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Ships backed up outside US ports pumping out pollutants as they idle
Supply chain crisisShips backed up outside US ports pumping out pollutants as they idleThe Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, two of the nation’s busiest, create more than 100 tons a day of smog that choke local communities Gabrielle Canon in Los Angeles@GabrielleCanonFri 15 Oct 2021 07.05 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 07.07 EDTDozens of behemoth cargo ships adorned with tall stacks of brightly colored containers still dot the coastline off southern California. Part of a shipping bottleneck plaguing US ports, the ships – their diesel-fueled engines always ablaze – are also pumping out pollutants as they idle, anchored off-shore.The clogged supply chain has been described as an economic calamity as the delayed cargo caused shortages in common goods and drove consumer prices higher. But environmentalists and public health advocates are concerned it’s also turning into a climate catastrophe.The container ships awaiting entry are compounding the levels of contaminants that have long come from the ports and that impact the local environment, coastal communities and ambitious carbon targets needed to curb the worst effects of climate change. With the holiday shopping frenzy just around the corner, there are now concerns the problem may get worse before it gets better.“The conversation right now is really focused on supply chain backlog and refilling the shelves with products – but that’s not the whole story,” said Madeline Rose, the climate campaign director for Pacific Environment, a climate advocacy organization that has …
‘We are not machines’: Hollywood workers poised to strike for better conditions
15/10/2021 Comments Off on ‘We are not machines’: Hollywood workers poised to strike for better conditionsUS unions‘We are not machines’: Hollywood workers poised to strike for better conditionsUnion leaders say a strike will start Monday if there is no deal with studios as workers describe low pay and grueling days without breaks Michael SainatoFri 15 Oct 2021 05.00 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Oct 2021 12.55 EDTAt the start of the pandemic, Hollywood productions abruptly shut down, leaving many workers out of work before things began to resume with Covid-19 safety protocols in place.Since then, workers in Hollywood say they have worked long schedules and endured increased workloads, including staggering work because of social distancing; wearing and distributing personal protective equipment through long work days; and regularly getting tested for Covid-19.“We were working at breakneck speeds, and that was something that was supposed to have changed. We were supposed to have the time we needed to work in that kind of environment,” said Mike Loomer, a set dresser in Hollywood and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 44 member.“The only thing that changed is what we had to endure to make the product that they had to have to get out for the public to see.”Studios will again go quiet around the US as IATSE leaders say its 60,000 members will go on strike from 12.01 PT on Monday if a deal is not reached with employers. It would be the first such national strike since the IATSE was formed 128 years ago.Members of …
Continue reading …California justice department to investigate enormous oil spill
11/10/2021 Comments Off on California justice department to investigate enormous oil spillCaliforniaCalifornia justice department to investigate enormous oil spillAttorney general will seek to determine cause of spill and how it could have been prevented Mark Oliver and agenciesMon 11 Oct 2021 19.22 EDTCalifornia’s justice department is investigating the spill off the coast of Huntington Beach earlier this month, which sent thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean, the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, announced on Monday.The spill, from an undersea pipeline, polluted the waters near Los Angeles last weekend, blackening beaches and endangering wildlife.Bonta said the state’s justice department would work with other state, local, and federal authorities to determine the cause of the spill and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent or minimize the disaster.Officials have previously said the cause remains under investigation, and they believe the pipeline was probably damaged by a ship’s anchor several months to a year before it ruptured.Why California’s enormous oil spill won’t be its lastRead more“The oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach is an environmental disaster with far-reaching consequences for our fish and wildlife, for our communities, and for our economy,” said Bonta.Experts have warned the spill probably won’t be the state’s last, with numerous ageing oil rigs offshore.The US senator Alex Padilla of California said: “It is unacceptable that Californians are once again facing the devastating effects of an offshore oil spill. The trade-off between oil production and environmental harm is …
Continue reading …A record number of cargo ships are stuck outside LA. What’s happening?
22/09/2021 Comments Off on A record number of cargo ships are stuck outside LA. What’s happening?Los AngelesA record number of cargo ships are stuck outside LA. What’s happening? Port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach, already the busiest in the US, has seen major traffic this week as imports boom Dani Anguiano@ …
Continue reading …Anti-masker abuse, subpar healthcare, and a 5 cent raise: CVS workers say enough is enough
15/09/2021 Comments Off on Anti-masker abuse, subpar healthcare, and a 5 cent raise: CVS workers say enough is enoughUS unions Anti-masker abuse, subpar healthcare, and a 5 cent raise: CVS workers say enough is enough California employees looking for a better deal in union negotiations as the company posts record profits Michael Sainato Wed 15 Sep 2021 06.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 15 Sep 2021 07.21 EDT Thousands of workers at CVS […]
Continue reading …Weekend News & Commentary – September 12, 2021
12/09/2021 Comments Off on Weekend News & Commentary – September 12, 2021
Six U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), have called on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate allegations that Amazon.com Inc. fails to make adequate provisions for pregnant employees at its warehouses, citing “what appears to be a concerning pattern of mistreatment of pregnant employees at Amazon fulfillment centers.” As […]
Continue reading …Today’s News & Commentary—September 2, 2021
02/09/2021 Comments Off on Today’s News & Commentary—September 2, 2021Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy announced that rideshare companies could move forward with their proposed state ballot measure to exempt their drivers from employment law protections. The proposal, modeled closely on California’s Proposition 22, was one of 17 out of 30 proposed ballot initiatives certified by the Attorney General as having met baseline state […]
Continue reading …‘I don’t like being treated like crap’: gig workers aim to retool a system they say is rigged
27/08/2021 Comments Off on ‘I don’t like being treated like crap’: gig workers aim to retool a system they say is rigged‘I don’t like being treated like crap’: gig workers aim to retool a system they say is rigged Uber, Lyft and other companies fighting Massachusetts lawsuit that would grant workers status as employees Michael Sainato — Fri 27 Aug 2021 05.00 EDT — Felipe Martinez began working full-time as an Uber driver in the Boston, […]
Continue reading …California Solar Panel Mandate for New Buildings Advances
11/08/2021 Comments Off on California Solar Panel Mandate for New Buildings Advances
The state’s Energy Commission voted to require commercial and high-rise multifamily projects to have solar power and battery storage.
Continue reading …- Celebrating the Resilience of Low-Income Women
- CEOs Get to Retire Comfortably. Workers Like Me Deserve the Same.
- Jobs Increased 339,000 In May, Unemployment Up 0.3% To 3.7%
- The decline of job creation at new establishments
- Contractor faces 2 serious citations after US Department of Labor finds safety failures led to welder’s death at Bonner Bridge demolition project
- Investigation into worker’s severe arm injury finds Cusseta auto parts manufacturer, supplier willfully ignored safety precautions
- ‘It’s a sweat factory’: Instacart workers ready to strike for pay and conditions
- Ships backed up outside US ports pumping out pollutants as they idle
- Privacy fears as Moscow metro rolls out facial recognition pay system
- ‘We are not machines’: Hollywood workers poised to strike for better conditions
- Boeing pilot indicted for allegedly deceiving US regulators over 737 Max
- Ipswich apprentice butcher encourages others to consider industry
- Ipswich apprentice butcher encourages others to consider industry
- Over 10,000 John Deere workers strike over ‘years’ of poor treatment
- Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?
- US Department of Labor investigation of crane collapse, double fatality on Interstate 10 finds Lufkin company failed to assemble crane properly
- For the 6th time in 7 years, federal inspectors find Illinois contractor putting construction workers at risk of industry’s deadliest hazard
- US Department of Labor proposes $83K in fines to healthcare facility for failing to protect workers from coronavirus hazards
- Facebook says it will do more to prevent online hate, harassment
- As U.S. prepares to reopen border, some urge Canada to relax testing requirement
- Biden orders companies to ease supply chain bottlenecks or he’ll ‘call them out’
- What is the ‘new model’ the EU is proposing for Northern Ireland?
- Apple to make 10 million fewer iPhones due to microchip shortage
- US Department of Labor, Mexican Consulate in Boston enter alliance to promote workplace safety, health among New England’s workers
- US Department of Labor sues Austin luxury car dealer that retaliated against employee who raised concerns of coronavirus hazards
- Vaccine hesitant New Yorkers consider leaving the city as mandates take effect
- Carbon emissions ‘will drop just 40% by 2050 with countries’ current pledges’
- House passes bill to raise US debt ceiling through early December
- ‘The stakes couldn’t be higher’: GE urged to invest in green US jobs
- Zellers returns — kind of — but the lowest price isn't quite the law
- Cement makers across world pledge large cut in emissions by 2030
- India faces electricity crisis as coal supplies run critically low
- California justice department to investigate enormous oil spill
Today’s News & Commentary — September 14, 2021
14/09/2021 Comments Off on Today’s News & Commentary — September 14, 2021Missouri public employees’ unions continue to struggle against the governor’s office for collective bargaining. In 2018, former Governor Eric Greitens signed a law that gave meager raises in exchange for changing the states’ merit hiring system, effectively reclassifying state workers into at-will employees. Since then, current Governor Mike Parson, who was Greitens’s lieutenant governor, has […]
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