Al Jazeera

US firms seek voluntary factory safety deal

Jun 042013
 
 News blog

Following deadly factory collapse in Bangladesh, major retailers want 'opt-in' rather than binding safety standards.

from Al Jazeera

"Top US companies are now in negotiations to agree on new safety standards for their clothing-producing contractors in Bangladesh, after a garment factory's collapse in Dhaka killed more than 1,100 workers in April.

"The move comes after these companies, most prominently including Walmart and Gap, refused to sign on to a fire and safety standards agreement, announced weeks ago, that has received wide backing among European companies. Yet labour advocates are disparaging the new talks, suggesting the results will likely not be binding and thus will not be able to ensure worker safety.

"'Walmart is … undermining the constructive efforts of other companies,' said Jyrki Raina, general-secretary for IndustriALL Global Union, an umbrella of unions with 50 million worldwide members that has led the European agreement process. 'The kind of voluntary initiative being put forward by Walmart and Gap has failed in the past and will again fail to protect Bangladeshi garment workers.' …"

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Energy gains burned by burgeoning population

Jun 032013
 
 News blog

Progress in energy efficiency undercut by growing population and demand.

from Al Jazeera

"The world has made important progress towards improving energy efficiency and using more renewable sources of power over the last two decades, but the gains have barely been enough to keep up with population growth and surging energy demand, a new UN-backed report suggests.

"In the last 10 years, 1.7 billion people around the world gained access to electricity, but the world's population grew by 1.6 billion over that same period, nearly wiping out the gains.

"Similarly, rising energy demand effectively eliminated half the energy efficiency savings and 70 percent of the gains from growth in renewable energy over the past decade.

"'Even to stand still, we have to run extremely fast. That's the challenge,' said Vivien Foster, a sustainable energy leader at the World Bank, and one of the lead authors of the Global Tracking Framework report, released on Friday. …"

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Dubai construction workers end strike

May 242013
 
 News blog

Labourers at construction giant Arabtec in the UAE complain of low pay, poor conditions and lack of annual leave.

from Al Jazeera

"A strike by low-wage workers at Arabtec – the construction giant building the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, a branch campus of New York University and a series of other megaprojects – has ended after police entered labour camps and immigration services issued a series of deportation notices.

"United Arab Emirates security forces converged on camps operated by Arabtec on Monday, workers told Al Jazeera, and labourers continue to receive deportation orders as part of the fallout. Arabtec workers interviewed by Al Jazeera say they earn between $102-$325 per month, and send as much as they can back to their families in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other countries.

"Arabtec officials have said they were paying the workers according to their contracts. Unions and strikes by foreigners – who make up more than 90 percent of the private-sector workforce – are illegal in the UAE and across the oil-rich Gulf states.

"Human rights groups liken the situation faced by workers to a form of 21st-century servitude, as labourers cannot change jobs without the permission of their sponsor and their migration status is controlled by employers. …"

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Physician dismisses force-feeding concerns

May 222013
 
 News blog

Senior Guantanamo physician dismisses ethical concerns about force-feeding prisoners, and defends the ongoing practice.

from Al Jazeera

"A military physician who oversees a team of nurses force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has dismissed ethical concerns raised by human rights groups and medical organisations about the procedure, saying the medical community was motivated to speak out about the practice for political reasons.

"In an interview with Al Jazeera at the prison's detention hospital last week, the physician, who, for security reasons, could only be identified as a senior medical officer of the Joint Medical Group, was defensive when pressed about questions regarding medical ethics and force-feeding.

"'It's very easy for folks outside of this place to make policies and decisions they think they would implement,' the senior medical officer said. 'This is kind of a tough mission and this is kind of an ugly place sometimes, alright? The reality is when faced with people who are hunger striking, potentially to the point of needing medical intervention to protect their life and to keep them from harming themselves, suddenly it's not a very abstract decision. Hunger strikes are tough and a big use of time. I realize there's a lot of controversy. But it's a political thing.'"

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Report: Canada could see indigenous uprising

May 152013
 
 News blog

Former military official says poverty and anger in indigenous communities mean conditions for an "insurgency" are ripe.

from Al Jazeera

Living standards for indigenous people on par with "third world" countries, buttressed by a large population of unemployed young men in a 'warrior cohort', and easy-to-target economic infrastructure, all mean Canada has conditions for a potential indigenous "insurgency".

That's according to a new report penned by a former Canadian military officer for the MacDonald Laurier Institute, a think-tank supported by corporate executives.

'For many Aboriginal people in Canada, but especially for First Nations women and children, life on-reserve is dreary, dark and dangerous,' wrote Douglas Bland in the report, Canada and the first Nations: Cooperation or Conflict? 'Social fractionalization significantly increases the risk of social conflict. The phenomenon provides motives for an insurgency,' read the report, issued in May. …"

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Israelis rally against austerity

May 132013
 
 News blog

Protests in Tel Aviv mirror images in Athens and Madrid but demonstrators lack central leadership or united ideas.

from Al Jazeera

"Talk of austerity measures, budget cuts and street protests seem more European than at home east of the Mediterranean. Saturday night's protests in Tel Aviv mirrored the images seen from cities such as Athens and Madrid in recent years.
 
"Israel has not escaped the effects of the global economic crisis, leading to a budget deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP last year. Politicians say extreme measures are needed to avoid total economic collapse.
 
"Those measures were revealed last week in the form of Finance Minister Yair Lapid's budget proposal for 2013 and 2014. Massive spending cuts and widespread tax increases were not easy reading for most Israelis. …."

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South Africa bill has parallels to Zimbabwe law

May 012013
 
 News blog

Bill is to protect state information but some fear it may be used like neighbouring Zimbabwe's privacy act to gag media.

"Last week South Africa's parliament voted in favour of a fiercely contested secrecy bill. 

"The protection of state information bill, which will replace apartheid-era legislation on classified information and espionage, passed with 189 votes in favour to 74 against, with one abstention.

"President Jacob Zuma now has to sign and make it law.  That could be as early as this week.

"The minister of state security, Siyabonga Cwele, told Parliament the bill would 'strengthen democracy while balancing transparency and protecting our national security and national interests'.

"Under the bill, espionage-related cases carry a punishment of up to 25 years in jail, and holding or disclosing classified material carries a maximum of five years' imprisonment. …"

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