Smiley and discreet: The sociologist marrying Brazil's Lula

AFP / May 19, 2022,

Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva marries 

sociologist Rosangela Silva, in Sao Paulo.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rosangela da Silva is a smiley, politically active member of Brazil's Workers' Party, but the new wife of presidential hopeful Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remains discreet when it comes to her private life.

Sociologist Da Silva and Lula, Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010, were due to be married in a ceremony on Wednesday evening, the details of which were kept top-secret.
Pictures of the couple kissing and cuddling regularly go viral on social media but Da Silva will be brought into a new limelight if veteran socialist Lula returns to the presidency in elections later this year and makes her Brazil's first lady.

"I'm in love as if I were 20 years old, as if it were my first girlfriend," said Lula, 76, about his 55-year-old partner, nicknamed "Janja," who is credited with giving the political icon a new lease on life.

Lula was left distraught when his wife of more than 30 years, with whom he had four children, Marisa Leticia, died in 2017.

He had also lost his first wife, Maria de Lourdes, to hepatitis, in 1971.

"When you lose your wife, you think, well, my life has no more meaning. Then suddenly this person appears who makes you feel like you want to live again," Lula said in a recent interview with Time magazine.

"We will get married calmly and I will have a happy campaign," said the former metal worker and trade unionist who is set for a fiery election battle against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October.

Born in Sao Paulo, Da Silva has a degree in sociology from Parana University in the southern city of Curitiba, where Lula was jailed between April 2018 and November 2019 on controversial corruption charges.

She joined the Workers' Party (PT) in 1983, two years after it was co-founded by Lula. She then worked for almost 20 years in the state energy company Itaipu Binacional.

Brazilian media say the couple have known each other for decades but Lula's press service insists their amorous relationship began only at the end of 2017, during an event with left-wing artists.

The relationship was only made public in May 2019, more than a year after Lula was incarcerated.
"Lula is in love and the first thing he will want to do when he leaves prison is get married," one of his lawyers said following a prison visit.

Even so, it has taken him two and a half years since his liberation to tie the knot, at a private ceremony for 200 guests in Sao Paulo that is shrouded in secrecy.

During Lula's incarceration, Da Silva would often tweet about the pain of their forced separation.
"All I want is to be able to wrap my arms around you and cuddle you forever," she wrote on the day Lula turned 74.

In November 2019, just after his liberation, they shared a kiss in front of masses of supporters outside the prison in Curitiba that had been his home for 18 months.

"I want to introduce you to someone I have already spoken about but whom some of you don't know: my future spouse," said an emotional Lula.

Since Lula's corruption conviction was annulled by the Supreme Court and he was again eligible to stand for election, Da Silva has accompanied him on his many trips, including to Mexico and Europe.
Lula has suggested that, as first lady, Da Silva could play a role in food security programs, in a country where the Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased hunger.

Although highly active on social media for the Lula campaign, Da Silva is very discreet when it comes to her personal life, of which little is known.

According to Veja magazine, she was married for more than 10 years before her relationship with Lula, although she does not have any children.

Da Silva "is very politicized, she has a good political mind and is very feminist," Lula said in September, during an interview with rapper Mano Brown's podcast.

Moth last seen 110 years ago found at Detroit airport


A species of moth, last seen in 1912, was discovered inside a passenger's bag at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

May 18 (UPI) -- A species of moth, not seen since 1912, was found inside a passenger's luggage at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection found larvae and pupae from the moth last September inside a bag arriving from the Philippines.

Customs and Border Protection said Monday the passenger claimed the seeds were for medicinal tea. Upon closer inspection, agriculture specialists discovered exit holes in the pods and confiscated them.

While in quarantine, the pupae hatched to reveal what etymologists called "very flashy" moths with raised patches of black bristles, indicating the moths are members of the Pyralidae family.

A Smithsonian Institution expert later identified the moth as "Salma brachyscopalis Hampson" and determined the moth was last seen more than a century ago, according to Kris Grogan, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection.

The Smithsonian etymologist also confirmed it was the first time larvae or pupae associated with this species of moth had been collected.

The moths found at the airport were "disposed of via steam sterilization," said Grogan.

"Agriculture specialists play a vital role at our nation's ports of entry by preventing the introduction of harmful exotic plant pests and foreign animal diseases into the United States," said Port Director Robert Larkin. "This discovery is a testament to their important mission of identifying foreign pests and protecting America's natural resources."

New NOAA study finds increase in Atlantic hurricanes linked to cleaner air

By Allison Finch, Accuweather.com

Researchers examined how particulate air pollution, or aerosols, and climate change have affected tropical cyclones across the planet over the past 40 years in a new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that was recently published in the journal Science Advances, and the results are surprising.

"Air pollution is a big environmental risk to human health, and we have made great strides in reducing health risks by reducing particulate air pollution," said Hiroyuki Murakami, a physical scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and study author. "But reducing air pollution does not always decrease the risk of hazards from tropical cyclones."

Dr. Boris Quennehen, Lead Atmospheric Scientist at Plume Labs, a company acquired by AccuWeather earlier this year, said particulate matter (PM), also known as aerosols, is a mix of fine dust and tiny liquid droplets.

"Particulate matter can come from natural sources, like fine sand, wildfires, volcanic eruptions and sea salt for example, or from human activities, usually involving some kind of incomplete combustion -- a fire or explosion," said Quennehen

RELATED 116-year-old 'ghost tracks' unearthed following pesky coastal storm

From 1980 to 2020, Europe and North America have reduced particulate air pollution from automotive, and energy industries. This has resulted in an estimated 50 drop in the concentration of particulate air pollution from North America and Europe, which, as noted by the study from NOAA, has had a significant impact on water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin and the development of tropical cyclones.

"Particulate matter and water temperatures are linked, in this case, by the 'parasol effect.' The PM parasol effect means that a part of the sunlight is reflected [or] trapped by particles and thus can't reach the surface as it would have if particles weren't there," said Quennehen, who was not involved in the new study. "Less sunlight reaching the surface means less energy and thus lower temperature. Less particulate matter means less reflection, thus warmer waters."

Warm water temperatures above 80 degrees F are one of the key ingredients in the formation of a tropical cyclone. So, thanks in part to the aforementioned parasol effect, water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin are warming, which is creating ideal breeding grounds for tropical development.

"A warming Atlantic Ocean has been a key ingredient to a 33 percent increase in the number of tropical cyclones during this 40-year period," said Murakami.

Moreover, there has been an increase in temperature in the middle to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere from the decreased amount of pollution, according to the study. This has resulted in a steady poleward movement of the jet stream from the tropics toward the Arctic, which has led to weaker winds in the upper troposphere in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin.

While the troposphere is the lowest region of the atmosphere, wind speeds gradually strengthen and sometimes change direction from the lower troposphere, which is closest to the surface of the Earth, to the upper troposphere, which is about 10-12 miles from the surface of the Earth in the tropical Atlantic basin. This difference between wind speed and direction and height is defined as wind shear.

The weaker winds in the upper troposphere led to an environment with little to no wind shear, which is another key ingredient in tropical cyclone development.

Low wind shear and warm ocean waters are two of the three main ingredients needed to form and sustain a tropical cyclone, and the decreased air pollution from North America and Europe over the past 40 years has led to an environment in which these ingredients can flourish, the study said.

On the other side of the world, in the western North Pacific, where strong tropical cyclones are referred to as typhoons, quite the opposite is occurring. According to this new research, the increase in air pollution in the western North Pacific has been one of the several factors that has contributed to a 14 percent decrease in tropical cyclones during the past 40 years. Some of the other factors include natural variability and increased greenhouse gasses.

Therefore, the opposite is occurring in the western North Pacific. As Quennehen described above, more air pollution that exists in the atmosphere reduces the amount of sunlight that will reach the surface, resulting in lower temperatures.

In East Asia, the increased amount of air pollution has made the land temperature cooler, which has reduced the contrast between the land and ocean temperatures. Without this contrast, the monsoon winds become weaker.

A monsoon is defined as the change in wind direction that can trigger persistent rainfall or long-duration dry weather. In the summer, the westerly Indian monsoon winds converge with trade winds in the western Pacific Ocean, creating tropical cyclones. However, with weaker monsoon winds, a lower number of tropical cyclones have formed over the last four decades, according to Murakami's research.

Over the 40-year period Murakami examined, there has been a 40 percent increase in the amount of pollution filling the air over the western North Pacific, which has corresponded to a 14 percent decrease in the formation of tropical cyclones, or typhoons as they're called in that part of the world.

Without considering other factors, it might seem as easy as adding more particles, or air pollution, to the atmosphere will help reduce the number of tropical cyclones, but such a concept is not practical, according to Quennehen.

"Adding more particles in the atmosphere is not a viable solution for the Earth and humankind," said Quennehen. "More particles means more heath impacts but also ocean acidification which may lead to the extinction of many marine species."

Murakami suggested that there will be a need for careful policymaking in the future.

"This study indicates that decreasing air pollution leads to an increased risk of tropical cyclones, which is happening in the North Atlantic, and could also happen, if air pollution is rapidly reduced, in Asia," said Murakami. "The ironic result suggests the necessity of careful policy decision-making in the future that considers the pros and cons of the multiple impacts."

Murakami predicts in the next decade, increased greenhouse gases will significantly influence tropical cyclones compared to human-caused particulate air pollution.

2 senators reach deal on help for veterans exposed to toxic burning pits


Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., right, and Sen, Jon Tester, D-Mont., listen during a confirmation hearing on January 27, 2021. The senators announced a deal Wednesday to help veterans who were exposed to toxic dump pits while on service. 

File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo

May 18 (UPI) -- Congress moved closer to addressing concerns over the exposure of military members to toxic burning pits after leaders on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee announced Wednesday a bipartisan deal to help them.

Committee members Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced in a joint statement the legislation would expand the VA healthcare eligibility to post-9/11 combat veterans.

The bill is named after the late Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died in 2020 after being exposed to toxic pits during his military service while deployed to Kosovo and Iraq with the Ohio National Guard.

"This bipartisan legislation is the most comprehensive toxic exposure package the Senate has ever delivered to veterans in this country's history," the senators said. "For far too long, our nation's veterans have been living with chronic illnesses as a result of exposures during their time in uniform.

"Today, we're taking necessary steps to right this wrong with our proposal that'll provide veterans and their families with the healthcare and benefits they have earned and deserve."

Along with the expansion of VA healthcare to 3.5 million eligible veterans, it also creates a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure; adds 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to VA's list of service presumptions, including hypertension; and expands presumptions related to Agent Orange exposure.

"In addition to providing historic relief to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans, this legislation will improve claims processing to meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran it serves," the senators said.

"Together, we will continue working until Congress delivers on its commitment to passing long-lasting solutions and comprehensive reforms for those who served our country."

Veterans were regularly exposed to open-air burn pits at U.S. military bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where dangerous materials ranging from electronics and vehicles to human waste were regularly doused in jet fuel and set on fire.

President Joe Biden, who backs the new legislation, has said he believes his late son Beau Biden's brain cancer was linked to his exposure to burn pits while deployed in Iraq in 2008.

Women wait longer for hospital emergency room care than men, study finds

Women experience longer wait times than men in U.S. hospital emergency rooms, according to a new study. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


May 18 (UPI) -- Women wait longer for care than men in hospital emergency rooms, a study published Wednesday found.

On average, women patients coming into the emergency room wait 12 minutes longer to be evaluated and treated, data published Wednesday by JAMA Surgery showed.

Men wait an average of 2 hours, 52 minutes for care, while women wait an average of 3 hours, 4 minutes, the researchers said.

Women also have to wait about three minutes longer than men to be "triaged," or evaluated and prioritized for care in the ER. On average, they wait 52 minutes to be triaged, compared to 49 minutes for men, the data showed.

The "results of this ... study suggest that female patients were found to have a significantly longer [ER] lengths of stay after a traumatic event," the researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago wrote.

In addition, they "were less likely to be discharged home or to a home equivalent than male patients," they said.

Previous studies have found that women of all races and ethnicities, as well as people of color, have longer wait times than White men in hospital ERs when seeking treatment for chest pain.

These longer wait times could increase the risk for death among those affected, depending on the nature of their health emergency, research suggests.

Researchers have attributed these longer wait times to bias among healthcare workers, and say they perpetuate inequities in treatment quality.

The findings of this study are based on an analysis of data for more than 28,000 U.S. adults treated for serious injuries such as broken bones and/or head trauma in hospital ERs over a three-year period.

Just under 30% of the patients included in the study were women, though the women patients generally had more serious injuries than the men, the data showed.

Once treated in the ER, women were 28% more likely than men to be discharged to a nursing home or long-term care facility, as opposed to home, compared with men, the researchers said.

"These findings suggest potential gaps of care that may be excellent targets for quality improvement of existing processes of assessment and triage and discharge planning," they wrote.

Study: HPV 'herd immunity' now helping vaccinated, unvaccinated women

By HealthDay News

Vaccination against HPV has reached a point of "herd immunity" that is benefiting both vaccinated and unvaccinated women, a new study says. File Photo by Photographee.eu/Shutterstock
Vaccination against the virus that causes most cervical cancers has spurred a widespread reduction of infections among young Americans -- including those who are unvaccinated, a new government study finds.

The study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at the impact of the nation's HPV vaccination program, which began in 2006.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection that can cause genital warts. While that disease is usually minor, certain HPV infections can become persistent and eventually cause cancer.

In the United States, almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infection with certain HPV strains those strains can also cause cancers of the vagina, penis, anus or throat.

RELATED One dose of HPV vaccine may prevent cervical cancer

So the HPV vaccine, which protects against major cancer-causing strains, is considered an anti-cancer vaccine.

The new study found that by 2018, the vaccine had cut the prevalence of cancer-causing HPV strains by 90% among vaccinated females between 14 and 24 years of age. There was also a 74% reduction among their unvaccinated counterparts -- pointing to a "herd" effect.

That refers to protection afforded to the whole population when there is a sharp reduction in circulation of a virus.

RELATED Prevalence of STDs among U.S. teens underscores importance of testing

"The decline among unvaccinated females suggests strong herd effects, or indirect protection, from the vaccination program," lead researcher Dr. Hannah Rosenblum said in a journal news release.

Experts stressed, however, that does not mean kids can go unvaccinated and rely on herd protection.

Herd effects only exist when a large portion of the population is vaccinated, said Dr. Rebecca Perkins, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine.

RELATED Many teens don't realize oral sex carries STD risks, poll finds

Instead, she said, the findings offer more reason for parents to get their kids vaccinated against HPV on schedule.

"All of the news on the HPV vaccine is good," said Perkins, who co-wrote an editorial published with the study this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. "It's one of the best things you can do for your child's health."

Other research, she noted, has shown early signs that the protection against HPV is translating into a "near elimination" of cervical cancer before the age of 30.

Since 2006, the CDC and other groups have recommended that all girls receive the HPV vaccine, starting at age 11, and that older girls and young women up to age 26 receive "catch-up" shots if they missed the earlier window. The advice was later extended to boys and young men.

These latest findings come from a periodic federal health survey, with data from the pre-vaccine (2003 to 2006) and post-vaccine (2007 to 2018) eras.

By 2018, the CDC found, the prevalence of HPV strains targeted by the vaccine had been slashed 90% among girls and women aged 14 to 24, compared to the pre-vaccine era.

There was also a sharp drop among young females who remained unvaccinated: Between 2015 and 2018, just under 5% tested positive for an HPV strain included in the vaccine, compared to 20% in the pre-vaccine era.

While catch-up shots are an option, vaccinating preteens -- before they become sexually active and exposed to HPV -- is key to making the vaccine program as effective as possible, said Dr. Ina Park.

Park, who was not involved in the study, is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and an adviser to the American Sexual Health Association.

She agreed that the signs of herd protection are welcome, but should not be misinterpreted.

"We can't let our guard down," Park said. "We still need to get as many preteens vaccinated as possible."

Before the pandemic, HPV vaccination rates in the United States had been improving. In 2020, 75% of teenagers younger than 18 had gotten at least one dose of the two- to three-shot regimen, according to the CDC.

But that rate still falls short of those for other preteen vaccinations, Park said. Plus, the pandemic has caused many kids to fall behind on vaccinations of all kinds, including the HPV shot.

Rosenblum stressed that "since this could threaten strides made in the previous decade, all efforts are needed to ensure that children and adolescents receive routinely recommended vaccinations."

Both Park and Perkins said that the HPV vaccine not only provides lasting protection against infections, but has proven to be safe: More than 270 million doses have been given worldwide, according to the American Cancer Society, and the vaccine has not been linked to any serious side effects.

"I really feel this vaccine is a home run for cancer prevention," Park said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information for parents on HPV vaccination.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Largest volcano eruption in 140 years sent exceptional pressure waves around Earth

Shari Kulha - 

MAY 18, 2022

© Provided by National PostA boat at sea had this view of the smoke rising from the eruption. The Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it roared to life in December, spewing huge volumes of rock and dense ash that killed nearby vegetation.

Rumblings began on Dec. 18, 2021 under the small South Pacific islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai in the Kingdom of Tonga, and continued for several weeks. On Jan. 15, an underwater volcano exploded upwards with a force not seen since 1883 and at 10 times the magnitude of Mount St. Helens.

An umbrella cloud developed at approximately 30 km above sea level, with a much higher central transient “overshoot.”

The two Hunga islands had been formed by ancient eruptions, and after one in 2015, ash and magma settled to fill the space between the two. But after January’s violent explosion, the newer central part submerged, leaving the uninhabited Hunga Ha’apai and Hunga Tonga separate again.

The main island of Tonga was devastated by the ensuing tsunami.

None of the above is atypical of a large volcanic event, but thanks to advances over the decades, ground-based and space-borne instruments allowed researchers to observe in greater detail an eruption’s unseen results.

Lamb waves are pressure waves of atmospheric fluid that result from volcanic eruptions and nuclear tests, and can last from minutes to several hours. With January’s eruption, scientists observed that these seismoacoustic waves circled the planet in one direction four times and back again three times — mirroring that of Indonesia’s 1883 Krakatau eruption. Equally strikingly, a wave also travelled at between roughly 550 kps and 1,600 kps to an altitude of about 450 km.

“This atmospheric-waves event was unprecedented in the modern geophysical record,” lead author Robin Matoza, an associate professor at University of California Santa Barbara’s department of Earth Science, said in a release .

Matoza led a team of 76 scientists from 17 countries to study the atmospheric waves .


© NOAAThe Hunga eruption seen from the GOES-17 satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nine hours after the explosion, booms were heard as far off as Alaska — 10,000 kilometres away — compelling some to believe there was a link to the eruption. But the scientists believe those booms could not have originated in Hunga. “I heard the sounds,” said co-author David Fee at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute in the release, “but at the time definitely did not think it was from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.”


Robin Matoza

“While there’s still much to learn, it’s clear that standard sound models cannot explain how audible sounds propagated over such extreme distances. We interpreted that they were generated somewhere along the path by nonlinear effects,” Matoza said.

“We have more than a century of advances in instrumentation technology and global sensor density,” he said. “So the 2022 Hunga event provided an unparalleled global dataset for an explosion event of this size.”

‘Catastrophic damage’ to Tonga’s outlying islands from volcanic eruption and tsunami

Undersea volcano erupts off Tonga, tsunami warning issued

“The atmospheric waves were recorded globally across a wide frequency band, and by studying this remarkable dataset we will better understand acoustic and atmospheric wave generation, propagation and recording,” Fee said.

“This has implications for monitoring nuclear explosions, volcanoes, earthquakes and a variety of other phenomena,” he continued. “Our hope is that we will be better able to monitor volcanic eruptions and tsunamis by understanding the atmospheric waves from this eruption.”

Trudeau says Tory ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric only tough on Black, Indigenous Canadians

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that policies the Conservatives claimed were “tough on crime” were “really just tough on Black Canadians and Indigenous Canadians."


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Amanda Connolly - May 18,2022

He made the comment during a heated exchange in question period that saw Conservatives accuse the Liberals of planning to "make it allowable for criminals to get house arrest" by repealing policies that broadened the use of mandatory minimum sentences.

"He's going after law-abiding Canadians but going soft on gangsters," said Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs before asking: "Will he scrap Bill C-5?"

Trudeau said the government is repealing "failed" Conservative policies.

"They claim to be tough on crime but really they're just tough on Black Canadians and Indigenous people," Trudeau said before being drowned out by shouts.

"Our criminal justice reform legislation turns the page on failed Conservative party policies," he repeated afterwards. "What we need is a system that doesn't target people because of systemic discrimination."

HARPER'S LAW

Liberals move to axe mandatory minimums for some drug, gun offences

Stubbs called that response "shameful," but also said that Trudeau "wants to make it easier for them [offenders] to stay home among their victims."

Her caucus colleague, Pierre Paul-Hus, also made similar claims, arguing in French that the bill "will only help street gangs continue their shootings."

Trudeau said nothing in the bill prevents or changes the requirements for police to charge people, or for prosecutors to pursue convictions in court. He said repealing the policies will address "the over-representation of Black Canadians and Indigenous Canadians in the criminal justice system."

Bill C-5 seeks to "repeal certain mandatory minimum penalties, allow for a greater use of conditional sentences and establish diversion measures for simple drug possession offences."

It targets a number of changes made under the former Conservative government that expanded the use of mandatory minimum sentences to dozens of additional criminal offences.

HARPER'S LAW

Mandatory minimums for gun crimes unconstitutional: Supreme Court

Mandatory minimums have been clearly shown to disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous and racialized Canadians, according to the Research and Statistics Division of Justice Canada.

Data published in 2017 looked at incarcerations over a 10-year period from 2006/2007 to 2016/2017 — which coincides with the date former prime minister Stephen Harper took office in January 2006, and the first full year following the Liberal win in October 2015.

According to the data set, during that time period "the proportion of Indigenous offenders increased most dramatically, from 20 per cent of admissions in 2007/08 to 25 per cent in 2016/2017."

"Over the ten year study period, Black and other visible minority offenders were much more likely to be admitted with a conviction for an offence punishable by an MMP," the research stated, using the acronym for "mandatory minimum penalties."

Of the offences where the individual was behind bars for a mandatory minimum, 75 per cent of those cases were drug offences, with 89 per cent of the drug offences being for trafficking.

Five per cent of the admissions were for robbery with a firearm.

A previous Liberal bill seeking to repeal the policies died when the government called the election.

Justice Minister David Lametti re-introduced the legislation in December 2021.

At least 12 dead, several hurt after wall collapses at India salt factory

By Ashley Williams

May 18 (UPI) -- A wall collapsed at a salt factory in western India on Wednesday, killing at least a dozen workers there and injuring several others, officials said.

The factory is located in the Morbi district, located about 280 miles northwest of Mumbai. Workers at the plant package salt for shipment.

Authorities said there were 12 dead and 13 injured, although none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening. Some of those who were injured were buried beneath wall debris and stacks of salt bags.

Lawmaker Brijesh Merja said rescuers dug through the debris after the collapse looking for more dead or injured.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Wednesday's collapse a "heart-rending tragedy."

"May the injured recover soon," he said in a tweet.

Modi's office said the government will provide aid funding for the relatives of dead and injured victims.

The cause of the wall collapse is under investigation.

Talks stall as public service union seeks 13.5 per cent wage increase over three years

Kathryn May, Policy Options - 

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen

“Just like all workers in Canada, our members are already feeling the pinch, and the worst is likely still to come,” said PSAC President Chris Aylward on demands from his members in the latest labour talks with the federal government.

Canada’s largest federal union is walking away from contract negotiations over the government’s refusal to offer raises that keep up with the soaring cost of living.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 120,000 public servants , has been sabre-rattling about a possible strike for weeks, but it officially declared an impasse Wednesday. The union is seeking conciliation to help reach a settlement.

The big issue is wages. The union is seeking a 13.5 per cent raise over three years – at 4.5 per cent a year – compared with Treasury Board’s offer of less than eight per cent over four years. The two sides have also hit snags over the future of work and anti-racism provisions PSAC wants embedded in all contracts.

“Just like all workers in Canada, our members are already feeling the pinch, and the worst is likely still to come,” said PSAC President Chris Aylward. “As Canada’s largest employer, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government needs to lead by example by making sure workers don’t fall behind.”

This is the first round of bargaining in years with rising inflation. Canada’s inflation rate rose to 6.7 per cent in March. Public servants, who delivered the government’s COVID-19 response while many worked from home, want bigger raises, more rights around remote work and the right to disconnect so employees aren’t obliged to check emails and calls after work hours.

“This government can’t expect the workers who have been getting us through the pandemic to shoulder the costs of Canada’s recovery,” said Aylward.

“Groceries, gas and utilities are becoming unaffordable. Now more than ever, workers need fair wages and good working conditions to help keep up with rising costs.”

PSAC, the largest of the 17 federal unions, is the first at the bargaining table in this round of negotiations and its agreement typically sets the precedent for the rest. It is representing four large bargaining groups of workers . The government and union have negotiated for a year and held 28 days of talks.

If an agreement can’t be reached through conciliation, PSAC said the union will be “forced to continue to escalate actions across the country, up to and including taking strike action.”

A strike, however, is months away, and PSAC’s last big strike was in 2004. The conciliation request goes to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board . The board could recommend setting up a Public Interest Commission to conciliate the dispute. This three-member panel includes labour and management nominees, and could take months to hold hearings and write a report, which is non-binding.

As employers grapple with labour shortages, workers and unions are flexing their muscles. The dynamics of this round of bargaining could also be affected by the Liberal deal with the labour-friendly NDP and a strategic review to find $6 billion in savings. Much of those savings are expected to come from reduced real estate costs by shifting the public service to a hybrid workforce.

The pandemic made remote work – once called telework – a big issue for federal unions. It cuts across departments, each of which are responsible for deciding where their employees work, and many of those employees want to keep working from home. Some departments are mandating two or three days in the office; others are offering full-time remote work.

At the same time, some public servants want to return to the office. Others, like prison guards, ships’ crews or border guards, don’t have the option to work from home. Departments are already braced for an internal talent war as workers look for departments that will let them work where they want.

PSAC wants to negotiate a process to avoid arbitrary management decisions on where employees work and ensure consistency on how access to remote work is managed across the public service.

Along with that, PSAC is seeking a better work-life balance for remote workers with “right to disconnect” provisions that give workers the right to say no to calls and texts after hours. Contracts already deal with overtime when employees are called back to work. The union wants protections so workers aren’t penalized for exercising the right to disconnect.

PSAC also wants to ensure public servants receive anti-racism training and education about Indigenous history as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The government does provide training, but PSAC wants it enshrined in collective agreements to ensure more take-up. Other demands include better job security and eliminating the privatization of public services.

This article was produced with support from the Accenture Fellowship on the Future of the Public Service. Read more of Kathryn’s columns here .

This article first appeared on Policy Options and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.