22.3 bcfd in 2028.

Current LNG capacity is 10.1 bcfd in Qatar and 11.5 bcfd in Australia. That is on track to rise to about 14.3 bcfd in Qatar with the North Field expansion around 2025 and about 12.2 bcfd in Australia with the Pluto expansion around 2026.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Marwa Rashad in London; Editing by Conor Humphries)

Pocono Raceway’s ‘jet drier’ credited with keeping I-95’s reopening on time

Mother Nature is no match for NASCAR tech.


Ricky Durst / BillyPenn


Will Shanklin
·Contributing Reporter
Thu, June 22, 2023

A rainy weekend threatened to delay the reopening of a collapsed section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. But officials called in reinforcements: a giant jet dryer from a nearby race track, according to BillyPenn. The dryer is expected to ensure the highway opens this weekend as promised by PA Governor Josh Shapiro.

The jet dryer, used to prevent wet tracks at nearby Pocono Raceway, consists of a modified helicopter turbine attached to the back of a Chevy Silverado. PA Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, who had worked with racetrack officials when he held office in the area, knew who to call when stormy conditions threatened to delay the reopening. “We’ve known Mr. Carroll for a number of years, he was a representative here in Northeast Pennsylvania,” said Ricky Durst, Pocono Raceway senior marketing director. “He knew the raceway well, knew that we often had to deal with weather circumstances during our events, and knows that we have the ability and the tools to dry asphalt.” The track also reportedly brought a Chevy Camaro pace car to the scene, although its utility during the asphalt drying is less clear.

Last night, workers paved the six-lane segment reconnecting the highway around the collapsed section ahead of the planned weekend reopening. The jet dryer’s arrival should be welcome news for Shapiro, who said yesterday, “I can confidently state right here, right now, that traffic will be flowing here on I-95 this weekend… We have completed every phase of this project safely and way ahead of schedule.” A section of the overpass collapsed last weekend when a tanker truck exploded in flames underneath, killing the driver and closing traffic for the entire workweek.

Meanwhile, Twitch streamer Brent Schooley saw an opportunity for fun as area residents eyed the I-95 reconstruction progress. The Philadelphia-based software developer began broadcasting a live view of the work — accompanied by LoFi beats. Schooley told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he started his “FIX THAT JAWN!” stream to provide a much-needed “chatroom for memes” as people check in on the progress. Although some people speculated it was a clever youth-outreach move from the Governor’s PR team, the project arose organically. “It’s another example of how this has truly taken a life of its own,” said Manuel Bonder, press secretary for Gov. Shapiro.

Criticizing Narendra Modi’s U.S. Visit Could Have Serious Consequences


Akbar Shahid Ahmed
Thu, June 22, 2023 


Hundreds of activists are working to challenge the delicate choreography of controversial Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the U.S. ― while risking backlash from the authoritarian strains within Modi’s movement, which are often hostile to criticism of their leader.

Modi, who arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday at President Joe Biden’s invitation, will receive a 21-gun welcome salute and a state dinner Thursday for the first time since becoming prime minister. Top lawmakers have also invited him to become the first-ever Indian leader to address two joint sessions of Congress.

The honors contrast with the treatment that U.S. critics of Modi’s rule say they are enduring: government intimidation, online trolling, legal harassment and effective bans on travel to India, where many of them still have family and friends. As Modi’s government has pressured journalists, human rights groups and opposition leaders at home, he and his allies are making it harder to draw attention to India’s alarming trajectory abroad, activists argue.

“Anyone who has roots in or ties to India is scared of the fact that a single word could result in reprisal,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, a journalist in exile in the U.S. who was born in the Indian-held portion of the disputed Kashmir region.

The challenge of questioning Modi’s movement even bedevils some of the most powerful players in the diaspora: leading Indian American politicians.

In 2019, India’s foreign minister refused to meet with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) over her advocacy for Kashmir. Ahead of Modi’s current visit, Jayapal was the only one of five Indian Americans in Congress ― all House Democrats, who also include Ami Bera and Ro Khanna of California, Raja Krishnamoorthy of Illinois and Shri Thanedar of Michigan ― to sign a letter asking Biden to raise the issue of human rights with the prime minister.

“Elected officials are definitely reticent to make really strong remarks on India because they are afraid of this backlash,” said Ria Chakrabarty of Hindus for Human Rights.

A progressive congressional aide told HuffPost: “In some ways it’s harder to work on Modi than Palestine.”

Bera “raises human rights concerns directly in his conversations with Indian government officials,” a spokesperson wrote to HuffPost. One of the other lawmakers, who requested anonymity to protect relationships, said, “I’ll speak on human rights but didn’t think this was the right vehicle and neither did the White House.”

Modi’s critics want U.S. officials to engage with India and acknowledge its importance while urging the nation to abide by its stated commitment to democratic principles, including freedom of expression. Right now, they say, the Biden administration and legislators from both parties are giving Modi largely unadulterated praise that makes more rights violations inevitable and sustains an atmosphere of fear that hurts American citizens.

“Because there haven’t been consequences for the Indian government, they’re emboldened,” said Kiran Kaur Gill, the executive director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

According to advocates for a tougher U.S. approach to Modi, the retaliation against their work is driving some people in their movement to be less public or pull back altogether and disproportionately hurting communities who are already marginalized in India and the Indian diaspora, such as women and religious minorities. Eventually, the trend could have foreign policy ramifications, distorting America’s debate over a country that is an increasingly vital U.S. partner and a leader who seeks to grow even more powerful through a third term in office.

“There’s a desire for the U.S. and India to be stronger allies,” Gill said. “While there are obvious strategic reasons for that, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s still imperative to address these human rights issues, these issues of flouting democratic norms.”

Raising The Price Of Dissent

India elected Modi in 2014. His huge mandate and his pledges of rapid economic growth immediately drew international attention. But so did his disdain for dissenting voices, his promotion of Hindu nationalism in the diverse, historically secular country, and his role in huge anti-Muslim riots in 2002.

In office, Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have overseen raids on media organizations and nonprofits ― most recently the BBC ― and an increase in violence against Muslims and other Indianminorities. Additionally, the government has tightened control over Jammu and Kashmir, the country’s only Muslim-majority state, and meted out a record number of internet shutdowns while casting protesters and Modi’s political opponents as enemies of India.

“He’s a very rigid, authoritarian, communal and divisive leader who strongly believes in a no-questions-asked approach,” Naik said.

Naik has experienced how that approach is not limited to India’s borders.

After he covered Modi’s 2019 crackdown in Kashmir, Naik left for the U.S. in 2020, where he began running a hate crime tracker called Hindutva Watch. Since then, Indian authorities have contacted his parents 11 times to discuss his work, he said, in one instance summoning his father to an army camp. Former friends and colleagues stopped talking to Naik.

A year and a half ago, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a senior police officer in India and saying he had a file on Naik, the reporter recalled. He later received a text message purportedly from a representative of India’s Intelligence Bureau asking when he was coming back to the country so the two could meet in person.

“The moment I will land in India, I’ll be in shackles,” Naik said.

“A lot of people in the diaspora who criticize Modi, they fear the same,” he continued, saying that feeling often spurs self-censorship.

India’s embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

The Indian government can also use more subtle ways to punish critics internationally.

Many Indian Americans are worried about losing their Overseas Citizenship of India cards, a form of permanent visa. (India does not permit dual citizenship.) In 2021, the Indian government reportedly canceled OCI cards for people who supported demonstrations by farmers, and in 2019, it revoked the card from Aatish Taseer, a high-profile writer critical of Modi.

“If they can go after [Taseer], it’s a good signal,” Suchitra Vijayan, another writer, told HuffPost. “It’s almost impossible for people who are not as famous as him to actually fight …it sent such chilling shockwaves around the community.”

Rasheed Ahmed, the executive director of the Indian American Muslim Council, told HuffPost he had heard of Indian diplomats writing to individuals saying their cards needed to be reviewed.

“There is a considerable level of apprehension – beyond apprehension, fear – in the Indian Muslim community. If there is a protest, people say they don’t want to go,” Ahmed continued, noting community members’ anxieties about continued access to family members or business interests in India.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House on Wednesday. Modi will join Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Thursday for bilateral talks before speaking to a joint session of Congress.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House on Wednesday. Modi will join Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Thursday for bilateral talks before speaking to a joint session of Congress.

The effort to discourage criticism of Modi can blur the lines between India’s government, his political movement and his unofficial defenders.

In February, a Twitter account called @DisInfoLab attacked Sunita Viswanath, a U.S.-based activist who runs Hindus for Human Rights, as an agent of George Soros, the billionaire donor to good government watchdogs and liberal politicians who is a global bogeyman for conservatives. Earlier this month, prominent BJP operative Amit Malviya began recirculating the claim, tacking on a suggestion that Viswanath works with Indian nemesis Pakistan.

The overall environment is one of feeling watched and vulnerable, activists say, with people disturbed by Modi’s actions regularly assessing how they can safely channel their discontent ― given the potential danger that they or people close to them could face just because of something like a video of them circulating in pro-Modi WhatsApp groups.

Those feelings are amplified by signs that Modi supporters in India are cooperating with ultraconservative members of Indian immigrant communities to quash criticism, Chakrabarty noted. “People have experienced death threats from addressing quote unquote touchy issues within the diaspora,” she said, citing the example of a California state senator who sought to bar discrimination on the basis of the Hindu concept of caste. “These are pretty coordinated campaigns.”

In 2021, Vijayan’s organization, the Polis Project, worked on a conference titled Dismantling Global Hindutva that drew 1.8 million emails’ worth of complaints to universities and people involved in the project, she said, causing some participants to discuss calling the plan off for safety reasons.

“Imagine an academic conference held online and curated by predominantly American universities being intimidated in a way that they wanted to cancel,” Vijayan said.
Weathering Pro-Modi Storms

For many Modi observers, the work of boosting awareness about his policies and seeking American pressure for changes are too important to abandon.

“You cannot preempt authoritarian regimes ― you cannot stay silent because you think something might happen… I would also be very wary of just being silent,” Vijayan said.

Deepa Iyer, a longtime activist in the South Asian American community, sees a bright spot in the willingness of a broader range of groups to speak out about changes in India.

“The more people who speak out, the greater safety there is,” she said.

She and Chakrabarty noted how upper-caste Hindus are particularly conscious of their position. They may be more shielded from criticism or more focused on less visible activism, like trying to explain worrying developments to family members.

Another factor that organizers consider in community members’ willingness to speak out is whether their loved ones in India live in BJP-run states and what immigration status they hold in the U.S., Chakrabarty noted.

“We build towards this choir of voices … there’s real power when you’ve got a surge,” Iyer said.



Washington’s broader conversation about Modi echoes the discussions among activists in some ways: whether to be public or not on the issue of human rights.

Naik argued that the sense of intimidation he and other Modi critics feel shows the importance of clear U.S. action.

“This is a clear example of transnational repression,” he said, using a term the Biden administration frequently deploys in critiquing other nations’ approach to overseas critics. “They have taken action against the Chinese, they have taken action against the Iranians… unfortunately it has been the case that they only use [the relevant policies] against their adversaries.”

Biden’s team argues that private persuasion is the best way to encourage India to change course. In a call with reporters on Wednesday, a senior administration official said the president raises rights issues to Modi “with respect” and “humility,” acknowledging that the U.S. has its own shortcomings as a way to create “a dialogue based on mutual challenges rather than simply hectoring, lecturing or scolding.

“That kind of interaction, that kind of respectful approach, tends to be more effective,” the official said.

But the lack of concrete signs that Modi is easing his approach to minorities and critics leaves many observers unimpressed with that line ― and determined to keep raising the alarm despite the toll.

“If the general thinking is to address issues behind the scenes, it has clearly not worked,” Gill said.

A senior congressional aide described the letter from Jayapal and more than 70 other lawmakers as a symptom of confusion about Biden’s approach.

“There is not a clear public understanding of how the values discussion is figuring in the broader bilateral relationship with India. That’s both the U.S. administration’s fault but also the Indian government’s,” the aide said. “The internal struggle is how do you get India to move the ball on these issues… we should be talking about all of the things, and if there’s a clear sense that values is part of the broader discussion, then you’d see less of a public-facing criticism on human rights and democracy issues.”

Gill summarized the yearning for more visible action.

“If India is calling itself the world’s largest democracy, we need to hold them to democratic norms and standards.”

AIIB Chief Rejects Canada’s Concerns and Is Confident of Members’ Support

Brian Platt and Natasha White
Thu, June 22, 2023 




(Bloomberg) -- The president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said he’s not worried about Canada reviewing its involvement with the institution and contended that other major-country shareholders are supporting the lender.

“I don’t think a serious government would make any decision not based on facts,” Jin Liqun, the bank’s president and board chair, told Bloomberg News on the sidelines of a financing summit in Paris.

“We think all the allegations are baseless,” said Jin, a Chinese national who is serving his second five-year term as president. “We have a very strong governance structure and adhere to international best practice.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government announced last week that Canada would halt all activities with the bank while she conducts a review of allegations made by an outgoing executive.

Bob Pickard, a Canadian who served as AIIB’s global head of communications, posted on Twitter that he was quitting because the lender was “dominated by Communist Party members and also has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable.”

Pickard has also since alleged in interviews that the AIIB was considering funding projects in Russia again, despite a freeze on such activities since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

While Pickard’s tweets gave Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland the public opening to halt her government’s involvement with the AIIB, Canadian officials say the government’s concerns go deeper and predate Pickard’s allegations.

There are specific concerns about the bank’s governance being too centralized, which will be part of the review, said the officials, who spoke on condition they not be named. They said the review is not just a rhetorical exercise and kept open the possibility that Canada chooses to remain an AIIB shareholder.

But Canada also has more general concerns about the bank’s positioning regarding Russia. Freeland has been adamant that Russia be cut off from access to global financial institutions until it withdraws from Ukraine. Some Canadian officials see the AIIB as preferring to keep a neutral stance on President Vladimir Putin’s war and potentially opening the way for re-engaging with Russia.

Asked about the AIIB’s stance on Russia, Jin said there is no change to the bank’s policy since the invasion. “We issued a declaration after the war broke out in Ukraine that we put all the projects in the pipeline for Russian and Belarus on hold for review,” he said.


Jin declined to say how long that review of Russian projects might last. “I don’t predict the future, but the review goes on,” he said. “The management makes this decision in the interest of every member of this bank.”

So far, none of the AIIB’s other 105 members have publicly adopted Canada’s position, including Group of Seven countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. The United States is not a member and has long warned allies about the bank’s lack of transparency and independence from China’s leadership.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank should act as a “counterweight” to China’s growing clout in the developing world. Beijing hit back, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin saying “they are not called the IMF or the World Bank of the United States.”

While China is the largest shareholder in the AIIB with 26.6% of the voting share, Jin is the only Chinese national on the bank’s senior leadership team. Other members include former Chief Secretary to the UK Treasury Danny Alexander and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Urjit Patel — both nationals of countries with strained ties to Beijing.

The AIIB, which is headquartered in Beijing, was established in 2016 with the goal of “investing in sustainable infrastructure in Asia and beyond,” according to its website. It says it has so far invested in 221 projects worth $42 billion.

Canada applied to join the AIIB in 2016 and formally entered the institution in 2018. As of 2019, it was dedicated to a 1% membership in the bank that would commit it to a stake worth $995 million.

Trudeau’s government launched the probe of its involvement with the bank as it fends off criticism over its handling of alleged Chinese interference in recent Canadian elections. The Chinese embassy in Canada has denied the claims.

--With assistance from Lucille Liu, Bryce Baschuk and Akshat Rathi.

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Senegal Secures $2.7 Billion in Climate Finance From G-7 Nations




Ania Nussbaum and Souhail Karam
Thu, June 22, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- Senegal has secured 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of funding from Group of Seven countries to transition to cleaner energy, making it the first country that doesn’t rely on coal for electricity to get funding under such a program.

The so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership funding seeks to increase renewable energy to 40% of the West African nation’s electricity mix over seven years, President Macky Sall said Thursday at the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris. Renewables already account for 31% of its mix, he said.

“International partners and multilateral development banks”’ will make the finance available over the next three to five years, the partners - France, Germany, the European Union, the UK and Canada - said in a statement. “Additional financing may be mobilized during and beyond this period to support Senegal’s ambitions.”

The deal is modeled after one South Africa is pursuing with G-7 countries and several institutions to access $8.5 billion in climate finance. Other coal-dependent nations such as Vietnam and Indonesia are negotiating similar packages.

The program is an effort by some of the world’s most industrialized nations, which produced the bulk of the emissions causing climate warming, to help emerging nations invest in renewable energy and reduce their own output of greenhouse gases as they develop.

A JETP is now also being considered with Mongolia, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna said.

Senegal currently relies on burning oil and gas to produce most of its electricity, rather than coal. In contrast, almost all of South Africa’s power output comes from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel.

But the West African nation is also preparing to produce gas, using part of the output to boost its electricity supply, while also developing a liquefied natural gas industry for export.

The EU — one of the partners of the JETP — is treading a careful line between promoting renewables globally, while also having to protect its own energy needs in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The issue reared its head at COP27 — Europe was accused of using Africa as its “gas station” with countries like Germany tapping Senegal to help make up for its shortfall in Russian supplies.

The $31 billion economy is set to expand the most in sub-Saharan Africa this year after the first gas is produced from the BP Plc-backed Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field, International Monetary Fund projections show.

The GTA project, straddling the border between Senegal and Mauritania, is expected to start production in the last quarter of this year. A second phase may start as early as 2024, but will require about $5 billion in financing that may be difficult to secure given the increasing antipathy toward fossil-fuel projects.

“Gas as a transition fuel needs to be able to coexist with renewable energy,” Sall said Thursday.

Senegal intends to use its gas as a transitional energy, while gradually phasing out heavy fuel oils overtime, the international partners said in their statement. The country is determined to “strengthen the deployment of renewable energies in its energy mix as part of its Integrated Low-Cost Electricity Plan, with a view to reducing emissions from the sector, while enabling fair and resilient development,” they said.

The JETP will offer some respite to Senegal, which has separately requested $1.8 billion of funding support from the IMF. The country has already secured a staff-level agreement for a credit facility of $1.5 billion and an additional $300 million from a new trust set up to help vulnerable countries build resilience to external shocks such as climate change. It still requires final funding approval from the IMF Board.

“Africa’s most urgent need is infrastructure financing,” said Sall, adding that the continent lacks everything from road and rail networks to electricity. “So these are our needs, beyond just the climate.”

Bloomberg Philanthropies is one of the Paris summit’s official sponsors.

--With assistance from John Ainger.

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