EU further scrutinises Microsoft, OpenAI tie-up


By AFP
June 28, 2024


The EU concluded Microsoft's tie-up with OpenAI does not mean the US tech giant has control of the ChatGPT maker

 - Copyright AFP/File 

Charly TRIBALLEAU

The EU will examine the impact of Microsoft’s multi-billion-dollar partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI on competition in the fast-growing AI market, the bloc’s antitrust chief said Friday.

But the European Commission concluded after a preliminary examination that the $13 billion tie-up did not mean the US tech giant had taken control of OpenAI.

“The key question was whether Microsoft had acquired control on a long-lasting basis over OpenAI. After a thorough review… we concluded that as such, it was not the case,” said EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.

“So we are closing this chapter. But the thing is that the story is not over,” she said during a speech in Brussels.

Instead, the EU has now demanded more information from Microsoft about the agreement between the two companies, Vestager said, “to understand whether certain exclusivity clauses could have a negative effect on competition”.

She also said the EU has sought more information about Google’s arrangement with Samsung to pre-install its small version of the AI system, Gemini, on some devices made by the South Korean giant.

And Brussels wanted to understand the impact of so-called “acqui-hires”, Vestager added, which is when a company acquires another firm mainly to grab the key talent.

Microsoft earlier this year announced a deal to hire senior figures from OpenAI rival Inflection, including its boss, to head up a newly created consumer AI unit. But unlike a merger, Inflection still operates as an independent company.

This means it does not face a traditional merger probe, which would have given regulators the right to block an acquisition.

The EU’s study of Microsoft and OpenAI came after an abortive boardroom coup last year against the ChatGPT maker’s CEO Sam Altman, whom Microsoft supported and even briefly hired.

American and British regulators are also looking at the partnership.

Microsoft welcomed the conclusion of the EU’s examination.

“We appreciate the European Commission’s thorough review and its conclusion that Microsoft’s investment and partnership with OpenAI does not give Microsoft control over the company,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

“We stand ready to respond to any additional questions the European Commission may have.”


EU questions Shein, Temu over consumer protection

By AFP
June 28, 2024


The EU wants Shein and Temu to provide information by July 12

 - Copyright AFP/File

 Charly TRIBALLEAU

The EU on Friday demanded wildly popular shopping platforms Shein and Temu explain what action they are taking to protect consumers, including children.

The query was made under the EU’s breakthrough law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) that forces platforms to do more to tackle the sale of illegal and harmful goods.

The European Commission said it wants to know what action the Chinese-founded platforms have taken to make sure users can notify them about illegal products.

It also wants to know how Shein and Temu are complying with rules regarding online interfaces to avoid “dark patterns”, the practice of tricking users into making unwanted purchases or opting-in to certain settings without their knowledge.

The commission added it wants more information about how they are guaranteeing the transparency of their recommender systems — algorithms used by platforms to push more personalised content — and the ease with which sellers can be traced.

Both companies must provide the information by July 12.

Shein said it was “working to promptly address” the demand for information.

“We share the commission’s goal of ensuring that consumers in the EU can shop online with peace of mind, and we will continue working closely with the commission,” a Shein spokesperson said.

Temu said it was “cooperating fully” with the EU. “We’d also like to reiterate that we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in the markets where we operate,” a Temu spokesperson said.

The commission said its request for information was also based on a complaint submitted by consumer organisations.

In May, Europe’s BEUC umbrella consumer rights group filed a complaint against Temu with the European Commission, accusing the app of using “manipulative techniques”.

Both platforms have a sizeable European user base.

Shein, a Chinese-founded company which is headquartered in Singapore, has said it has around 108 million monthly active users in the 27-nation EU.

Temu only arrived in Europe last year and has said it has on average around 75 million monthly active users in the bloc.

Shein and Temu also recently joined fellow marketplaces AliExpress, Amazon and Zalando on a list of 24 “very large online platforms” facing stricter safety rules under the DSA, which have more than 45 million monthly active users in the European Union.

Aid groups press to stop Sudan ‘man-made’ famine as 755,000 projected to starve

By AFP
June 28, 2024


People line up to register for potential food aid delivery at a camp for internally displaced persons in Agari, South Kordofan, on June 17, 2024 

- Copyright AFP Yuki IWAMURA

Shaun TANDON

Aid groups are warning that Sudan’s “man-made famine” could be even worse than feared, with the most catastrophic death toll the world has seen in decades, without more global pressure on warring generals.

A UN-backed study said Thursday that 755,000 people are on the brink of starvation in Sudan, a death toll not seen since the 1980s when famine in Ethiopia shocked the world.

Barrett Alexander, the director of programs in Sudan for Mercy Corps, said even that figure could be an underestimate as the conflict has displaced farmers in the country’s agricultural areas, raising fears for the next harvest.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a little bit higher than that number,” he said of the projection by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, or IPC.

“We’re seeing a man-made likely famine happen in front of our eyes that’s primarily conflict-induced,” Alexander, who is based in Port Sudan, told AFP on a visit to Washington.

The IPC said that nearly 26 million people — half of Sudan’s population — were facing acute food insecurity with the 755,000 in catastrophic conditions, including around the capital Khartoum and Darfur, the scene of a scorched-earth military campaign two decades ago.

Fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces after a plan to integrate them failed, with the warring generals seizing territory.

Alexander said that both sides have imposed cumbersome levels of bureaucracy, including requiring permits of aid workers.

“Getting across the frontlines is nearly impossible,” he said.

– Eating grass –

Eatizaz Yousif, Sudan country director for the International Rescue Committee, said there have already been accounts of people resorting to eating grass in South Kordofan state.

“Definitely we will be seeing very soon people dying from a lack of food in different parts of the country,” said Yousif, who was also in Washington.

She said that the belligerents have looted food warehouses and harassed or killed humanitarian workers.

“It’s definitely a man-made hunger crisis because we don’t have a problem with the level of grain at this time,” she said.

The United States has been seeking to bring the warring sides back to the negotiating table but has seen little interest, with diplomats saying both sides believe they can win on the battlefield.

The two sides “must negotiate an immediate ceasefire to facilitate predictable and sustained humanitarian access to all Sudanese and remain at the negotiating table to end this conflict,” Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for International Development, said in a statement.

Regional players have increasingly been involved in Sudan, with the United Arab Emirates accused of funneling military support to the Rapid Support Forces, whose fighters helped the wealthy Gulf country in Yemen.

The paramilitaries have also allegedly received support from Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, while Egypt, Turkey and reportedly Iran have backed the army.

With multiple conflicts in the world, donors have provided only 17 percent of the $2.7 billion sought by the United Nations to help Sudan.

“Compare Sudan with crises like Gaza and Ukraine — maybe they are more important in the geopolitical arena,” Yousif said.

“If you see the number of displaced and the number of humans suffering, Sudan should be on the top of humanitarian attention,” she said.

Mongolia ruling party wins reduced majority in vote dominated by graft

By AFP
June 29, 2024

Millions of Mongolians turned out to elect 126 members of the State Great Khural, the country's unicameral parliament - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Oliver HOTHAM

Mongolia’s ruling party emerged from this week’s polls with its parliamentary majority significantly diminished Saturday, local media said, after a campaign dominated by graft fears and the state of the economy.

Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene early Saturday morning declared victory in the previous day’s polls, in which millions of Mongolians turned out to elect 126 members of the State Great Khural, the country’s unicameral parliament.

And on Saturday, local media outlet Ikon — collating figures provide by the country’s General Election Commission — reported the ruling Mongolian People’s Party had won 68 seats, giving it a majority of four.

The main opposition Democratic Party won 42, Ikon reported, while the minor anti-corruption HUN party won eight. Smaller parties won eight seats between them.

And at a press conference Saturday afternoon in the capital Ulaanbaatar, the head of the Electoral Commission said there remained some votes to be counted by hand to verify results collated by machines.

“Only six to seven polling station are remaining, but the hand counting matches the machines 100 percent,” he said.

“These polling stations will be finished very soon,” he added.

The results — the first under a new electoral system in which Mongolians vote for both proportional lists and individuals representing large districts — mean the MPP will govern with a greatly reduced majority.

– ‘Rebuke’ –

The new parliament will see the MPP hold 54 percent of the seats, compared to around 80 percent in 2020.

“This election result definitely represents a rebuke to MPP and the entirety of its leadership,” Bayarlkhagva Munkhnaran, an analyst and former official with the National Security Council of Mongolia, told AFP.

Winning 68 seats is “barely a face-saver and any subsequent government will be a weak but much more democratic one,” he said.

“The biggest winners are Mongolian people who resolutely hit the polling stations and confirmed their unequivocal support for democratic path.”

Analysts had expected the MPP to retain the majority it has enjoyed since 2016 and govern for another four years.

They say the party can credit much of its success to a boom in coal mining that fuelled double-digit growth and dramatically improved standards of living, as well as to a formidable party machine.

But the campaign was dominated by deep public frustration over endemic corruption, as well as the high cost of living and lack of opportunities for young people who make up almost two-thirds of the population.

There is also a widespread belief that the proceeds of the coal-mining boom are being hoarded by a wealthy elite — a view that has sparked frequent protests.

Planting giant cactus to stave off desertification in Brazil

By AFP
June 28, 2024

Alcides Peixinho Nascimento walks through his plantation of mandacaru

 - Copyright AFP Volker Hartmann
Pablo PORCIUNCULA and Carlos FABAL with Lucia LACURCIA in Rio de Janeiro

Giant spiky cacti tower over farmer Alcides Peixinho Nascimento, 70, one of the residents of Brazil’s unique Caatinga biome who is on a mission to plant native vegetation in a bid to halt desertification.

“In the absence of laws, it is up to us to act,” said Nascimento, who is trying to regenerate his land by planting mandacaru, an emblematic cactus from the region that grows up to six meters tall.

The Caatinga stretches across ten northeastern states, a unique area boasting a tapestry of thorny shrubs, twisty trees and succulents adapted to its semi-arid conditions.

Its plight attracts little interest compared to the lush Amazon, but the vegetation of this dry forest plays a key role in absorbing carbon emissions and is rapidly disappearing.

The MapBiomas NGO reports it has lost 40 percent of its original surface area due to agriculture, mining and the installation of wind farms.

It is in the Caatinga, which has been facing increasingly severe periods of drought, that scientists recently identified the first arid zone in Brazil.

“Preserving the Caatinga means keeping the land alive,” said the farmer Nascimento.

Communities are adopting various sustainable farming methods to ensure their survival.

Nascimento’s drought-resistant cacti grow fruit that can feed both animals and humans, and protect the soil from the extreme climate.

Their thorns repel predators and are often planted around other crops and native species.

Excess mandacaru production is sold to a French cosmetics brand to make creams and soaps.

– ‘Guardians of the Caatinga’ –



Luiz Almeida Santos, of the local agricultural NGO IRPAA said the Caatinga was being preserved in areas where “traditional communities live” who adopt sustainable farming practices.

“They are the guardians of the Caatinga”.

A recent study predicted nine out of 10 species of fauna and flora in the Caatinga could disappear by 2060.

The IRPAA also teaches local communities how to stretch their water to last through severe drought.

On her land in northern Bahia, Maria Goncalves dos Santos, 60, shows how rainwater is collected and stored in a cistern.

“Here, all the water is reused,” she said. Wastewater is filtered and used to water animal pastures.

Goncalves measures the level of the 16,000-liter tank with a ruler and logs her consumption in a notebook.

The government has set up nearly a million tanks like this in the region since 2003.

Installations slowed dramatically under far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, but the program has recently been relaunched under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Another threat to the Caatinga is the rural exodus, and the IRPAA has set up a training center where it has taught some 200 young people about sustainable farming methods.

“In our region, we do not have many opportunities, we have to travel to seek knowledge. I am happy to be able to contribute to the well-being of my community,” said Anderson Santos de Jesus, 20, who traveled 200 kilometers (124 miles) to reach the training center.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M  2 TIERED JUSTICE
Embezzlement-accused French media scion reinstated as CEO

By AFP
June 28, 2024

Arnaud Lagardere's company has eroded since he inherited it from his father - Copyright AFP Greg Baker

French media baron Arnaud Lagardere, who resigned from running the sprawling group of the same name in April over embezzlement charges, was reinstated as chief executive Friday after a favourable court decision, the company said.

Lagardere, who sold the firm built by his father to media giant Vivendi in November, had been temporarily barred from holding management positions over alleged misuse of corporate funds at some of his companies not belonging to Lagardere group.

Now he has secured the “partial lifting of the ban measure” in a court ruling, Largardere SA said in a statement.

A judicial source confirmed to AFP that the 63-year-old is within his rights to return to the top seat, despite being charged with embezzlement.

It was “a very great joy for me to resume as chief executive of the group that bears my name,” Lagardere himself said in the statement.

As well as thanking other company chiefs, he added a special note of gratitude to “our shareholders, and particularly the largest among them, the Bollore family”.

Billionaire Vincent Bollore, owner of a news station dubbed France’s Fox news among other conservative outlets, controls Lagardere SA’s owner Vivendi and is a close friend of Lagardere himself.

The November sale of the company to Vivendi completed the gradual erosion of the group Lagardere inherited from his father Jean-Luc in 2003.

Once a vast empire from publishing to aerospace, Lagardere SA still operates the profitable Relay chain of airport and train station stores, airport duty-free shops and major performance venues.

Its media operations include radio station Europe 1, Sunday paper the Journal du dimanche and France’s top book publisher Hachette.

Experts press Swiss foundation over Nazi-era art collection

By AFP
June 28, 2024

The controversial collection includes works by Renoir and other French Impressionists - Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Christophe VOGT

A Swiss foundation must do more to trace the provenance of works in a vast art collection acquired in questionable circumstances during World War II, a team of experts said Friday.

There has long been suspicion around the Nazi-era origins of one of Europe’s most prestigious private art collections, acquired by arms dealer Emil Buhrle, who made his fortune during the war.

The German-born industrialist became a naturalised Swiss citizen in 1937. By the time he died in 1956, he had amassed around 600 artworks, including masterpieces by Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt, Picasso and Van Gogh.

Some had previously been looted from their Jewish owners, or sold cheaply and in haste as their owners fled the Nazis.

The Buhrle Foundation, which owns the collection, has been working to clarify the provenance of the works for years.

Its efforts came into particular focus when Kunsthaus Zurich, one of Switzerland’s most prestigious art museums, agreed to permanently house the collection. Until then, it had been displayed at a private museum on the outskirts of Zurich.

The Kunsthaus has faced especially keen scrutiny since it opened a new building to house a large part of the collection in 2021.

– ‘Insufficient’ –

A team of experts mandated by the Zurich authorities and the museum to evaluate the foundation’s research on provenance on Friday concluded that it had been “insufficient”.

“Provenance research must be continued,” said the team, led by renowned Swiss historian Raphael Gross, president of the German Historical Museum Foundation.

The Buhrle Foundation has confirmed that 13 paintings bought by the German-born industrialist had been stolen by the Nazis from Jewish owners in France.

Following a series of court cases after World War II ended, in the late 1940s Buhrle returned all 13 pieces to their rightful owners then repurchased nine of them, the foundation said.

But the foundation says its research over two decades concluded there were no signs of “problematic provenance” for any of the 203 works in the current collection.

Friday’s expert review examined the foundation’s sources, methodology, accuracy, standards and historical contextualisation.

Voicing particular concern that the foundation had categorised 90 works as unproblematic despite lacking full provenance research, the experts insisted they should all be re-examined.

The research should “concentrate on clarifying the previous Jewish ownership and persecution-related confiscation of the works”, they added.

“Without the Nazi’s persecution of Jews, the Buhrle Collection would never have reached the level it did,” Gross reporters at a new conference, the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reported.

– ‘Superficial’ –

The experts conducted an in-depth examination of the provenance investigation conducted on five emblematic works. They research there, they said, was so “superficial that decisive indicators (were) overlooked”.

One of the works, “Madame Cezanne with a Fan” by Paul Cezanne, had belonged to the US writer, poet and art collector Gertrude Stein, who was living in Nazi-occupied France.

“Gertrude Stein sold it to an art dealer who demonstrably exploited the plight of Jewish refugees,” it said. “The provenance of this work has not yet been sufficiently researched”.

The experts urged the Kunsthaus to set up an interdisciplinary panel to create a scheme for examining all art in its own collection and on long-term loan that could potentially be linked to Nazi-related confiscations.

The report also suggested the museum conduct a further debate, if possible a public one, about the Buhrle collection and the museum’s association with his name.

Nippon Steel fight points to industry’s uncertain future in Pennsylvania

By AFP
June 29, 2024

The Edgar Thomson steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, which has been producing since 1875, would go to Nippon Steel under a proposed buyout of United States Steel - Copyright AFP Rebecca DROKE

John BIERS

Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of United States Steel has been a source of unease in Pittsburgh, where the metal once dominated the economy and still looms large in the collective psyche.

Critics such as the United Steelworkers (USW) see the transaction as the latest threat to come along in a years-long struggle to keep the industry alive after plant closures in 1970s and 1980s battered the American rustbelt.

“There’s just so much history here and a lot of pride that comes with that,” said the USW’s Bernie Hall, a 4th generation metals worker. “It wouldn’t be western Pennsylvania without steel.”

In December, US Steel sealed a $14.9 billion deal to sell itself to Japan’s Nippon Steel, which has promised investments to keep Pennsylvania factories competitive with foreign producers and newer “mini mills” in the American South that are less taxing on the environment.

But Hall, head of the Pennsylvania chapter for the USW, said the Japanese company had been evasive about specific plans for Pittsburgh-region plants in an area called the Mon Valley, the earliest of which dates to 1875.

Both President Joe Biden and challenger Donald Trump have vowed to annul the deal as the two compete for blue-collar votes, putting the transaction into limbo, probably until after the November election at least.

At stake are the Pittsburgh region’s last remaining steel factories, located just outside the city.

– City transformed –

For most Americans, Pittsburgh remains virtually synonymous with steel, partly owing to the prominence of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football team.

But the complexion of a metropolis once known as the Smoky City changed fundamentally after the last plants shuttered in the 1980s.

Steel “is still part of our identity, but we’re disconnected from that identity,” said former steelworker Edward Stankowski Jr., whose memoir “Memory of Steel” details his exit from the industry with thousands of others in the early 1980s.

Stankowski, whose childhood Pittsburgh home looked out onto steel plants, started in the industry out of high school in the 1970s when many young men viewed the job as a ticket to the middle class, trading hard labor in a hazardous setting for good wages and a solid retirement.

The land where Stankowski’s factory once stood in Pittsburgh’s South Side has been repurposed and now includes apartments named “Hot Metal Flats” and a Cheesecake Factory restaurant.

“I do not miss it,” said Stankowski, who went to university after leaving steel and is now a professor at La Roche University. “I like having clean air. I like having clean water.”

Steel was well suited to western Pennsylvania, a region with waterways and an abundant supply of coal, but “there’s been a fundamental, almost tectonic shift in the geography of steel,” said regional economist Chris Briem of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Mon Valley plants “have been around a long time,” Briem said. “If they don’t get a lot of new reinvestment, they probably won’t be competitive much longer.”

Locals see symbolism in the renaming of US Steel tower downtown as the UPMC building after the region’s biggest employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.


– Long-term commitment? –

Once owned by Andrew Carnegie, the Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock is one of three western Pennsylvania factories that US Steel manages together with a fourth plant in eastern Pennsylvania in an operation known as “Mon Valley Works.”

Nippon has promised to keep the plants open and invest $1.4 billion in USW-represented facilities through 2026 when the current labor contract expires. The company has also vowed to keep US Steel’s 1,000-worker office in downtown Pittsburgh.

“You cannot tell the story of US Steel without Pennsylvania playing a leading role, and Nippon Steel will keep it that way,” Nippon vice chairman Takahiro Mori wrote in a June 9 op ed in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Nippon has hinted that odds for US approval could improve after November. Backers of the transaction argue that US Steel could be broken up if the deal dies, adding more uncertainty to US Steel’s 3,000 hourly workers in Pennsylvania.

But the USW says Nippon’s plans are vague and give the company an out in a downturn.

“They’re saying they’re going to invest in the plants,” Hall said. “What does that mean?”

Workers want a sign that whoever runs Mon Valley “is interested in running these mills for the long-term and really investing in this community,” Hall said. “That’s exactly what they’re not hearing from either Nippon or US Steel.”

Some Mon Valley workers interviewed by AFP slammed the deal as a money grab by US Steel management, expressing fear about their jobs. But others are open to it.

Alex Barna, a machinist at the West Mifflin plan, described himself as “on the fence” as he weighs his hopes and worries, saying of Nippon, “they might be in it for the long haul.”

Biden, Trump battle for blue-collar voters as steel merger looms


By AFP
 June 28, 2024


President Joe Biden in April unveiled steel tariffs at the United Steel Workers Headquarters in Pittsburgh after receiving the union's endorsement the prior month - Copyright AFP Emmanuel DUNAND

John BIERS

Working class voters in Rust Belt cities like Pittsburgh used to favor Democrats overwhelmingly, but years of economic hardship and the rise of social issues favoring Republicans have made them a swing constituency again in 2024.

President Joe Biden has cleared one key hurdle, winning endorsements from union presidents, including the United Steelworkers (USW), a key player in the US Steel takeover battle that has loomed over the 2024 campaign in Pennsylvania.

But just how many rank-and-file workers ignore union chiefs and vote for Donald Trump could have a decisive impact in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where the margin could be 100,000 votes or fewer.

Biden backers point to the incumbent’s reliable support of organized labor, links to working-class Scranton, Pennsylvania and legislative accomplishments like the 2021 infrastructure law.

“We listened to four years of Donald Trump talking about infrastructure, because there was a lot of lip service,” said steelworker JoJo Burgess in a Biden ad. “Joe Biden delivered on it.”

“Right now, we have the most pro American worker president in office that we’ve ever had,” said Burgess, who is also mayor of Washington, Pennsylvania.

But Rudy Sanetta, a maintenance worker at US Steel, prefers Trump on the economy and because of his stance on gun rights.

“I like him for his resistance to the politicians,” Sanetta said of Trump. “The other guy, I have no confidence.”

Working class voters “are the most pivotal because they’re the ones who have actually demonstrated that they’re willing to select either Trump or Biden,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Exit polling from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2020 suggests the swing to Biden of white working class voters who favored Trump in 2016 “significantly influenced the difference between winning and losing,” according to a May paper by progressive political consultant Mike Lux Media and the organized labor-backed group In Union.

But the paper pointed to recent polling that showed a drop in Biden’s support among union households in Wisconsin and Michigan, while Pennsylvania was unchanged from 2020.

“Democrats need to understand that these working-class Heartland voters have been through a lot of tough times over the last few decades,” said the paper, which urged early outreach from trusted sources that connects with voters’ “real-life experience to counter digital misinformation and social pressure.”

– Eroding support –

Since Trump’s political emergence, there has been considerable debate about the different reasons for the erosion of white working-class support for Democrats.

Some commentators view Trump’s 2016 upset as at least partly a racial backlash after the presidency of Barack Obama and Trump’s embrace of issues like illegal immigration.

Other commentators, like Ruy Teixeira of the American Enterprise Institute, have called the Democratic Party’s progressive positions on issues like police reform and transgender rights alienating to voters who are more culturally conservative.

The 2023 book “Rust Belt Union Blues,” a case study of the Pittsburgh region, points to the after-effects of the 1970s and 1980s industrial downturn that led to huge job losses and shuttered union halls, weakening labor’s bargaining hand with companies.

The downturn also diminished the community role of unions, which once held picnics and other gatherings where members would don colorful pins promoting their locals; this contributed to a solidarity oriented around issues like fair wages and health care.

While unions still hold some activities, many workers who survived industry downsizings now socialize around religion and hunting, where politically-oriented groups lean conservative, according to authors Lainey Newman and Theda Skocpol.

– Pocketbook issues –

Bernie Hall, who leads the USW Pennsylvania district, agreed that many union members have varied affiliations, but said work remains central.

“Especially in western Pennsylvania, you know people really identify with the union,” he said.

Hall, who praised Biden as a “blue-collar” Democrat who has delivered for voters, predicted Biden would win a majority of steelworkers, but acknowledged that Trump holds considerable support.

Some workers turned to Trump after decades of industrial decline to “blow up” the system, Hall said, adding, “I still think there’s an appeal to that for some people.”

Alex Barna, a machinist at US Steel, was a lifelong Democrat who voted for Obama. But since 2016, Barna has voted for Trump twice and will do so again, crediting the former president’s tax cuts with a good economy before Covid-19.

“What affected us was the pocketbook and the pocketbook” was good, said Barna’s wife, Helen, contrasting it with today’s higher inflation.

“A lot of people think of the four years of the mean tweets,” said Helen Barna. “At least we lived better.”

Is there a new generational interest in US manufacturing employment?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
PublishedJune 28, 2024

A shortage of semiconductors hampered auto production in 2021, sending used car prices higher and fueling the spike in US inflation. — © AFP

New survey data shows that 83 percent of the so-termed Gen Z cohort are open to or likely to consider trade jobs, while 78 percent of another marketing demographic – Millennials – share the same viewpoint.

Overall, younger demographics are showing increased interest in moving into some form of trade-related occupation, unlike the Baby Boomers and Generation X cohorts.

This is based on a recent survey conducted by ARC (American Revitalization Company), a real estate and business development firm.

Data from the National Association of Manufacturers further bolsters these findings, revealing the sector’s substantial economic contribution. In Q4 2023, manufacturing injected $2.89 trillion annually into the U.S. economy, with every dollar spent in manufacturing generating a total economic impact of $2.69.

As of May 2024, the sector provided employment to nearly 13 million workers. It is also a resource hungry sector as the survey reveals: all industrial users consumed 33.25 quadrillion Btu of energy in 2022, or 33.5 percent of the total.

In terms of what areas of ‘trade’ are the most appealing, when asked to select an industry, 46 percent of respondents preferred manufacturing over other trade jobs.

There are challenges, however, as a McKinsey report points out: “Gen Z workers say they’re open to jobs in manufacturing. But getting them to take these jobs, engage, and stay will mean changing a work environment long optimized for machines, not people.”

The survey also recovered a nationalistic and protectionist element, suggesting that over 80 percent of people living in the U.S. consider manufacturing essential to the U.S. economy. This strong sentiment was followed up with views expressing the desire to see manufacturing operations, where the operation has left the U.S., to be relocated to or retained on ‘American’ soil. Some 54 percent expressed concerns about the negative implications of outsourcing manufacturing operations.

This perhaps suggests that the U.S. association with the free-trade neoliberal economic model is declining.

According to Steve Austin, partner at ARC: “Americans understand the vital role that manufacturing plays in the U.S. economy.”

He adds: “Americans recognize that manufacturing was critical to building our nation’s economy during the Industrial Revolution, its continuing importance to our current economic health, and they want to restore its presence meaningfully. At ARC, we are committed to ensuring this happens.”

Ying and yang of AI bots: How the war on hiring is being fought


By Dr. Tim Sandle
June 29, 2024

DIGITAL JOURNAL


Current AI systems, designed to be honest, have developed a troubling skill for deception, from tricking human players in online games of world conquest to hiring humans to solve "prove you're not a robot" tests, a team of scientists argue - Copyright AFP/File OLIVIER MORIN

The use of artificial intelligence in assessing job applications and in the hiring processes overall is growing within human resource management circles. For its advocates, this technology is transforming the landscape for both applicants and employers.

In additio9n, AI is also aiding those pursing work. Job seekers are leveraging AI tools to craft cover letters, résumés, and even automate job applications, while employers are deploying AI to sift through the surge of applications.

Sara Gutierrez, Chief Science Officer at SHL, sees the use of AI in hiring as something that can be beneficial, but only when used the right way.

She explains to Digital Journal: “Given that skills-based hiring is the future, using AI to both assess and evaluate candidates (on the employer’s side) and to help candidates differentiate themselves more clearly can significantly improve the hiring process for everyone involved. The key lies in shifting the focus away from the “bot vs. bot” scenario and instead leveraging AI to deploy a powerful Talent Intelligence database.”

Therefore, the benefits of AI are potentially considerable. Citing some examples, Gutierrez says: “AI holds immense potential to revolutionize hiring by leveraging Talent Intelligence data, which provides a comprehensive understanding of candidate skills, experiences, and potential. This data is derived from diverse sources such as psychometric assessments, job performance metrics, and self-reported skill proficiencies.”

Furthermore, other insights can be drawn notes Gutierrez: “Talent Intelligence may also consider job market trends and economic conditions. Analysing such a rich dataset enables AI to generate powerful insights into a candidate’s fit for various roles, moving beyond traditional résumé-based evaluations.”

Gutierrez believes that with talent intelligence, AI in hiring can be important and ease the process. Here she indicates: “Utilizing Talent Intelligence data, AI can provide actionable insights that improve the hiring process for both sides. Employers can identify key skills and competencies that predict success in specific roles, leading to better hiring decisions.”

Tracing this to a concrete example, Gutierrez finds: “For instance, as detailed in the article, Salesforce successfully used AI to identify and hire former teachers for solution engineering roles by recognizing overlapping skills. This example illustrates how AI can uncover valuable talent pools that might otherwise be overlooked, matching candidates to roles based on core skills rather than traditional qualifications alone.”

Summarising the collective benefits, Gutierrez proposes: “By harnessing the power of AI and Talent Intelligence, both candidates and organizations stand to benefit significantly.”

And in another advantage she finds: “Candidates can be proactively recruited without having to apply, and organizations can access a wider pool of talent with specific information on what each candidate can offer. This approach promises to enhance the overall quality of hires and streamline the hiring process, making it more efficient and effective for everyone involved.”

What does the UK election have in store for those with housing needs?


By Dr. Tim Sandle

DIGITAL JOURNAL

June 29, 2024

Houses taken from above. Image by Tim Sandle

When beleaguered UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4th, this took many commentators by surprise. The calling of the poll has also brought a number of important societal issues to the fore. One such issue is housing.

First-time home renters and buyers will be keen to see how the different policy platforms put forward by the parties will affect them. Notably, Google searches for ‘first-time buyer schemes’ were up by 5,000 percent within an hour of the announcement.

The frontrunner Labour Party has promised to build 1.5 million new homes over the course of the next parliament, setting itself an ambitious target on building new homes.

Speaking about those keen to enter the property market, David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC, tells Digital Journal: “It is clear that the housing crisis will be front and centre in this election campaign and we look forward to seeing positive policies from all parties aimed at increasing housebuilding, supporting people onto the property ladder and helping the industry to build strong sustainable communities.”

Amidst uncertain times, particularly for newcomers to the property market, research conducted by Thomas indicates that one in five (20 percent) first-time buyers are unaware of affordable home ownership schemes.

As cost-effective pathways to home ownership continue to be available for first-time buyers in the UK, Thomas presents the opportunities that might be overlooked due to limited awareness of different support schemes.

Scheme % of first-time buyers expressing unfamiliarity Average monthly search volumes in last 12 months

Mortgage guarantee scheme 88% 2,900
Guarantor mortgages 87% 5,400
First Homes scheme 63% 14,800
Shared ownership 58% 40,500
Lifetime ISA 51% 74,000


Despite generating an average of 40,500 monthly online searches, Thomas explains that 58 percent of first-time buyers remain unaware of the shared ownership scheme and its potential benefits for helping them enter the property market. Shared Ownership allows first-time buyers to purchase a share in a new build or resale property, where they pay a mortgage on the share they own and subsidised rent on the remaining share to a housing association.

Returning to the Labour Party, given the most probable outcomeon July 4th, first-time buyers will find interest in the party’s manifesto, which seeks to make permanent a mortgage guarantee scheme to help people onto the property ladder.

Likewise, Thomas informs, Lifetime ISAs consistently generate the highest monthly search volume (74,000 monthly searches) among the existing affordable home ownership schemes. Nonetheless, over half of first-time buyers are not taking advantage of its benefits. This scheme works differently to a normal savings account as the government adds a 25 percent bonus to your savings, up to a maximum of £1,000, per year.