Quebec power utility studies possible reopening of Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor

The Canadian Press
Thu, August 10, 2023 



MONTREAL — Quebec's hydroelectric utility is studying whether to reopen the province's only nuclear power generating station as a response to a growing demand for clean energy.

Hydro-Québec confirmed Thursday that it's looking into restarting the Gentilly-2 reactor in Bécancour, Que., on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. The plant opened in 1983 and closed in 2012.

"Concerning Gentilly-2, an assessment of the plant's current condition is underway, in order to evaluate our options and inform our thinking about Quebec's future energy supply," the utility said in a statement.

The Crown corporation expects demand for clean energy to increase "significantly" as efforts to reduce carbon emissions continue.

It would be "irresponsible" to exclude certain energy sources, such as nuclear power, amid this "immense challenge," it said, citing an "open mind" on the part of its new CEO, Michael Sabia.

But Pierre-Olivier Pineau, professor of energy sector management at the HEC Montréal business school, doubts reviving nuclear power would be profitable in Quebec.

In 2012, the provincial government under then-premier Pauline Marois accepted Hydro-Québec's recommendation to close Gentilly-2, in part because of the high cost of refurbishing the plant.

"More than 10 years later, costs can only go up because we've started dismantling the plant," Pineau explained in an interview. An increase in construction costs in the last decade means "the nuclear bill could turn out to be very high," he said.

The professor pointed to alternatives to expand the energy supply, such as increasing energy efficiency in homes, wind, solar and geothermal power. "All this can help us reduce our consumption" at a lower cost, he said. "And it would avoid the debates that are always difficult on technologies like nuclear, where there are risks (and) there is waste management that is never easy."

That doesn't mean nuclear power is inappropriate in all contexts, Pineau suggested.

"There are countries on Earth that need nuclear power because they have so much coal and no access to ... hydroelectricity or wind power," he acknowledged. In those cases, he continued, nuclear energy may be a healthier alternative to coal, which pollutes the atmosphere and whose extraction endangers the health of miners.

The announcement by Hydro-Québec comes at a time when the provincial Energy Department is conducting a consultation on the development of clean energy sources in Quebec. The ministry has pledged to table a bill on the subject this fall.

In its submission as part of the consultation, the Conseil du patronat du Québec, an organization that represents employers in the province, suggested nuclear power should not be excluded from consideration.

"Today, nuclear power generates waste. On the other hand, we know that science and technology are evolving," the organization's president, Karl Blackburn, said in an interview. "If we close the door now, we may be depriving ourselves of opportunities for tomorrow."

Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Patrick Bonin said nuclear power is an unnecessary risk for a province with many other options. "There's no doubt that if the government and Hydro-Québec want to go ahead with nuclear power again in Quebec, there will be an unprecedented outcry," Bonin said in an interview.

Quebec politicians also reacted sharply to Hydro-Québec's statement on Gentilly-2. Provincial Liberal Leader Marc Tangay called on the government to "launch a genuine national discussion on Quebec's energy future," saying in a press release that it's "unacceptable that our nation's energy future be decided behind closed doors."

Haroun Bouazzi, energy critic for left-leaning party Québec solidaire, called Hydro-Québec's position on Gentilly-2 "worrying," given the lack of evidence that nuclear power is "necessary to meet our ecological transition objectives."

Last June, Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said although he had an "intellectual" interest in nuclear power and the province would have to consider new energy sources, "today, in Quebec, we're not there."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2023.

-- With files from Stéphane Rolland

Coralie Laplante, The Canadian Press

India plans welfare measures for gig workers ahead of elections

Fri, August 11, 2023 
By Manoj Kumar

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - India plans to roll out welfare measures for "gig" workers employed through platforms like Amazon, Uber and India's Zomato as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government prepares for elections, government and trade union officials said.

The plan, part of the Social Security Code enacted in 2020, could include accident, health insurance and retirement benefits, said a senior government official with direct knowledge of the plan.

Ahead of the elections early next year, Modi's party is eager to announce steps after the northern state of Rajasthan, ruled by opposition Congress party, approved setting up a fund through a surcharge on sales at platforms.

"There is an urgency to announce relief measures for gig workers," said a government official, citing meetings with trade unions, gig platforms and state officials.

Gig workers need state protection, given rising exploitation by employers, said Ashwani Mahajan, an economic official at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh group, which has close ties to Modi's government.

India's gig workers, those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are rapidly becoming an important part of the world's fifth-biggest economy as the sector surged under COVID-19 restrictions and has been boosted by high unemployment.

BOOMING GIG ECONOMY

The labour ministry declined to comment on the plans. Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav told lawmakers this week any scheme for gig workers might be funded through contributions by federal and state governments, as well as the platforms.

An industry expert with direct knowledge of the discussions said the platforms unanimously agreed with the labour ministry's proposal about social security for gig workers and were ready to contribute to a "transparently" run welfare fund.

"We expect the announcement of federal measures in the next few months as players don't want to deal with multiple states."

Amazon, asked for comment on the proposed scheme and its potential costs, referred Reuters to a Thursday media statement that the company had created over 1.3 million jobs in India for delivery agents and sellers, including 140,000 in the past year, while boosting the retail business of small firms.

Uber and Zomato did not immediately respond to requests for comment.


In addition to the big-name companies, hundreds of other online platforms and the people they hire for piecemeal work would be affected, spanning services such as cab-sharing, retail, food, construction and finance.

There are no official figures for the size of India's gig economy, although private estimates put the number employed at 10 million to 15 million people. The Boston Consulting Group forecast in 2021 it had the potential to create 90 million jobs and annual transaction volumes over $250 billion.

By 2030, the government think tank NITI Aayog estimates, the gig economy could employ more than 23.5 million, about 7% of the non-farm workforce.

The government has not calculated the cost of the planned welfare measures as it must get data from the companies, said the sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

'WE SHOULD BE RECOGNISED'

The government could initially provide gig workers with state-funded medical and accident insurance and a mechanism to address complaints, one official said, while a setting mechanism for employers' contributions to the fund.

The measures propose employers contribute between 1% and 2% of their annual revenues to a security fund, up to 5% of the amount paid to workers, the sources said.

More than 290 million people have registered for an online government portal meant to issue identity cards to gig workers and other unorganised employees, while gathering such details as biometric data and their skills.

The government is worried about rising complaints by gig workers and social media campaign against platforms about cuts in commission and long working hours.

Blinkit, the grocery unit of food delivery platform Zomato, faced disruptions in operations in April when hundreds of workers protested over commission cuts.

"We have no channel to raise our complaints," said Uber driver Sheetal Kashyap, 47, adding women workers like her face safety risks and exploitation due to low bargaining power.

Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers representing over 45,000 cab drivers, said they were lobbying political parties for a package before the elections.

"We should be recognised as employees, eligible for all benefits under labour laws, including fixed working hours and decent working conditions."

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty; Editing by William Mallard)

ChatGPT fever spreads to US workplace, sounding alarm for some

ng alarm for some
FILE PHOTO: Illustration picture of ChatGPT




Fri, August 11, 2023 
By Richa Naidu, Martin Coulter and Jason Lange

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many workers across the U.S. are turning to ChatGPT to help with basic tasks, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found, despite fears that have led employers such as Microsoft and Google to curb its use.

Companies worldwide are considering how to best make use of ChatGPT, a chatbot programme that uses generative AI to hold conversations with users and answer myriad prompts. Security firms and companies have raised concerns, however, that it could result in intellectual property and strategy leaks.

Anecdotal examples of people using ChatGPT to help with their day-to-day work include drafting emails, summarising documents and doing preliminary research.


Some 28% of respondents to the online poll on artificial intelligence (AI) between July 11 and 17 said they regularly use ChatGPT at work, while only 22% said their employers explicitly allowed such external tools.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2,625 adults across the United States had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 2 percentage points.

Some 10% of those polled said their bosses explicitly banned external AI tools, while about 25% did not know if their company permitted use of the technology.

ChatGPT became the fastest-growing app in history after its launch in November. It has created both excitement and alarm, bringing its developer OpenAI into conflict with regulators, particularly in Europe, where the company's mass data-collecting has drawn criticism from privacy watchdogs.

Human reviewers from other companies may read any of the generated chats, and researchers found that similar artificial intelligence AI could reproduce data it absorbed during training, creating a potential risk for proprietary information.

"People do not understand how the data is used when they use generative AI services," said Ben King, VP of customer trust at corporate security firm Okta.

"For businesses this is critical, because users don't have a contract with many AIs - because they are a free service - so corporates won't have run the risk through their usual assessment process," King said.

OpenAI declined to comment when asked about the implications of individual employees using ChatGPT, but highlighted a recent company blog post assuring corporate partners that their data would not be used to train the chatbot further, unless they gave explicit permission.

When people use Google's Bard it collects data such as text, location, and other usage information. The company allows users to delete past activity from their accounts and request that content fed into the AI be removed. Alphabet-owned Google declined to comment when asked for further detail.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

'HARMLESS TASKS'

A U.S.-based employee of Tinder said workers at the dating app used ChatGPT for "harmless tasks" like writing emails even though the company does not officially allow it.

"It's regular emails. Very non-consequential, like making funny calendar invites for team events, farewell emails when someone is leaving ... We also use it for general research," said the employee, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak with reporters.

The employee said Tinder has a "no ChatGPT rule" but that employees still use it in a "generic way that doesn't reveal anything about us being at Tinder".

Reuters was not able independently confirm how employees at Tinder were using ChatGPT. Tinder said it provided "regular guidance to employees on best security and data practices".

In May, Samsung Electronics banned staff globally from using ChatGPT and similar AI tools after discovering an employee had uploaded sensitive code to the platform.

"We are reviewing measures to create a secure environment for generative AI usage that enhances employees' productivity and efficiency," Samsung said in a statement on Aug. 3.

"However, until these measures are ready, we are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI through company devices."

Reuters reported in June that Alphabet had cautioned employees about how they use chatbots including Google's Bard, at the same time as it markets the programme globally.

Google said although Bard can make undesired code suggestions, it helps programmers. It also said it aimed to be transparent about the limitations of its technology.

BLANKET BANS

Some companies told Reuters they are embracing ChatGPT and similar platforms, while keeping security in mind.

"We've started testing and learning about how AI can enhance operational effectiveness," said a Coca-Cola spokesperson in Atlanta, Georgia, adding that data stays within its firewall.

"Internally, we recently launched our enterprise version of Coca-Cola ChatGPT for productivity," the spokesperson said, adding that Coca-Cola plans to use AI to improve the effectiveness and productivity of its teams.

Tate & Lyle Chief Financial Officer Dawn Allen, meanwhile, told Reuters that the global ingredients maker was trialing ChatGPT, having "found a way to use it in a safe way".

"We've got different teams deciding how they want to use it through a series of experiments. Should we use it in investor relations? Should we use it in knowledge management? How can we use it to carry out tasks more efficiently?"

Some employees say they cannot access the platform on their company computers at all.

"It's completely banned on the office network, like it doesn't work," said a Procter & Gamble employee, who wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

P&G declined to comment. Reuters was not able independently to confirm whether employees at P&G were unable to use ChatGPT.

Paul Lewis, chief information security officer at cyber security firm Nominet, said firms were right to be wary.

"Everybody gets the benefit of that increased capability, but the information isn't completely secure and it can be engineered out," he said, citing "malicious prompts" that can be used to get AI chatbots to disclose information.

"A blanket ban isn't warranted yet, but we need to tread carefully," Lewis said.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu, Martin Coulter and Jason Lange; Editing by Alexander Smith)

China salutes WWII American general Joe Stilwell in personal push to improve US ties


Thu, August 10, 2023 

China has rolled out the red carpet for the descendants of a second world war American general, commemorating the late officer as Beijing turns to informal personal contacts to improve ties between the two countries.

Yuan Jiajun, the Communist Party chief of Chongqing, met members of the family of Joseph Stilwell in the southwestern city on Wednesday.

The group included Susan Cole and Nancy Millward, the great-granddaughters of the general who was based in the city during the war and worked closely with Chinese leaders against Japanese forces.

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"[We] hope to take this visit as an opportunity ... to better promote people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States and contribute to the development of China-US relations," Chongqing Daily quoted Yuan as saying.

Members of the family have visited China before but previous commemorations have not attracted such attention.

Yuan is one of the 24 members of the Politburo, the party's inner circle, and his presence this time for the 140th anniversary of Stilwell's birth highlights Beijing's focus on informal contact with the United States.

Despite some resumption of senior-level official communication, relations with Washington remain in the doldrums and Beijing has opted to host a series of prominent American public figures to try to promote ties.

In June, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his "American friend" billionaire Bill Gates that people were the foundation of relations.

"We count on the American people, and hope for lasting friendship between the two peoples," Xi told the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, just days before meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In July, Xi met former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, telling the centenarian that "we never forget our old friends".

Xi said he hoped that Kissinger and "other people of foresight" in the US could continue to play a constructive role in restoring relations between the two countries.

That theme continued on Wednesday when Yuan referred to Stilwell as "an old and good friend of the Chinese people".

"We will always remember his name," he said.

Stilwell's efforts were a key chapter in the history of US-China collaboration and he is the only high-ranking US military figure who has a museum dedicated to his memory in China.

As part of this week's events commemorating his 140th birthday, Cole and Millward planted a friendship tree at the museum in Chongqing on Tuesday together with Liu Ning and Liu Yinna, the great-grandson and great-granddaughter of Zhu De, the founder of the Chinese Red Army, which later became the People's Liberation Army.

When Stilwell died in 1946, Zhu said that not only had the US lost a great general but the Chinese people had lost a great friend.

The commemorative events also included a seminar on Tuesday, attended by more than 150 people, including representatives from the Chinese foreign ministry and the US embassy in Beijing.

China has previously saluted the legacy of the Chinese-American wartime friendship to foster relations.

In April last year, Qin Gang, then China's envoy to Washington, attended the 80th anniversary of the Flying Tigers, a group of American pilots who fought for China against Japanese forces during the second world war.

Qin addressed the event while wearing a Flying Tigers jacket sent by two US veterans.

During a trip to Chongqing in May, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns visited the Stilwell museum and one dedicated to the Flying Tigers.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experts fear US carbon capture plan is ‘fig leaf’ to protect fossil fuel industry

Staff and agencies
Fri, August 11, 2023 

Photograph: Reuters

The US energy department has announced it is awarding up to $1.2bn to two projects to directly remove carbon dioxide from the air, a fledgling technology that some climate experts worry will distract and undermine efforts to phase out fossil fuels.

The process, known as direct air capture, does not yet exist on a meaningful scale, and the move was being seen as the US government taking a big bet coming after July was confirmed as the hottest month ever recorded on its surface.

Countries are currently not cutting planet-heating emissions enough to avoid disastrous global warming of 2C, or more, above pre-industrial times. This shortfall means that planting forests and developing machines that can suck carbon directly from the air will be required to remove billions of tons of greenhouse gases, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Related: Why carbon capture and storage will not solve the climate crisis any time soon

But Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, recently warned that carbon capture was “no free lunch” and that countries should be wary. The most recent IPCC report was published in March and warned it was “now or never” to take action on emissions with the world on the brink of irrevocable damage.

Reacting to the news of the US investments by the Biden administration on Friday, some experts were worried the technology was being used as a “fig leaf” by the fossil fuel industry.

The projects selected for energy department backing are Project Cypress, which will be built in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, and the South Texas DAC Hub, which is planned for Kleberg County, Texas.

Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, talked up the potential of the technology in a press conference call. “If we deploy this at scale, this technology can help us make serious headway toward our net zero emissions goals while we are still focused on deploying more clean energy at the same time,” she said.

Shannon Boettcher, professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, said direct air capture technologies are not yet cost effective, but are worth some investment in research and development.

Claire Nelson, a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said moving away from fossil fuels and producing the things we need without emissions are the most important ways to address climate change.

But the scale of change needed makes direct air capture necessary as another tool. “In order to have direct air capture ready at the scale we need it by 2050, we need to invest in it today,” she said.

However other experts said the investments were a mistake.

“This money could be so much better spent on actual climate solutions that would be cutting emissions from the get go,” said Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, a group that publicizes climate solutions. He cited energy efficiency and lowering emissions from agriculture, transportation, electricity generation as better approaches.

“What worries me and a lot of other climate scientists is that it potentially creates a fig leaf for the fossil fuel industry … the idea that we can keep burning stuff and remove it later,” Foley added.

The Biden administration delivered a historic climate bill last August though the president’s record on the climate has been undercut by his aggressive giveaway of oil and gas drilling leases on public land, including the controversial Willow oil project in Alaska.

SCI-FI-TEK

U.S. Energy Department announces $1.2 billion to build two carbon dioxide removal sites in Texas, Louisiana

A.L. Lee
Fri, August 11, 2023 

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced funding to build two direct air capture facilities in Texas and Louisiana to help mitigate the global climate crisis. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Energy will announce $1.2 billion in climate funding Friday to build two commercial-scale direct air capture facilities in Texas and Louisiana that will help reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The initiative is being funded through President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is part of the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, which aims to build a national network of carbon removal sites to mitigate the escalating climate crisis.

The funding for the project stands to become the world's largest-ever investment in engineered carbon removal, with each new hub capable of clearing more than 250 times more carbon dioxide from the air than the largest capture facility in operation today, the Energy Department said in a statement.

The goal of direct air capture is twofold -- to remove perpetual carbon dioxide pollution from the atmosphere and extract the everyday emissions from human activities like transportation, industry, manufacturing and waste management, as well as the CO2 produced by wildfires.

"Cutting back on our carbon emissions alone won't reverse the growing impacts of climate change; we also need to remove the CO2 that we've already put in the atmosphere -- which nearly every climate model makes clear is essential to achieving a net-zero global economy by 2050," said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

In total, the new facilities are expected to rid the air of more than 2 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year -- which is equal to the amount of contaminants put out by 445,00 gas-powered vehicles, the agency said.

Biden's net-zero emissions plan, however, is far more ambitious -- calling for between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2 to be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources annually by 2050.

The rising hubs in Calcasieu Parish, La., and Kleberg County, Texas, will kickstart the effort while fostering labor and community growth as the administration seeks increased solutions to extreme weather events that continue to rack the country each year due to climate change.

"Their development will help inform future public and private sector investments and jumpstart a new industry critical to addressing the climate crisis on a global scale," the Energy Department stated. "DOE is dedicated to ensuring that the selected Regional DAC Hubs projects deliver community benefits and avoid harm in those communities while also advancing the development of carbon capture, transport, and storage systems."

The direct air capture process separates carbon from oxygen, and thus reduces CO2 in the atmosphere. The trapped CO2 can then be safely stored underground or converted into useful carbon products like concrete, which would prevent its release back into the air.

Carbon dioxide removal technology is critical to curtailing climate change and could help the United States become more competitive in the global economy of the future, the agency said.

The construction and ongoing maintenance of the facilities will create nearly 5,000 new jobs in Texas and Louisiana, the agency said.

A recent report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change blamed carbon dioxide pollution for warming the planet and its oceans continuously for more than half a century while damaging public health and ecosystems worldwide.

Energy Department announces largest-ever investment in 'carbon removal'

Emissions rise from the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal power plant as the suns sets, near Emmett, Kan.

 (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

ISABELLA O'MALLEY

Updated Fri, August 11, 2023 

The Energy Department announced Friday it is awarding up to $1.2 billion to two projects to directly remove carbon dioxide from the air in what officials are calling the largest investment in “engineered carbon removal” in history.

The process, known as direct air capture, does not yet exist on a meaningful scale and could be a game changer if it did and were economical.

“If we deploy this at scale, this technology can help us make serious headway toward our net zero emissions goals while we are still focused on deploying more clean energy at the same time,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a press conference call.

Project Cypress will be built in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. South Texas DAC is planned for Kleberg County, Texas. Each claims it will capture up to one million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year initially. A representative of the Texas project said it will scale up to remove 30 million metric tons per year once fully operational. No date was given.

Officials said the projects will create 5,000 jobs for local workers and people formerly employed in the fossil fuel industry.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, who was also on the conference call, said his state, with its experience in petrochemical manufacturing, density of pipelines and geology, is best suited for projects that tackle carbon.

The announcement shows the big bets the Biden administration is making on technologies that capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground to address climate change. It's this gas more than any other that is heating the planet.

Several scientists agreed with making some investment in direct air capture.

Claire Nelson, a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said moving away from fossil fuels and producing the things we need without emissions are the most important ways to address climate change. But the scale of change needed makes direct air capture necessary as another tool. “In order to have direct air capture ready at the scale we need it by 2050, we need to invest in it today,” she said.

Tim Lieuwen, executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology agreed that the pollution from some kinds of heavy industry will need to be addressed through technologies like direct air capture.

“We need to look at reducing emissions as quickly as practically possible,” said Melissa Lott, director of research for the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

“This means more efficiency, more clean energy, and the use of other technologies including carbon management,” she said.

Shannon Boettcher, professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, said direct air capture technologies are not yet cost effective, and are worth some investment in research and development.

But some others say the technology for sucking carbon dioxide out of the air is still in its infancy, funding it is misguided, and the focus should be on eliminating emissions.

“This money could be so much better spent on actual climate solutions that would be cutting emissions from the get go,” said Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, a group that publicizes climate solutions. He cited energy efficiency and lowering emissions from agriculture, transportation, electricity generation as better approaches.

“What worries me and a lot of other climate scientists is that it potentially creates a fig leaf for the fossil fuel industry ... the idea that we can keep burning stuff and remove it later,” Foley added.

It's still unclear what role direct air capture will play in lowering emissions. Established technologies like solar, wind, and batteries continue to grow fast.

______

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

CLASS WAR AMERIKA
These parents are on strike from their jobs. Here's what it means for their families.

As various workers hit the picket line, parents who are striking share what it's like, and how they talk about it with their kids.

Elena Sheppard
Tue, August 8, 2023 

Parents share why they're striking, and how it affects their family. (Image: Getty; Victoria Ellis for Yahoo News) ((Photo: Getty Images/Victoria Ellis for Yahoo News))


The past few years have been transformative for American workers. With the effects of the pandemic, the Great Resignation and general upheaval in myriad industries, workers are demanding more and fighting to get it. A government report from February 2023 indicates that due to the strength of the labor market and rise in popularity of unions, strikes increased by over 50% in 2022 — and that was well before the high-profile and ongoing Screen Actor’s Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strikes began in recent months. While strikes have obvious implications for businesses and industries, there are also the less obvious personal impacts that they have on individuals — and if those individuals are parents, then also on their children.

In conversations with parents on strike in different industries, a commonality is clear: They will keep fighting to improve their children’s lives and to set examples for their futures.

“I think a general misconception of strikes is that the workers that are on strike are lazy. But striking is so much more exhausting than working. It’s physical, and emotional, and mental,” shares Jacklyn Gabel, a mom, Starbucks shift manager and a leader in the Starbucks Workers Union campaign which organizes workers at Starbucks across the country. Her Starbucks location, in Santa Cruz, Calif., has been on strike five times and unionized in 2022.

“We’re fighting for medical insurance, our salaries, the amount of work, because now everything is so expensive in this city and this country,” adds Graciela Gomez, a room attendant at the Four Points Sheraton near Los Angeles International Airport for the last 23 years. Gomez, a mother of four adult children, is on strike with UNITE HERE Local 11. Dozens of hotels in Los Angeles currently have workers on strike, citing a central reason as their inability to live near their jobs on their current pay checks. Gomez notes that as one of her reasons for striking, but adds that taking care of her children is another. “One of my children has schizophrenia and so for me the most important thing is insurance,” she says. “He cannot work and I am the head of our household.”


Across the country in New York, Nick Blaemire and Ana Nogueira, parents to a 10-month-old daughter, are on strike for both SAG-AFTRA and WGA. While their jobs are not in the service industry, the universal desire to be fairly compensated and make a wage that allows them to care for their families is at the heart of everyone’s fight. “Everyone who gets into this industry knows that it's a gamble. But when we were first coming up, there was a real promise of a way to make a living, a good middle-class living, working only in entertainment,” says Noguiera, noting that doesn’t seem possible within the current systems.

“We are striking in pursuit of more economic certainty (or as much as you can get in this industry) for ourselves and for our daughter. Our hope is that this is a short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain,” says Noguiera

“In terms of work, it feels like a second pandemic,” adds Blaemire. “We used to be busy and now we're not. The upside is, we've had an extended parental leave. So that's the silver lining we're focusing on.”

Elsewhere in New York, Gia Crovatin and her husband are also a dual household on strike from SAG and WGA. With a 3-and-a-half-year-old, Crovatin says she finds herself trying to explain the fight in the simplest terms possible. “We’re not getting into too many details about capitalism but I tell her Mommy has to go into the city to do her work. And my work today is I’m going to go stand in line with people and make it be known that there are things that are wrong that we’re fighting to make right,” Crovatin shares. “I say things to her like, ‘Sometimes we have to stand up for everybody.’”

Crovatin notes that since the pandemic, their family finances have been tight. “We’ve never recovered from that time,” she says. “I’ve seen a massive decrease in residuals just in the past year,” she adds, mentioning that receiving 22-cent checks has become part of the norm. “My husband and I are prepared to stay the course of the fight,” she says. “But the logistics of that are going to be tough.”

For many striking workers, like Gabel and Gomez, strike funds help to keep them financially afloat while they are not receiving paychecks, but Gabel notes that retaliation from her employer is often waiting on the other side. “I’ve been here for a lot of hard shifts and every day feels like the hardest so far. But it’s intended that way to wear us down so that we leave and we never stick around long enough to fight back,” she shares. Yet she stays. “I love my job,” she adds. “I came to the company super-proud to work for Starbucks. I came for the progressive values, I love making coffee, I love connecting with folks. That’s why I stay.”

Gabel adds that her 10-year-old daughter is learning about workers' rights by watching her mother’s fight. “I lead by example, just like with anything else,” Gabel tells Yahoo Life. “My daughter is already so much more aware of the difference of right and wrong than I was her at age.”

“The work of people for the collective good is just so vital,” shares Crovatin. “That's honestly how I want to live my life, and how I want my daughter to learn how to live her life too.”

With strike talk prevalent as UAW negotiates, labor expert weighs in

Eric D. Lawrence, USA TODAY
Tue, August 8, 2023 

Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild walk a picket line outside of Paramount Pictures, in Los Angeles, California, on July 21, 2023. Tens of thousands of Hollywood actors went on strike at midnight on July 14, 2023, effectively bringing the giant movie and television business to a halt as they join writers in the first industry-wide walkout in 63 years.More

With UAW leadership taking a much more assertive approach publicly to negotiations with the Detroit Three than in the recent past, the prospect of a strike has been a hot topic even before talks got under way last month.

But there’s more to a strike than employees just walking off the job and hoisting signs.

Marick Masters, a Wayne State University business professor and labor expert, broke down some of the different types of strikes and their implications during a recent interview with the Free Press. Masters also offered his take on auto talks so far and what’s at stake.

There are a few basic types of strikes, Masters said.

“The most common is an economic strike, and that occurs when the parties reach an impasse over their negotiating positions. They can’t settle the differences. As you know, (United Auto Workers union President) Shawn Fain came out with a very ambitious list of negotiation demands … and should the parties not reach an agreement over that then you would have an economic strike,” Masters said.

One of the potential implications for workers during an economic strike is that strikers can be temporarily and permanently replaced by employers, he said, describing that, however, as “highly unlikely” in the case of the auto industry. Such a move by Ford Motor Co., General Motors or Stellantis, owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, would be seen as a massively insulting step and quite impractical, he said.

Other types of strikes include an unfair labor practice strike, which could apply if a company refuses to bargain in good faith, or a wildcat strike, which isn’t authorized by the union and happens at a particular work site. Unfair labor practice strikers can be replaced only temporarily; a wildcat strike would probably not be considered a legal strike. In addition, specific industries, such as the public sector or railways, might have different rules or prohibitions when it comes to a strike.

Masters also referenced another type of strike that is not common in the United States but he said was more frequent in the past — a general strike, which would involve workers striking across numerous industries in protest of a political or wider economic situation or in solidarity with other workers.

UAW President Shawn Fain reveals "audacious" and "ambitious" member demands for the 2023 contract negotiations during a Facebook live meeting on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

One of the milestones of the U.S. labor movement was the 1936 Flint Sit-Down Strike against General Motors, which led to the first contract between the automaker and the union. Masters said that would probably be considered an illegal strike today, but the union was seeking the right to be recognized.

“Generally speaking, in strikes today, parties cannot occupy the facility and prevent the company from operating it, they have to remain in certain boundaries outside the facility and have pickets and they can’t interfere with the employer’s ability to conduct operations,” Masters said. “In Flint, it was early days of (the National) Labor Relations Act, and employers were often very reluctant to grant recognition and unions had to resort to a variety of different tactics to achieve the goals.”

Many unions today face different challenges, such as when dealing with high-profile companies like Amazon and Starbucks. Those workers might secure a union, but they face significant hurdles in getting to a first contract.

Masters said unions like the UAW and Teamsters do a fairly good job of both preparing and educating their members for and about strikes and their implications and in offering support, pointing to the decision by the UAW to increase weekly strike pay to $500.

However, he noted that anything could happen in the event of a strike.

“The biggest tool that management has in an economic strike is it can replace these workers permanently, and so the workers may never get their jobs back even if they want them back. The strike wasn’t per se illegal, but that doesn’t mean they have a permanent right to their job back if the strike ends,” Masters said.

Not all workers face the same risk of replacement, however.

It’s impractical to contemplate permanent replacement workers at companies like UPS, where Teamsters members are currently voting on a tentative agreement, because of the scale of that operation and the pressure to settle a contract because of the potential loss of business, Masters said. In the case of the auto industry, Detroit Three automakers can do some stockpiling of vehicles but would likely have limited capacity to prepare that way for an extended strike and would risk losing too much business to competitors as well should a dispute drag on too long.

Those same factors might not favor Hollywood actors or writers, who are currently engaged in their own high-profile strikes, Masters said, noting that some of the companies involved in those sectors might be more motivated to try to break the unions.

“Not all workers are equal in terms of their replaceability. I think that’s the touchstone,” he said, noting the 1981 strike by air controllers that ended in a mass firing by then-President Ronald Reagan as an example of what can go wrong for workers in a strike.

Masters’ big worry for the Detroit Three and the UAW is a miscalculation, and he urged the two sides to take stock.

“I think it’s important for both sides to engage in reality checks at this point in time (to) preserve the capacity of the companies to survive,” Masters said.

He noted, however, that while there's a distinct possibility of a UAW strike, he doesn't believe one is inevitable.

"There is a path to success in terms of achieving the objective of the parties … the devil's going to be very much in the detail. And there's not a whole lot of time to work things out,” he said.

Speaking generally, Masters highlighted the role that strikes play in labor relations.

“People have always understood the power of withholding your work is a real weapon, perhaps a weapon of last resort, but it's what gives workers their real punch in dealing with employers,” he said.

Masters said many people believe no one benefits from a strike and it’s a miscalculation.

“But it is an economic tool that’s used to force employers to concede, and the threat of it is often more powerful than its actual usage,” Masters said.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What to know about labor strikes as UAW negotiates

Car manufacturers are headed for a labor showdown

Jeronimo Gonzalez
Thu, August 10, 2023 

The News

Up to 150,000 hourly workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are prepared to strike in demand for a 40% wage increase and, as the industry pivots to electric vehicles, guarantees that the contracts at the new plants will be comparable in terms of salary and safety.

The fallout could have massive implications beyond Detroit. President Joe Biden has made his handling of the economy one of the central themes of his reelection campaign, and a protracted auto workers’ hold out — on top of Hollywood’s lengthy strike — could negate that.

We’ve gathered key reporting and analysis on the potential implications of an auto workers’ strike.

Insights

Companies may agree to higher wages because they can afford those, but not to the union’s demands for a shorter work week or the ability to strike over plant closings. “The companies can’t afford anything that puts them in a straitjacket,” said Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan business professor, and with the pivot to EV, automakers will need “flexibility” to adjust or even close facilities. —

Biden and the Democrats are caught between trying to gain the United Auto Workers’ support in 2024 voting efforts, while also addressing the UAW’s concerns over the administration’s push to EV. The union — which has not yet endorsed Biden’s reelection — may cause headaches for the administration that has tried to portray itself as the most pro-labor in history. —

Late last year, an Ohio-based joint venture between General Motors and LG Chem became the first U.S. plant making electric vehicle batteries to unionize. The vote, which had the backing of 694 out of 710 voters, was heralded as a milestone event. Unionizing showed that workers at EV battery plants “want to be part of maintaining the high standards and wages that UAW members have built in the auto industry,” the union’s then-president said.

GM, Ford Slide as $80 Billion Union Risk Hits Confidence

Esha Dey
Thu, August 10, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. were among the biggest decliners in the US stock market Thursday on growing concern that demands from union leaders could send the automakers’ labor costs soaring.

The United Auto Workers are calling for wage increases and other changes that the biggest US car companies estimate would add more than $80 billion in expenses for each of them, Bloomberg reported this week. The demands come just weeks after the Teamsters union reached a tentative deal with United Parcel Service Inc. adding tens of billions of dollars in new costs, which led the courier to cut its financial outlook for the year.

GM shares fell 5.8% Thursday in New York, their biggest daily plunge in nearly eight months. Ford fell 4.5% and Stellantis NV declined 1.8%. GM and Ford were the second- and fourth-biggest percentage decliners on the benchmark S&P 500.

“GM and Ford may be in the penalty box for a while. Wall Street hates uncertainty,” said Morningstar analyst David Whiston. “This is not a normal negotiation both in style and the demands they are asking.”

The so-called Big Three US automakers are mired in tense negotiations with the UAW on a new four-year contract. The union wants a 46% wage increase, restoration of traditional pensions, cost-of-living increases, a shorter work week and better retiree benefits.

Read More: UAW Demands Would Add $80 Billion to US Carmaker Labor Costs

The carmakers have pushed back on many of the demands, but organized labor is having a moment in the US, especially after Teamsters’ success negotiating the favorable new deal last month with UPS.

UAW President Shawn Fain contends the roughly 150,000 union-represented workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis are due a payback for helping the companies recover from the Great Recession a decade ago, which set them up for record profits. On the other hand, the carmakers say they already offer generous pay and benefits, and need to keep wages competitive with lower-paying and non-union rivals like Tesla Inc. as they invest billions into the shift to electric vehicles.

“The ongoing talks with the UAW over a labor agreement always cause concerns for investors because a potential strike would negatively impact operations at the companies, and impact profit outlooks,” Argus Research analyst William Selesky said in an interview.

--With assistance from Catherine Larkin and David Welch.

 Bloomberg Businessweek

United Auto Workers calls Stellantis contract offer 'trash'


David Shepardson
Tue, August 8, 2023 

(Reuters) — United Auto Workers (UAW) union President Shawn Fain angrily tossed contract proposals from Stellantis (STLA) in a trash can on Tuesday, citing numerous concessions that the Chrysler parent is seeking in labor talks.

"Stellantis proposals are a slap in the face," Fain said during an online chat, disclosing the company is proposing cuts to health-care coverage, fewer vacation days for new hires, employer cuts to 401(k) contributions, and lifting a cap on the number of temporary employees. "Management has chosen to spit in our faces."

During the chat Fain tossed a copy of the Stellantis proposal in a waste basket. "That's where it belongs — in the trash — because that's what it is," he said.

The July 27 company document seen by Reuters makes many proposals aimed at reducing absenteeism, which the automaker said cost it more than 16,000 vehicles of lost production, or $217 million in lost revenue.

Stellantis also seeks to cut pension, health-care and other costs, saying that amid government electric vehicle rules, it "is imperative we find ways to reduce the overall fixed cost structure of our business."

The owner of the Jeep, Peugeot and Chrysler and brands said the cumulative increase in employee health-care costs over the next four years is expected to be $613 million.

The UAW said the automaker opposes an end to two-tier wages, a practice of newer hires getting paid much less than veteran workers.

Fain cited an Aug. 1 statement Stellantis made to Reuters that the automaker is "not seeking a concessionary agreement." Stellantis did not comment.

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain (C) speaks with workers at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023 in Wayne, Michigan, the start of contract negotiations with Stellantis. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

The UAW is seeking pay raises of more than 40% over four years, significant additional time off, and a restoration of defined-benefit pensions previously eliminated for newer workers.

Stellantis' proposal said it wants to "minimize pension costs," which are approximately $1 billion annually.

The current four-year contracts with Stellantis, General Motors and Ford Motor expire on Sept. 14. Fain warned Tuesday: "The clock is ticking - time to get down to business."

Two people briefed on the matter told Reuters that automakers have estimated the UAW's contract demands could raise the current mid-$60-per-hour labor rate to more than $150 per hour.

The UAW is also seeking to make all temporary workers at U.S. automakers permanent, add a substantial increase in paid time off, and restore retiree health-care benefits and cost-of-living adjustments. The union also wants new limits on temporary workers.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Bernadette Baum, Marguerita Choy and Leslie Adler)

Chrysler owner calls for focus on reality in UAW labor talks

The New York International Auto Show, in Manhattan, New York City

Fri, August 11, 2023 at 7:52 AM MDT
By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -Chrysler parent Stellantis sharply criticized the demands of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Friday, saying they need "a focus on reality from everyone involved."

Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said in a letter to employees seen by Reuters the automaker is "committed to working with the UAW to reach an agreement based on economic realism."

A UAW spokesman declined immediate comment on Stewart's letter, but earlier this week UAW President Shawn Fain called the Stellantis proposals "trash" and tossed a copy of them in a waste basket in live streamed remarks.

Stewart added that agreeing to Fain's "demands could endanger our ability to make decisions in the future that provide job security for our employees. This is a losing proposition for all of us."

The current four-year contracts with Stellantis, General Motors and Ford Motor expire Sept. 14.

The UAW has said it is seeking "audacious and ambitious" improvements, including pay raises of more than 40% over four years, significant additional time off, and a restoration of defined-benefit pensions previously eliminated for newer workers.

Fain Tuesday criticized numerous concessions Stellantis is seeking.

"Stellantis proposals are a slap in the face," Fain said disclosing the company was proposing cuts to healthcare coverage, fewer vacation days for new hires and lifting a cap on temporary employees.

Stewart said Fain did not fairly represent the negotiations.

"The theatrics and personal insults will not help us reach an agreement," Stewart wrote, adding "now is the time to come to the table with open minds and a commonsense approach." He added "at this very early stage, no one should jump to any conclusions about the outcome of the process."

Stellantis has made proposals aimed at reducing absenteeism and cutting pension, healt-care and other costs, saying that amid government electric vehicle rules, it was imperative to "find ways to reduce the overall fixed cost structure of our business".

The UAW also said the company opposes an end to two-tier wages, a practice of newer hires getting paid much less than veteran workers.

Two people briefed on the matter told Reuters this week automakers have estimated the UAW's contract demands could raise the current mid-$60-per-hour labor rate to more than $150 per hour.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Alexander Smith)