the SGNews news blog

The SGNews Blog is a frequently-updated list of Canadian and international news links of interest to progressive readers.

Bangladesh unions reject new labour laws

Jun 142013
 
 News blog

Union leaders object to proposal for "participation committees" instead of unions in factories.

from AFP

"Bangladesh's union leaders on Thursday rejected new labour laws for garment factory workers drawn up in the wake of April's industrial disaster, saying they failed to improve their rights and entitlements.

"The Bangladesh government had agreed to allow the nation's factory workers to form trade unions without prior permission from factory owners, after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment complex that killed more than 1,100 people.

"But union leaders said the new amendments now being debated in parliament propose the formation of a "participation committee" in factories to be headed by bosses, instead of unions organised by workers.

"'These amendments are a sham,' union leader Wajedul Islam said. …"

Full story

Connecticut passes landmark ‘Homeless Person’s Bill Of Rights’ law

Jun 132013
 
 News blog

Bill would protect homeless from discrimination in employment, housing or public accomodation.

from ThinkProgress

"Connecticut is on the cusp of enacting a major new law to protect people who are homeless from discrimination.

"Last week, Connecticut lawmakers passed the 'Homeless Person’s Bill Of Rights' at the literal 11th hour — 11:30 p.m. on June 5, one half hour before the legislative session ended. The bill, SB 896, a landmark piece of legislation to protect homeless individuals’ rights, adds homeless people as a protected class who can’t be discriminated against in employment, housing, or public accommodations. It also includes protections for homeless people to move freely in public spaces, such as parks and sidewalks, without being singled out for harassment by law enforcement officers. …"

Louisiana to lay off over 3500 state health workers

Jun 122013
 
 News blog

Layoffs part of plans to privatize nine of ten hospitals run by Louisiana State University.

from World Socialist Web Site

"Louisiana’s Civil Service Commission voted 3-to-2 Monday to allow the privatization plans for four south Louisiana hospitals to go ahead. The measure will result in just over 3,500 layoffs of state employees, overturning the Civil Service protections covering the vast majority.

"The hospitals, run by Louisiana State University, include the Leonard Chabert Medical Center in Houma, the University Medical Center in Lafayette, the W.O. Moss Regional Medical Center in Lake Charles, and the Interim Hospital in New Orleans. They are part of a list of LSU hospitals targeted for privatization by governor Bobby Jindal. …"

Full story

Study links GMO grain to stomach inflammation in pigs

Jun 122013
 
 News blog

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by US and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by US and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops – See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers.

The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs.

– See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/study-links-genetically-modified-grain-to-stomach-inflammation-in-pigs/#sthash.PgNz62Do.dpuf

Findings add to intensifying public debate over genetically modified crops.

from Raw Story

"Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and US researchers.

"The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by US and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world.

"The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the US pigs. …"

Full story
 

Philadelphia schools to lay off nearly 4,000 teachers

Jun 112013
 
 News blog

Mayor says quality of education will plummet, but superintendent says school district must live within its means.

from World Socialist Web Site

"On Friday, the superintendent of the Philadelphia School District (SDP), William Hite, Jr., announced plans to lay off nearly 4,000 educators in the coming months. The destruction of teachers’ jobs comes as part of a 'doomsday' austerity budget in the public school system that was passed several weeks ago by the School Reform Commission (SRC), which is appointed dually by the state and the city to oversee its public schools.

"The budget, passed in May, would see 3,783 educators and staff laid off in the District in the coming months. The budget itself contains a $304 million deficit, part of a continuing $1.1 billion debt the school district is facing. Without the needed funds, schools would be required to go without many essentials, including staff, textbooks, and even notebook paper in some cases. Among the cuts to school staff will be an estimated 300 secretaries, 283 guidance counselors, 769 support service assistants, 676 teachers, and more than 1,200 noon-time aides. (see 'School district of Philadelphia passes ‘doomsday’ austerity budget').

"Speaking on the budget as a whole, Democratic city mayor Michael Nutter stated that the 'quality of education in Philadelphia will plummet and we will all suffer as a result: poverty, unemployment, crime, lost wages and lack of personal opportunity.' For his part, Hite added that he was 'profoundly upset about having to take these actions' but ultimately, the 'School District of Philadelphia must live within its means.' …"

Full story

Gulf oil wells have been leaking since 2004 hurricane

Jun 072013
 
 News blog

Driller Taylor Energy Company appears to have abandoned efforts to cap the ruptures.

from Grist

"Oil has been gushing from a group of wells south of New Orleans since a platform at the site was wiped out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and it appears that nothing is being done to staunch or control the leaking.

"Efforts to cap the ruptures seem to have been abandoned in 2011. Instead of working to clean up or stop the spill, driller Taylor Energy Company is now providing the government with daily updates about the resultant slick.

"Even those updates appear to be half-baked. A long ribbon of oil can clearly be seen spilling out from the site, but Taylor Energy claims it’s much smaller than does NOAA.

"On June 1, NOAA reported to the Coast Guard that the slick was 20.2 miles long and a mile wide. …"

Full story

Proposed Ohio law would allow dumping of fracking waste

Jun 072013
 
 News blog

Environmentalists warn allowing potentially radioactive material poses serious risks.

from Truthout

"As hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' has boomed in Ohio, Pennsylvania and nearby states in recent years, waste wells in Ohio have absorbed millions of barrels of liquid waste from oil-and-gas drilling operations in the region. Environmentalists and other observers are now calling Ohio a "dumping ground" for the fracking industry. Drillers now want to dump potentially radioactive waste mud, drill cuttings and frack sand from fracking operations in municipal landfills in the state, and environmentalists are up in arms.

"'I am not against fracking, I am against stupid,' said Julie Weatherinton-Rice, a senior scientist at Bennett & Williams Environmental Consultants and an adjunct professor at Ohio State University. 'I am seeing a lot a lot stupid and a lot of heads in the sand, and that's what's going to kill us.' …"

"Fracking produces both solid and liquid wastes. The liquid wastes, known as 'flowback' and 'brine' in industry lingo, are laced with chemicals and can be radioactive from materials that occur naturally in the underground shale formations where oil and gas is extracted. In Ohio, brine is typically pumped into underground injection wells. …"

Full story

“Social cost of carbon” almost double what government previously thought

Jun 062013
 
 News blog

Figures will allow government agencies to better calulate climate change's economic impact when considering regulations.

from ThinkProgress

"The U.S. government updated its estimate of how much carbon pollution harms the economy. They found that their previous estimated costs were too low — ranging from 50 to 100 percent depending on the year and the estimate.

"An interagency working group coordinated by the White House released something called the 'Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis' which is a complicated way of saying that when an agency calculates the economic costs and benefits of a regulation, it now has numbers that reflect more of the true economic impacts of climate change.

"This important number has something to do with everything from the proposed Keystone pipeline to what the Obama administration does about climate change to the common microwave. …"

Full story

Striking Walmart workers demand safety in Bangladesh

Jun 062013
 
 News blog

International Walmart workers and fired warehouse workers joined striking employees in  demonstration.

from The Nation

"Competing chants pierced the air, and punctuated one another, as a Walmart pep rally and a union-backed protest took place some fifty feet apart this afternoon.

"On a public sidewalk across from Walmart’s 'home office' headquarters, international Walmart workers and fired warehouse workers joined striking employees in a demonstration calling for Walmart to avert future deaths in its international supply chain. On the other side of a narrow parking lot, a few of the blue-shirted Walmart employees brought to Bentonville by Walmart management began snapping cell phone photos of their striking co-workers, who sang, 'Which side are you on Walmart…Are you on the side of safety or on the side of murder?' Then a series of well-dressed Walmart staff began leading the blue-shirted employees in the company’s classic cheer spelling out its name: 'Give me a W!' 'W!' 'Give me an A!' 'A!'…'What’s that spell?' 'Walmart!'

"As successive busses drove up to drop off more company-invited Walmart workers under the Home Office awning, managers led the blue-shirted workers in cheering for their arriving co-workers and chanting the letters of the company’s name. The protesters across the lot from them kept up their slow-paced song, sometimes punctuated with 'Whose Walmart? OUR Walmart!' and 'Stand Up! Live Better!' Some hoisted flags and signs identifying their home countries, and giant cut-outs spelling out '1,239 KILLED,' the combined death toll from a building collapse and a fire in buildings where Walmart apparel has been produced. …"

Full story

Backlash grows against lobbying attack on British unions

Jun 052013
 
 News blog

Changes propoosed as part of lobbying reform would deprive Labour of union funding.

from Politics.co.uk

"Lobbying reform groups have reacted with outrage at the government's decision to tack on an attack on Labour's funding to its response to the ongoing lobbying scandal.

"Trade unionists were shocked yesterday when the government revealed plans to tackle third party lobbying also included attached measures tightening up regulation of trade union membership lists and forcing parties to include union funding of leaflets in their election spending limits.

"'Regulating the unions without touching big business is a joke. This kind of tit for tat politics is why nothing ever gets done,' Darren Hughes, director of campaigns and research at the Electoral Reform Society, said. …"

Full story

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