#IAmAW

[archi-tech]

Architects Are Starting to See Themselves as Workers — and Organizing Unions

Architects are recognizing the need to unionize as their roles evolve from artistic design to bureaucratic compliance and digital work. The BA Union, with IAMAW's support, is pioneering this move and negotiating industry's first collective contract. Historically seen as artisans, architects are now identifying as workers facing exploitation. Precarious conditions, long hours, and student debt have led to burnout among emerging architects. Unionization addresses these issues and allows collective bargaining for improved work environments. Despite challenges, the architecture industry must embrace unionization to protect workers and their craft. #Architecture #Unionization

Employees at Snøhetta, a global design firm, are seeking to form a union, aiming to become only the second private architecture firm in the US to unionize in almost a century. They're looking to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The move follows a growing trend in the architecture industry for unionization, motivated by the desire to secure working conditions rather than addressing issues like low pay and long hours. Snøhetta workers are focused on winning their union election, with the broader goal of building political power in the long run. This initiative is part of a larger industrywide campaign led by Architectural Workers United.

[fadingsunsjvj]

Bring Democracy to Work - IAMAW

[tigermike]

Proud Member, Local 850, IAMAW.

[newsblogalpha]

Important federal changes welcome, but more needed says IAM’s Pickthall – IAMAW

Important federal changes welcome, but more needed says IAM’s Pickthall – IAMAW

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02 November, 2018

TORONTO – Pearson Airport’s Terminal One was the scene of important changes to Canada’s Labour Code yesterday. Federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu announced legislation improving Canada’s labour standards as outlined in Part III of the Labour Code.

Stan Pickthall, Canadian General Vice-President said of the changes, “the parts of the Labour Code have been mostly��

[lorene1voice]

My brother. #IAMAW #Winnipeg #1919Strike #WinnipegGeneralStrike #parade #canlab https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx6jkVbBd06/?igshid=lbct2r5wuqdr

[criticallymyself]

So I found out yesterday that Sense8 has been cancelled on Netflix. 

ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME. The way it showed compassion towards people who were completely opposite was outstanding. It made you think that there may actually be some hope left in this shitty world we live in today. The shows representation of LGBT+ communities and the struggles that we all have to face in regards to this. It was a breath of fresh air. The amount of courage this show had to push boundaries regarding social stigmas... well, I haven’t really seen anything like it before. 

There is a lot more to say but I am struggling finding the correct words to use!

Weirdly enough I am mourning. But I want to congratulate every single person who had a part in creating something like Sense8. It is something that I will never forget.

[yogaposesfortwo]

The Future of Yoga: The Change We Need

We look at diversity, equity, job security, and online teaching during a post-COVID era. This story is a component of a series covering the longer term of yoga during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Here, we take a glance at the challenging issues the yoga industry faces. Read more about the role unionization may play in addressing those challenges in our first story: As COVID-19 Reveals the Cracks within the Yoga Industry, Could a Universal Teachers’ Union Help Reshape Our Community? One month before the announcement of the permanent closures of the YogaWorks ny studios that were announced in April, I spoke with the changemakers on the front lines of unionization efforts on a Zoom call; a couple of YogaWorks NY teachers who formed the collective, Unionize Yoga—a first-ever yoga teachers’ union to become certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Accompanied by a politician from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the union that represents them, the teachers discussed the important issues that were plaguing our industry long before the coronavirus pandemic had arrived, including a scarcity of diversity, job security, and benefits like insurance and paid leave . It was the first days of COVID-19. Social distancing measures and sanitization protocols were mounting because the word “quarantine” quickly became the new normal. Industry-wide shutdowns of yoga studios and cancelations of retreats and festivals soon rippled throughout the country and round the world, ny City prepared to shelter-in-place. Here’s what I asked them—and what I learned about what the longer term of yoga could appear as if during a post-pandemic world.

Is Industry-Wide Diversity and Equity Even Possible?

One of the most important problems perpetuated by the yoga and wellness industry is its homogeneity and reinforcement of said that folks like male teachers, but I’ve said, how does one know that folks don’t like black teachers—or any teacher of color?” It’s already hard enough for white individuals to form a living as yoga teachers—there aren’t enough jobs; we’re only too conversant in the unsettling statistic that for each one yoga teacher there are two more in training. during a market that’s already oversaturated with teachers who can afford the prices of teacher training—ranging anywhere from a fast-track online program for $500 to an in-depth offering with a renowned yogalebrity for $10,000—imagine what it’s like for minority groups vying for teaching positions who are, by the sheer demographics of the industry, outnumbered by the white majority. Demens says she’s looking forward to what a possible teachers’ union could mean for diversity within the industry at large. She’s looked to history for inspiration, and learned about the black sanitation workers in Memphis, TN, who had formed a union back within the 1960s. She says they too faced problems with unfair pay, and a scarcity of job security and safety. At the time, she says, black people weren't allowed to organize—but following two deaths from a dustcart malfunction and therefore the city’s refusal to exchange the defective equipment, the workers went on strike. “They went through such a lot , but they never gave up,” Demens said. “They fought hard and that they eventually won—and not only for themselves; what they did impacted the civil rights movement and therefore the fight for labor rights.” Demens points out how the win in Memphis helped many black people shift into the center class. “I think many of us , myself included, often feel overlooked—and that I even have no voice or say in what goes on during this industry or how I’m viewed within the community,” she said. While Demens doesn’t know whether a yoga union might be as powerful or effective as what had happened in Memphis, she acknowledges how unions can help people feel supported and of significance, and empower them to face up for what they believe . “Diversity is a problem everywhere—and it’s not really seen as something that’s missing. generally , we check a box if we've one person of color on a teaching schedule. It’s not fair to not even be considered. It’s not fair that even when I’m given an opportunity , it’s Monday at 2:30 within the afternoon. Who’s gonna come thereto class? My goal has been to try to to what I can to form yoga available to the folks that I know—people that appear as if me—and understanding the way to meet those people where they're . i feel that a yoga union would help make yoga classes available to more people. I’ve seen efforts toward this—my teachers offer scholarships to women of color. It’s healing to ascertain those shifts which thought and energy . I once taught a restorative class in Crown Heights at 4 p.m., to those women who were total BFFs; these old black women who looked a bit like my grandmother. The way they checked out me it had been like they were pleased with me, and once I checked out them I saw my grandmother. So once I teach now, I act as if I were teaching my grandmother. I’m not getting to shout at at her; I’m getting to set her up within the pose. As an Iyengar teacher all I can do is give commands—so it made me believe how could get more women like my grandmother to return to my class; more women like this. Whats missing is we'd like more stories like that. i would like to assist get these conversations going. one among my students recently reached bent me and asked me to start out teaching online classes. So I began to build a schedule that works on behalf of me . Before I had to require what I could get. Now I can run my classes the way i would like and provides my students what they have . An Asian women came to at least one of my classes to “rest her brain”—she said she was hurt by the toll the pandemic had taken on China, so I offered her restorative and pranayama. I wouldn’t are ready to do this before because i used to be always told I had to urge people moving. Now I can help people and provides them what they really need. With numerous people laid off and knowing that there’s some benefit they will get from class, I aks myself how do I make my clases more available and accessible to them.” –Deidra Demens, 500-hour Certified Yoga Teacher, Level 1 Iyengar Teacher

What Does Job Security Look Like in An Uncertain Future?

Some teachers may say they’re paid a good wage, but there are countless others who would argue they’re not. There are other teachers who would probably say that they've never been purchased their classes in the least . In my personal experience as an educator , I’ve made anywhere from $5 to $150 for one hour session, counting on whether i used to be paid per head ($5 = 1 student came) or a flat rate (corporate yoga or a yoga festival appearance). In most cases, yoga teachers work as independent contractors instead of as part-time employees of a studio, which, because the union points out, can save the studio money on unemployment insurance and workers compensation. YogaWorks has been an anomaly therein regard, since its teachers are employed either part- or full-time, and also are eligible surely benefits. But YogaWorks teachers need to work on least 10 hours per week to be eligible surely benefits—and Unionize Yoga believes that those benefits should be available to all or any . Still, generally speaking, yoga teachers rarely have job security, nor can most of them make an inexpensive living by teaching alone. There are many teachers who make it work by piecing together income from multiple studios, while others may rely solely on one because they’ve signed a non-compete clause. What happens when alittle , independent studio is struggling and has got to suddenly close, then those teachers are out of work? Or what happens when the economy reopens and we’re on the opposite side of the pandemic—how many studios will even survive and, what percentage teachers will still be out of work? very similar to the industry and aspects of the gig economy, the shortage of job security within the yoga world is being illuminated by the present depression . During quarantine and in survival mode, teachers have begun to understand the potential for generating revenue streams online without a brick-and-mortar studio. An unprecedented number of studios and teachers alike have migrated to measure stream classes and joined the Zoom boom, which, counting on time of day, scale of online and social media presence, and whether or not they’re giving content away for free of charge , may or not be understanding . There are teachers who’ve had upwards of 100 students during a single class, while others may even see just a couple in less desirable timeslot (what is that the new “prime time” for quarantine practice, anyway?). Other teachers, meanwhile, have expressed worry about those who’ve been giving their content away for free of charge , explaining that it devalues their expertise. Veronica Perretti, a former YogaWorks teacher and former NY teacher manager for YogaWorks, started her own online platform outside of the corporate mid-March, just following the announcement of the initial temporary studio closures. Though she had voted against the NY teachers’ union last fall, she’s still an advocate for teacher-owned businesses and believes that teachers should charge what they’re worth. “I replaced my monthly YogaWorks income within the matter of 1 week with my new online membership program,” Perretti said. “I think this is often subsequent frontier of teaching yoga.” She says this is often a flash for teachers to require ownership of their business outside of the studio and make a community that knows no bounds. “I don’t need YogaWorks to offer me a platform to show ,” she says. “I’m creating it for myself.” Just before the arrival of the coronavirus within the us , Unionize Yoga founding member Markella Los, gave up her group classes at YogaWorks and her position as an educator trainer, and subsequently, her involvement with the YogaWorks NY union. Her shift to specialise in one-on-one instruction and online community building was a timely one, and now, Los is committed to assist ing other teachers outside of YogaWorks mobilize and make solutions to help make the profession more sustainable. In May, Los launched The Connective, a web “teacher-powered” collective that aims to diversify the yoga industry and lift its standards. How The Connective holds up during a post-coronavirus world remains to be seen, since running your own business equates to even less protection when it involves job security, but Los seems optimistic, despite that the traditional could potentially pose more risk for teachers. “The current crisis is highlighting issues and insecurities of what it means to be an educator that tons folks already knew were there. Who gets to make a decision what the yoga industry seems like and who’s in it? What I could see happening is that inequities are further perpetuated, but in a web forum. I could see a direction during which business continues as was common , but within the ‘wild west.’ But what I also can see is a chance to course-correct; to arrange and have conversations around online teacher-owned businesses. There’s multiple ways for people to organize—it’s only limited by your collective creativity. Teachers are talking for therefore long about the thought or need for a yoga teachers’ union, and it never happened. It felt love it couldn’t be done. the very fact that we’ve shown it are often done shifts the scope of what is possible. Teachers reach bent us to seek out out what we did and the way to start out something on their own. we've a voice, we’re starting conversations, we’re connecting and being honest with what we’re all handling . Our goal has always been to boost industry standards overall—and for the profession to become more sustainable for anyone who wants to be in it. for much longer than I even have been teaching, people have talked about the thought or need for a yoga teachers’ union. They talked about it for therefore long and it never happened; it felt love it couldn’t be done. the very fact that we showed that it might be done shifts the scope of what is possible. It’s been a tremendous facilitator for conversation—teachers reach bent determine what we did and the way to start out something on their own. We’re starting important conversations; we’re connecting and being honest with what we are all handling . That’s been a hugely important profound shift. –Markella Los, 500-hour Certified Yoga Teacher; Yoga Tune Up YogaWorks, Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method, FRC Mobility Specialist

Are Yoga Teachers Entitled to Healthcare, Regardless of Hours Worked?

As London-based teacher Norman Blair wrote in his blog, “How can we stay well when working within the wellness industry?” Whenever an educator gets sick, they'll ���power through’ and teach anyway (it’s only an hour, right?), putting the health of their students in danger also as their own. the choice , of course, is to seek out a sub. Either way, the teachers who are independent contractors don’t get paid once they don’t teach. Worse, when an educator is injured and out of labor , how can they still make ends meet? The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how easily anyone can become ill, no matter their physical health. It’s a deadly reminder of the very fact that many Americans still live without insurance . Unionize Yoga believes that, like all trained worker , yoga teachers need and deserve benefits like healthcare. YogaWorks teachers, unlike most teachers at independent studios, are regular employees of the corporate , not independent contractors, which is why they’re eligible for perks like wage and which is additionally why they might legally form a union within the corporate . And though YogaWorks employees who work 10 classes per week (or equivalent) are considered full-time, consistent with Unionize Yoga, no teacher at YogaWorks NY had worked that a lot of hours. the amount of hours worked, of course, doesn't include the countless ‘invisible hours’ (class prep, travel, training, etc.), involved in teaching a category . Unionize Yoga says that healthcare benefits should be made available to all or any teachers, no matter hours worked. The common practice, a minimum of within the U.S., is that insurance usually applies only to those that work full-time, or part-time at a particular number of hours. But Unionize Yoga says that there’s no reason why a part-time teacher can’t be entitled thereto same fundamental right. YogaWorks, however, states otherwise, citing the company’s already existing benefits package as a rare exception within the yoga world—and the sole company within the industry to supply a leave policy. "YogaWorks is that the winner within the industry in providing benefits like health care coverage and 401k plans to full-time teachers, while also ensuring that each one among our teachers is an employee with all applicable benefits, including wage and hour protection, unemployment insurance, leave pay, family leave, and workers compensation,” a spokesperson from YogaWorks told me in an email. “We believe our extraordinary retention among our teachers, many spending decades with the corporate , may be a testament to our commitment to them and to the above market wages we offer altogether of our markets.” David DiMaria, a representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ (IAMAW) Eastern territory, works with new groups who’ve organized to make a union. He explains that independent contractors aren't covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which allows unions to legally form within companies. However, very similar to Uber drivers did in ny , independent contractors can still organize—just not within an equivalent legal framework of a formally recognized union that gives workers with additional rights. DiMaria understands the political and financial challenges that accompany fighting for healthcare, but believes that if yoga teachers were to arrange in greater numbers across different employers, that it’s doable within the future . very similar to actors’ unions, which believe contributions made by multiple employers, he says that following an identical model could mean that nobody employer would need to bear the high cost of insurance for his or her employees alone, which teachers could qualify for benefits no matter the amount of hours worked. “It’s a very tough issue due to the character of labor . Some teachers teach one class every week and a few teach five. We are watching ways to supply some level of advantages for everybody , but we are so early within the process that it’s timely to inform . We are bargaining over different issues and it’s all contingent agreeing to the entire contract, we won’t have an agreement until each side ratify. But once we last met with the corporate there was movement on their end. consider it sort of a junior high school dance, it begins with people on opposite sides of the space , but eventually everyone starts dancing.” –David DiMaria, Eastern Territory Organizing Lead, IAMAW

Should Studios Prioritize Teachers’ Pay Over Student Numbers?

Yoga studios, regardless of what size, exist due to yoga teachers. and lots of teachers have said that enormous companies like YogaWorks and CorePower, which are owned by private equity firms, could compensate their teachers with better living wages (the teacher-led lawsuit against CorePower in 2019 cited underpaid wages). Unionize Yoga says that a good wage is one that increases over time with experience, and considers other factors like the rising costs of living. (A quick disclosure: As a former YogaWorks NY teacher, my flat rate, when averaged over time, was still superior in comparison with the smaller studios that had paid me per head.) the matter with YogaWorks’ pay scale, however, as some YogaWorks NY teachers have said, had been the shortage of transparency about its pay system. Christine Festa, a yoga teacher and coach in Southeast Florida who completed her 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings at YogaWorks NY and NJ, agrees, and says it’s the massive companies who should be leading the industry by example. “There shouldn’t be of these different teachers at different pay rates,” she told me, flagging nepotism together potential issue. “There should be a group structure that's shared among teachers in order that all teachers understand where they substitute the combination of things; in order that they know where they’ll go as they progress in their career.” Festa is notoriously outspoken on social media about problems within the industry at large, and coaches yoga teachers on the way to become more self-sufficient by generating new revenue streams outside of studios. Tamar Samir, another founding member of Unionize Yoga and a YogaWorks NY teacher since 2010, says she’s an advocate for teachers. She’s argued for transparency around pay, and for various ‘pay bands,’ or layers of pay, that increase supported experience (Samir has completed over 1,500 hours of training). She suggests that there has got to be how for both the studio and teacher to financially flourish together. Yet as an accomplished creative director and professor of design at Parsons School of Design and Pratt in ny , Samir doesn’t necessarily believe teaching yoga to pay her bills. But when YogaWorks announced that it might close its Westside studio in late-2018 with only three weeks' notice, she realized just how fragile the industry are often for the typical teacher. Though the corporate took measures to reassign teachers elsewhere, the relationships between those teachers and therefore the students who’d been coming to their classes were broken—an entire community dissolved almost in a moment . “One of the items i assumed about after being during this industry for 10 plus years was that I even have tons less to lose than people . It became very clear there have been inequities, and that i have seen an equivalent patterns repeat over and once again . There’s a dichotomy between how yoga is presented publicly and what teaching yoga is really like behind-the-scenes. We see Instagram posts where teachers look beautiful, healthy, and peaceful, but all folks know that that's not actually the case in the least . Many teachers live in small apartments and earning under the poverty level . So maybe they’re accomplished on Instagram, but they’re also doing a waitressing or bartending job that they are not telling the planet about. there is a quite hypocrisy that’s built into the profession; you've got to present yourself as a picture of health and prosperity. It makes it harder for people to advocate for themselves. That’s why we’re the reality tellers—we’re telling people what a yoga teacher’s life is basically like. Yoga is about solidarity and connectedness—which should be a no brainer for yogis. –Tamar Samir, Creative Director and Yoga Teacher

Should Seniority and Experience Be Rewarded?

In most other professions, a worker receives a raise in their salary supported their performance, whether by appointment to a higher-level position supported seniority or through adequate compensation supported experience. The yoga industry, at large, has no such pay structure. In most cases, an educator just out of teacher training could also be paid an equivalent interest rate that increases per student as an educator with 10 years or more of experience. this suggests that a lot of teachers are rewarded for his or her personality and following, versus experience, while others may simply get lucky and secure lucrative time slots for his or her classes. When compared with the restaurant industry, for instance , a server with more seniority often gets the higher section, and walks away with 3 times the maximum amount take advantage their pocket on any given night as a less experienced server in another section. But many restaurants now have mandatory tip pooling systems in an effort to be more fair to their employees across the board. While pooled class earnings for yoga teachers might not be the foremost practical solution, Unionize Yoga is lobbying for a transparent pay structure that rewards teachers supported their skills and knowledge , instead of leaving it up to the luck of the draw or a robust personality with an outsized social media presence to urge ahead. German-born Nora Heillman, a performance artist turned yoga teacher, moved to ny from Amsterdam in 2013 where she met her wife, Samir. She recalls the first days as an immigrant in ny when she took whatever work she could get, teaching very early or late in the dark for little or no money. But after five years, exhausted and depleted, she found herself wondering how she’d be ready to continue—or what would happen if she got sick or ever wanted to retire at some point. As a yoga and meditation teacher with 13 years of experience and quite 1,600 hours of coaching , Heillman says she’s cycled through 12 studios in 5 years, many of which have closed, including 3 YogaWorks locations at the time of this interview (Heillman had been an educator at YogaWorks since 2014). She recalls the frustration of going to an area where she finally felt financially secure enough to pay her bills, just in time for an additional studio to shut its doors. Heillman recalls the sense of urgency that followed the closure of the YogaWorks Westside location in 2018; the belief of the shortage of sustainability within the profession— even as sustainability was becoming a buzzword, she says. That’s when she, Samir, and Los began their initial discussions that led to the first formation of the Teachers’ Initiative. “There are teachers at YogaWorks who are teaching for 25 years. We don’t have regular raises or evaluation meetings per annum like other jobs, since that’s not a typical within the yoga world. Teachers need to fight for a raise or salary that they might wish to see themselves at. And sometimes, after a few years of teaching, maybe they’ll have an honest salary, on the other hand a studio starts to limit classes and convey in new teachers at a lower rate who’ve just begin of coaching , because it’s less costly for the studio. There’s no financial security for teachers with more experience. That’s why we’re advocating for teachers with the foremost experience, especially those who’ve been at an equivalent studio for several years. They’re those who should have first access to classes opening up. There must be some career path for growth; knowing that your salary will go up if you persist with the corporate . Some teachers’ salaries haven’t gone up in 15 years at YogaWorks and at other studios, when now we pay $1,000 more dollars in rent per month than we did years ago. It’s a pity when a studio loses a highly qualified teacher because they’re burned-out and throwing in the towel of the profession. I just take what's offered to me, but i do know it’s the louder personalities who get $30 more per class. If you are not a fighter, you would possibly be teaching for low pay your whole life. How would any folks have navigated the present crisis without having had the community we’ve created through the union? we actually do support one another through all of this.” –Nora Heillmann, Yoga Teacher

The Next Step for Yoga

We have found ourselves during a moment where everything is changing and nobody really knows what the post-COVID yoga world are going to be like—with or without a union. Digital platforms could morph into an amplified version of a contest , rewarding only those that are highly skilled at self-promotion and social media marketing. Many studios will close and businesses will inevitably fail. For people who survive and remain open, the longer term of yoga—at least the foreseeable one—is a special place then once we left it. A future that limits in-studio class offerings, ushers students into a building one-by-one to require their temperatures, then caps the space at 6 to eight students. A world where students are inhaling and exhaling into their face masks with their mats strategically placed six feet apart. a wierd new reality where fears of germs are but a continuing , where extreme disinfectant and sanitization measures put anyone who’s willing to steer into a studio jittery . In some ways, it might appear to be going back to the way things were is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Maybe there's no going back. Maybe this this is often our moment, as an industry, to change, collaborate, create, and innovate—to transcend beyond studio walls. As we glance toward the longer term , as uncertain because it could seem at the present , perhaps we might all enjoy identifying what we don’t want the industry to seem like by acknowledging what it isn’t. It’s never the past neither is it our attachments thereto . The solutions aren't getting to be found by forcing things to be as they once were. As my teacher and studio owner, Jill Sockman, said during a virtual government building meeting on concentrate May as she announced the closure of her brick-and-mortar space in Raleigh, Blue Lotus, (where I had taught and practiced before the pandemic), “We’re not getting to find ‘the yoga’ by fighting what is; we can’t avoid doing the hard thing because it’s uncomfortable.” Author: Andrea Rice Source: https://www.yogajournal.com/teach/future-of-yoga-post-covid Discover more info about Yoga Poses for Two People here: Yoga Poses for Two Read the full article

[whoobazoo]

The Booth: May 26, 2020 - IAMAW Business Rep Mike Vartabedian

[spaceflight-insider]

ULA, machinists workers union agree on new contact

ULA, machinists workers union agree on new contact

Rather than being about economic issues, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the nearly two-week strike, which ended May 19, 2018, was about fairness in terms of mandatory travel, overtime and other issues. Photo Credit: Michael Howard / SpaceFlight Insider

The dispute between the United Launch Alliance (ULA) and employees that are members of the…

[fadingsunsjvj]

Bring Democracy to Work - IAMAW

https://www.goiam.org/news/bring-democracy-to-work/

[meme-constructor]

In my language, we don't say "I love you," we say "вогнутая мой IAMAW"

[iowafed]

ARA Friday Alert

Alliance to Host Retirement Security Seminar in November Join the Alliance virtually at our event, Retiree Security Symposium: A Seminar with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. It will be held on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 from 9:00 – 4:00 EST. The event will be livestreamed courtesy of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW).  The nation continues to face a…

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CSALP bargaining begins! – IAMAW

CSALP bargaining begins! – IAMAW

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Montréal, QC – The IAM opened its first round of bargaining with CSALP- C-series Airbus Limited Partnership this week.

“I’m encouraged by the goals the employer placed before us in our first meeting,” explained IAM Québec Coordinator David Chartrand. “They know they have a fine product in the A220-100/300 and they want to increase their rate of production which is good news for our…

[newstfionline]

Friday, July 1, 2022

Luggage piles join long airport lines in fresh woes for summer travel (Reuters) Piles of luggage beside baggage belts in airports from Canada to Europe are driving further demand for ground handlers, and adding to summer travel chaos as airlines scramble to bring back workers lost during COVID-19. Once a cost-cutting and outsourcing target for aviation, ground handlers are now being offered raises, as frazzled passengers take to social media to complain about missing baggage. The hiring can't come fast enough as a rebound in travel and badly-needed airline revenue this summer is being weighed by congestion, rising costs and labor strife, after a two-year pandemic vacuum. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), which represents ground handlers, including baggage and cargo handlers, for Air Canada among other carriers, said some Canadian workers are being offered raises and double pay to work beyond eight-hour shifts, a union official said.

Powell: ‘No guarantee’ Fed can tame inflation, spare jobs (AP) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there’s “no guarantee″ the central bank can tame runaway inflation without hurting the job market. Speaking Wednesday at a European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal, Powell repeated his hope that the Fed can achieve a so-called soft landing—raising interest rates just enough to slow the economy and rein in surging consumer prices without causing a recession and sharply raising the unemployment rate. “We believe we can do that. That is our aim,″ he said. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, had made the job more difficult by disrupting commerce and driving up the price of food, energy and chemicals.

Ecuador: Agreement ends 18 days of strikes (AP) Ecuador’s government and the country’s main Indigenous group reached an agreement Thursday to end 18 days of often-violent strikes that had virtually paralyzed the country and killed at least four people. The deal, which includes a decrease in the price of fuel and other concessions, was signed by Government Minister Francisco Jiménez, Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza and the head of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Cabrera, who acted as mediator. The agreement sets out that gasoline prices will decrease 15 cents to $2.40 per gallon and diesel prices will also decline the same amount, from $1.90 per gallon to $1.75. The deal also sets limits to the expansion of oil exploration areas and prohibits mining activity in protected areas, national parks and water sources. The government now has 90 days to deliver solutions to the demands of the Indigenous groups.

Chile’s new leftist president gets reality check as support wanes (Reuters) The optimism engulfing Chile’s leftist President Gabriel Boric as he took power in March has dimmed as inflation, social unrest and political missteps dent his popularity and fuel doubts about a push to steer the economy away from market-friendly policies. The former student protest leader handily won a presidential election in December, rattling business, particularly the mining sector, with his proposals to change tax laws to fund social spending and toughen environmental regulation. An opinion poll on Monday showed Boric’s support plunging to 34%, the lowest level of his presidency, closely mirroring waning backing for the country’s planned new constitution. Inflation in Chile is currently running at an 11.5% annual rate, far above the central bank’s target range of 2% to 4%. Monthly inflation rose to almost a 30-year high in March. While Boric’s environmental agenda and focus on inclusivity have earned him plaudits, analysts said most voters were more focused on everyday matters. “People want to make it to the end of the month, be able to buy a car, be certain their kids will prosper,” said Cristobal Bellolio, a political analyst in Santiago.

Did Putin inadvertently create a stronger NATO? (Washington Post) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in at least one major change to the global order: NATO expansion. In Madrid on Wednesday, leaders of the military bloc’s member states formally decided to invite Sweden and Finland to join NATO after Turkey agreed to drop its opposition. This is bad news for one person in particular. As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, Vladimir Putin “wanted less NATO,” and now he’s “getting more NATO on his borders.” Ukraine is flush with weapons and other support from NATO member states. And if both Sweden and Finland ascend to membership, the balance of power in Europe has been further tipped against Russia. With an enemy to focus on, NATO has a renewed sense of purpose. Just three years ago, French President Emmanuel Macron complained it was facing “brain death.”

‘We cannot pause our lives’: Ukrainians begin rebuilding (AP) On the outskirts of a Ukrainian village stand the remnants of a small school that was partially destroyed in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. Surrounded by tall pine trees, the school’s broken windows offer glimpses of abandoned classrooms that are unlikely to see students again anytime soon. It is just one of many buildings in Yahidne that were shattered by the war. But this village and others are gradually returning to life a few months after Russian troops retreated from the northern Chernihiv region. Now people are repairing homes, and the sound of construction tools fills the air. Volunteers from all over Ukraine, and from other countries, are coming to help because there is so much to do before another winter approaches. “It’s a long game. We cannot pause our lives, sit at home and wait for the war to end,” said Tetyana Symkovych, the volunteer group’s coordinator.

Russia abandons Snake Island in strategic victory for Ukraine (Reuters) Russian forces announced on Thursday they had abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island, in a victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia’s grain export blockade. Russia’s defence ministry described the decision to withdraw from the outcrop as a “gesture of goodwill” that showed Moscow was not obstructing United Nations efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine’s ports. But Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after a massive artillery and assault overnight. “KABOOM!” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff. “No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.” The outcrop controls access to sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, where a Russian blockade has prevented exports of grain from one of the world’s main suppliers, creating a global food supply shock and risk of famine.

Japan's June flames out with record heat, but power crunch averted (Reuters) Japan's electricity grid creaked on Thursday under the strain of Tokyo's hottest June since records began, but a power crunch that could have deprived tens of millions of electricity was narrowly averted and authorities prepared to lift warnings. Temperatures of nearly 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) were marked in some parts of greater Tokyo, home to 37 million people, on the sixth day of a heatwave that began after the earliest end to the capital's rainy season in decades. Maximum highs are not forecast to drop to 30C (86F) before Tuesday. But power outages were averted, despite the loss of output from a 600-megawatt (MW) plant.

Marcos takes helm in Philippines (AP) Ferdinand Marcos Jr. praised his father’s legacy as he was sworn in as Philippine president Thursday after a stunning election victory that opponents say was pulled off by whitewashing his family’s image. His rise to power, 36 years after an army-backed “People Power” revolt booted his father from office, upends politics in the Asian democracy. In his inaugural speech, Marcos Jr. defended the legacy of his late father, who he said accomplished many things that had not been done since the country’s independence. “He got it done, sometimes with the needed support, sometimes without. So will it be with his son,” he said to applause from his supporters in the crowd. “You will get no excuses from me.” “My father built more and better roads, produced more rice than all administrations before his,” Marcos Jr. said. The new president called for unity, saying “we will go farther together than against each other.

Xi arrives in Hong Kong for 25th anniversary of handover (AP) Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the British handover and after a two-year transformation bringing the city more tightly under Communist Party control. It is Xi’s first trip outside of mainland China in nearly 2½ years. Supporters waving Chinese and Hong Kong flags chanted “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” as Xi’s train pulled into the train station. Under Xi’s leadership, China has reshaped Hong Kong in the past two years, cracking down on protest and freedom of speech and introducing a more patriotic curriculum in schools. The changes have all but eliminated opposition voices and driven many to leave. At the train station, Xi said Hong Kong has overcome many challenges over the years and had been “reborn from the ashes” with “vigorous vitality.”

Israel’s parliament dissolves, sets 5th election in 4 years (AP) Israel’s parliament voted Thursday to dissolve itself, marking the end of a year-old experimental coalition government, and sending the country to the polls in November for the fifth time in less than four years. Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister and architect of the outgoing coalition government, will become the country’s caretaker prime minister just after midnight on Friday. He will be the 14th person to hold that office, taking over from Naftali Bennett, Israel’s shortest serving prime minister. The government collapsed just over a year after it was formed in a historic move that saw longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu ousted after 12 years in power by a coalition of ideologically diverse parties, the first to include an Arab faction. The upcoming elections are an extension of Israel’s protracted political crisis, at the heart of which sits Netanyahu and his ongoing corruption trial. The four deadlocked elections in the previous three years were largely referendums on Netanyahu’s fitness to serve while facing charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

Ukraine war pushes Somalia toward famine (Washington Post) On the second day fleeing drought and hunger, 5-year-old Amina Abdi could no longer walk. She hadn’t eaten in a week. Her tiny body was skeletal; her skin was flaking from severe malnutrition. She collapsed on the orange desert sand and died. Amina is just one among hundreds of children who have died of hunger in recent weeks, casualties of the worst drought in four decades and a confluence of crises that again have put Somalia on the brink of famine. There are the familiar culprits: a dearth of rainfall made worse by climate change; conflict; disease; the coronavirus pandemic; and even locust infestations. But unlike previous hunger calamities, this one is exacerbated by a conflict 3,000 miles away. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is fueling starvation in Somalia and other nations, abetting death, sickness, the disintegration of families and the loss of livelihoods far from the war’s front lines. “The crisis is worse now than anytime in my lifetime working in Somalia for the last 20 years, and it is because of the compounded effect of the war in Ukraine,” said Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, Somalia country director for the charity Save the Children.

Use the force (Foreign Policy) Ukrainians trying to knock down unwanted Russian monuments are getting creative. In the port city of Odesa, a statue of Russian revolutionary leader and the first chief of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin has been replaced by none other than the Sith lord himself, Darth Vader.

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Bombardier to resume negotiations with IAMAW Local 712 Chapter

Bombardier to resume negotiations with IAMAW Local 712 Chapter

Bombardier to resume negotiations with IAMAW Local 712 Chapter Source link