#district social welfare job responsibility

[jobtamizhan]

DSWO Coimbatore Recruitment 2022 Apply Case Worker Vacancy

DSWO Coimbatore Recruitment 2022 Apply Case Worker Vacancy #govtjobs #upsc #ssc #currentaffairs #gk #ssccgl #ias #jobs #governmentjobs

Coimbatore Social Welfare Notification Offline Form 2022 – Case Worker Post Eligibility Salary, Admit Card, Exam Date and Notification – Social Welfare Are Invited Offline Application Form Coimbatore Social Welfare Recruitment 2022 (Case worker) Interested Candidate Completed All Eligibility Criteria and Offline Application Form Before Apply Offline Application form Please Read Full Notification…

[governmentjobsworld]

கோயம்புத்தூர் மாவட்ட சமூக நல்வாழ்வு துறையில் தேர்வே இல்லாமல் வேலை..!

கோயம்புத்தூர் மாவட்ட சமூக நல்வாழ்வு துறையில் தேர்வே இல்லாமல் வேலை..! #govtjobs #upsc #ssc #currentaffairs #gk #ssccgl #ias #jobs #governmentjobs

கோயம்புத்தூர் மாவட்ட சமூக நல்வாழ்வு துறையின் பின் வரும் Case Worker பணிகள் நிரப்புவதற்கான அறிவிப்பு வெளியாகியுள்ளன. தமிழ்நாடு அரசு இந்த அதிகாரப்பூர்வ அறிவிப்பினை  வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. சமூக நல்வாழ்வு துறை பணிக்கு விண்ணப்பிக்க ஆர்வமுள்ளவர்கள் 07/12/2022 முதல் 15/12/2022க்குல் அஞ்சல் மூலமாக விண்ணப்பிக்கவும். இப்பணிக்கு விண்ணப்பிக்கும் நபர்கள் விண்ணப்பிக்கும் முன்பு கீழ்க்கண்ட கல்வித் தகுதி , வயது விவரம்…

[gatheringbones]

[“Poverty is embarrassing, shame inducing. Misery (misère), the French sociologist Eugène Buret once remarked, “is poverty felt morally.”

You feel it in the degradation rituals of the welfare office, where you are made to wait half a day for a ten-minute appointment with a caseworker who seems annoyed you showed up. You feel it when you go home to an apartment with cracked windows and cupboards full of cockroaches, an infestation the landlord blames on you. You feel it in how effortlessly poor people are omitted from movies and television shows and popular music and children’s books, erasures reminding you of your own irrelevance to wider society. You may begin to believe, in the quieter moments, the lies told about you. You avoid public places—parks, beaches, shopping districts, sporting arenas—knowing they weren’t built for you.

Poverty might consume your life, but it’s rarely embraced as an identity. It’s more socially acceptable today to disclose a mental illness than to tell someone you’re broke. When politicians propose antipoverty legislation, they say it will help “the middle class.” When social movement organizers mobilize for higher wages or housing justice, they announce that they are fighting on behalf of “working people” or “families” or “tenants” or “the many.” When the poor take to the streets, it’s usually not under the banner of poverty. There is no flag for poor rights, after all.

Poverty is diminished life and personhood. It changes how you think and prevents you from realizing your full potential. It shrinks the mental energy you can dedicate to decisions, forcing you to focus on the latest stressor—an overdue gas bill, a lost job—at the expense of everything else. When someone is shot dead, the children who live on that block perform much worse on cognitive tests in the days following the murder. The violence captures their minds. Time passes, and the effect fades until someone else is dropped.

Poverty can cause anyone to make decisions that look ill-advised and even downright stupid to those of us unbothered by scarcity. Have you ever sat in a hospital waiting room, watching the clock and praying for good news? You are there, locked on the present emergency, next to which all other concerns and responsibilities feel (and are) trivial. That experience is something like living in poverty. Behavioral scientists Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir call this “the bandwidth tax.” “Being poor,” they write, “reduces a person’s cognitive capacity more than going a full night without sleep.” When we are preoccupied by poverty, “we have less mind to give to the rest of life.” Poverty does not just deprive people of security and comfort; it siphons off their brainpower, too.”]

matthew desmond, from poverty: by america, 2023

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Body in the Fish Tank: the unsolved murder

In August 2018 a headless, hand-less torso was found hidden under a staircase inside a fish tank in the SoMa District home of 65-year-old Brian Egg. Two people were arrested, but then released for the murder of Egg. 

“When he suddenly disappeared, I knew there had to be something amiss there,” a friend of Egg’s said. He remembers that when Egg disappeared, the message on his phone said he was away on vacation - Suspicious, considering Egg never used his voice mail and the voice was not his. Neighbors also saw strangers in his home. His friend asked police to do a welfare check on Egg. They did, but it was only cursory. “No response at the door. And saw nothing suspicious,” said police. 

A few months later another frantic call to police, and this time, responding officers found someone in the house. A strange odour wafted through a locked room. Police found a body without a head or hands in a large fish tank. They arrested Lance Silva and another transient, Robert McCaffrey, living in the house. Both were charged with ID theft, financial crimes, and homicide. Through DNA, the mutilated body was identified as that of Brian Egg. An autopsy concluded he was murdered and died from blunt trauma. Lance Silva and his friend were later released.

The Brian Egg case began in late May 2018. That’s the last time that Egg was spotted in his South of Market neighborhood. A full timeline on the case is posted below:

Late May or early June 2018: Brian Egg last seen in his South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco police say.

June or July 2018: Egg’s brother, Devon Egg, says he phoned his brother and an answering machine picked up with a request to leave a message. He said his brother never used an answering machine and he didn’t recognize the voice on the machine. He called back and someone answered who gave his name as Nate. He said his brother would call him right back after he finished walking his dog. No one called back.

June 1, 2018: Court records show that a 2007 BMW was purchased for $5500 by someone who had identified themselves as Brian Egg from a dealership in Newark. A purchase document for the sale would later be found in possession of Lance Silva after he was arrested in connection with Egg’s disappearance.

June 15, 2018: The BMW purchased on June 1 was towed from 379 5th Street in San Francisco for parking in a no-stopping zone. It was retrieved later that day by two men, one of whom identified themselves as Paul Foran, the second was identified by police from surveillance video as Lance Silva.

Late July 2018: Police say they receive the first calls from neighbors reporting Egg’s disappearance. Officers respond to the home twice. They knocked on the door. Each time, there was no answer and the officers left.

August 2, 2018 Egg’s long-time neighbor and friend Scot Free makes a post on the social media site Nextdoor to alert neighbors. Neighbors expressed their concern and said they would also report the suspicious activity at the home to police. Strangers were seen coming and going from home.

August 4 or 5th, 2018: Neighbors say the third check by police apparently prompted the people living in the house to frantically clean. They observed soap suds coming out of the home and bleach was being used to clean the front of the home. Someone in the home had also painted part of the front of the home including a door.

August 7, 2018: Police say Egg’s sister filed a missing person’s report. They send officers out to the house for a third time. But again, after no one answers the door, they leave.

August 14, 2018: Neighbors call 911 after the private crime scene clean-up company Aftermath showed up to clean the home. Robert McCaffrey, 52, was arrested at the home. Neighbors say he had at least $1,000 cash in hand to pay the company for the job.

August 16, 2018: Police arrest Lance Silva, 39, in a nearby residential hotel. Both men are charged with homicide, ID theft, elder abuse and financial crimes. But the San Francisco District attorney’s Office eventually drops the charges pending further investigation. McCaffrey is freed. Silva is held in jail in Alameda County by authorities for a parole violation. Court records show he had a prior convictions for grand theft. The parole violation stemmed from identity theft and fraud charges. Police believe he was using Egg’s debit card.

August 17, 2018: After searching the home for four days, police find a human torso in a large fish tank that was hidden in the home. They seek DNA samples from family members in an effort to identify the remains.

August 23, 2018: Neighbors say that a round-the-clock surveillance of the home by police since August 14 ends.

August 28, 2018: San Francisco police hold press conference revealing details of the case for the first time. They defend not taking further action during those three checks on the home. They say there wasn’t sufficient suspicion break into the home but neighbors strongly dispute that.

August 29, 2018: Lance Silva appeared in court in Alameda County to face charges related to a parole violation.

April 24, 2019: Lance Silva released from jail after ‘sentence served’

May 2019: Egg’s death officially ruled a homicide by San Francisco Medical Examiner

[dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd]

The Body in the Fish Tank: the unsolved murder

In August 2018 a headless, hand-less torso was found hidden under a staircase inside a fish tank in the SoMa District home of 65-year-old Brian Egg. Two people were arrested, but then released for the murder of Egg. 

“When he suddenly disappeared, I knew there had to be something amiss there,” a friend of Egg’s said. He remembers that when Egg disappeared, the message on his phone said he was away on vacation - Suspicious, considering Egg never used his voice mail and the voice was not his. Neighbors also saw strangers in his home. His friend asked police to do a welfare check on Egg. They did, but it was only cursory. “No response at the door. And saw nothing suspicious,” said police. 

A few months later another frantic call to police, and this time, responding officers found someone in the house. A strange odour wafted through a locked room. Police found a body without a head or hands in a large fish tank. They arrested Lance Silva and another transient, Robert McCaffrey, living in the house. Both were charged with ID theft, financial crimes, and homicide. Through DNA, the mutilated body was identified as that of Brian Egg. An autopsy concluded he was murdered and died from blunt trauma. Lance Silva and his friend were later released.

The Brian Egg case began in late May 2018. That’s the last time that Egg was spotted in his South of Market neighborhood. A full timeline on the case is posted below:

Late May or early June 2018: Brian Egg last seen in his South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco police say.

June or July 2018: Egg’s brother, Devon Egg, says he phoned his brother and an answering machine picked up with a request to leave a message. He said his brother never used an answering machine and he didn’t recognize the voice on the machine. He called back and someone answered who gave his name as Nate. He said his brother would call him right back after he finished walking his dog. No one called back.

June 1, 2018: Court records show that a 2007 BMW was purchased for $5500 by someone who had identified themselves as Brian Egg from a dealership in Newark. A purchase document for the sale would later be found in possession of Lance Silva after he was arrested in connection with Egg’s disappearance.

June 15, 2018: The BMW purchased on June 1 was towed from 379 5th Street in San Francisco for parking in a no-stopping zone. It was retrieved later that day by two men, one of whom identified themselves as Paul Foran, the second was identified by police from surveillance video as Lance Silva.

Late July 2018: Police say they receive the first calls from neighbors reporting Egg’s disappearance. Officers respond to the home twice. They knocked on the door. Each time, there was no answer and the officers left.

August 2, 2018 Egg’s long-time neighbor and friend Scot Free makes a post on the social media site Nextdoor to alert neighbors. Neighbors expressed their concern and said they would also report the suspicious activity at the home to police. Strangers were seen coming and going from home.

August 4 or 5th, 2018: Neighbors say the third check by police apparently prompted the people living in the house to frantically clean. They observed soap suds coming out of the home and bleach was being used to clean the front of the home. Someone in the home had also painted part of the front of the home including a door.

August 7, 2018: Police say Egg’s sister filed a missing person’s report. They send officers out to the house for a third time. But again, after no one answers the door, they leave.

August 14, 2018: Neighbors call 911 after the private crime scene clean-up company Aftermath showed up to clean the home. Robert McCaffrey, 52, was arrested at the home. Neighbors say he had at least $1,000 cash in hand to pay the company for the job.

August 16, 2018: Police arrest Lance Silva, 39, in a nearby residential hotel. Both men are charged with homicide, ID theft, elder abuse and financial crimes. But the San Francisco District attorney’s Office eventually drops the charges pending further investigation. McCaffrey is freed. Silva is held in jail in Alameda County by authorities for a parole violation. Court records show he had a prior convictions for grand theft. The parole violation stemmed from identity theft and fraud charges. Police believe he was using Egg’s debit card.

August 17, 2018: After searching the home for four days, police find a human torso in a large fish tank that was hidden in the home. They seek DNA samples from family members in an effort to identify the remains.

August 23, 2018: Neighbors say that a round-the-clock surveillance of the home by police since August 14 ends.

August 28, 2018: San Francisco police hold press conference revealing details of the case for the first time. They defend not taking further action during those three checks on the home. They say there wasn’t sufficient suspicion break into the home but neighbors strongly dispute that.

August 29, 2018: Lance Silva appeared in court in Alameda County to face charges related to a parole violation.

April 24, 2019: Lance Silva released from jail after ‘sentence served’

May 2019: Egg’s death officially ruled a homicide by San Francisco Medical Examiner

[newsarticle4u]

What is an EWS Certificate: Eligibility, Benefits, How to Apply, and more

What is an EWS Certificate?

An EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) certificate is a document issued by the government to individuals who belong to the economically weaker sections of society. This certificate serves as proof of their financial status, allowing them to access various benefits and reservations provided by the government.

Objectives of the EWS Certificate

The primary objectives of the EWS certificate are:

Provide Economic Assistance: The certificate aims to support individuals and families with limited financial resources by granting them access to economic benefits and welfare schemes.

Educational Benefits: Holders of the EWS certificate are eligible for a 10% reservation in educational institutions, including universities and colleges governed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). This helps ensure that economically disadvantaged students have better access to higher education.

Employment Opportunities: The certificate also provides a 10% reservation in government jobs, helping economically weaker individuals compete more effectively in the job market.

Housing and Subsidies: EWS certificate holders can benefit from various housing schemes and subsidies designed to make housing more affordable for those with lower incomes. This includes state and central government housing projects.

Social Inclusion: By providing these benefits, the EWS certificate aims to promote social inclusion and reduce economic disparities within society. It helps ensure that individuals from economically weaker sections can participate more fully in social, educational, and economic activities.

Healthcare and Other Benefits: In some regions, EWS certificate holders may also receive preferential access to healthcare services and other welfare programs aimed at improving their quality of life.

Also read: Encumbrance certificate

Documents Needed to Apply for an EWS Certificate

To apply for an Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) certificate, you will need the following documents:

Proof of identification

Caste certificate

Domicile certificate or proof of residence

Income certificate

Bank statement

Property or land ownership documents

Passport-sized photograph

Self-declaration or affidavit

Eligibility Criteria for EWS Certificate

To qualify for an EWS certificate, you must meet these requirements:

Be part of the General category

Do not own more than five acres of agricultural land

Have an annual family income of Rs. 8 lakh or less

Do not own a residential house/flat with a carpet area exceeding 100 sq. ft (exceptions apply for notified municipal areas) or property on lease

Own a residential plot in notified municipal sectors not exceeding 100 sq. yards or an urban plot below 240 sq. yards in non-notified municipalities

Authorities Responsible for Issuing EWS Certificates

This certificate is typically issued by various local government authorities, depending on the region. The designated officials authorized to issue the certificate include:

Tehsildar: This is a common issuing authority in many states.

Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO): In some regions, the SDO is responsible for issuing these certificates.

Revenue Officer: Certain states assign the responsibility to revenue officers.

District Magistrate (DM) or Deputy Commissioner (DC): In some areas, the DM or DC may issue the certificate.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM): This is another potential issuing authority in some regions.

Collector: In some states, the collector of the district may issue the certificate.

EWS Certificate Details and Validity

The EWS Certificate stands for Economically Weaker Sections. It typically remains valid for one year, although in some states it may be valid for only six months. Timely renewal is essential to continue receiving its benefits. In many regions, online renewal is available for convenience; otherwise, you will need to visit the issuing authority for offline renewal.

Benefits of an EWS Certificate

Holding an EWS certificate provides several benefits:

Access to state and central government housing schemes and subsidies

Financial assistance for economically weak individuals in the General category

Educational benefits and access to government schemes

A 10% reservation in major universities under the UGC

EWS Housing

EWS housing aims to provide affordable accommodation to economically weaker sections with an annual income of less than INR 3 lakh. This certificate is crucial for availing these housing benefits as it confirms a family’s economic status and eligibility.

Reservation Percentages for EWS Certificate Holders

Reservation percentages for EWS certificates can vary across different categories and states in India. Although the eligibility criteria are consistent nationwide, implementation may differ regionally. Here are the general reservation percentages:

OBC: 27%

ST: 7.5%

General-EWS: 10%

SC: 15%

Unreserved: 40.6%

These percentages apply to reservations in educational institutions and government job opportunities for each respective category.

How to Apply for an EWS Certificate

Applying for an Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) certificate can be done either online or offline, depending on your state’s procedures.

Online Method

Visit the Official Website: Access the official website of the authority that issues EWS certificates in your state.

Select the Appropriate Department: Choose the department responsible for issuing the EWS certificate.

Complete the Online Form: Enter your personal details and income information as required in the form.

Upload Required Documents: Scan and upload necessary documents such as proof of income and identification.

Make Payment: Pay the application fee through the available online payment gateways.

Submit the Application: Ensure all details are correctly filled in before submitting the application.

Receive Confirmation: Upon successful submission and payment, you will receive an automatically generated receipt.

Offline Method

Visit the Issuing Authority: Go to the local revenue department or the office of the designated authority in your area.

Obtain the Application Form: Download the form from their official website or collect it directly from the office.

Fill Out the Form: Complete the application form with the required information.

Submit Documents: Attach photocopies of the necessary documents, such as proof of income and identification.

Pay the Fee: Pay the application fee as specified by the authority to receive the application receipt.

Submit the Application: Hand in the completed form and documents to the office.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What is an EWS Certificate?

An EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) certificate is an official document that verifies an individual’s financial status, enabling them to access various government benefits, reservations in education, and employment opportunities.

2. Who is eligible for an EWS Certificate?

Eligibility criteria include belonging to the General category, not owning more than five acres of agricultural land, having an annual family income of Rs. 8 lakh or less, and not owning residential property exceeding specified limits

3. What documents are required to apply for an EWS Certificate?

Required documents include proof of identification, caste certificate, domicile or residential proof, income certificate, bank statement, property or land ownership proof, passport-sized photograph, and a self-declaration or affidavit.

4. How can I apply for an EWS offline?

Visit the local revenue department or issuing authority’s office, obtain and fill out the application form, attach required documents, pay the application fee, and submit the form to receive an application receipt.

5. What is the validity period of this Certificate?

The EWS certificate is typically valid for one year, although in some states it may be valid for six months. Timely renewal is essential to continue receiving benefits

Suggested Article:

Lal Dora Certificate — Benefits, Eligibility, Application Status

How to get ORC Certificate in Telangana for Inam land?

What is Encumbrance Certificate (EC): Importance, Types & Documents

[pashterlengkap]

Lauren Boebert tried to make a gay joke about Pete Buttigieg. It backfired completely.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have been arguing publicly this week ever since Boebert took credit for bridge funding in her district that she voted against in Congress and Buttigieg called her out. Now she’s trying to get back at him… by making fun of him for raising kids while gay. Related Hate influencer Chaya Raichik thinks Pete Buttigieg can’t do his job because he loves his husband He apparently can’t lead the federal response to the Baltimore bridge collapse because he and his husband are happy together. Earlier this week, Boebert bragged on X about having “secured” funding for a bridge in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, which is in Colorado’s Third Congressional District. She wrote that she “was thrilled to hear… that my support has helped make this project a reality.” Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The problem was that that funding came through the Biden administration’s Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which was funded by Congress through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Boebert voted against. And she didn’t just vote against it – she excoriated the bill as “wasteful” and “garbage” and vowed revenge on House Republicans who voted in favor of the “government welfare.” “Congresswoman, in what way do you believe that your support helped this project?” Buttigieg asked her. “We chose it because it’s a good project, and funded it using President Biden’s infrastructure package, which you voted against.” Boebert decided she wasn’t going to let this fly and responded by accusing Buttigieg of “chest-feeding” his children. Chest-feeding is a term used by some trans men and nonbinary people to describe feeding their children. Buttigieg is a cisgender gay man, not a trans man, but perhaps Boebert doesn’t know the difference. “Mayor Pete, maybe you were out chest-feeding and missed my letter, but I personally wrote you about this in June 2022,” she said, before she continued to decry the bill whose funding she was bragging about obtaining just days ago. “Only 13 RINOs in the House voted for your Green New Deal non-infrastructure bill you are touting that wastes hundreds of millions on climate change instead of roads and bridges.” “And infrastructure grants have been doled out by administrations on both sides for decades so don’t act like you are the sole provider of this funding,” she said, even though an administration can’t give out grants without authorization by Congress, which Boebert voted against. Mayor Pete, maybe you were out chest-feeding and missed my letter, but I personally wrote you about this in June 2022. Only 13 RINOs in the House voted for your Green New Deal non-infrastructure bill you are touting that wastes hundreds of millions on climate change instead of… https://t.co/KqwDFuBiL9 pic.twitter.com/6MziBeLUTs— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 22, 2024 The letter she referred to was probably the one she sent to support a grant application in her district in 2022 to get funding from the bill after it had already been passed because a majority of her colleagues – mostly Democrats – voted for it. People mocked her on social media for turning to homophobic insults because she couldn’t win the actual argument. Other people pointed out that Boebert isn’t even attending her own son’s court hearings – while making time to attend Donald Trump’s trial in New York – so maybe she shouldn’t be mocking other people’s parenting. The thing is….this funding is from Biden’s bill. And you indeed did vote against it.— Jersey Craig (@Jersey_Craig) May 22, 2024 Look at you trying so hard. You voted against the Infrastructure Bill that the grants come from. Had it worked out your way the money wouldn't be there to even be had. The letters from your office personnel after the fact mean nothing. You voted… http://dlvr.it/T7RRZ0

[vivekbsworld]

Streamlining Commutes: Employee Transportation Services in Kerala

In the bustling state of Kerala, where urban centers and business districts thrive amidst the natural beauty of its landscapes, efficient employee transportation services play a vital role in ensuring smooth operations for businesses. With the growing focus on employee welfare and sustainability, companies are increasingly turning to professional transportation services to facilitate safe, reliable, and convenient commutes for their workforce. In this blog post, we’ll explore the significance of employee transportation services in Kerala and how they contribute to enhancing productivity, reducing stress, and promoting sustainability in the workplace.

The Importance of Employee Transportation Services: Employee transportation services are more than just a means of getting employees from point A to point B. They form an integral part of an organization’s infrastructure, contributing to several key aspects of its operations:

Employee Satisfaction and Productivity: A reliable transportation service ensures that employees arrive at work on time, reducing stress and enhancing job satisfaction. By eliminating the hassle of navigating traffic or relying on public transportation, employees can start their workday feeling refreshed and focused, leading to improved productivity and performance.

Safety and Security: Professional transportation services prioritize the safety and security of passengers, providing well-maintained vehicles and experienced drivers who adhere to safety regulations. This instills confidence among employees, especially during late-night shifts or in areas with limited public transportation options.

Cost-Efficiency: Outsourcing transportation services can be more cost-effective for companies compared to maintaining a fleet of company-owned vehicles. By partnering with a transportation provider, businesses can access a range of vehicles tailored to their needs without the overhead costs of ownership, maintenance, and insurance.

Environmental Sustainability: Employee transportation services contribute to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating traffic congestion by promoting shared rides and optimizing routes. By adopting eco-friendly practices such as using electric or hybrid vehicles, companies can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Types of Employee Transportation Services in Kerala: In Kerala, companies have access to various transportation solutions tailored to their specific requirements and preferences:

Shuttle Services: Shuttle services operate on predefined routes and schedules, providing convenient transportation options for employees commuting to and from the workplace. These services are particularly beneficial for companies with multiple locations or large campuses.

Point-to-Point Transfers: Point-to-point transfers offer door-to-door transportation for employees residing in different areas of the city or surrounding suburbs. This personalized approach ensures that employees are picked up and dropped off at their preferred locations, enhancing convenience and flexibility.

Customized Solutions: Transportation providers offer customized solutions based on the unique needs of each company, including flexible scheduling, dedicated vehicles, and tailored routes. Whether it’s regular daily commutes, special events, or employee outings, these services can be adapted to suit various scenarios.

Benefits for Employers and Employees: The adoption of employee transportation services in Kerala offers several benefits for both employers and employees:

Enhanced Employee Retention: Providing reliable transportation services demonstrates a commitment to employee welfare, fostering loyalty and retention within the workforce. Employees are more likely to stay with a company that values their well-being and offers solutions to address their commuting needs.

Improved Work-Life Balance: A stress-free commute allows employees to strike a better balance between work and personal life, leading to increased job satisfaction and overall well-being. By minimizing commute-related stressors, employees can enjoy more quality time with their families and pursue extracurricular activities outside of work.

Positive Corporate Image: Companies that prioritize employee transportation services project a positive corporate image and attract top talent in the competitive job market. Prospective employees are more inclined to join organizations that prioritize employee welfare and offer comprehensive transportation solutions as part of their benefits package.

Conclusion: Employee transportation services play a pivotal role in shaping the workplace experience and driving organizational success in Kerala. By investing in safe, reliable, and efficient transportation solutions, companies can enhance employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention while demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. As businesses continue to evolve and adapt to changing dynamics, employee transportation services remain a cornerstone of workforce management, fostering a culture of efficiency, inclusivity, and well-being in the modern workplace.

[cityofalbinoch]

Who are the people that call Albinoch home? What do they contribute to the landscape of this massive, sprawling city?

ALLERCORPS

The Allied Earth Remainder Corporations is a corporate alliance made between a few huge megaconglomerates. This alliance governs Albinoch through appointees to the Corporate-Municipal Legislative Council, as well as working together to ensure that their profit margins keep growing, and their investors both on and off-world remain pleased.  * The CMLC (“Cumlicks,” if you will) is a governing body, made up of appointed representatives of each member of the Allercorps, charged with the care and keeping of Albinoch’s citizenry. They handle law creation and legislature, budgeting, infrastructure plans, and the social welfare of the city. Some people might argue that they do a bad job at this, as they are so influenced by the corporate, profit-driven interests of their employers that they can’t make fair, even-headed decisions in favor of the people. Their response to this criticism has been to pass another tax break for the top income bracket.

A.M.P.D

Albinoch Municipal Police Department (or Asshole Military Police Douchebags, depending on how civic-minded you are). A highly militarized entity paid by the Corporate-Municipal Legislative Council to enforce Albinoch’s laws and protect the interest of the Allercorps at all costs.  * the A.M.P.D’s ace in the hole, aside from all of their standard military police, bloated-budget, skull-bashing bullshit, are the Weres. W.E.R.E. officers (Warrant Escapee Retrieval Expert) are genetically modified to have enhanced senses and physical strength, speed, and stamina. They have superb night vision, and are capable of tracking an individual’s scent trail or sniffing out hidden contraband. For that reason, Weres often work with K-9 officers, or in some divisions of the AMPD have replaced K-9 units completely. Weres can also undergo a physical transformation that for a short time allows them to become even stronger and faster than before, though this leaves the officer in question drained after an episode. When this happens, their features become bestial, almost lupine. When a prisoner or detainee escapes custody, spotlights are lit, and can paint the clouds with pale circles that look almost like a full moon. People joke that when a full moon is out, you have to be wary of wolves. As the Lazarine problem has encroached further and further into the city, it’s become a part of Were officers’ duties to hunt down nests and exterminate them.

CASEY FAMILY

A brutal organized crime family. Irish transplants. The Caseys run Kismet, the biggest gambling district in Albinoch. If you place a bet anywhere in the city, at some point your money will pass through a Casey’s hand. They run casinos, race tracks, fight rings, you name it. If you can gamble on it, they own it. Well connected, but not seen as valid members of high society, the higher tiers of the family live a pale reflection of the Delta District lifestyle, lording over their own enterprise. Because gambling is tied to other vices, they also have a big hand in the drugs, liquor, and sex trades, though they aren’t the only ones by far.

FISHER PEOPLE

Permanent residents of the canals, the Fisher People live on long, narrow riverboats and remain constantly on the move. Due to some contract signed decades ago, Fisher People are technically sovereign, with their own (elected and impeachable) queen and council of elders—though they do live and work in Albinoch. As a result, they have a reputation for sheltering criminals and undesirables, since the police can’t legally enter their boats. They’re very private and insular, but they also have a reputation for helping those truly in need.  * Market: when a collection of private and public Fisher Ships link up at a mooring site to make an impromptu town. The process of linking the boats up is called Going To Market, and the communities are impermanent and shifting, though one or two of the larger boats tend to be more or less permanent figures ** Court: kind of like Market but much more temporary. When boats Go To Court, it’s because the Queen and the council have decided to meet about official business with important community figures. 

FOUNDRYMEN

Smelters, smiths, and other refiner tradesmen. A lot of their solidarity comes from looking down on Moles and Slabs. There’s a culture in the foundries of thinking that the other workers are less skilled—after all, they only pull things out of the ground, they don’t make anything. Though recently some people have begun to wonder whether that point of view was grown naturally, or if it was seeded by corporate interests afraid of worker solidarity between industries. 

MOLES

Miners. Miners have a very low life expectancy, comparatively, and are also comparatively likely to be infected with Lazarine Vampirism. As a result, Moles all contribute to a shared medical fund that can be used to pay for treatment for illness, but also support a miner’s family in the event of their death. 

RIGGERS

Oil rig workers and their families. Since actual Rig work takes employees away for months at a time, Riggers provide each other with a social safety net, looking after each other while part of their families are away. This includes childcare, communal meals, and just going to check on each other. 

SLABS

Quarry workers. Slabs tend to live near the edges of Albinoch, because their workplace is the farthest away from the city. As a result, they see a lot of attacks from Lazarine Vamps, and have fortified their neighborhoods accordingly. Their relationship with their other slabs is close to that of a comrade-in-arms.

[chegg77]

Difference between IAS and IES | Guide to UPSC

IAS (Indian Administrative Service) and IES (Indian Engineering Services) are distinct branches within the Union Government. These designations are overseen by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The fundamental distinction lies in their roles and responsibilities. IAS officers primarily operate within the administrative and managerial framework of the Indian Government. In contrast, IES officials are tasked with managing the executive and technical aspects of government operations.

This article will delve into an in-depth comparison between these two cadres, offering a comprehensive understanding of the distinctions between IAS and IES. Before delving into the nuances of their differences, it's important to first comprehensively explore IAS and IES individually.

IAS and IES: IAS stands for Indian Administrative Service, while IES represents Indian Engineering Services. Both are integral parts of the Union Government and are managed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Roles and Responsibilities: IAS officers are primarily engaged in administrative and managerial tasks, involving policy formulation, implementation, and public service delivery. IES officials, on the other hand, handle the technical and executive aspects of government projects, focusing on engineering and technical solutions.

Functions: IAS officers work across diverse sectors, such as civil administration, police, revenue, and development. They are responsible for ensuring smooth governance, law enforcement, and public welfare. IES officials specialize in engineering disciplines and are responsible for designing, executing, and supervising technical projects related to infrastructure, public works, and technological advancements.

Training: IAS officers undergo training at premier institutions like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). IES officers receive training at specialized academies, enhancing their technical skills and knowledge.

Promotions: IAS officers follow a structured hierarchy, with opportunities for promotions to higher administrative positions. IES officers can rise through the ranks in their specialized technical fields.

Eligibility: Both cadres require candidates to clear the UPSC examination. However, the educational backgrounds and disciplines differ. IAS candidates come from various academic backgrounds, while IES candidates should have engineering degrees.

Job Diversity: IAS officers enjoy a diverse range of postings, from district administration to policy-making in government ministries. IES officers often work on projects related to engineering, technology, and infrastructure development.

Impact: IAS officers have a direct influence on governance, policy formulation, and public service delivery. IES officers contribute to the technical and infrastructural advancement of the nation.

Challenges: IAS officers often handle complex administrative and social issues, requiring effective leadership and decision-making skills. IES officers must ensure the successful execution of projects, balancing technical aspects with budgetary and logistical constraints.

[anjaliseo123]

N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP Government Revolutionizing Waste Management with Electric Vehicles

Under the leadership of N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in Andhra Pradesh has made significant strides in implementing innovative and sustainable solutions to address waste management challenges. One noteworthy initiative is the adoption of smart waste management solutions through the use of electric vehicles (EVs). The former TDP government, led by Nara Chandrababu Naidu, has consistently emphasized the importance of sustainable waste management practices. Through its policies and initiatives, the TDP government has made significant TDP Achievements in this sector. By adopting smart waste management solutions through electric vehicles, the government aimed to revolutionize the waste management sector, reduce carbon emissions, and create a healthier environment for the citizens of Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP Party has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable development and environmental conservation. By integrating electric vehicles into waste management practices, the TDP government Promoted clean energy and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. This move aligns with the TDP's commitment to combating climate change and building a sustainable future for Andhra Pradesh. The TDP Agenda revolves around promoting economic growth, improving infrastructure, and ensuring social welfare. In the TDP Manifesto, the party highlights the importance of sustainable development and pledges to implement innovative solutions for waste management. The adoption of electric vehicles for waste management reflects the TDP government's commitment to fulfilling its promises and creating a better quality of life for the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Under Nara Chandrababu Naidu's leadership, the TDP government has spearheaded numerous developmental projects across various sectors. From infrastructure development to healthcare, education, and agriculture, the TDP Party has been dedicated to the overall progress of Andhra Pradesh. The introduction of smart waste management solutions through electric vehicles is yet another testament to the party's proactive approach towards finding sustainable solutions to pressing challenges. The TDP government has implemented several TDP Schemes and TDP Policies to address the waste management crisis effectively. By incorporating electric vehicles into waste collection and disposal processes, the government aims to streamline operations, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency. This initiative also opens up opportunities for job creation and skill development in the electric vehicle sector.

The N Chandrababu Naidu TDP government’s adoption of smart waste management solutions through electric vehicles has generated significant interest and positive responses from citizens. This forward-thinking initiative has been applauded for its potential to transform waste management practices and make Andhra Pradesh a model for other states to follow. The District TDP leader's efforts and commitment to sustainability and technological advancements have garnered appreciation from both environmentalists and citizens concerned about waste management issues. With the local news and recent TDP news learn more about the TDP Party’s Manifesto and other notable TDP Contributions to the development of Andhra Pradesh.

Overall with the leadership of Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the former TDP government has showcased its commitment to sustainable development by adopting smart waste management solutions through electric vehicles. This step not only addresses the pressing waste management challenges but also contributes to reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy. By prioritizing environmental conservation and innovation, the TDP Party has established itself as a progressive political party dedicated to creating a cleaner and greener Andhra Pradesh. The adoption of electric vehicles for waste management marks a significant TDP Development and paves the way for a more sustainable future in the state.

[rakehrajdevinfo]

Find Out How Rakesh Rajdev Celebrated Navrati This Year

Rakesh Rajdev – Have you heard about this name? If you are in India, especially in North India then you would have known about it. He is a famous businessman as well as a philanthropist. Rakesh Bhai Rajdev has helped countless families to lead better lives.

One of the recent celebrations was during the Navratri. Rakesh Bhai Rajdev and his family celebrated it in a unique way.

In India, Hindus regard the festival of Navratri with great significance and this festival is celebrated in various ways throughout India. But the dates of this particular festival change somewhat each and every year according to the Hindu Lunar calendar. The festival always starts on Pratipada, the first day of the Hindu Month Chaitra (March/April) and again in the Sharad (September/October).

What Is Special About The Festival Navratri?

Navratri is one of the special festivals for all the Hindus. During Navratri, nine goddesses are worshipped over nine days. The word Nava means nine and Ratri means night. This explains the nine nights of festivals. One of the most important features of the festival is the practice of charity.

People such as Rakesh Rajdev – who is an active social worker do a tremendous amount of charity work among those who are less fortunate. He along with her wife Rupalben Rajdev supports countless families and people. Both of them are from Rajkot district of Gujarat.

Rakesh is running a famous three-star hotel namely Roma Kristo Hotel located in Dwarka. Also, he is the founder of three companies namely APM Capital, APM Bullion and APM Intl DMCC. These are trading companies, where one can trade precious metals and buy physical precious metals such as gold and silver and get them delivered to their location.

Recently he also started a luxurious five-star hotel located in Batumi in Georgia namely Courtyard by Marriott. It is operated under a license agreement from Marriott International, Inc.

The Rajdev family run a charity and social welfare organization namely KanudaMitra Mandal. With this NGO, they have supported and supported several families. This family did a wonderful job of organizing special events for small children during the Navratri.

For the young girls, they organized this special event so that they can enjoy their time. The couple planned an exciting day at the Fun World amusement park in Rajkot. They invited thousands of small kids who don’t have proper financial support to enjoy their time in such places.

To support the children’s education, Rakesh Rajdev and his family offered educational kits which contains school bags, water bottles, notebooks, lunch boxes and many more. Also, he arranged snacks and food for the children so that they can enjoy their time.

During the event at the amusement park, the kids loved every minute of enjoying the time. They did the traditional Garba dance in response to the DJ’s music. It is a symbolic dance that celebrates the feminine form of divinity. The girls were in a circle around a clay lantern and the dance was performed by them.

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[indiafrontline123]

CSR programmes focusing on people with disabilities

People with disabilities (PwD) still experience prejudice, whether it is in the workplace, the educational system, or any other area. Even if efforts are being made and happily awareness is rising, accepting them in their limitations is a goal that has not yet been entirely attained. What steps are businesses taking to help these people? The CSR Journal examines some of the most recent special needs CSR efforts.

100% of LawSikho’s scholarships are for people with disabilities

A few days ago, the Gurugram-based legal edtech business LawSikho announced that it would provide 500 people with disabilities with full scholarships (PwD). According to their release, National Skill Development Corporation will co-certify individuals who successfully finish the courses (NSDC).

To determine who is eligible for the scholarships, which will cover LawSikho’s test prep courses for government jobs, upskilling courses focused on jobs in the private sector, and remote freelance work courses focused on international markets like the US, UK, and Canada, law graduates and law students will need to take an online admission test. Candidates must present a government-issued disability card or proof of disability in order to be eligible to take the admissions test. The notification states that while the entrance test will be held in October, candidates may still show up for an online, on-demand admission test at a later time.

Working together for inclusive education and disability rights are Bajaj Finserv and Sightsavers India.

Sightsavers India, an NGO that works for people with disabilities, and Bajaj Finserv Limited, the holding company for the financial services businesses of the Bajaj Group, recently partnered to launch their social inclusion and inclusive education programmes in the districts of Raisen, Khagariya, Kasganj, and Pratapgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, respectively.

retrofitted scooters from Hero MotoCorp for former CRPF members with unique needs

Recently, Hero MotoCorp offered a special offer for former members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and their families. The “Hero Salutes Heroes of the Nation” project, launched under the Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility platform “Hero We Care,” will donate 90 retro fitted Hero Destini 125 scooters, supported by two auxiliary wheels in the rear, which have been tailored to suit the riding requirements of the divyangex-staff who became disabled while in service.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Hero MotoCorp and the CRPF Family Welfare Association (CWA) signed, the project would also provide 200 designated CRPF families with a special welfare package for those who have been badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Children’s hearing impairment intervention missed call helpline from Allcargo Logistics and Vipla Foundation

Recently, Vipla Foundation and logistics service provider Allcargo Logistics launched the DialforDhvani missed call helpline number. The aim is to provide parents of young children with hearing loss in particular as well as the general public with early identification, intervention, and related consulting services.

The project by Microsoft and EnAble India to employ people with impairments

Recently, Microsoft and EnAble India announced their partnership to provide 100,000 new opportunities for people with disabilities (PwDs). According to reports, the initiative, dubbed “Inclusion to Action,” seeks to provide an opportunity platform by uniting more than 100 organisations nationwide from the financial services, manufacturing, retail, and tech sectors to collaborate on a range of tech skilling, mentorship, internship, and employment initiatives in order to achieve economies of scale in the shared objective of economic empowerment for PwDs.

People with disabilities face numerous obstacles to fair employment opportunities, which contributes to greater unemployment rates and socioeconomic disparities. People with disabilities must have equal access to education and employment opportunities as everyone else in order to address these issues.

With programmes ranging from tech skilling and mentorship to internships and jobs, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between EnAble India and Microsoft seeks to establish an ecosystem for both opportunity seekers and suppliers. The technical skill development programmes are created to improve knowledge of digital accessibility as businesses develop their hybrid work strategies more frequently.

The development of accessible products will be facilitated by the growing representation of PwDs, which will benefit people with disabilities who utilise technology. Additionally, training materials on contemporary workplace applications for increased productivity and successful collaboration are available to people with impairments.

The #VoiceOfBlinds skill-building programme from Primus Partners and Khabri Audio

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the strategy firm Primus Partners and the vernacular audio learning platform Khabri Audio Pvt. Ltd.

As a part of the skill development programme, Khabri has also assembled a specialised sector of experts in psychological, social, and financial topics as part of the #VoiceOfBlinds project. To make sure the community of people who are blind is not left behind, live sessions are also being developed with professionals. In order to enhance their dedication to empowering the blind population across India, #VoiceOfBlinds has also created a dedicated content channel to conduct live counselling sessions and celebrity-led conversation shows. In order to assist the community in finding better employment opportunities both inside and outside of India, the portal will also feature films on upskilling such as English speaking, ways of earning, financial and digital literacy, personality development, among other career-related issues.

Visit us India Frontline - India's Corporate News Portal

[route22ny]

Visitors to the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center are encouraged upon arrival to enter a corridor and enjoy a ‘walk through time.’ The corridor, lined with outlandish fashions and records taped to the walls, features exhibits on McKeesport’s former department stores, its now shuttered daily newspaper, and a former landmark hotel. Perhaps atypically for a former steel town, the images featured focus not on smokestacks or furnaces, but on McKeesport’s former central business district, and the pleasant Boomer memories of post-Second World War prosperity.

McKeesport today bears little resemblance to the city commemorated in its history museum. It’s no longer the nation’s leading producer of steel pipes, nor the commercial and industrial center of the Mon Valley Region, but rather a small suburban community on Pittsburgh’s periphery. The city’s poverty rate is more than double the state and Pittsburgh metro levels, at more than thirty-one percent, with forty-nine percent of children under the age of eighteen living in poverty. Its median home value, $48,000, is a quarter of the state’s and a third of the rest of the Pittsburgh metro. Twenty percent of housing units are vacant, and half the population moved between 2000 and 2014. In 2019, a national trade association for the home security industry ranked McKeesport America’s fourth-most dangerous city.

The story of what happened to McKeesport, like so many places in the Rust Belt, is a story of the relationships between labor and industry, of the collective power of communities to shape their circumstances, and of the forces that conspire to keep this power at bay. Its history is shaped by two ‘Great Depressions’—first, the one everybody knows about, in the 1930s, and again in the 1970s and 80s, when the oil crisis led to a downturn in steel production and a tremendous loss of jobs and industry (cumulative job losses since the mid-1970s are estimated at 175,000).

The Mon Valley and the community of McKeesport never recovered from that second crisis. This contrasts sharply with the first, when organized labor succeeded, albeit briefly, in securing for steel industry workers the wages, benefits, and job security that had so long been denied them by U.S. Steel and its local political allies. That hard-won prosperity and security would ultimately last only two decades before a combination of factors conspired to undermine and overwhelm what was once the beating heart of the American steel industry—but it carries important lessons for those who hope to rebuild thriving communities in the Rust Belt.

Well into the third decade of the twentieth century, working conditions in the large industrial concerns that defined the McKeesport community bordered on intolerable. Most workers toiled for excessively long hours in dangerous conditions for pitiful wages. Discipline in the mills could be enforced with beatings or firing without cause. Complaints could result in losing one’s job, as could sickness or even an injury incurred while at work; in 1910, in more than half of the workplace accidents resulting in injury or death in Pittsburgh, the employer bore absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. There was no recourse outside of organizing, and even that brought with it serious challenges. In Pittsburgh specifically, union organizers were harassed and beaten by Pinkerton detectives working for the major steel companies, and meeting halls were closed by the Board of Health for unsanitary conditions. (Duquesne mayor James Crawford famously boasted that Jesus Christ himself couldn’t hold a union meeting in his town.)

Engraving of the manufacture of steel tubing pipe mills at the National Tube Works, as printed in Scientific America, McKeesport, PA, 1897. American Stock Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Though the American steel worker had secured a modicum of job security and a reprieve from this brutal exploitation during the First World War, at the war’s conclusion the steel industry sought its own ‘return to normalcy’ and an elimination of all the benefits that had been gained to keep the industry running. The Great Steel Strike of 1919 demonstrated that there was considerable labor unrest in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.

McKeesport was at the center of considerable labor organizing during the 1920s and 1930s. This was the era of the Red Scare, and anti-union sentiment was widespread. Phil McGuigan, a McKeesport worker, recalled that private detectives spied on employees to prevent unionizing. McGuigan also remembered an informal system of patronage was the primary means for gaining employment, and that Mayor George Lysle forbade the renting of halls for union meeting purposes. In 1923, several members of the Workers’ Party were fined for holding an outdoor meeting on private property after being denied the right to rent a hall for the same purpose. After the meeting, McKeesport’s major employers went about dismissing “…all employees who were known to have attended the meeting or to have been identified in any way with it or the Workers’ Party.”

McKeesport resident Junious Brown, interviewed in 1983 by the McKeesport Oral History Project, recalled that the steel mills of the Mon Valley largely fell silent during the Great Depression, noting that McKeesport’s primary employer, National Tube, ceased operation during the Great Depression, as did the nearby Duquesne Works. Nearly all the locals interviewed for the said that jobs, food, and money were all in short supply, but that most people didn’t leave their homes or the community unless they were forced out. Those interviewed, Brown included, spoke in glowing terms about the union movement, which helped the citizens of the Mon Valley weather the storm of widespread economic collapse.

Labor organizers, including communists, were known for taking direct action to help people in trouble. Rocky Doratio, who was active with the Unemployment Council (UC) movement prevalent in the Mon Valley at the time, said when peoples’ utilities were shut off, UC members would “go around turning the gas on; water and electric too,” and that UC’s membership would show up in force in case one of their members were threatened with eviction. Similar tactics were employed to ensure the prompt distribution of welfare checks. (Joseph Odorcich, who became vice president of the Steelworkers’ Union in the 1980s, told interviewers: “I said in the ‘30s we were that close to going communist. One of the reasons was, in those days they were the only ones who would help you. If the company shut off the gas, the commies come in at night and turned it back on.”)

Several of the interviewees related how social solidarity during the Great Depression knocked down interracial and inter-ethnic barriers that had been previously exploited by major employers and the political class alike. Junious Brown recalled that the unions improved his job prospects, such that he and other Black people were no longer limited to “…the hardest, dirtiest jobs.” Andrew Jakomas, who served three terms as mayor of McKeesport from 1953 to 1965, recalled McKeesport during the Depression was a multi-ethnic melting pot, but that politically the city was a “closed corporation” where “ethnics and Blacks” had no chance of holding political office. Jakomas summarized the general support of citizens for the various federal government ‘make-work’ initiatives of the New Deal, stating that “…we all became Democrats with Roosevelt.”

As McKeesport native and veteran labor reporter John P. Hoerr relates, the ‘good old days’ of working in the steel mills was in the post-World War II period, when organized labor had secured a good deal for the working man. The postwar period witnessed considerable labor action on the part of the United Steelworkers (USW), which contrasts sharply with the stereotypical image of postwar domestic tranquility and social conservatism. In fact, in the fifteen years that followed the Second World War the USW went on strike five times (in 1946, 1949, 1952, 1956 and 1959), the last of which involved more than half a million workers and lasted 116 days.

The steel industry employed about eighty thousand people in the late 1940s, with most of the jobs concentrated in the Mon Valley. While the majority of principle employers were involved in steel (and U.S. Steel was without question the dominant employer in and around McKeesport), the city had a sufficiently diversified economy that it had emerged into a regional center and not merely a mill town. Despite this economic diversity, and despite increased labor activism that led to the formation of the United Steelworkers, U.S. Steel remained both locally and nationally dominant, such that major changes to the industry were bound to have a serious and negative ‘trickle down’ effect on mill-dependent communities and the various industries involved in steel.

In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act, one of the most sweeping pieces of anti-union legislation in U.S. history, was passed over the veto of Harry Truman. Among the act’s various provisions was the right for states to pass ‘right to work’ legislation, which outlawed “closed shop” union organizing and allowed non-union workers to hire in—a major blow for union power, and perhaps the singular aspect that secured bipartisan support from the ‘Dixiecrats’ and curtailed union organizing in the South.

By the middle of the century, as the economic foundation of the Mon Valley was being hollowed out, so too was its urban environment. Whole sections of the city, including much of its antique affordable housing stock, was razed to make way for large-scale urban renewal projects that never materialized, and the land was ultimately handed over to the steel firms. Population displacement was motivated first by a desire to ‘clean up the slums’ and ‘reduce crime,’ but ultimately served to provide inexpensive land to massive corporations. While communities across the country wiped the slate clean of urban neighborhoods, they were simultaneously losing residents and their tax bases to new suburbs.

The racial characteristics of McKeesport were also changing, with the Black population representing about twenty-one percent of the total by 1971 (it’s about thirty-six percent today). After the city desegregated public housing in April of 1971, white people began distributing thousands of crude racist pamphlets. Anti-Black racism in McKeesport and the Mon Valley Region was not limited to the distribution of pamphlets or lethargy in the integration of public housing, however; Black people generally had few options for employment and fewer still for advancement, and were first to be laid off from the mills.

By the time of the second oil crisis, in 1979, a global recession was brewing and analysts started warning of the possibility of an oil glut. By 1981, the American economy was in full recession, and demand for American steel, like McKeesport’s tubes and pipes, was plummeting. The company laid off more than six thousand workers in the Mon Valley by November of that year. The following month, it used $6.3 billion in federal aid to purchase Marathon Oil as part of an economic diversification strategy meant to satisfy the interests of shareholders; steelworkers complained the funds should have been used to upgrade mills to make steel products more internationally competitive.

More than five hundred companies declared bankruptcy in America during one week in June 1982, with more than fifty thousand businesses failing across the county in that fiscal year. Unemployment in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area reached nearly sixteen percent in 1983, with 168,000 people seeking work. Though the rate declined to under eight percent by the end of 1986, in mill towns the numbers often exceeded twenty percent in terms of real unemployment. Research from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work revealed that between 1981 and 1986, in one out of three Mon Valley households, at least one member had been jobless for a year or more.

McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Photo via Flickr (creative commons).

In October of 1986, twenty-two thousand USW members walked off the job as negotiations broke down; the strike would last six months. When the strike ended in February of 1987, the 189 remaining employees who reported back to work at McKeesport’s National Tube Works were told their plant, in operation continuously since the 1870s, would not re-open. Twenty-one employees were retained to conclude the last shipments and assist in stripping the plant of its remaining useful technology and equipment. (U.S. Steel would transfer its tube and pipe operations to Fairfield, Alabama, where union organizing was more difficult.)

By 1986, population loss had left five hundred abandoned homes throughout McKeesport and over half a million dollars lost in tax income. Young people had been moving out in droves for some time; seventy-four percent of the 1986 graduating class of Duquesne High reported they would leave the Mon Valley for better opportunities elsewhere. Public services, from police and firefighters to street cleaners and public works employees, were cut in communities large and small throughout the region. Though McKeesport would experience a brief resurgence of activism in an effort to save the community in the mid-late 1980s, their efforts were largely unsuccessful. With the loss of the economic foundation of the region, those who could afford to move elsewhere did so, and the population of McKeesport continued to shrink and grow older.

It’s hard to be hopeful walking past the endless rows of abandoned storefronts and the crumbling buildings of McKeesport’s once bustling downtown, and yet, a century ago, at a time in which nearly all hope had been lost, the people of this city secured for themselves a new and better deal. Though McKeesport transitioned from a bustling regional commercial and industrial center to a declining residential suburb over the course of the last century, there may yet be a stable foundation for renewal.

The community that remains occupies land once reserved for the local elites, stretched along Eden Park Boulevard and focused on the few remaining community institutions, such as the local high school, Renziehausen Park, and the churches that proudly boast of their ethnic heritage—Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian. Down the hill, toward what was once McKeesport’s central business district, is an abundance of open lots and derelict buildings. Racial divisions seem to remain, with the upper part of the community noticeably whiter and better off than the segment that lives down the hill; McKeesport’s Black population has increased substantially over the past decade, like the other communities of the Mon Valley, as Black people are displaced from Pittsburgh’s gentrifying urban neighborhoods.

In the Mon Valley, the organization of municipalities still reflects the preferences of U.S. Steel from more than a century ago. Communities remain disconnected from one another, despite geographic proximity and near socio-economic uniformity; McKeesport is only about twelve miles from downtown Pittsburgh, but the drive can take as long as forty-five minutes. This planning was often deliberate, as major industrial concerns like U.S. Steel simply didn’t want their employees mixing with the employees of other mills for fear they may unionize.

Politicians often say there are no simple solutions for what to do with America’s devastated industrial cities, but the beleaguered citizens of these communities are under no illusion that easy solutions exist. Despite baked-in divisions, the workers of the 1930s found common cause, and learned, as did working people across the country, that the power of the industrial bosses was largely an illusion. It was easy to stop evictions when masses of people showed up to stare down the sheriff, and relatively simple to turn the utilities back on with the help of the neighborhood electrician or plumber. The likelihood of police violence and suppression fell with every new person attending an outdoor rally right in the middle of town. Churches and schools, street corners and shops became the venues for impromptu meetings, discreet sharing of information, and the ever-increasing organizing web.

Residents of today can take a powerful lesson from McKeesport’s first Great Depression. The strength of the town in the twentieth century was built on an infrastructure of connection and organizing across differences—geographic and otherwise—and offers a compelling blueprint for rebuilding strong Rust Belt communities in the future. The steel mills may not be coming back to the valley, but that’s no matter–they weren’t really what brought these communities together in the first place. ■

The author, Taylor C. Noakes, is an independent journalist and public historian currently based in Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of Duquesne University’s MA Public History program and is currently working on preservation and rehabilitation projects for a Pittsburgh-based architectural firm.

***

Belt Magazine is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To support more independent writing and journalism made by and for the Rust Belt and greater Midwest, make a donation to Belt Magazine, or become a member starting at just $5 a month.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Body in the Fish Tank: the unsolved murder

In August 2018 a headless, hand-less torso was found hidden under a staircase inside a fish tank in the SoMa District home of 65-year-old Brian Egg. Two people were arrested, but then released for the murder of Egg. 

"When he suddenly disappeared, I knew there had to be something amiss there," a friend of Egg’s said. He remembers that when Egg disappeared, the message on his phone said he was away on vacation - Suspicious, considering Egg never used his voice mail and the voice was not his. Neighbors also saw strangers in his home. His friend asked police to do a welfare check on Egg. They did, but it was only cursory. "No response at the door. And saw nothing suspicious," said police. 

A few months later another frantic call to police, and this time, responding officers found someone in the house. A strange odour wafted through a locked room. Police found a body without a head or hands in a large fish tank. They arrested Lance Silva and another transient, Robert McCaffrey, living in the house. Both were charged with ID theft, financial crimes, and homicide. Through DNA, the mutilated body was identified as that of Brian Egg. An autopsy concluded he was murdered and died from blunt trauma. Lance Silva and his friend were later released.

The Brian Egg case began in late May 2018. That's the last time that Egg was spotted in his South of Market neighborhood. A full timeline on the case is posted below:

Late May or early June 2018: Brian Egg last seen in his South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco police say.

June or July 2018: Egg's brother, Devon Egg, says he phoned his brother and an answering machine picked up with a request to leave a message. He said his brother never used an answering machine and he didn't recognize the voice on the machine. He called back and someone answered who gave his name as Nate. He said his brother would call him right back after he finished walking his dog. No one called back.

June 1, 2018: Court records show that a 2007 BMW was purchased for $5500 by someone who had identified themselves as Brian Egg from a dealership in Newark. A purchase document for the sale would later be found in possession of Lance Silva after he was arrested in connection with Egg's disappearance.

June 15, 2018: The BMW purchased on June 1 was towed from 379 5th Street in San Francisco for parking in a no-stopping zone. It was retrieved later that day by two men, one of whom identified themselves as Paul Foran, the second was identified by police from surveillance video as Lance Silva.

Late July 2018: Police say they receive the first calls from neighbors reporting Egg's disappearance. Officers respond to the home twice. They knocked on the door. Each time, there was no answer and the officers left.

August 2, 2018 Egg's long-time neighbor and friend Scot Free makes a post on the social media site Nextdoor to alert neighbors. Neighbors expressed their concern and said they would also report the suspicious activity at the home to police. Strangers were seen coming and going from home.

August 4 or 5th, 2018: Neighbors say the third check by police apparently prompted the people living in the house to frantically clean. They observed soap suds coming out of the home and bleach was being used to clean the front of the home. Someone in the home had also painted part of the front of the home including a door.

August 7, 2018: Police say Egg's sister filed a missing person's report. They send officers out to the house for a third time. But again, after no one answers the door, they leave.

August 14, 2018: Neighbors call 911 after the private crime scene clean-up company Aftermath showed up to clean the home. Robert McCaffrey, 52, was arrested at the home. Neighbors say he had at least $1,000 cash in hand to pay the company for the job.

August 16, 2018: Police arrest Lance Silva, 39, in a nearby residential hotel. Both men are charged with homicide, ID theft, elder abuse and financial crimes. But the San Francisco District attorney's Office eventually drops the charges pending further investigation. McCaffrey is freed. Silva is held in jail in Alameda County by authorities for a parole violation. Court records show he had a prior convictions for grand theft. The parole violation stemmed from identity theft and fraud charges. Police believe he was using Egg's debit card.

August 17, 2018: After searching the home for four days, police find a human torso in a large fish tank that was hidden in the home. They seek DNA samples from family members in an effort to identify the remains.

August 23, 2018: Neighbors say that a round-the-clock surveillance of the home by police since August 14 ends.

August 28, 2018: San Francisco police hold press conference revealing details of the case for the first time. They defend not taking further action during those three checks on the home. They say there wasn't sufficient suspicion break into the home but neighbors strongly dispute that.

August 29, 2018: Lance Silva appeared in court in Alameda County to face charges related to a parole violation.

April 24, 2019: Lance Silva released from jail after 'sentence served'

May 2019: Egg's death officially ruled a homicide by San Francisco Medical Examiner

[beardedmrbean]

A fresh Helsingin Sanomat poll shows that support for Finland joining Nato is higher than ever at 65 percent, the paper reports (siirryt toiseen palveluun) on Thursday.

A similar survey the paper carried out in early April found 59 percent of respondents were in favour of joining the military alliance.

The poll further showed that support for Finland joining Nato has grown among women and young people, HS reports.

59 percent of women want Finland to join the alliance, with the number up by nine percentage points since the last poll. The new survey found that support among men remained at 70 percent.

Although those in older groups were the most eager for Finland to join Nato, more than half of respondents over the age of 30 said they supported such a move.

About 13 percent of the poll's roughly 1,000 respondents said they were against joining, while 22 percent said they were undecided.

Party-wise, support was strongest among National Coalition Party voters, at 86 percent. Among Social Democrat, Centre Party and Finns Party voters, a clear majority said they approved of joining.

Left Alliance voters were outliers in the survey, with less than half in support of joining Nato.

Nato debate due to end

Parliament's ongoing Nato debate is set to wrap up in coming days, Iltasanomat writes.

The tabloid reports (siirryt toiseen palveluun) that once Prime Minister Sanna Marin's party, the Social Democrats, reveal their stance on Nato membership, the government's decision on the matter will soon follow. The Social Democrats are due to make their decision in two weeks at a meeting of the party's board.

IL writes that the foreign and security policy committee is expected to meet with President Sauli Niinistö to decide on the issue in the days following the meeting.

Niinistö has stressed the importance of parties committing to a stance on Finland's membership, so that the decision won't be overturned in the Parliament once the country's accession has been ratified by Nato member states.

While the Left Alliance has declined to reveal their stance prior to a June party conference, they will decide by next week whether the party will continue in the coalition government if it decides to join Nato.

Finland's nursing staff shortage

On Thursday Iltalehti has an analysis (siirryt toiseen palveluun) of the reasons behind Finland's shortage of healthcare workers.

IL writes that even though numbers-wise Finland has more nursing staff than most other EU countries, there is still an ongoing shortage of healthcare workers.

Citing a Eurostat study, the paper reports that among EU member states, nurses comprise three percent of Finland's total workforce. Only Germany surpasses this, with nurses making up a 3.4 percent share of the workforce.

Despite these numbers, Finland's healthcare sector is still struggling with a staff shortage. This is largely due to Finland's health sector's service design, as well as the scope of employment for a nurse, Iltalehti reports.

However, the number of doctors working in Finland is lower than the European average, with nursing staff in handling responsibilities that are often within the purview of doctors in other European countries. This makes sense, especially if there is a doctor on hand to consult, according to Timo Sinervo from the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Although Finland’s healthcare sector is efficient, Sinervo said, it is also pushed to its limits. This means there aren't a lot of extra resources and additionally, when there are job openings, it's hard to fill those open positions, Sinervo added.

Turku takes down Lenin statue

Authorities in the southwest city of Turku have said they will remove a statue of Russian revolutionary and politician Vladimir Lenin due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The V. I. Lenin bust is located at the upper end of Aurakatu in the Puolalanmäki district of Turku, but the City said that the statue and a plaque next to it will be removed as soon as possible.